I have a 03 SXT and when I drive it through large pools of water on the road or in parking lots it makes a very loud whining noise. I have done some research and I think it may be the serpentine belt. I also have a problem with while driving at night the light (headlights and dash lights) will periodically dim down almost like a flicker. If the problem is the serpentine belt then how do I go about changing it or is it better to have a mechanic do it? Oh by the way the car has 101000 miles on it and ive only had it for about five months.

 

how mechanically apt are you? it can be done yourself, or if taken to a good honest trusted shop, changed in the neighborhood of $100.

do you have any service records from the prev. owner?
you are right on the cusp of needing the timing belt replaced($$), but the serpentine, needs to be pulled as a part of that service any way..

and just to remind you, this is an interference engine. if that timing belt breaks, unless you are super lucky, you'll get damage to the pistons and/or valves from them colliding, at which point you'll be looking at a big repair bill, or a remanufactured engine.

 

Well I've changed a serpentine belt before but it was in a rear wheel drive vehicle with a large V8. I looks like with the neon I will have to remove the front passenger side tire to change it and I'm not to sure I want to go through all the trouble of doing that or just pay to have it done. As for the timing belt needing to be changed how much does that run? I got the car from a used car dealership and there are no service records. And I am so far upside down in with the car that I either have to fix it or will be paying for a yard ornament.

 

haven't had to have mine done yet, i'm still in the low 80's as far as mileage, manual calls for 105k, i plan on having it done around 90k, which would be sometime next year, at which point the car will be 9 years old..(mines an '05) last one i had changed was on my y2k hyundai sonata, back in 2004, that was about $500 @ the dealer. now, i think guys on here have said between $700-1000.
sorry.

 

Well I bought a two year warranty on it and it covers the timing belt so hopefully it will just go out and if it does all that damage then yay for me cause I'll get a new engine for only $100.00 and if not then I plan to trade it after the warranty is up. The only reason I got the car was cause I was in a desperate spot. Thanks for the info. I'm going to be making phone calls about the serpentine belt soon. Another quick question I have, my car vibrates when idling at stop lights and sometime if I turn on the A/C it will kinda soften up and then go rite back at it and by vibrate I mean like a massage chair. What could be the cause of this and is it something I should worry about?

 

fairly common, some have tried lots of things, and had the vibrations keep coming back.
Check the motor Mounts/ Torque struts. (look kind of like dog bones) if they need replaced, aftermarket are fine, for all but the "center" mount. (the actual motor mount).
The Mopar one is Fluid Filled, while most of the aftermarket copies aren't. see this thread - "Buying a used Neon? what to look for"
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...-look-for.html