Hey
I'm new to the forum, hope someone can answer my question and sorry if it's alreay been answered and posted some where here. I'm in a bit of a hurry and don't have time to research. Im doing a timing belt this weekend on my 2004 Neon 2.0 SOHC with 106,000 miles (eighth character in the VIN is "C"). I want to know if I'll have to disconnect the exhaust manifold or tail pipe to lower and raise the engine. I'm using a Haynes manual and they do suggest disconnecting the manifold, BUT the videos I've watched on You Tube don't mention disconnecting the manifold to replace the timing belt. I would rather not disconnect it, but I don't want to crack the manifold because I needed to disconnect it. So does anyone who has actually done this job have any suggestions for me? Thanks for your help.

Tony

 

You don't have to disconnect the manifold, the exhaust has enough play to do it.

You will need to jack the engine up and down quite a bit though.....make sure you use a block of wood on oil pan or your jack will go through it.

Also you need a special pulley puller, a normal 3 jaw will not work, you need a special one that has a thin dowel that reaches all the way down in the hole without ruining the threads for the crank pulley bolt.

A cheap alternative, a long 1/4 extension and a normal 3 jaw puller will work but be quite a bit more difficult to use.

 

what chew said! but REPLACE tensioner there is a kit and might as well replace water pump,you know"while your down there"go by the book youll be fine I have did a few,the older neons get a little wierd when aligning the timing marks,just do exactly what they say.youll have to do it again in few months once the belt kinda settles in.it does get kinda hard on the motor mount jackin it up and down try to remember that.you can rent the puller from a autozone or other parts store

 

Do what again exactly?

 

Thanks. Got done without disconnecting exhaust manifold. I hope youre not serious about retightening the tensioner in a couple months cause that motor mount bracket was a real challenge to remove. I did replace the water pump but not the tensioner because I couldn't find just the pulley.

 

If that's what he was talking about, re-tightening the tensioner, that is ridiculous. Too late now, but the tensioner alone is Gates P/N T43001.

 

What I meant is they say u should realign the timing marks in couple months after ,but u dont have to,older neons are little different,just tryin to be helpful.

 

Curious why you would need to unless the car jumped timing?

 

well they are zero tolerence motors meaning they cannot be off timing even a small amount or the valves will hit the pistons and get bent up,some people will recheck it to make shur its perfectly aligned in a few months after they put new belts on,I did this once,lol but ur right that mount is a fn pain,I actually bought a badass little neon rt for 400 bucks cause someone didnt do it right,still got the car one of the most reliable cars Ive ever owned!!!!had to redo heads because all valve were bent up!I will probably keep the car for long I get offers all the time to sell it...I have been thinkin about redoin a newer neon,but IM a jeeper so most of my money goes to that toy,latter

 

As you put it, they are interference engines. The timing needs to be perfect from the get go, not months later. If the timing is off, you are going to have performance problems anyways. Not that hard...align the two marks to each other.

I keep thinking about looking around for an R/T. I wouldn't mind a little extra oomph...plus some dang power locks and windows. The Neon is my DD, and of course, has no power anything. :\