My mom had her dodge neon leaking coolant took it to a shop and they said that she needs a whole new engine and quoted her $5,000. I was thinking that it can just be fixed with some kind of aluminum epoxy or simple weld am I wrong? I haven’t done that kind of thing before. It’s chipped where the hose goes into the engine as seen in picture. What’s the best thing to do here?
Get a second opinion. If it was leaking coolant and overheated, they may be right but maybe not.
No it still ran fine just leaked a lot of coolant and she never got it in the red. Mechanic said she could put on a new head but he doesn’t want to do it for her he said he’ll either epoxy it for her for $300 but didn’t really want to do it and said it prob wont hold or replace the engine and he won’t be making any money.
The cheapest way I see to repair this is, trace the shape of the water outlet onto cardboard.
Place that trace on 1/4" thick aluminum plate and cut out the shape and drill out the holes.
Using the bolts, connect that aluminum flange that was made to the head.
Taking high temp J-B Weld, https://www.jbweld.com/products/highheat-epoxy-putty. slather it around the water outlet so everything is covered except the new flange surface.
Let it sit for 24 hours to make sure it cures fully.
Now when the hose neck is bolted to the head, it should hold everything together.
Tester
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I think some sort of JB weld (epoxy) solution might well work. Probably worth a try. I think what I’d do is clean the area with a wire brush, then apply some JB to that surface first, then bolt down the home-made flange Tester mentions above. I’d let it sit that way for 3 days before testing whether it worked. The other option would be to apply JB, let it set up (3 days), then file the surface flat, then just bolt the hose adapter back on (presumably it has a gasket). Do you know how it got all chipped up like that? Is that where the thermostat goes? If that chipping is a corrosion problem that extends through the rest of the engine, then the mechanic is probably correct to go with a new engine. What is the routine maintenance record on the cooling system?
Yes the thermostat goes there as well. The mechanic she took it to said that the coolant ate it away which doesnt sound right. Also she paid a different shop 2 years ago to replace the head due to a timing belt snap they said they put a brand new one on which it doesn’t look that way to me as she’s only driven it about 15k miles since then.
If the coolant isn’t changed out on a regular basis (every 2 years) it becomes very acidic.
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This is where the thermostat and water outlet pipe connects, and the surface isn’t “chipped”, it was indeed eaten away by the coolant. I don’t see the need for a whole new engine, unless there are other major issues besides this.
I would just clean up the surface with fine-grit sandpaper to the best of my ability, and buy a new thermostat and pipe nipple. When installing the paper gasket, I’d coat both sides with black silicone, and tighten the bolts per spec. It should not leak from there again.
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Thanks I’ll try this