2000 Neon Water pump replacement
#11
03-23-2009, 02:30 PM
#12
03-23-2009, 04:47 PM
2nd gen neon peace keeper
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Hornell NY
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I HAVE SPIRIT TO!!!!!! but it only has 75k on it!!!! lol spirits rock!!!! lol, jk....
#13
02-27-2019, 10:40 AM
#14
03-10-2019, 10:09 AM
Registered User
#15
06-02-2019, 08:50 PM
yeah man this is rough, if your talking about cant get the bolt out because its too long and you dont have enough space to pull it out i can help you..
take the top mount completely off, keep a jack under your oil pan taking care not to put it in a spot that it could bust it..... the only way ive been able to get these bolts out is you have to jack the engine up as far as you can get it to go before it starts lifting up the car, and you may have to kinda push the A/C lines out of the way....
dont bend or kink them, just kinda push them around and such till you get the top 2 out.... then to get the bottom bolt out, you have to let the engine back down, as far down as you can get it to go and you should be able to get that last bottom bolt out...
Be really careful when trying to get the mount plate off the side of the engine cause it is pretty long and if you try to just force it out youll bust your timing belt cover.... i know this because i did it lol.
once you get that out, the timing belt cover will come off, that is as long as you have already pulled the crank pulley.....
now youll need to take the timing belt tensioner off... and the timing belt comes off... there are a few bolts holding in the water pump... pretty self explanitory....
you have to have a table vice or a a c clamp big enough for the tensioner..... you have to compress it and put a nail or a pin of some kind in.. has to be pretty stroung tho caue it will bend it....
When putting it back on the engine, MAKE SURE you tighted it pretty tight.... and if you use a breaker bar or a cheater pipe or something of that source to tighten it, be careful that the socket doesnt slip... i came pretty close to breaking my finger on the lower control arm....
Hope this helps you out...
take the top mount completely off, keep a jack under your oil pan taking care not to put it in a spot that it could bust it..... the only way ive been able to get these bolts out is you have to jack the engine up as far as you can get it to go before it starts lifting up the car, and you may have to kinda push the A/C lines out of the way....
dont bend or kink them, just kinda push them around and such till you get the top 2 out.... then to get the bottom bolt out, you have to let the engine back down, as far down as you can get it to go and you should be able to get that last bottom bolt out...
Be really careful when trying to get the mount plate off the side of the engine cause it is pretty long and if you try to just force it out youll bust your timing belt cover.... i know this because i did it lol.
once you get that out, the timing belt cover will come off, that is as long as you have already pulled the crank pulley.....
now youll need to take the timing belt tensioner off... and the timing belt comes off... there are a few bolts holding in the water pump... pretty self explanitory....
you have to have a table vice or a a c clamp big enough for the tensioner..... you have to compress it and put a nail or a pin of some kind in.. has to be pretty stroung tho caue it will bend it....
When putting it back on the engine, MAKE SURE you tighted it pretty tight.... and if you use a breaker bar or a cheater pipe or something of that source to tighten it, be careful that the socket doesnt slip... i came pretty close to breaking my finger on the lower control arm....
Hope this helps you out...
#16
02-14-2022, 11:38 PM
Just about finished putting all 3 motor mounts, belts and a thermostat on my '04 Neon SXT. Still need to fill the radiator, replace the cover down below the crank pulley and put the right front wheel back on.
Be sure your thermostat housing isn't leaking into the timing cover like mine was, I thought it was my replacement water pump I installed at 105,000 miles. I spotted the leak after moving the PS pump out of the way, but went into the cover for a look anyway since I was right there. The thermostat seal had gone bad and there was a factory nick in the aluminum on the head where the seal/housing mates with it. It was the first time the housing has been off. Cleaned and stoned the damage as smooth as I could.
Disconnect both torque struts, the lower one kept me from getting the engine high enough so it needs to have the front bolt removed. Be aware the engine will rotate a little when you take the bolt out. Disconnect the lower radiator hose, or pull the radiator mounts loose so it can move up if you don't want to drain the coolant. Otherwise you may have a big mess when the hose gets yanked off the engine and a possible newly leaky radiator to replace. I would assume you already pulled the PS pump and set it aside since you need that room, those hoses will pull tight trying to get high enough to remove the bolts. One of those 3 obstructed engine mount plate bolts usually has to come out the bottom and two from above, that back one is a pain, you can loosen the AC hose mounts and go under it instead of trying to go over it.
One interesting thing is that I was able to put the 3 long bolts in from above by putting one of them in the mount and and wiggling the mount in putting the second obstructed one in and fiddling with it a bit to get it through the hole. The 3rd one just slid right in. No way that would have worked the last time, the motor seemed to be a little higher and the whole thing was a little more to the left side. I hope something didn't bend or break this time. I'll probably find out tomorrow. Of all the things I have done on my MOPARs, I thinkthis is the job I dislike the most.
Clay
Be sure your thermostat housing isn't leaking into the timing cover like mine was, I thought it was my replacement water pump I installed at 105,000 miles. I spotted the leak after moving the PS pump out of the way, but went into the cover for a look anyway since I was right there. The thermostat seal had gone bad and there was a factory nick in the aluminum on the head where the seal/housing mates with it. It was the first time the housing has been off. Cleaned and stoned the damage as smooth as I could.
Disconnect both torque struts, the lower one kept me from getting the engine high enough so it needs to have the front bolt removed. Be aware the engine will rotate a little when you take the bolt out. Disconnect the lower radiator hose, or pull the radiator mounts loose so it can move up if you don't want to drain the coolant. Otherwise you may have a big mess when the hose gets yanked off the engine and a possible newly leaky radiator to replace. I would assume you already pulled the PS pump and set it aside since you need that room, those hoses will pull tight trying to get high enough to remove the bolts. One of those 3 obstructed engine mount plate bolts usually has to come out the bottom and two from above, that back one is a pain, you can loosen the AC hose mounts and go under it instead of trying to go over it.
One interesting thing is that I was able to put the 3 long bolts in from above by putting one of them in the mount and and wiggling the mount in putting the second obstructed one in and fiddling with it a bit to get it through the hole. The 3rd one just slid right in. No way that would have worked the last time, the motor seemed to be a little higher and the whole thing was a little more to the left side. I hope something didn't bend or break this time. I'll probably find out tomorrow. Of all the things I have done on my MOPARs, I thinkthis is the job I dislike the most.
Clay
#17
02-20-2022, 04:04 PM
While you have the pesky engine mounting plate removed, to which the P/S pump serp belt tensioner assy is attached, I'd also seriously consider replacing the wall-less idler pully, as its bearing likes to seize & we have to take all these things loose & off to get at its single T-40 fastener to replace this $4 pully from Rock Auto.
An aside thought for consideration, having just replaced our 2000 2.0L power steering /ac serp belt tensioner idler pully at about 135 K miles, what a PIA for one bolt!!!
An aside thought for consideration, having just replaced our 2000 2.0L power steering /ac serp belt tensioner idler pully at about 135 K miles, what a PIA for one bolt!!!
Last edited by paw paw; 02-21-2022 at 02:43 PM.
#18
02-20-2022, 05:55 PM
HI Paw Paw,
I replaced the idlers when I did the timing belt at 105,000 miles. I thought about just doing it all again since it has 60,000 miles on the new parts but everything looks and feels good as new still. Could be a mistake, but this car has a clunking noise in the front that has been driving me nuts for years now. If I don't fix it, it may have to go. I can't make it clunk by bouncing it or jostling the wheels with a 6 foot pry bar under the tires but just driving on the gravel drive it makes the rattles and clunks, worse on the road. I call it my "real clunker". I have literally spent many hours trying to find where the noise is coming from. I have replaced a lot of parts, most were worn or looked suspect, I don't just swap out parts. I've done the inner and outer tie rod ends, checked that the rack is tight, checked the CV shafts for excess wear, replaced the lower control arms, removed the anti-sway bar to see if it was the cause (and then replaced it). and now replaced the 3 motor mounts. I even set the top mount/strut to get the engine position to be 119mm as per spec. I removed and inspected the transmission mount a while back but it looked perfect, no cracks in the rubber or anything visibly wrong. I took it on a 1400 mile trip and has one wheel that was out of balance and at 75mph it would constantly tap-tap-tap. Maddening!
Since replacing the mounts the low speed tapping and light clunking is better, but it still clunks heavily on rough pavement or gravel roads. I haven't had it on the highway yet. I'm going to go ahead and replace the trans mount just in case it looks good but is spongy or sagging. After that it will be back to the crap tool below.
I bought a piece of crap tool, a Steelman Chassis Ears. I'm sure they made a lot of good ones, but mine wasn't a good one. It has 6 leads with clamps that pick up sounds but they were junk. I used it for a quick job on a friends truck with two clamps and thought it was great. Found his noise right away. Then I didn't get to the Neon until after the warranty was up. One of the clamps I used the first time was bad already. When you tapped om it it sounded okay buy on the car you couldn't hear the sounds from the motor. I was going to use all 6 clamps but couldn't. I spent many hours trying to track down the clunks but finally realized the clamps were ALL intermittent junk! You would get different sound levels from them every time you moved them so you couldn't track anything down. I have a lot of tools, many I have had since I was a teen and I take care of them, so there is no way I abused or stretched those wires. I couldn't get it warrantied and I tried cutting off and reattaching the ends but the wires are are just total junk. Flexing the wires near the connectors would make noises in the headphones and where the wires were crimped into the clamps as a strain relief the wires were ALL eventually found to be intermittent! It has been most frustrating tool I have ever owned by far. I hate that damn thing so much I hate to make Steelman any money by buying a new set of clamps/leads for it! I bought some cable and piezo sensors and plan to build a new set. I might make some mag-mount ones that just stick on, but sometimes you need to clamp onto aluminum. That is if I don't use it for target practice first. What a POS. Tried to find two of the clamps I repaired that would work yesterday and no joy there. All junk again. I can't be the only one that got bad wires from Steelman.
I really like my Neon, It has been super reliable and a fun driver, but this clunking has to stop. I may have to break down and pay a mechanic to look at it. I have only ever had warranty work, tires and alignments done, all the rest I have done myself! At this moment I'm stumped.
Any suggestions as to what I missed? It is definitely in the front and the heavy thumps you can feel through the floor/firewall. If I quickly release the clutch enough to make the engine move it makes a bit of a clunk. I don't know anyone that can do that while I listen, and the clutch is the original with 165k mile so I don't want to fry what little is left. That will be a late spring project, too much to do right now.
Clay
I replaced the idlers when I did the timing belt at 105,000 miles. I thought about just doing it all again since it has 60,000 miles on the new parts but everything looks and feels good as new still. Could be a mistake, but this car has a clunking noise in the front that has been driving me nuts for years now. If I don't fix it, it may have to go. I can't make it clunk by bouncing it or jostling the wheels with a 6 foot pry bar under the tires but just driving on the gravel drive it makes the rattles and clunks, worse on the road. I call it my "real clunker". I have literally spent many hours trying to find where the noise is coming from. I have replaced a lot of parts, most were worn or looked suspect, I don't just swap out parts. I've done the inner and outer tie rod ends, checked that the rack is tight, checked the CV shafts for excess wear, replaced the lower control arms, removed the anti-sway bar to see if it was the cause (and then replaced it). and now replaced the 3 motor mounts. I even set the top mount/strut to get the engine position to be 119mm as per spec. I removed and inspected the transmission mount a while back but it looked perfect, no cracks in the rubber or anything visibly wrong. I took it on a 1400 mile trip and has one wheel that was out of balance and at 75mph it would constantly tap-tap-tap. Maddening!
Since replacing the mounts the low speed tapping and light clunking is better, but it still clunks heavily on rough pavement or gravel roads. I haven't had it on the highway yet. I'm going to go ahead and replace the trans mount just in case it looks good but is spongy or sagging. After that it will be back to the crap tool below.
I bought a piece of crap tool, a Steelman Chassis Ears. I'm sure they made a lot of good ones, but mine wasn't a good one. It has 6 leads with clamps that pick up sounds but they were junk. I used it for a quick job on a friends truck with two clamps and thought it was great. Found his noise right away. Then I didn't get to the Neon until after the warranty was up. One of the clamps I used the first time was bad already. When you tapped om it it sounded okay buy on the car you couldn't hear the sounds from the motor. I was going to use all 6 clamps but couldn't. I spent many hours trying to track down the clunks but finally realized the clamps were ALL intermittent junk! You would get different sound levels from them every time you moved them so you couldn't track anything down. I have a lot of tools, many I have had since I was a teen and I take care of them, so there is no way I abused or stretched those wires. I couldn't get it warrantied and I tried cutting off and reattaching the ends but the wires are are just total junk. Flexing the wires near the connectors would make noises in the headphones and where the wires were crimped into the clamps as a strain relief the wires were ALL eventually found to be intermittent! It has been most frustrating tool I have ever owned by far. I hate that damn thing so much I hate to make Steelman any money by buying a new set of clamps/leads for it! I bought some cable and piezo sensors and plan to build a new set. I might make some mag-mount ones that just stick on, but sometimes you need to clamp onto aluminum. That is if I don't use it for target practice first. What a POS. Tried to find two of the clamps I repaired that would work yesterday and no joy there. All junk again. I can't be the only one that got bad wires from Steelman.
I really like my Neon, It has been super reliable and a fun driver, but this clunking has to stop. I may have to break down and pay a mechanic to look at it. I have only ever had warranty work, tires and alignments done, all the rest I have done myself! At this moment I'm stumped.
Any suggestions as to what I missed? It is definitely in the front and the heavy thumps you can feel through the floor/firewall. If I quickly release the clutch enough to make the engine move it makes a bit of a clunk. I don't know anyone that can do that while I listen, and the clutch is the original with 165k mile so I don't want to fry what little is left. That will be a late spring project, too much to do right now.
Clay
