hello,

i did a search on this board and couldn't find anything that would help me with my problem. if this is posted somewhere where i can get some information, please let me know and i apologize if i'm posting something that has been discussed before.

i currently have a 2004 dodge neon sxt with 29k miles on it, i bought it when it had 14k miles on it. i've had an oil consumption problem since the first oil change. since i'm new to dodge, i'm not sure if this is normal in this car. i've talked to the dealer and got 3 different answers, and even called daimler-chrysler and got a different answer. they told me it is normal for the car to consume 1 quart of oil every 1000 miles, then after 50k miles, it will consume 1 quart every 750k miles. i'm new to dodge, so to me, this is very strange, since i've had 3 other cars that never had this issue.

my problem is, when its time to get the oil changed, the car is always low 1-2 quarts, showing either at the half way point on the dipstick, or a little below the half way point. i've been getting my oil changed at the same place for 7 years, never had a problem. he told me to have the dealer check it out because he'd never seen a newer car consume that much oil. i get it changed, dip stick is at full, then at 3k miles, its below the half way mark. i as told by the dealer that this is normal now, but 3k miles ago when there was a different service manager, he said that this wasn't normal and even the mechanic said it wasn't. then i was told to bring it back when it was time to get the oil changed again and if it was low, they would do a full diagnostic test on the car to see what the problem was. now i go there and they tell me its normal?


my question is, anyone here have this problem? is this normal? should i be concerned? or is it the dealer stalling giving me the run around?

any info would be highly appreciated.

 

1 qaurt between oil changes is normal
our valve cover is very poorly disigned it lets out oil trough the breather and then it ends up in your intake. It is not too big of a deal

 

1 quart of oil is not normal, not for any car. i've had 4 other cars and never had this problem, and after research, found out that is just chrysler who feeds their customer's this BS. 1 quart every 750 miles after i hit 50k is not normal.

but its surprising that no one else has this problem? i am going to trade this car in within the next couple of weeks, not worth the hassle in the long run.

 

May be you should check it (oil) after they change your oil on a flat driveway before you start driving that day.

 

Almost all manufacturers allow for 1qt every 1000 miles for oil consumption. This is a fairly industry wide standard. That being said it has been fairly normal for these crazy little neons to consume oil. I have noted though that since I no loger spend most of my time on the highway that my oil consumption has secreased markedly. Use to be 1 Qt an oil change and now just below full.

Many pervious posts have talked about the oil consumption and some going as far as routing the PCV system backwards to help eliminate oil pickup. Helps but did not eliminate. If most of you milage is on highwa¥ I would honest suspect it is pretty normal for this Chrysler design. Howver if you just drive around town then would start to worry more.

 

Yeah my Shadow consumes about that amount also. Glad it isnt synthetic that i have to keep pouring in there, the money out the exhaust...[:@]

 

I have an 05 Neon SXT with 25K miles...I took it to the dealer yesterday because the check engine light was on. The code it was kicking out was for a thermostat. Car has been running perfect. When they opened up the radiator, it contained a nice chocolate shake looking mix of oil and antifreeze. The oil level was low and oils been mixing in my radiator so now I need a new radiator, hoses, head gaskets...could be worse, they were afraid they were going to have to replace the entire engine. You may want to check your radiator...the guy working on the car now is a friend of mine and he said this is fairly common on Neons. I had no idea that there was a problem, but there was a slight smell when I would turn the heat on. Other than that, no clue. Good thing it's still under warranty.