Hey guys, I just sold my Ram and now I need something more economical just to go point a to point b. I have to drive 45 minutes both ways to work now, so I'm looking at maybe an older neon or something. I'm looking for a 5 speed for sure. I'll probably go with a K&N and an exhaust just for fuel mileage increases and that's it.

First off, I've heard the older neons had a hard time with head gaskets. Did they ever fix that on the later 1st gens or are they all like that?

Also, any problems (or anything for that matter) that I should look for when inspecting a neon to purchase?

Thanks everyone.

 

The 95-mid 98 built neons had leaky headgasket problems and most were replaced with the better MLS gasket. There should be a tab that sticks out between the runners of the intake manifold that will identify the MLS.

Things to consider when looking at a neon would be mileage. The neon has a 100,000 mile timing belt so if it's close to that number check to see it has been replaced along with tensioner pullley and water pump. The neon has an interference engine so if one of them goes, you will 99% of the time bend some valves.

I wouldn't worry about upgrading the exhaust to get better milage. You'd probably have to drive thousands of miles before offsetting the cost.

DOHC MTX neons that are non-ACR or R/T's have a 3.94 tranny with a .72 fifth gear for better highway fuel economy.

 

Great info, thanks!

 

I'm in the same boat, I'm going to be looking at 2 dodge neon's tomorrow for a friend, so i figured I would join in on the community and ask for alittle help.

Looking for a daily beater so she's not looking for anything special. Just something to get her around her college campus.

One is a 97 neon with 70,000 and the other is a 98 with 88,000 priced at 2100 and 2450 respectively both automatics. I expect them to be as basic as it gets.

I have taken a look around the forums and heard good things about the automatic and it being indestructable, as for the engine I keep running across the same issues in regards to the head gasket, timing belt (and tension pulley) and water pump. There are some issues with seals for the transmission but that seems to always relate to the manual tranny.

I don't want her plunking down 2 grand just to have to spend another 500 (hopeful) to fix some bent valves and broken belts so I was wondering if anyone has a write up of how to identify the timing belt and water pump inside the engine bay and whether or not they need replacing. My daily beater is an old 94 318 bmw so the engine bay of a dodge neon is something alien to me.

There is a good write up to identify whether or not the headgasket has been replaced with the better MLS one, it shouldn't be too hrad to locate a tab sticking between the runners of the header.

The place is actually a service center that deals in buying and selling used cars, so I figure that any really bad problems would be taken care of, but you can never be to sure about these things right?

 

^^^I doubt either one of those have had the timing belt replaced along with the other stuff. The timing belt can be inspected to some degree if you take off the timing belt cover. Two 10 or 12mm nuts, I think. I'd look closer at the 97 since it has lower milage.

 

you sure cant be positive....i bought my first neon from a dealership in a nearby town...it was a 95 sohc auto...112,000 miles....they said it was all tuned up and ran great....less then a week later(about 4 days to be exact)the tensioner went out and did all the dirty work...pissed me off

 

As I was searching for more information on neons and what to look for when you buy them I found this old link. It's got lots of information and a good shot of what the head gasket should look like.

http://www.allpar.com/neon/repairs.html

It looks like if the neon's are in good shape and mechanical sound, that replacing the timing belt, tensioner, and water pump is a good idea no matter what. Since the place that is selling them is a service center, maybe I can get them to replace the parts at a reduced price on labor since I am buying the car from them anyways.

Does anyone have any estimates as to how much replacing these parts would cost?

 

Good ol' allpar.com...great info on that site!

Timing belt $40, water pump $50, and tensioner pulley $30...these are average prices!

 

i went to the dealer and got the parts for my first one when they went out and they cost 65.00 for the belt and 115.00 for the tensioner....but maybe they changed by now

 

ok..autozone
50 water pump
50 timing belt (dont go cheap with these)
doesnt list tensioner pulley (only cam pulley)
so basically what he said