I'm driving a 1999 Dodge Neon Highline Automatic engine is 2.0L SOHC I4 SFI
the VIN number is 1B3ES47C8XD151647 (i'd love if someone would kindly provide me with a carfax report if you would be so kind)

Here's the problems i have with it right now:

Engine is continuously making clanging sounds like a rabid honey badger is contained inside it

the linkage is off and it does not have a passing gear anymore, so pressing on the gas lightly or heavily doesnt do anything, unless you floor it, this jerks the gearshift into neutral

the starter is close to death, and the engine itself sometimes cant turn over because of it

the fans for the radiator wont run when hooked up standardly, so i have them hotwired to a toggle switch, same for the inside fan

there's a hole somewhere in the AC line and it hisses like a pissed off cat when i try to turn it on

the driver side headlight is trashed and held in with alot of duct tape, epoxy, and some wood

the front bumper is rigged on with 8 self tapping screws

The engine, when let off the gas, will sound much worse, with alot more clanging and thumping

if the car is put in 2nd gear to force a passing gear, or any time the RPM go over 3k, the temperature guage almost instantly spikes to overheating (i've been controlling this by purging the heat via the inside fan set on max heat and blowing max speed)

so in short, theres a few electrical problems, a bumper attachment problem, and ALOT of engine problems. What i plan to do is this:

Find a compatable replacement engine. I want to upgrade the engine if i can. From what i've read, i could possibly use a 2.4L turbo from a PT Cruiser for this, but i havent found anything confirming or denying this for my specific vehicle.

preferably replace and upgrade the transmission, again, i'm not entirely sure of what would be compatable, it would have to match up to the 2.4 turbo from the pt cruiser if i were to upgrade to that

find out exactly whats going on with the AC lines so i can get that working

probably leave the inside fan hooked to toggle, i like it better that way


I know its probably alot to do all of this, but my passion is working on this neon. I want to make it into something i love. Regardless of what engine i put in it, i want to put a turbo in it. I know how to put an engine in and pull one, had to do it once before, and i'm an electrician and mechanic by trade, although amateur on the mech side. so any help, tips, and links to what i need to be looking at would be greatly appreciated. I have the general idea of what i want to do, I just dont know where to go from here, mainly because i dont want to buy something that isnt compatable with the vehicle. Thanks for the tips and help, its greatly appreciated!

 

So as you can see there are a few engine swap ideas you can choose from. You can also swap in the SRT-4 engine and turbo (there is a thread in the FAQ's on how to do this). Some people use the 2.4 PT, caravan engine and use the SRT-4 internals and turbo it. As far as the transmission, try and find any 3.55 tranny for the neon to go along with the turbo. Boosted neons prefer the 3.55 tranny as opposed to the 3.94 tranny.

 

you mentioned the caravan engine, i have a 94 plymouth voyager with a V6 SOHC 3.0L FI engine+stock transmission sitting in my driveway, waiting to be shipped to the junkyard. would i be able to fit that in the neon with twin turbo on it? and thank you very much for the information thus far, its really helped out. i didnt know i could just drop the SRT-4 engine in it.. (as i said, pretty amateur but i learn very fast.)

 

You probably could, but the question would be how much time, effort and money would it take. The 2.4 swap has been done plenty and there are how tos and even brackets to help people out.

 

i'll just go with the 2.4 then. i got looking at the 3.0 while it was still in the voyager and i just dont think i have that kind of time, possibly not even enough room to be honest. thanks for getting me headed in the right direction, now i can get started!

 

People have put V8s in a neon, so with enough time, money and fab skills almost anything is possible.

 

well i had the old engine working just fine after working on it some, then after an hour trip into the next closest town i found the antifreeze boiling in the reservoir and it was near black instead of green.. so i'm pretty sure there is something internally wrong with the engine itself, the antifreeze smells a bit like oil so something tells me there's a hole between the oil and the antifreeze. i've decided to pull the engine and transmission both and put the 3 speed and 3.0l v6 in from the grand voyager. most everything lines up and i can rig most of the rest, but my major concern is the shifter, its only set up for 1, 2, then drive. i would need to mod it for 1, 2, 3, then drive for this one. any tips?

 

Sounds like you had a blown HG, not a big deal to fix.

I have no idea how to mod the auto tranny nor do I believe it can be done. Here is a site on how to improve the tranny's performance though.
http://www.halfahemi.com/fastatx/

 

I have to admit, i think when you said some had put v8s in neons that made me over confident and i rushed things, i didnt pay much attention to a few important things, most major one being the electrical system, but thats where i excel! just a matter of when and not if i can do it. thanks alot das, i'll be uploading some pictures soon!

 

You will have to completely rewire the system and probably run a stand alone EMS. Here are a few pics for motivation...