I replaced the radiator cap & boiling stopped. Probably the best news all week. The PCV is in that hose that goes horizontally to the right from that PCV hose, its there.

I changed the oil today with 3qts of semisynthetic 5w-30 and 1qt of lucas oil stabilizer. Drives better already.

I had my friend help me take the battery & fuse box out so we could get a look at the kickdown lever. That whole assembly was nearly rusted together. We used some anti-rust spray and attached a spring to help it return to normal position, then greased everything & it worked out nicely. Car no longer shifts hard & can barely feel the shifting even when goin hard on the gas.

my friend also did a compression check on the engine. Cylinder 1 was 155, and the other 3 were 150. He said thats good. How does that seem to u?

I suspect a slow/small transmission leak, saw some red transparent oil on the ground where my car is usually parked. Checked the transmission fluid after drivin bout 20 miles, while in park & idling, fluid was at the warm level (middle dot). Not sure why this could be...

car needs a new throttle cable, since im pretty sure the one on it is stretched... & were gonna run some cataclean in it once we have extra money for a full tank of gas. Might do those on Tuesday. My car has came from a lemon to a decent running car in less than a month. Im feelin good about it.

As for them hoses, do i need to switch em both out for oil-resistant hoses or just the pcv hose?

 

also where can I find a cheap throttle cable?

 

how much transmission fluid would my car need? I plan to fully flush it & replace the pan gasket & filter w/ the help of my friend. I read on yahoo answers that it holds 8.9 quarts, but that was for a 97 neon. Mine is a 96 dodge neon w/ SOHC.

 

How do you plan to flush it? Same trans for both years, so same capacity. But if your just dropping the pan you will only need around half that.

Just double checked the specs. 8.9 full from bone dry (new trans). If you just drop the pan its 4qts. Wouldn't hurt to adjust the bands while your in there.

 

i was thinkin bout flushin the whole thing but to be honest its really not worth the effort after readin how to do it.... my car shifts perfectly as it is, I just wanted to do it for ****s & giggles & preventative maintenance. I'll do a true flush by 70k miles or so and take it to a garage for $125 and have them use the machine on it. I can't believe how good my engine is runnin right now. Bought the car for $1400 & it seemed like it was gonna die any day & after $200 parts & $100 labor (for waterpump & timing belt install) its runnin like a new car would.

thank you so much for the help, Im pretty happy with this car & its the first car ive owned with the title in my name. Turned out pretty good

 

Nice work! Glad to hear your happy with it. I have been on the hunt for a neon for a while myself, have yet to find my match.