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1997 Dodge Neon Head Gasket - READ ONLY

139 messages,  Last post on Apr 18, 2001 at 7:04 PM

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Messages Page 8 of 15

#63 of 139 HEAD BLOWN @ 36,000 by larrylove711

Oct 19, 2000 (12:18 pm)

My 1995 Neon HIghline WAS a dream to drive. Oil changes every 3,000 miles..I kept iot so well, it looked better than when I took delivery in June of 1995. Then, 18000 miles later, in Dec '96, I got nailed for a HUGE expensive brake job. Then the common killer: May '98 at just over 36,000 (no extended warranty, cause I was a donkey's rear)the head blew. I had oil mixing with my anti-freeze. All estimates went from $2500 & up. I has tears in my eyes as I drove to a Saturn dealer to get rid of the Green Hornet. I still owed $6k, only got $3,500 on the trade and therefore took a financial bath. But......my Saturn is kicking like Karate with 86,000 miles......34,000 of them this year so far. I will never, ever, as long I live get another Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth product.


There should be some kind of class-action suit regarding this problem. I wuz robbed!!

#64 of 139 97 Neon Oil Problems by merphie

Oct 20, 2000 (12:07 am)

Counting my Wife's car, we have 2 '97 neons. They are almost exactly the same. The only major difference is mine is a standard transmission. We have both experienced the same line of problems.


Her car started leaking oil from the rear oil seal. I believe this was between the transmission and the engine. After her's was fixed it started to have problems idling and idles rough period. The Dealership didn't find anything wrong.


Her dome light comes on at random times as well. This all started at about 47K miles.


Now mine is showing the same signs.


Anyone have any similar experiences?




Chris
Merphiemmcable.com

#65 of 139 What have I got myself into?! by rinfantino

Oct 21, 2000 (12:29 am)

You folks are scaring me! I just bought a 98 Expresso coupe as my commuter car. First time I didn't do any research before I bought. Then I check out Edmunds and see all the oil problems. Not what I need to see! Does anyone have a Neon that hasn't had problems? Is it possible I bought one that will be perfect?


Mine has 33K miles, 5 spd. Actually a fun little car. But after reading all these posts, I'm paranoid. I actually think I see traces of oil on the white paint near the front tires. If a head gasket is getting ready, what can I expect? Any sure tell signs? Should I pull the plugs every once in a while and look for oil there? I run the car hard in DC traffic, so I hope if there will be problems, it will happen in the next 2500 miles while it still has the factory warranty.


Please tell me Chrysler made some good neons!
Thanks.

#66 of 139 by gladichecked

Oct 21, 2000 (3:39 am)

I had a truck that had a bad head gasket. Here were the warning signs:


1) Oil in the coolant
2) Strong antifreeze smell
3) Truck ran hotter than normal

#67 of 139 by eneth

Oct 21, 2000 (9:58 pm)

To paraphrase what Robert Eaton, former chair of the former Chrysler Corporation said - "out of 100 vehicles, we're likely to build 10 that are as good as any Toyota has ever made, 80 that are OK, and 10 that cause repeated problems for our customers".


Yes, there are some good Neons out there. Not enough, but by his reckoning - 10% of them.

#68 of 139 advise by msucom

Oct 29, 2000 (8:49 am)

Recently, I too replaced the head gasket and timing belt on my 1997 Plymouth Neon Expresso. I do drive a lot and have put 90000 miles on the vehicle in the past 3.9 years. I still have a little more than a year to pay on this car and was very upset with the 815.63 repair. When I bought this car, I was concerned with the possibility of problems. But, I thought I would give the American car market one shot. Big mistake! I am in medical school now and don't have a lot of time to deal with car trouble, let alone the expense (I completely live off of loans). I am wondering if I have a chance at all to recoup all or part of this big repair. If anyone has input on this let me know. Also, any info regarding the company's complaint department phone number would be helpful.

#69 of 139 Yet another by jr1dr

Oct 30, 2000 (9:31 pm)

My '97 neon just came back from the dealer for the dreaded head gasket repair. It was one month out of warranty. I called chrysler customer service (the phone # is in the back of the owners manual) and they paid for it all. I have 18K miles on it.
Has anyone had experience with the new gaskets? Do they blow as well?

#70 of 139 Head Gasket by lucillef

Nov 03, 2000 (4:29 pm)

I just recently had an oil leak in my '97 Neon with less than 31,000 miles. I had it checked out locally and they informed me it was the head gasket. The mechanic also informed me that they had 8 Dodge vehicles in in the past year (a city of less than 2000 population)with the same problem. In doing the repairs on some of those vehicles, he indicated that when they received the new parts, it had been redesigned. I wonder why??? The Dodge dealer I purchased the car from did agree to give me a "courtesy" warranty because of the low mileage. But it appears to me that there is a problem (but I'm no mechanic). When I picked my car up yesterday from being repaired they told me that I had transaxle fluid leaking and that they replaced the seal on the left front axle. So....Ford Focus here I come!

#71 of 139 I am not alone! by angel31

Nov 03, 2000 (9:15 pm)

My 98 dodge neon sport is cute, roomy (important for my 3 kids), and really fast! But it's also very disappointing. I have replaced the head gasket, battery, breaks, front tires( going on twice), and the ignition wires. Not to mention the " Service Engine Soon" light coming on about once a month. And when I take it to the dealership all I get is rudeness. For $90 an hour for labor they should make sure everything is fixed before they give it back to me but they don't. I also was wondering about the lemon laws. When I expressed my thoughts about this to the manager he was more than willing to service my car at no charge and even apologized to my husband for being rude. So, speak up. Let those people know how you feel. I was thinking of buying a Dodge Caravan but now I say HELL NO!! Thanks for the support and all the shoulders to cry on.

#72 of 139 A good Neon? by freakncrx

Nov 06, 2000 (7:44 pm)

I'm definitely a person who believes that Honda & Toyota build the best cars in the world. It comes as no shock to hear that your Neons are giving you this many problems (well, a little shocked). Before you hate me though, the main point of this message is to say that my girlfriend has a '96 Neon with 118,000 that hasn't had any problems yet. To be totally honest though she bought it at 60k and at 90k she wrecked it and had to have the transmission replaced along with the cosmetic reconstruction needed. So i don't know whether she got a gem or if maybe she's just been lucky enough to avoid the repairs. I actually like driving it...but i think i'll stick to my Honda & Toyota instead.

Messages Page 8 of 15

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