Question about time to reach operating temperature

moe8555 · Post by **moe8555** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 1:45 am

Hi,
A couple of days ago I bought a pristine 2001 Neon with every option except the sunroof. The car only has 113,500 miles on it and the owner only serviced it at the dealer. Literally he even had receipts for small things like a headlight bulb change and a battery from the dealer!

Anyway, I have a hunch that the thermostat is stuck open or partially open. The car seems to take ages to reach what I believe is normal on the gauge.
How long is a stock automatic Neon without A/C use supposed to take to reach normal on the gauge?

The car takes minimum 15 minutes to make it between the second thick line and the first thin line and I feel like it stays on the bottom thick line or between the 2 thick lines for a while.

Where is the needle supposed to rest at normal? On the first thin lime? Between the first and second thin lines?

The car seems to be driving okay, maybe a bit sluggish? I haven't finished the first tank of gas yet to check MPGs.

I've already ordered a new Stant thermostat to have around at any rate. What do you experts say?

dvon17 · Post by **dvon17** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 1:55 am

I would suggest a coolant flush and thermostat change. Try getting in touch with the seller and see if he's had it done before (probably has if he's taken it to the dealer for headlight bulbs lol).

Also, I think you should do it (if it hasn't been done) so it will be fresh and you'll know for yourself when it has been done. I just flushed and filled my radiator, changed the thermostat and the housing cap yesterday and it runs a lot cooler than it used to. If you're not wanting to flush it, you could probably stop by an Oil Shoppe and have the coolant checked at least.

My opinion. Congrats on a good car btw!

moe8555 · Post by **moe8555** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:29 am

HI dvon17,
Thanks for the super fast reply.

I think I will do the flush in the near future just to be safe.

At any rate, can you tell me where your needle goes to and how fast it gets there?

dvon17 · Post by **dvon17** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:59 am

Hope you can see it. The green line represents where it ran BEFORE the flush and, of course, the red line represents where it runs now at full operating temp. If the car just idles from a cold start, it takes about 15mins (I think). I usually start it and wait about 45 secs before driving and I'll get about 4 or 5 miles before it's there.

Hope this helps.

Oh yea, I also used a 180 degree thermostat where as (I'm assuming) the stock one is 195.

jrumann59 · Post by **jrumann59** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:43 am

I used to run 180 degree t-stat and my mpg went down. Idling takes longer than driving. I have a water temp sensor after the T-stat and it takes few miles for the t-stat to open and my after market sensor to pick up the temp.

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:27 am

moe8555 wrote:Hi,
the owner only serviced it at the dealer. Literally he even had receipts for small things like a headlight bulb change and a battery from the dealer!

You sure it wasn't a black SRT?

You'll get the humor in that soon enough...

About where DJ has it shown is the normal spot. It doesn't change much on the regular neons gauge between 180º and 195º.

I recommend a 195º.

moe8555 · Post by **moe8555** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:25 am

Thanks for the replies folks. The red line is about where it ends up, maybe a tiny bit higher. Okay so I guess I'll keep the thermostat in the drawer until I actually need it.

Just to be sure - if it was stuck open I would never make it to the red line?

A little off-topic for the thread but: Haynes or Chilton for this car?

Johny · Post by **Johny** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:08 am

occasional demons wrote:
moe8555 wrote:Hi,
the owner only serviced it at the dealer. Literally he even had receipts for small things like a headlight bulb change and a battery from the dealer!
You sure it wasn't a black SRT?

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 12:25 pm

moe8555 wrote: A little off-topic for the thread but: Haynes or Chilton for this car?

Search ebay for a factory service manual (FSM) you can find them from $10 to$ 50ish. Much beter option.

edit:
Dang, is Israel really your location?

moe8555 · Post by **moe8555** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:10 pm

Yup!
I'm from NY but have been here for the past 6 years.
I doubt there are any other folks from Israel on this board.

Here are some fun facts about Neons in Israel:
1. The only year the second generation was imported was the 2001 model year. Only 42 were sold, so my car is super-rare here and it turns a lot of heads.

2. Like most of the export market, it was sold as a Chrysler.

3. They sold the first generation from 1995-1998 in much larger numbers, in the hundreds.

4. There was a TV investigative report about the peeling paint on first gens which caused a recall for the 1995 models and a free repaint.

5. There is one 2005 Dodge Neon SRT (or is it SXT? I'm talking about the sporty version.) It was a personal import and in 2008 the owner sold it for - get ready for this - $50,000!!! He did soup it up with tons of upgrades though.

6. To put things in perspective about the price, for $50,000 you get a Honda Accord base model without sunroof, leather, navigation, or V6. For $30,000 you get a base Mazda3 and for $25,000 you get a base Hyundai Accent.

It's hard to find parts here because you can't find the cars at junkyards. And unbelievably, the Chrysler dealer won't sell people parts! Fortunately there's eBay!

jrumann59 · Post by **jrumann59** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 5:21 pm

I recommend a haynes or chilton for quick reference and exploded views the FSM for torque, gap, and any other important specs because haynes and chiltons have been known to be wrong. Haynes and Chiltons have some pretty good troubleshooting charts

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:37 pm

moe8555 wrote:INFO

Awesome info man! I bet it does turn heads! I wish I could fly my car out to Europe and drive around in my silver car. Probably be like "WTF" is that lol
As for your original question...did the car have the timing belt/waterpump done @ 100k?

moe8555 · Post by **moe8555** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 12:15 am

MyNeonSaysHi wrote:As for your original question...did the car have the timing belt/waterpump done @ 100k?

Yup, he had a receipt for that. He had it done 3 years ago at 74,500 miles (120,000 km.)

I really haven't finished going through all the receipts yet... he left me like a 3-4 inch stack.

dvon17 · Post by **dvon17** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 12:43 am

jrumann59 wrote:I used to run 180 degree t-stat and my mpg went down.

I didn't know that could happen. Ahh...crap lol. I thought I was doing a good thing by using a thermostat that opens sooner.

occasional demons wrote: You sure it wasn't a black SRT?

v793jt0 · Post by **v793jt0** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:01 am

Hmm i wonder if I need a new thermostat .. my car i noticed after shuting off after fully warm and turning back on..gauge will go a little above the 200 mark in the srt cluster... and then within 30 secs of starting it will go back down to a little below 200 mark

2GN.ORG

Question about time to reach operating temperature

Question about time to reach operating temperature

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Re: Question about time to reach operating temperature