I just bought a 97 Neon 2.0 SOHC base model for a fuel saver. Diesel for my 06 Ram is getting expensive here... Anyway I have a pretty good oil leak coming from what appeared to be the cam sensor. I pulled the sensor off with the intensions of changing it only to find the cam sticking out 1/16th of an inch or so. The old sensor obviously had been damaged from this, and new one wouldn't bolt flush to the head. I then popped the cam back in place, and installed the new sensor. Drove it to work the next day and had an oil leak again... Question is: do I need to get a new head or is their another way out of this? Its suppose to be a cheap beater so I don't want to spend a lot of $$.



side note: I also don't have any heat. coolant is full, and I back flushed the heater core with water. anything common here?

97 Base neon. 2.0 SOHC 5 speed about 130k on it. previous owner just did head gasket, timing belt, and water pump not even 200 miles ago

 

Check if all the gears under the timing cover are aligned. I wonder if he put the cam sprocket on backwards.....if it reads "2.4L Front" on the outside, that's what he did.