i have a '99 dodge neon. and i'm not sure if i should replace the timing belt soon.
some of my friends say that the timing belt should be replaced after 100,000 miles.
and mine's about 95,000 miles.
for those who already replaced the timing belt, how much was your mileage when
you replaced it? and was there any signs before it actually went bad? (you know, sound, feel, etc)

 

I changed mine at 98K miles. The belt still looked great, but the design range for the belt was 100K. I did mine along with the water pump. By the way, this was on a 96 SOHC I had until 2002.

 

how much did it cost you to replace the timing belt?
any suggestion on where to get it fixed?
thanks for the help.

 

Ha Just changed mine at 97 thousand miles not because i wanted to i had to it ran out of time and had a terrible miss i did it myself its possible to do yourself if you have access to the right tools u need to loosen moter mounts jack the front of the engine up etc its not bad except for the hydrolic adjusters for the belt pullys

 

I had my timing belt go out on my old car (94 Merc Tracer) when I was driving it, instant loss of power. Prior to that happening I had noticed a drop in gas mileage, it seemed to have less acceleration than normal, thats about it. I was at around 125,000 miles when that happened. Luckily in my case I just needed the belt replaced and it did no damage to the engine. If I'm not mistaken if the belt actually breaks it can bend valves and do other damage to the engine. Its something that wouldn't hurt you to do. Because if it does go when you're driving you're SOL. Call the tow truck cause it isn't going to move unless you push it.

 

thanks, guys.
from what i can understand, i'm thinking that it's not that difficult to
change the timing belt. i'll look into it. see if i can.
has anybody changed the timing belt recently?
i'd appreciate it if anybody can give me some insights of how to do it.
thanks.

 

Under Chrysler maintenance schedule B your timing belt should be changed at 105,000 miles. NeonSXT04 is correct too. If the belt breaks there is a good chance you'll have bigger problems than just replacing the belt. If you think you are capable of changing the belt yourself then more power to you. It's very labor intensive, more so on a DOHC than a SOHC (obviously), and your dealer will likely want some serious cash to change it. As long as you're going to be changing the timing belt you may want to consider a more aggresive cam and performance valves. Now would be the time to do it when you had the timing belt off anyway. Just a thought.

 

It would be the perfect time to drop in a crane #12. Project neon is at about the same point right now just waiting for the parts to come. We're going to change the cam, cam gear, water pump (just because he have it tore apart that far might as well just to save headaches later) and the timing belt all in one shot.

 

i may be wrong, but i heard that there is a "timing chain" also.
supposedly a timing chain lasts forever. from what i hear, all the nissan cars
have a "timing chain". if that's true, can i install a timing chain on my '99 neon
auto sohc?

 

Most anything is possible, but not likely practical by the time you work out the custom mods to add the required lubrication. Besides, the idea that timing chains don't wear out is a myth. They have to be replaced too.... which is considerably more expensive to do. The real difference is that chains don't tend to break with the catastrophic results that can occur with a belt.

Even if I could get 200K miles out of the timing chain on our Alpine, I'd likely still have to open it up at 80 to 100K to replace the rubber tensioner..... I'd rather have a belt.

There's a decent summary of tradeoffs, including advantages for DOHC applications, at: http://www.cartalk.com/content/colum.../April/01.html

Edit: Obviously any damage to the engine will be the same whether it was a broken belt or chain... and timing chains can break. What I intended was that a worn chain is more likely to show symptoms (timing, noise, etc) than a belt which will often run fine until the moment it breaks.