Hi first time poster here, with a question for all you out there. Looking for whatever advice I can get. I'll try and give you the full story and as much info as I can.

I drive a 2005 Dodge Neon SXT automatic. It has about 99500 miles and is in fairly good condition. I've done a lot of the routine maintenance myself (oil changes, changed spark plugs, spark plug harness wires, induction air filters, and I've even changed the radiator fan motors and other various things). A few months ago I changed the oil and put about 5 qts in like I normally do. About 2 weeks later, my oil light indicator came on and when I popped the hood, the dipstick read at min. This was only a few weeks after I changed the oil. Well, I looked underneath and I didn't see any leaks from the oil filter or the drain valve, so I figured, the engine is just getting old and its probably just burning more oil, but that seemed like an excessive amount. So anyways, I added more oil, watched the levels for like a week or two and didn't have a problem until today.

I was driving home and once I turned into my neighborhood, my engine quit on me and the oil light turned on. The car coasted for a bit until I stopped it and put it in park. I popped the hood and there was almost no oil left on the dipstick. I'm not sure, so maybe some one can confirm this, but I believe the engine has a fail safe sensor that goes off to kill the engine if the oil level gets excessively low. So anyways, I called up my parents and had them bring some extra oil I had in the garage, I put it in the car, it started up fine and made it back to my house.

Along with this excessive oil burn, my car has also been making a strong vibration when I accelerate, which has been occurring for almost a year now. I've looked all over my car and even asked some mechanics and there were just too many possibilities to determine what was causing the vibration. I've changed engine mounts, used injector cleaners to make sure the fuel is flowing fine, and have checked the plugs and harness. And all this has not stopped it. So I wonder if it's something internally with the engine. Its a strong vibration that rattles the entire frame of the car, especially during acceleration. However, performance wise the car doesn't seem to suffer and there weren't any idiot lights going off, so I didn't figure I should be too concerned, I've just sort of learned to live with the noise. But now I'm wondering if the oil burn and the vibration are connected in some way. If anyone has any advice that'd be great. Sorry I wrote so much, just want to make sure I tell you as much as I can.

 

Hi Pilotguy,

I realize it has been over 5 years since you posted on the topic "2005 Dodge Neon SXT excessive oil burn and rough running".
Thing is I have the same exact problem and your post is the only one I've come across that captures 100% what my 2005 Neon is doing (has been doing for several months). Did you come up with a solution? If so please share. I've changed oil, checked engine mounts, had wheels balanced ... no solution yet. I'd be grateful to hear anything else I can try. Since the forum is so old feel free to gmail me with the answer.

 

Welcome to the 2nd Gen Neon forum.

Sudden unexplained oil use can be caused by a leaking oil pressure sensor. It's a common problem. It's Located drivers side rear, low down on the engine block. It's common for it's insulator to crack & leak oil under pressure, but not drip on the block, or no drip after the engine is shut down & oil pressure goes to zero.

I just changed the wife's 2000 2.0L oil pressure switch last year, after reading on this forum about that danged switch insulator leaking under pressure.
Easy enough to get at & replace from the top of the engine if we remove the battery & tray.
I had to buy the modified inside deep removal socket, as I didn't have a socket deep enough to clear the danged electrical connector & still grab the hex flats. It was in Tight.

Another culprit can be a clogged up PCV valve. On worn engines with excessive blow by, that blow by pressure, along with a non functioning/clogged up PCV valve can cause excessive crank case pressure that can pop old weak seals & cause oil leaks.

Lastly, oil filter leaks. Since 2011 I've had the oil filter gasket compress over time with heat & cause the filter to weep at the base. They must have changed gasket vendors, or gasket material, as it just suddenly started in 2011.
Look underneath at the inverted filter dome hanging down, to see if there is a drop of oil hanging ready to drip. This kind of leak too would be worse with the engine operating & warm & will drip off without wetting anything, so, like the oil pressure switch leak, we can have oil level drop, but not show any signs on the pavement, no smoke from the exhaust, no oil fouled spark plugs, no drips on the engine, or pavement, just the oil level dropping unexplained over time.

A bunch of thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.