Dodge/Plymouth Neon Maintenance and Repair

angrice

Just bought it for my 15 year old daughter. after giving it some acceleration, the engine is making a clicking noise on passenger side and has very slow acceleration. Any advise or ideas as to what could of happened?

pinkindistress

I had the thermostat and a hose replace a couple of days ago. Now my car is idling high then low,
then high again really fast.

mickeyrom

Is it possible that your AC is kicking in?

jacalac

Any one have some tips. I replaced my timing belt since my car had 150k miles and was never replaced before. I made sure i was at TDC before I replaced the belt and also after I put the new belt back on. At rare times when my car does start it idles very low at 900 rpm and if i drive it when ever i brake it drops to about 500rpm and if i brake hard it stalls out on me. I took the timing belt off and replaced the belt again going step by step with a haynes manual and i am still having the same problem. Am I supposed to adjust the time if thats even possible since it is a DIS? Someone please give me some input.

amunn

Hi yes the car will have to be timed again my guess is that it is probally close to being in time as it starts but being off even by a little will cause it to do that
make sure the timing marks on both camshafts are pointing towards each other and the timing mark on the crank lines up with the mark on the timing belt cover that will put it in time you will just have to look out that the pullys dont move when the belt is put on hope that this works for you!

ronald8

i just bought a dodge neon 2002 r/t (used) and everything is stock, and i was wondering if anyone can help me and see what i can do to make it better in everything such as performace, modification, and ect..
please help me out with suggestions
Thank you for your time..

gil2006

I have a 2004 Dodge Neon SXT that I want to make some changes to. First off, I would like to change the speedometer background disk from miles to kph (I'm in Germany with the military). Second, I would like to install a wiper on the rear window. Is any of this possible, and if so, where can I get additional information and parts about it? Thank you so much for your help!!!

BIGDADDYHORTON

HAVE THE RIGHT CV AXLE CHECKED THE RIGHT SIDE IS THE MAIN PULLING SIDE AND IS THE ONE THAT USUALLY GOES OUT FIRST. HOPE THIS HELPS

notgettinit

2003 NEON SXT 81,000 MILES... I HAVE OIL ON CYL. #3 PLUG TOP AND BOTTOM. TINY BIT OF SMOKE ON START UP WITH A TAP FOR ABOUT A SECOND. I CAN'T SEEM TO KEEP OIL IN THIS THING ITS GOING THROUGH 1 QUART PER 500 MILES. I DRIVE THAT IN 4 DAYS GOING TO WORK.I CHANGED THE VALVE COVER GASKETS AND GROMMITS AND IT STILL IS NO BETTER. P.S. PERFORMANCE HAS NOT LACKED A BIT BUT I DO PULL MY PLUG OUT EVERY WEEK AND CLEAN IT BEFORE ITS TOO LATE. ANY THOUGHTS?

notgettinit

I WOULD CHECK TO SEE IF THE RUBBER HOSE FROM YOUR INTAKE TO YOUR AIR BOX IS LEAKING OR HAS A HOLE. I HAD THAT ISSUE

mickeyrom

There is a bright yellow one sitting at a nearby Car lot,and I keep looking at it...should I be, and what would be a reasonable price for one? I drove one before and it sure was fun,although I did miss having cruise control.

hellcat1988

It sounds to me like you might have a bad valve seal. That will basically allow oil to drip into the cylinder on the intake stroke. It's a bit more involved to change a valve seal, but there should be some forums to help you figure out how to do it. It might also explain the oil on the top of the plug, but I think it's more likely that the valve cover seal for the plug tube was damaged somehow.

hellcat1988

Is it an auto trans or manual. That's going to make a big difference if we don't know.

hellcat1988

A very cheep and simple way to do it would be to find a neon in a junk yard there with the gauges you want. Pull the gauges and install them into your car. You'll probably also need to pull the pulse generator out of the junked car and put it in yours. It's not that hard to do and there should be diagrams online to show you where/how to do it. As far as the wiper blade on the rear window, that's going to be alot more difficult. It will require you to take a wiper assembly out of something that has a rear wiper. You'll have to build a bracket to mount it to your trunk lid, cut a hole for the wiper arm mount to pass through, and make sure to angle it so that the arm will keep a wiper blade in contact with the window without breaking anything. NOT all that easy, but not impossible for someone who's competent with a welder, drill, and an angle finder.

hellcat1988

The best way to upgrade without too much problem or expense is bolt ons.

The first and most important thing you need to address is the air flow. Installing an aftermarket air filter and inner cooler will give you a few ponies and probably give you better gas millage.

The next thing you will want to address is the exhaust. An aftermarket manifold and 3" pipe will give you more increase without too much trouble, but anything larger might cause trouble.

After those are addressed, you'll want to move on to fuel delivery. While the stock system is competent, you'll want to install a set of higher pressure injectors and a stronger fuel pump before you get to crazy with the mods.

After you've done that, it gets a bit more involved and the difficulty level goes up with it. An under drive pulley system will free up even more ponies, but you need to make sure that you check to see that the alternator won't be affected. Most of the under drive kits out there will not cause a problem, but there are some that will.

A small but effective, if not expensive mod is to replace the pcm of the car. There are places that will do it for you, for a price, and send the pcm back to you. I'd suggest that you make DAM sure you did all the other mods you want to first so that they can program it to work with your mods, and so it won't throw trouble codes left and right.

By now you're pushing probably +30-50 hp and a similar increase in torque, so you will probably want to upgrade your c.v. shafts. A problem even with the non turbo neon's that people seem to have is that they can be over-torqued by even a stock car at times.

At this point, you'll probably also want to address your breaking system. With all that power increase, the stock breaks aren't going to cut it. Replacing the stock ones with drilled and slotted roters front and back is the best way to go and will reduce the rotating mass at the drive wheels. You might see it in your 0-60 eta if you're lucky, but this mod is more for safety then anything.

Unless you want to start tearing into your engine like replacing the crank/cam shafts, that's about the extent of what you can do.

ronald8

hellcat1988

There is a tool sold at most auto parts shops specifically designed to lock the cam shafts in place when replacing the timing belt. It looks like a large H set on it's side when installed. It makes the job much more easy and can all but ensure a proper alignment for the installation of the belt on the cam cogs.

99neon

My issue started with the driver side rear blinker/brake light stopping and the front light flashing fast, after bulb changes, checking bulb sockets, and even bypassing the driver side left panel flasher I still can't figure out what is wrong. When I bypassed that socket the left blinker seemed to work from inside the car but actually both rear blinkers were just dimly blinking and the radio clock blinked with it, this also caused the left blinker to stay lite inside the car if the headlights where on and you can't turn it on, I put the old socket back on and now its back to the front flashing fast the side also still the rear is dead. The right side works fine though and the hazard lights work, also I don't know if they are related but recently the one or two speakers on the left that worked stopped and we get kind of a buzzing sound when the door is opened along with a shock when we step out.

hellcat1988

sounds a bit like the grounds for that rear light are bad. I'd suggest taking the light out and tracing the ground back to where it attaches. For the speaker, try taking the connection loose and see if that clears up the other speakers. If it does, trace the wires as well.

99neon

If I found the right one then the ground goes up and around to just behind the trunk, it plugs onto a clip there but it looked ok. I'm guessing this same problem is what keeps my interior light from coming on when the driver side door is opened but it does come on when you open the passenger side door. I also found some water in the trunk and back floor board recently as if a seal is leaking, we had a couple of days of heavy rain so it must have gotten in, not sure if it could have had an affect on the blinker situation or not. Is their any chance that the flasher relay could cause this problem at all I have not changed it yet as I thought if it was bad the flashers would not work period but I'm not 100% on that.

hellcat1988

The flasher relay should work for both at the same time. They're pretty cheap to replace so I'd try that. As far as the water, it's your tail light seals. I'd recommend picking up a tube of silicone, pulling the light off, putting a THICK bead of calk behind the light, then reinstalling it. If you don't then water will continue to get in a mold will grow in your carpet. The light problem could be the pressure switch in the door. If it jams or fails the light will stay on. You should be able to reach the switch by un-clipping the b-pillar and reaching through the hole that is revealed when it's pulled away. You might have to remove the seat belt pivot point but that's done with a cheap torxs bit from any auto parts store.

chris1221

well thats bad the only to fix that is take the engine out and replace gaskets big job recommend that if u dont have alot of money trade it in or sell it it will get worse neon is byfar the worst car to buy their known for continuable problems save yourself the aggravation their is no quick fix

99neon

hellcat1988

First of all, you don't need to remove more then the valve cover to get to and replace the seals. All you have to do is turn the crank with a socket wrench until the pistion under the valve you're replacing is at tdc. Second of all, you are not in this forum to help so you don't need to be here at all chris. stop bashing neons and just leave us alone.

falconsman

My neon sounds like a prop plane as you accelerate and as it slows down, if i turn left it stops and turn right it gets louder. I just had the alignment and a new set of tires installed and no change, and the sound is constant as it does not respond when I push on the throttle, and the sound seems to come from the rear of the vehicle, any and I mean any help would be awesome, I am thinking the exhaust but who knows.

falconsman

hellcat1988

It sounds like either you have an exhaust leak which would require you to crawl under the car when it's up on jack stands to find it, or it could be something wrong with your rear suspension. In that case I'd recommend jacking one side up on each side, pull the tire and break drum, and checking the breaks. Block the front tires BEFORE you put it in the air though. If you don't see anything wrong with the breaks, then it could be your wheel barrings. There can't be much else besides those things that would make that noise from the rear.

wandr_28752

I am having trouble also with a 98 Neon timing belt.I replaced the water pump, and timing belt at 124.000 miles.The old belt was a napa, so I suspect it has been replaced before.I took my time,and replaced the belt making sure both marks (cam,and crank) lined up perfectly.when I removed the old belt, I noticed the timing mark on the crank was two teeth to the right of tdc with the cam aligned.The car had NO uphill power ,thus the reason for changing my belt.I figured it had jumped timing.I lined both marks up , double checked alignment,rotated the motor 4 times (2 full revolutions)turned the cam back to check for any slack in the belt. there was none. reassembled, test drove, runs great, plenty of power, but now setting trouble code:p1390,timing belt off 1 tooth or more ! these motors are zero clearance ,so I wonder how it would even run if a tooth off.being that it runs and drives fine, I am hesitant to pull it down again, I have put roughly 30 miles on the car since, with no problem, except the code/light. I have had one tech say these motors were susposed to be one tooth to the right ! But there are NO updates,or notes added to any service manuaI have seen. Any suggestions? I'm tempted to just drive it. but worried as it's my only transportation.

jacalac

hellcat1988

My suggestion would be to have your cam and crank sensors checked. If you know that the timing belt is perfectly tdc and aren't going to try the mechanic's suggestion, then that's about the only route you have to try to get rid of the code.

justbethtoo

Hi new here and the title says it all...and i am right in the middle of it but have to know now how to loosen the powersteering pump to remove the belt to allow installation of the new alt belt. Thanks in advance

jmknapp

I think the repair shop replaced the throttle position sensor and it took care of the problem for a few months and now its happening again. The gas pedal is hard to push down, but with enough force it will go. This only happens when in drive. The gas pedal operates fine when in park/neutral. Is it the tps they replaced? I can always call them, but what do you think?

ironcity1933

I have a 1999 Plymouth neon with 38,883miles, I just recently purchased, it runs perfect except up hills it takes a little to get up to speed if it ever does IE when driving on a 40mph road after a red light it only got up to 35 until I get on a down grade, when it is on flat it runs perfect gets up to 65 fine on the highway, any suggestions on how I could fix this, I changed oil, spark plugs, brakes, air filter and added fuel injector cleaner, the only thing I am waiting for is for my spark plug wires to come in. Please offer any suggestions on what I could do

ironcity1933

I need to replace my fuel accumulator on my 1999 Plymouth neon SOHC, the acceleration is not great and mechanically there is nothing wrong with it. Being that it only has 38,991 miles on it and i checked everything this else and chaged plugs, oil, air filter...etc. in it, it is the only problem i can see causing it. I am asking if it is on outside near fuel tank or if it is in the enclosure for the fuel tank. Also any suggestions would be helpful if you think this is not the problem.

ironcity1933

Never mind I found it located next to the gas tank underneat the rear passanger seats

ironcity1933

mncarguy2

I have the same car. I also just recently purchased mine as well. All of your fixes fall under routine maintainance. I noticed this problem as well. Really what it boils down to is that this particular car lacks that umph that your probably used to. When you run into a hill I suggest turning the ac off and downshifting. One thing you could do is get the engine more air with a cold air/ short ram air intake. I'm going to try this myself. If you notice the air intake just kinda sits over the block and opens up in front of the radiator shroud, not particularly good air flow.

ironcity1933

They definately fall under routing matinence, but I had my mechanic change my fuel filter and it improved a lot maybe try checking that.

ironcity1933

dappleco

hey guys
i just got a 2000 neon 4 door 2.0 from my stepmom. the car was wrecked and had the radiator busted. i just got it to my home and want to make it road ready but it is missing a few parts:
radiator
cooling fans
ac radiator
trany cooling lines

i picked up a radiator and fans from pick a part and want to install it. easy enough. but i can not find the place to hook up the trany cooler lines. i see the stems off of the radiator but where do they go on the car???

help please!
thanks

justbethtoo

hellcat1988

There are two bolts on the back of the power steering mount that you need to loosen. They are almost directly underneath the radiator upper hose. You don't have to take it off but it makes it a bit easier. Once those are loose, you should be able to slide the pump down to loosen the belt and there you go. To reinstall the belt just reverse the steps.

aaronn1

I am wondering if I have a part missing. Looks like there should be a hose or something running from in front of the battery box to the air intake on top of the motor, but one end would be round and the other oval.

dappleco

dappleco

all fixed up figured it out

aaronn1

hellcat1988

The oval opening you are talking about is probably the air intake extension that bolts to the intake manifold via a stud and nut assembly. That oval opening IS the end of the factory intake. The hole you see in the battery box is for cooling the battery. There should be a tube with an arch over the center of the opening. If it's still on your car, it would most likely be shoved down and out of view..

relic23

1999 neon. I had a damaged water pump and took it to a mechanic. The mechanic changed the water pump and I also gave him a new timing belt to put in. The engine was fine and the only noise it made was from the broken water pump but now the engine won't start. The mechanic said that pieces of the water pump went into the timing belt and cause the pistons to damaged the valves. Can that happen or did the mechanic place the new timing belt wrong and cause the engine damaged. The compresion readings now are 24,24,25,10.

mgalde

I have a similar situation on a 99 neon.
I have visible oil on the spark plug wire in the plug cavity, as well as on the plugs themselves, the only one that appears to have oil in the cylinder is #1 plug.
Is this a known problem for the neons, and is it easily fixable?
If so, how so?

Also, the #1 plug is very dirty as though it is not firing correctly, I replaced all 4 plug yesterday (10-12-09). I checked to see that the coil is working, and got good spark, so I am guessing that I have an possible oil leak fouling out that plug. Could this be the reason for the over all chugging and hesitation of the engine. The code scanner simply gives a generic misfire code for cylinder 1.

I appreciate any constructive help.
Thank you

notgettinit

whitewaternut

For the third time in two years I had the remove the squirrel cage ventilation fan to extract a dead, and very mangeled, mouse. It is not an easy or pleasant chore. I live in a remote area so this is liable to happen.

I would like to put a screen over the air intake of the ventilation system, but I am unable to find out where the air intake is. I have two maintenance books for this vehicle but neither of them even mention it.

Can anyone enlighten me as to where this air intake might be located?

BTW, I removed the cover of the engine air intake today to find about a coffee can full of acorns in the bottom of the housing. I have since put a screen over the engine air intake.