New to Dodge and the forum. Posted up in welcome area, but I have some questions I need help with. We just got this ride a few days ago, so just now finding some issues here and there. Hope you guys can help me out

Have an 04 Neon SRT4 and some issues arose today driving to work. I"ll just list them, and hope some of you guys can at least point me in the right direction.

1. Temp gauge moves back and forth past 200 but not to the point of getting hot just yet.

2. Trans is really stiff in gears 2 and 4 (difficult to shift to), but in 1, 3 and 5, its really a smooth shift... Have never run into that situation before on a stick shift. Clutch is fullly depressed with each shift, so not sure

3. Check engine light comes on and I don't have a code reader so will need to swing by a place to get that checked out - not really worried about the Check engine as much as other things.

4. Definately need to find me a local shop in the Southern Cali area - somewhere preferably in Orange County... Any you guys use a local shop that sorta specializes in SRT's??

This is the first Dodge in the family, so trying to learn as much as possible, and get some answers to some probs.

BTW car has under 50k on it....and it runs great

thanks

 

1. that's normal. there's a 195 degree thermostat in the car and the fans are programed to turn on at 205 degrees. if you want lower temps you can put in a 180 degree thermostat and do the fan mod so you can manually turn on the fans lower than the 205 stock.

2. try changing your fluid and see if that helps. also check your cables and the bushings (both at the shifter and at the transmission).

3. turn the key to the accessory position three times without starting the car. the codes will appear in your odometer. tell us what the codes are, we can help you out further from there.

4. sorry i don't know that area, i'm on the other side of the country lol. hopefully someone local to you can help.

congrats on getting her, and have fun!!!!

 

found out at a local shop check engine is O2 sensor, over boost and a cracked vac line that we can replace at home. Just hoping that the temp deal isin't a head gasket.

Thanks for the info on the trans - will look into that.... worried mainly after driving some this afternoon about the temp mainly at this point. going from around 200-205 maybe a point or two over that from time to time.

is it that normal for the temp gauge to flucuate that much in normal driving - stop and go and hwy?

edit: i'll post up some pix of the car too... should i post them here or in another thread?

 

if anyone can tell me where the O2 sensor is located, please help - haven't a clue on this car. Plan to replace it on Saturday

 

both are located in the factory downpipe. You will have to get to them from underneath the car. One is right after the cat which will be seen pretty easily, and the other is before it. Its not hidden, but you will have to look up along the pipe toward the motor.

 

^^^
really appreciate it... will be trying to get at it a bit later today. have some things to do this morning then a full day ahead

 

what was the code that was thrown? the code will tell you if it's the upstream or the downstream sensor. just do the key thing and tell us what the codes are.

if you're getting an overboost code lower your boost.....NOW. especially if you're on stock fuel.

205 is fine for the temps to be at. if you read my previous post it said that the fans are programed to turn on at 205, which is why you see the temps there while idling.

 

Shop told me the code was O2 sensor...didnt say which or was more than 1 =/ Will do the key thing later, and repost the code it reads for you guys to let me know

Got tied up with a few other things yesterday afternoon, while changing the oil... more on that a little later

So I'll keep posting a few things here and there within this thread as I go along.

thanks for the help getting so far

 

With a stock thermostat the needle can travel close to 240 before cooling if the temperature outside is hot enough. Its all completely normal. There are two O2 sensors in the car, upstream (located in the o2 housing/turbocharger elbow right after the exhaust manifold), and downstream (after the cat almost at the midsection).

Upstream affects your fuel trim, downstream does not. So if the downstream one goes out you won't feel any ill effects when driving the car.

 

the temps outside were only around 70, riding along the coast in Southern Cal. Doesn't get really hot here, so was curious about that. I know that in the mountains, ect that temps can run up and down or in the desert.

But routine driving in other vehicles I've never encountered this situation before. So was a bit scared when I saw the needle rise that high - especialy over 205 and even higher.