ameesue

i posted before with a 99 caravan dodge and having heat probs well this is whats happening ,,,,i have no heat blowing cold air and keep overheating all levels are ok suck as coolant and oil is normal but have green stuff drippin at drivers feet whats wrong with my poor betsy please help

cardoc

Is leaking in the interior of the car or under it?How much? Are you keeping it full?
Which motor does it have?
How long does it take to overheat and how hot is it getting (pegging the gauge?etc)?
Did anyone do as sugestted in earlier replies?

ameesue

yes all that was suggested has been done and failed. it is leaking a very small amount inside the van but droppin where drivers feet would be while driving. it is getting extrememly hot pegging for sure,,can get any hotter

cardoc

The leak inside is most probably the heater core.This is a big job to replace but won't cause your overheating problem.Again sounds like lack of circulation.Did someone actually look at the waterpump impeller.This would require removing the pump for inspection.It's possible for the impeller to be rotted away.It's also possible you have a bad head gasket.Also a major repair.Do you see any white smoke from the tailpipe.Is the coolant being checked at the radiator not the reserve tank.Carefull of hot coolant.Does it overheat quickly or take awhile.Is the radiator core actually hot while it's over heating.Are the heater hoses hot.These are items to check for circulation of coolant.

qldit

Good Morning ameesue, this symptom may well be related to aluminium oxide type crystals forming in the top of the radiator and heater cores.

Over time aluminium cylinder heads gradually decompose through various combinations of electrolysis and dis-similar metal exposure etc.

Small particles of gravel like material gravitate to the tops of the heater and radiator cores and actually build up like crystals growing in the fluid.

Eventually this problem accellerates to the point where the cooling fluid flow ceases and cannot pass, this then accellerates the problem and engine overheating is common, because coolant flow through the radiator approaches zero flow or in the case of a heater it ceases operation through no hot water flow.

More often than not the engine overheat cycles will cause the head gasket to be crushed excessively and then cylinder pressures will damage the gasket (blow a path through it) and the cycle is complete, regular engine overheating is common usually allowing significant coolant loss and eventually the coolant enters the engine oil.

If this may have happened in your particular case it will possibly require a complete cylinder head overhaul testing and head welding of decomposed areas of waterways interface to the engine block. (gasket area)

The engine and radiator will need pressure flushing to get this stuff out and the reworked cylinder head refitted with new head gasket etc.

This is the worst case scenario, and often is the case, but the leakage you mention is consistant with older heater cores that develop leaks, this is usually a fair job to replace, generally that heater core has metal plumbing that protrudes through the firewall and there are no hoses in the cab interior, you may find your machine does have some kind of hose supply into the cab which may be the leakage source, bit it generally is the actual heater core. (the vehicle is built around the damned thing and they are a pain to replace)

As a "get you home" idea you can usually use a short piece of metal tubing and simply connect the inlet and outlet supply hoses at the engine side of the firewall, so this effectively takes the heater core out of the system and that coolant flow simply recircs.

Your situation sounds like it is entering this area, but the first thing to do is stop that leakage before troubleshooting further.

This will allow more accurate determination for what is actually happening.

Cheers, qldit.

NID_FTL

I agree, seems the first course would be to bypass the heater core under the hood. atleast temporaly to see if this coolant in the floor is the cause of the problem, or a result of it overheating for another reason. If it does not overheat after the bypass, you will need a new heater core, or live in south florida and just keep it bypassed. I had a caravan and the heater core bursted. I just bypassed it, so no heat at all, sucked when the windows foged up in the rain, but was manageable.
replacing the core for resale was a major pain in the JACK and I hope to never have to change one again. Best of luck to ya...
Jim S...

mack1

Sounds like a stuck thermostat to me. I just had that problem and replaced it. Didn't cost much and didn't take long to replace. The leak inside sounds like a bummer. Changing heater cores is not fun.

Have a nice day.

Mack1