I have owned my 93 dodge spirit for a year now and am the second owner of it. The car is a 2.5L TBI automatic tranny. About a month ago my engine started overheating. I was just driving in town as usual and all of a sudden i looked down and my engine was running hot. This was very uncommon since I haven't had any problems before. I had not even seen my temp. guage move very much. Well, since im only 17 and jobless, I talked to my grandpa and explained everything to him. He said i could be low on coolant or I need to change my thermastat. Well the next day he takes it to auto zone and gets everything changed. Ever since then (about 3 weeks ago) I have NOT had a problem with the engine temp. guage UNTIL about half a week ago.

I was driving to go see my girlfriend which is about 20 miles away and I look down at my guages and BAMN HOT. Get ahold of my grandpa again, we check the antifreeze levels and my hoses and everything seems fine. Well he takes it to the mechanic he knows and he says replace to thermastat again. SO my grandpa replaces it once again!

Well a couple of days ago i was on the road and yet again I was running hot.. I talk to some friends of my that know alot about cars and they're like we'll you probally need to get ur radiator flushed. But one of my friends tells me that he thought it would be the Heater Core because we could smell anti-freeze when i turned on my heater or air..and he told me he just changed his about 3 weeks ago and it solved the anti freeze smell. Not only do I have the smell but the flooring in my car is SOAKED with antifreeze and stickyness now.

Today I bought my new heater core (25$ /w LIFETIME WARRANTY) and I start trying to find where my core is located so I can change it. (BTW I was already told that this job is a pain in the ass I just don't have the money for labor) and I find myself in a mess.. I practically work all day today trying to get to it, and I still can't see wheres its located. DO I need to remove my whole dash? I have already got the hoses from under my hood disconnected from my heater core and everything and I know its located in the middle of my dash, where my stereo and air/heat control is.

My main questions are..

What is the easiest way to get to the heater core for someone like me?

Will replacing the heater core fix my engine overheating problem?

If the heating core won't fix my engine problems, what will?

I would really apperciate any suggestions, like I said I am not smart when it comes to cars, I am just really In need of getting my over-heating problems fixed very soon because I depend on this car as a DAILY driver for work. Please W.B. A.S.A.P with any idea or suggestions EVEN if you don't own a spirit i will be pleased. If anyone needs pictures I might beable to supply. Its kind of hard to explain why I don't know if i can get pics or not b/c my car is at my dads house which is 45 miles away and can't be driven home.. So ya.. lol I'm kinda in a pickel...right now. I Would REALLY REALLY aperciate any ideas.. Thanks again!

Dustin
a.k.a.
confused teenager who needs help :\

B.T.W The car itself only has 111k miles on it, so I don't think its because of high mileage or anything. The car has been kept up to date on changing the oil and air filter ( I do it every 3,000 miles ) and for what i know the previous owner was the hospital to deliver medications and stuff. Again any info is helpful in this case, if you have any more questions about the car or if you need any descriptions please reply.. thanks

Check your radiator fan operation, relays, fans, temp sensors.
Check your computer codes. http://www.allpar.com/fix/80s-codes.html

Have your radiator pressure tested. If you start it up after the test and the car smokes like a steam train then you have one of the most common problems plagueing the 2.5L:
A Bad head gasket.
Don't freak out, all you have to do is replace it, no machine shop work or anything, it's even simple to do (you will need a helper and a few other small parts. This would be a good time to change the timing belt, too, if it hasn't been changed recently.

Good luck,
If you need more info, post here...

Please be nice to people in other posts, You may need their help one day.... :)

Slantsixness

Have you ever had a leaky radiator before or have you added and radiator sealant? If you have, you need to flush your heater core. The lines for the heater core are a lot smaller and tighter than any in the engine and it builds up nicely there. My 91 Sundance had that problem AFTER I replaced the head gasket. BTW, I hate to disagree with slantsixness but depending on how hot your engine got, if it went all the way red, I would recommend that if it is a head gasket, that you take the head to a machine shop or NAPA and have them mill the head because it could have warped, its only aluminum and doesn't have great heat tolerance. It cost me $150 to have them clean the entire head and mill it back to specs. Another $90 for the gasket set and the car was good to go. Mine had 170k miles on it when it happened, just got rid of it 2 weeks ago with 201k miles on it and still going strong, replaced it with a fully loaded 04 Neon SXT. If you need pictures of the process, let me know, I've got them all...

My respects to slantsixness as well, for his insightfulness...

Hemi99-
I've done it, and had to do it, both ways. Spending $150 to have the head milled would have made me toss that head...
I've had 2.2/2.5 heads milled and "spec'd" out and ended up with nasty pre-ignition rattles, premature (20K) headgasket failure and other related problems. It always has ended up with the (improperly)milled head being the root problem. That's why I try to recommend not milling the head at all costs. There's so many machine shops everywhere that just don't give a sh!t, or can't do their job that i've lost all faith in them. I have spent way too much money on machine shops over the years, where I have specified a size or mill, and they didn't even come close. (of course they still wanted their money....)

But I will say, If you found a machine shop that knows their jobs (say real machinists actually work there..) and your head was that far out, that milling and dipping is most certainly the answer.

But, there are remanufacturers out there that'll sell you a 2.2 or 2.5 (Bare)head for $60 exchanged. So, for the average guy, not milling if it seems relatively flat, is the way to go.

Mileage wise? I live in a suburb of D.C., where everybody commutes, so most of the 2.2 and 2.5's I see are up in the 300K mile range now, and still kicking. (and I've done a LOT of headgaskets for folks and my own vehicles)