The upper and lower mounts were F'd when I bought the car too, due to the accident that the car "wasn't" in. That's probably my issue.

 

dont feel bad.i bought a 2000 neon and the torque struts were both shot and the center mount too,i bought the car from someone for a really low price being that they had pawned the tittle and were fixing to lose it ended up replacing alot if parts and still have less than 2000 dollars in it,put a 250.00 dollar bosch fuel pump assembly then the top of the radiator was split 60.00 off ebay,then,not having any clue about the condition of the timing belt i sent it to the shop where they done the water pump,timing belt,was only supposed to be a 400.00 job turned into 725.00 because the tensioner pulley for the timing belt was locked up and spinning on the bracket,tryed to replace the pulley but dodge has changed the design umteen times already so had to buy the whole bracket and it was 300 and some change,and the whole time i was working on the car i only drove it a few miles due to no tag,so i was extremely lucky but when i finally got it on the road it had a weird fell as if it were going from drive to over drive but it doesnt have over drive.finally threw a code for the nuetral safety switch,dug everything apart for the switch and the wiring harness for the safety switch and the converter lockup ( im only guessing it went to the lock up still not sure) the harness comes from the computer and splits off for the switch and lock up switch,all them wires were tore up and tangled together,the coating was basically dry rotted and the tranny shop said it needed a new tranny for 2200.00 dollars and it was a stupid little harness,other than that it has been a really good car

 

darthroush,

I am unclear on what bolts to loosen for the torque strut alignment procedure. Below is my understanding, let me know if I am wrong somewhere....

1. Remove pencil strut (this is clear).

2. Referring to your diagram that shows Point A, this is flange for top torque strut bolt that moves either away or towards to firewall when we jack from below... Right? So we have to obviously loosen the both bolts that hold down point "A" to the engine mount bracket. (Right?) (I assume the two holes on that flange are like slots allowing for the movement.)

3. Then loosen bolts of the lower torque struts.

4. raise/lower from below, this makes that flange of the top torque strut slide front or back... once 4.7 inches is reached, tighten the bolts that locks the flange position. Then tighten the other bolts and put back the pencil strut.

thx

 

You want to loosen the large bolt by point B, not A, that bolts the mount to the strut tower. That hole is actually a bit bigger than the bolt so it has some room to move around for the alignment procedure.

Once you get the 119mm, tighten ALL bolts back down before removing the jack. The jack will hold everything in place while you are re-torquing everything.

 

Ah ok. So the sliding happens in that bracket bolted on the shock tower. Cool. Now its more clear

 

Yeah, if you take that bolt completely out, you'll see what I mean.

 

hello, i have recently had a timing belt change and while they had everything apart i had them replace the torque struts also. after i got my car back there is a vibration at idle with the air and heat off. my question is, what kind of tolerance is there from point a-b measurement. mine reads a 1/32" over 4 1/2". would that be acceptable. thanks

 

mines at 119mm and my steering wheel shakes in park

 

i am having vibration at idle ie i am at the bank drive through or sitting in park

 

arnonefrank13, neonewbie. by no means am i a expert. but if you have recently replaced your torque struts and they have been adjusted correctly and still having vibration problems it could be the bushings in the torque struts. after having mine replaced on my neon it has a vibration. sometimes worst than other times. from what ive researched is that some of the aftermarket bushings in the torque struts have harder bushings in them than factory ones which will transfer vibration though the car. my neon vibrates worst when the air condition isnt on but not all the time. i guessing the neon idles low (mine has no tach, its a se) and when the air condition is on my car idles up a little and has less vibration.