I have a strange situation. I have acquired a 1996 neon with 5 speed transmission and am told by the previous owner it has a 2000 engine. I have no reason to doubt this and am wondering if it may be the cause of a problem I have. The car runs good and drives fine, however the clutch engages after raising the pedal a fraction off of the floor. So in the swing of the clutch it would normally engage somewhere near the halfway point this is fully engaged after releasing the clutch less than 10% of the throw. The clutch seems fine as you can spin the tires so it is engaging fully. I am wondering if it may be due to a mismatch of model given the engine is a 2000 maybe some of the internals don't match up right?

Then if this is the case what is the solution? The current configuration is cable clutch mechanism, I have heard that newer models use a hydraulic implementation. Is it possible and/or necessary to convert to hydraulic.

I thank anyone who can provide some insight into this situation.

 

check the mechanism that the cable passes through as it comes out of the firewall. if that spring looking thing gets enough play in it, the clutch wont actuate correctly.