Car overheats from time to time. checked antifreeze and added some. now I'm having acceleration problems as well. After driving it for a little while I can't go past 30 mph and then a little while later it will go again, but I'm getting a burning smell and some smoke coming from the passenger side of the hood. I don't see any leaks of coolant coming out. its a 98 dodge neon

Laurie,
If you need to keep adding water/antifreeze your car either has a leak -or there's maybe a problem with the head gasket.

Check your oil .. on the engine oil dipstick is there a creamy grey sludge? If so, that's a problem with the head gasket ..

Give a mobile mechanic a call. They're usually quite good. Don't drive a car that overheats or you will cause expensive damage.

check your oil and filter are correctly topped up and clean.
check the thermostat
check the water pump.
Check that your cooling fan, if you have one, is cutting in at the
appropriate point and is working at the appropriate temperature.






Here are 10 tips to address with any overheating problem:

1. Many cars overheat from more than one problem. Often we assume a bigger radiator or a similar big gun solution will fix our problem. Maybe it will, but often by so doing you are addressing the symptom and not the cause. Many cars over the years pick up little annoyances that contribute to overheating. Individually none of them would overheat your car. Collectively you have an overheating problem. Look at the whole car when addressing overheating problems.

2. Before you do anything else, tune up the car. Many overheating cars are out of tune, Be dead nuts certain you are not running lean or with retarded timing.
A lean fuel mixture will overheat your car right now. If your engine runs lean you can chase your tail looking for problems in the cooling system and never figure it out. Be sure you are not running lean. The easy way to do this is richen your jetting a couple of steps. If the overheating is better, you're on the right track.

3. There is a lot of misinformation about ignition timing and cooling. Retarded timing contributes to overheating. Advanced timing helps cooling. Bump up your initial timing a few degrees and see if it helps the car run cooler. It's an easy and practical fix. Of course, if you advance enough to enter pre-ignition or detonation you will start to overheat. Detonation contributes to overheating. If you start to detonate back off the timing. Overheating cars should always run vacuum advance. Vacuum advance helps cooling.

4. Cars can overheat from coolant circulation that is either too slow or too fast. When your car left the factory it probably had the correct speed for the water pump. Over the years things change, pulleys are swapped, rear end ratios are changed, tire sizes vary. Your car may not have the right circulation speed for the water pump. Remember cars can overheat from circulation that is either too fast or too slow.

5. Look at your airflow. Be sure your shroud fits properly and is sealed to the radiator. What'd ya mean you don't have a fan shroud??!!?? If not, obtain a shroud before you do anything else. You can adapt a shroud from the junkyard or many after market suppliers can provide you one. Seal the shroud to the radiator with weather stripping.

6. The best all around fan is the factory design with a thermal fan clutch. Flex fans aren't as versatile, Solid fans pull lots of air but are noisy and suck horsepower when you don't need the extra cooling.
If you need extra air flow there are many electric fans on the market that can help. Be sure your charging system is up to the task of handling the extras amps from an electric fan.

7. Reduce the antifreeze in your coolant. A 50/50 mixture does not help cooling. Either run 100% distilled water with water pump lubricant or distilled water with about 15-20 % antifreeze. Either mixture will cool better than 50/50 and still lubricate the water pump and provide corrosion protection for your system. Remember when the weather turns cool to switch back to 50/50.

8. Use a better grade of gas. If you are not running premium and you are overheating, step up to the top grade. If there is no improvement, try advancing your timing a few degrees. The extra octane will allow you a little extra timing without getting into detonation. Many older cars and particular muscle cars were designed for better gas (4 or 5 star, > 98 octane) than is now available. If you are detonating on today's gas you can be overheating. Remember not all detonation is audible.

9. If you are running an automatic, install a quality after market transmission cooler. Cooling the transmission is added work for an already overtaxed radiator. Do not mount the cooler in front of the radiator where it will overheat the cooling air. Rather mount it to one side.

10. Notice your driving habits. The more gas you burn the more heat the engine produces. Jackrabbit starts followed by hard braking, constant acceleration, flogging the engine uphill, all burn lots of gas. Yes, these are performance cars and that's why we love them. We're not saying don't enjoy your car, but if you are constantly into the accelerator, you are producing extra heat that the cooling system has to get rid of.

Compared to the expense of buying parts in a hit and miss fashion to solve your problem, investing in researching the origin of the issue is a downright good investment.

Arnoud Malherbe

That smell is most likely antifreeze. If the smell gets noticeably stronger when you turn on the AC/Heater, it is possible that your "heater coil" has started leaking. You will need the services of a professional if that is the case. Those are very hard to change.

Another possibility is your thermostat is not opening, causing your engine to overheat - steaming some of the coolant (antifreeze)/water mixture out of the system.

And thirdly, it is possible that someone spilled antifreeze on the radiator etc when adding fresh antifreeze - and you smell it after the engine warms up. If your car is not over-heating and you are not having to ad antifreeze/water to the radiator, then just keep driving. The problem will most likely go away.

I hope this is helpful to you. If yes, please take a sec to rate me. Thanks!
Don

you should replaced the belt that operates the water pump and power steering

Hello, if your car has a blown head gasket and exhaust is entering the coolant system, it will continue to run hot until it is repaired. Using pure antifreeze will make it worse. It should be at least 1/2 water. If the coolant reservoir didn't leak you could probably drive a few more miles, but not many, before it overheats again. All that is doing is giving you a little more capacity. If you continue to run the engine hot you are going to do more serious damage to it.
I suggest you have the head gasket replaced. That stuff you put in there seldom works, and if it does work, it's only temporary.

I hope this helps.

thermastat problem? Antifreeze not circulating properly? Radiator needs flushing?

could very well be either air in the system, plugged exhaust, or antifreeze is not 50/50 mixed. Also, thicker oil can raise engine temps.

lokk for where the leake is locate it thats the only way to know check houses

oddly enough it sounds like a transmission problem, get a transmission shop to assess the problem, but first try replacing the thermostat. be sure to turn on the heater when adding antifreeze. I have had this problem with my windstar.

It sounds like your coolant level may be too low. When you drive up hill the coolant will tend to flow into your engine block and help to cool it down. When you drive down hill the coolant will tend to flow out of the engine block and into the radiator. This may allow the engine block to overheat. I recommend checking your coolant level. If you need to add coolant use a 50/50 mixture of water and antifreeze. If your coolant level is low you may have a leak. Look for the leak while the engine is hot.

I'd also check to make sure your electric cooling fan is working. Let the engine warm up with the car idling in park. Watch to see if the fan ever turns on. If the fan doesn't turn on the problem could be caused by the fan itself, a fan relay, or a temperature sensor.