Hi! My '05 Neon has been a bit of a challenge. Never anything big, but lately it seems small issues just keep coming one after another. My car has been looked at by my same mechanic since I got it 3 years ago. About a month ago, it began squealing. It was a belt. He then realized my pulleys and compressor needed replaced. He looked over my motor meticulously after fixing everything and putting everything back together. He also put on new brakes/rotors/pads/etc.
Well, about 2 weeks ago my car began making a slight squeaking noise whenever I accelerate, but would stop if I'd take my foot off the gas. I should also note that it only happens about every other time, and seems to stop after my car's been running.

Also, my car seems to be riding just a bit more rough. It's hard to describe exactly. My car's always rode a bit more rough than others due to my low-profile tires. However, when I brake, turn, accelerate quickly, etc. sometimes it just feels like it's not doing it as smoothly and feels a bit more like my car may just fall apart, for lack of better description...

My wallet's been drained and I'm not sure what could be wrong now. I'm a busy college student so it's difficult to find time to get it into the shop. Anyone have any ideas what these issues could be?

Thanks!

 

Squeaking while accelerating could be a bad belt (there are two). You can open the hood and rev the engine and listen to see if the squeak is coming from the belts.

If the car is riding rough, it could be a bad strut and/or strut tophat. A decent tire shop will probably look at your struts and tell you if one is bad for free (since they assume you'll be taking your car to them for the repair). Just go in and tell them you think a strut is bad, explain why you think that (just reiterate what you typed here) and you wanted to see if they could confirm that and give you a repair estimate. A regular repair shop will certainly charge you for looking.

 

If the squeak is very short and not very loud you might check the engine mounts and tranny mounts if auto.

 

Thank you both for your comments! Sorry for not replying in ages - I've been bad and haven't had my car looked at yet. Having an issue finding a reliable and affordable mechanic that I can trust. :/

Anyway, the squeaking is unusual mainly because I've had both belts replaced, and they're still in perfect condition. The squeak is only occasional and only lasts for a small period of time. It's frustrating because I got it fixed before I posted my initial post because of the noise! I'll definitely need to take it into a shop.

I never even considered looking at the engine/tranny mounts, thanks!

 

Even if you have had your belts replaced your mechanic may not have diagnosed the root problem. Something as simple as the pulleys being misaligned will cause the belt to squeak again.