2001 Dodge Neon Engine runs extremely cold

MJBUTERA

MEMBER
2001 DODGE NEON
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
75,000 MILES

I put roughly 350 miles on my car per week. It has been running great, but all of a sudden, the coolant gauge will not go higher than the blue "C" section. It will go between the blue section and the notch above that if the car sits for a while, but when moving (especially on the highway), the gauge goes back down.
At first, I thought it was a bad sensor for that gauge, but when turning my heat on, the full blast heat is merely lukewarm and I can feel the temperature of my heater drop in conjunction with the temperature gauge. The car just went through a cold brutal NE Ohio winter with absolutely no problems.
Is it even bad for the car to run that cold? I guess it's better than overheating, but something isn't working properly nonetheless.

2 Replies

RASMATAZ

MECHANIC
75,992 POSTS

Try changing out the thermostat that don't work it might be an air mix/blend/mode door not functioning caused by binding/actuator/vacuum problem-

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Friday, April 4th, 2008 AT 8:35 AM

TONYBRAVADA

MEMBER
12 POSTS

There's a good chance you have a thermostat which has become seized, it's a fairly simple replacement and is usually cheap. If your water temp drops when you give it gas and have poor heating it is a likely cause and the first place to look. It's not particularly bad for the car but obviously having no heat can be annoying.

If it doesn't bother you it shouldn't be a problem. Double check the coolant levels and if you need to add fluid use only distilled water. A slightly higher water to anit-freeze will run a bit warmer (but will also freeze easier in the winter.)