I have 2002 Neon SXT (about 57k miles.) It's been working great for me so far. I do have two issues with it, though.

1. Sometimes after starting the vehicle, it will sputter. Especially if I put it into reverse or let it idle. Though rarely, sometimes it shuts off. It will sputter and acceleration will sputter until I drive about 1/4-1/2 mile. I'm guessing it may be a fuel pump or fuel filter issue, but I'm not exactly sure.

2. The rear brakes squeak very loudly, and sometimes not at all. I brought the car into the mechanic twice and both times he said that it's a normal Neon thing and that they are fine. He mentioned something about rust in the drums. Any insight on this?

Thanks in advance.

Brian

 

maybe you need new pads ??? when does it make noise while drive or at like a red light and ur creeping forward..

 

It's my back brakes, not my front. My front brakes were just recently replaced and work great. The squeaking is whenever I slow down to any sort of a stop, or creeping forward. But, it's usually not a constant squeak, but a squeak at a certain interval like it's rubbing over a rough spot. Does that make sense?

 

For the back brakes if no problem is evident to the mechanic and it still bugs you and it is a recent problem, have them put new pads and turn the drums. If the drums happen to be thin or are not too expessive rplace them. That should shut them up. Rust in a drum is a very common problem. It is not unusual to see a rust ridge on the inside edge (Open end of the drum) and can cause noise. Also if if not clean or adjusted properly can have issues with noise.

Other drum problems are pitting, scoring, and hard spots. The hard spots are caused by hard braking and causes noise and poor performance.

Also check that it is not rubbing on the backing plate that keeps dirt and water out of the drum.

 

yeh he gave some very good points to check.. but by my knowledge the front breaks always squeak if ur creeping forward.. maybe not every time but most of the time.. i was told thats normal for rotors

 

I would run some high octane gas through it and some injector cleaner with dry gas in it. Its the cheapest and easiest solution and fixes most problems

 

actually they sell a special dust that u can put inside the drum to stop it from squeaking but make sure nothing is wrong before you do that... cuz you don't want to mask a problem.

 

I've run some fuel injector cleaner through it a few times, but it didn't seem to help. I've noticed that it actually seems to start better during very cold days, and have issues on the warmer days, but then that could just be coincidence. I'll give those few things a try, but do you think I should look into the fuel pump or fuel filter?

 

those rear brakes are a POS! on the neons. i bought my 02 new and the brakes were squeeking a week later. what worked for me was taking the rear drums off and cleaning everything with brake cleaner. spray the shoes, the hardware, and the insides of the drums. make sure there is no debris in the drums or on the shoes when putting the drums back on. also, get the more expensive parts when replacing neon brakes. the tend to wear even and last longer ie: less frequent squeeking.

 

My neon with 14K on the clock has just started to squeal a litle on light brake slowdowns to a stop sign. Basically you should clean and adjust the rears with every rotation and that should help. Otherwise it is normally rust build up and dust that cause the noise.