My son drove our 2001 Dodge Neon this summer. No complaints until just recently. He reported a somewhat violent vibration on the driver's side when braking.

Well, I thought it was a case of warped rotors, so I bought new ones and threw in new brake pads as well.

When I replaced the rotors and pads, I couldn't help but notice that they were still looking good, the rotors shiny and flat, the brake pads thick.

Take a spin around the block, I was braking hard when the shudder appeared, just as my son reported. It's a moderately hard bump, reminds me of ABS only slower, and fades when I release the brakes.

I just gave my son the bad news - he can't take it to Oregon for two months - and would dearly like to fix it as soon as possible.

Am I looking at a worn suspension on the driver's side?

Regards,

Cent13

 

I had something similar but @ speeds of 50-60-70++ when braking, front control arm bushing was worn, but it was the metal bushing part inside the rubber ( someone never got it fully tighten & worn a spot on the crtl arm mount, same way with caliper bolt bushings can be severely worn out) way to check is jacked up use a pry bar or screw driver an pry from crtl arm to where it mounts in the frame to see if its worn with out taking off the strut or anything. So under braking it would shudder back an forth feeling like a warped rotor. Jack it up on both sides to see it in 1st gear running an look for wobble ( cv axle, hub, even the wheel itself can be tweaked some causing out of round tire)

how many miles are on it?

 

My Neon has 195,000 miles on it.

Am going to take it to the mechanic's this Saturday morning. The calipers, etc, seemed solid, but I am inexperienced.

 

mines @ 285k that I use for daily driver as our shop vehicle, only thing I haven't replaced is the fuel pump lol

 

You can't tell a rotor is warped just by looking at it.

We are talking about thousands of an inch here.

Have the rotors turned on a lathe (O'Reilly does this for $15) and I'm willing to bet it solves your problems.

Cheers!

 

Check your tie rod ends??

 

What did the mechanic say? My guess would be a worn suspension component.

 

Well, we thought it was the rotors. I replaced both and the brake pads, too.

Nope.

Then we thought it was the transmission, refusing to gracefully drop into low gear when coming to a stop. Put some stuff in there to loosen things up a bit.

Nope.

Then we thought it was the engine itself, suffering from a sticking air intake valve (electronically controlled, right below the air filter). Cleaned that up real good, put it back in.

Nope.

Finally, as the shuddering kept disappearing by the time I arrived at the car shop (and the engine was warmed up), I dropped the car off overnight and the mechanic took it for a drive the next day. He experienced it for himself.

What it most likely is: the transmission has a mode that locks the drive shaft to the torque converter when engine RPMs are up or the wheels are moving, or both. It 'de-clutches' when the RPMs drop AND the wheels are slowing down, and shifts down into low gear. This is controlled by a valve somewhere in there.

Mine is not doing that smoothly anymore - at least, not until the engine and transmission warm up. So when cold and coming to a stop, the slowing drive shaft starts to bog the engine down, causing those jerking vibrations, until *clunk* the torque converter releases its death grip. Engine RPMs immediately come back to idle and the car is in low gear, ready to go again.

I am told this will not affect a drive to Oregon from Bremerton, or tooling around Forest Grove. It's just that my son will have to live with it until it warms up. The permanent fix? That unsticking additive still has time to work, and may eventually do the trick. Otherwise, a replacement transmission is in order.

Thanks, everyone.

 

if it needs a new tranny thats a 50/50 keep or sell an get another car I think esp being 15 years old. I know when mine goes out Im done with it but its been fun I must admit