So I just picked up a second neon to fix up. (long story short, my neon was in bad shape, this one has 127,000 miles and just some front end damage, got it for $600 bucks threw fenders, lights, bumper and a hood on and it loogs great -paint, gunna use the old one for parts and then scrap it.)

But, on the passenger side of the motor it is really noisy, almost like a light grinding. Figured it was the a/c or the PS pump so I thought nothing of it because if one goes out I have a backup.. Until I warmed it up today just checking things over. I have no heat. Car warms up like it should, is full of fluid, though it has not been driven more than 1 mile, but it blows zero heat. its blowing but not even warm. AC works great and power steering seems to be fine.

Besides the thermostat I'm lost.



Any Ideas?????




btw, good to be back here. Old neon has been sitting for about 2 years! Now I gotta switch the headers, HP blues, motor mounts, sway bars..... list goes on. I'll have pics up of the whole thing soon.

 

Is the coolant tank full? That'll create a no-heater situation besides a thermostat, or a heater core gone bad. You may try driving it too though. My car won't blow warm/hot air until it actually starts to get driven. I've never idled it long enough to find out how long it would take.

 

yeah, overflow is full.

I gunna change the thermostat real quick because I have one. It will be insured and registered Friday so I will try that. Never had that issue on the other one.

 

Thermostat worked.


Still noisy but oh well

 

The sound might be a pulley bearing going bad. Those can make noise to all hell when they go bad.

 

Nice, I might just switch that out. Your meaning the tensioner right?

 

You'd have to hunt it down to be certain. All pulleys [should] have a bearing. The tensioner is more likely to go than the others though.

 

I'm having the same problem with my 2001 Dodge Stratus R/T. I've taken apart the whole power steering and drivebelt system. When I spin the pulleys, it seems to be the power steering tensioner pulley that is making the most grinding and noises. I've looked for replacements and there no where to be found.

Does anyone know where to find a replacement power steering tensioner pulley for an '01 Dodge Stratus R/T (3.0 L)?

 

Since i've not Dove into my Neon like this i'm not sure what kind of water pump it has.
Does it have an external one like mid 80's volkswagens or one that's traditionally mounted on the front of the engine block.
Like darthroush mine won't start really heating up until it's moving and it does real fast.
The only thing I can think of except maybe as darthroush suggested the heater core is a bad water pump.

 

The water pumps are under the timing cover and driven by the timing belt.