How many miles can you generally expect to get out of a first gen neon with an sohc motor? I'm at about 120k right now and I'm not that easy on the engine.

 

its sorta hard to say ....even though all the engines are built the same ..not all engines last the same ...ive seen some that go well into 300k..with only basic maintence..on the other hand you might have one like i used to have and threw a connecting rod busting the head at 65k...its imposible to tell u ..it mostly depends on how the engine was broken in...an engine that was broken in properly will last along time ...id say if ur beatin it..and it has 120k on it already and there isnt any problems like noticable ticks or tapping..ull be fine for along time ...just keep up on the maintence....changin oil and checkin antifreeze all that good jazz

 

I think the best thing you can do to lengthen your engines life is to let it warm up a few minutes before driving it. That way you know oil has reached every part of the motor in sufficientamounts.I like to wait to put real stress on my motor until its reached full operating temp (especially in winter and cold days).

I let it run for at least 2 minutes before I drive then I drive it conservatively till it reaches operating temperature, just cuz oil is thick when its cold and takes a bit of warmingto loosen up to be easily circulated through the Motor. Also Gives time for lifters to get pumped up.

Same thing with the transmission, drive it nicefor 10 minutes then once you decide touse the power it won't bebogged down power due to transmission fluid/Gear lubebeing cold. The thing you want to do is to make sure all these components are up to operating temp otherwise it will put unneeded stress on other parts even if your motor is up to operating temp also make sure you give your drive train about 5-10 minutes of smooth drivingbefore you give it abuse.

I credit this approach and the use of 10w-30/40 Synthetic for keeping my motor up to par every time I decide to give it all I got for a race,dangerous situationor passing situation on the highway or through the City.

I'm at 134,000 miles right now on the dial and this motor has run excellent through all my beatings. Multiple times its has overheated when the waterpump bearing wore outand then most recently 3 weeks ago when myradiator went out. I drove 40 miles straight in 90 degree weather last yeardoing 80-85mph on the highway (tryin to get to an Air Showon time)with barely any antifreeze in the block due to it all leaking out of the water pump bearing andwith the needle a 1/8th inch from the H on the heat gauge and a couple times it maxed out till I had a chance to put anti freeze in. I knew that my head gasket should have blown then but it didn't!!!

Then more recently 3 weeks ago my radiator just took a **** all together and leaked afull jugof Anti freeze out in 3 miles of highway/city driving, I had to shut the car off every 45 seconds or so then coast on the highway till I could pull into Wal Mart and buy more anti freeze to get me home. Later that Night I decided not to risk the motor anymore after the "get me home" antifreeze leaked out and I called my mom and dad for a tow, I changed the radiator that night and it runs awesome and heats up fast!(now that antifreeze actually stays in the system!).The head gasket didn't blow then and frankly after that I seriously don't know what it takes to blow them and why its been such an epidemic for people who own Neons.

I say that MLS Gasket is worth its weight in gold and I'm glad mine came factory that way. I guess I'm lucky and I hopeI stay that way as far as Engine durability and I don't want to jinx myself but if my motor blew within the next few months (God knows I don't want it to) I would still be extremely proud of this motor and say that it was one of the toughest fkn motors a person can Drive and experience from the factory. My motor has had an impressive career and durability record and the thing is a legend to me and everyday forward from now that this motorRuns great is icing on the cake!

The motor is now turbo chargedrunning 8 psi for about 6 months nowand doesn't skip a beat. This car has lived up to the indestructibleMopar Name.

I am proud to say that not one Mopar my family has ever owned blew a motor or ever had engine problems beyond timing chain/belt or water pump. We've owned about 12 Mopars through the years and in that time our Fords and Chevys have had serious undriveableEngine issues (such as Rods getting thrown out of the block), wiped cam lobes and Oil pump failure. The Fords and Chevys we've owned never took the beatings on a consistent basis that our Mopars did.

This motor I'm sure has a breaking point, I haven't found it and I hope not to. But for what this motor was designed to do I think you have to look at this motor within that realm when building it up, it will take 280-300 Hp before the rods stretch, which is 2 and a half times the power it was made to produce.

Maintain the car's fluids, use someof the warm up methods I've suggestedand it should provide you with many miles of reliability.

My opinion of the Neon is that it is one of the most reliable 4 cylinder cars I've ever Driven or experienced either by friends family or strangers this car doesn't disapoint.

 

i didnt read all of wht slash said cuz theres alot and its late but mostly with that many miles if you have not changed the timing belt then do it cuz if you dont youll be looking at getting a new head for you 120k mile sohc engine... while doing the timing belt get the water pump and the tensioners

 

First neon= 300,000 engine blew while racing from red lining 1st to hard (engine was still very strong). 2nd neon=140,000 still stronge. 3rd=105,000kid locked up engine from oil lose 4th=110,00 bearing knock. Kid beat on the car for 2 months. He got it from an old lady and broke the tranny and made the engine knock. In less then 2 months. Like slash said. There are alot of things you can do to help pro-long the life of you neon engine. Alot of it is just simple up keep and maintance. I have never blew up a neon engine. And i cant leave my house without getting on it atleast once. Oil is a big thing to watch. My timing belt started to slap at about 130000. Never had a bad head gasket. When something breaks, fix it. I learned that when you dont fix things that are bad it only leads to other problems. For example. Cam seal like I didnt fix and led to my timing belt going faulty from all the oil on it. Not fixing the bobble strut when it went out led to the front motor mount going.

 

my 95 green Neon has 247k on it and was still going strong when i stopped driving it last year.

 

Damn neoncrazy you bet me i have 210k and my motor runs good. when i beat it up it takes it like a champ with no problems. but my motor mounts are blowen out because ofmy oldbobble strut. when it gets nicer out im going to change water pump, timing belt, all motor mounts and a full tune up.

 

mine lasted to 185K till it died and i had to replace it

 

we bought my green one back in 96' with 50k on it. and we have a red four door, bought it back in 95 with only 18k on it, and its now at 216k.

 

Bought my neon at 150k and has 230 now. Its suffered multiple overheats and 2 bad oil losses. One from cam seal and one from the rear main. Both made the engine come to a hault lol. It now ticks pretty loud upon start up, but it still runs quite strong. Compression is good, no lower end noises.

Like stated before, one of the biggest to making an engine last is WARM UP! Idoling an engine will get it warm on the guage, but you have to drive it around slowly to bring some majors components up to temp. like the crankshaft. It is a must to do this everytime you start up a snowmobile, or a cold seize will be in order. 4 strokes are more forgiving, but they will break down as well if not given time to warm up.

Hope this helps.