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Old 12-05-2000, 06:10 AM
cashmo cashmo is offline
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Location: Milwaukee, WI USA
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Looking for advice on my wifes 1998 Dodge Neon R/T. CEL = Check Engine Light

10/01/98 - Purchased car, ran fine for the first year, changed oil every 3k.

11/08/99 - CEL but drives fine. Dealer cleaned and decarbonized upper engine and valve train, reprogram powertrain controller per factory bulletin 18-47-98 for latest rev to software

12/10/99 - CEL and running rough, stalls. Dealer says vacuum amplifier allowing vacuum to EGR. Tested and replaced EGR valve.

1/12/00 - CEL and has stalled twice. Dealer says Evap purge solenoid monitor failure, inop solenoid. Replaced purge solenoid and reset PCM.

3/2/00 - CEL and runs rough. Dealer says systems analysis indicates misfire fault. Leaking head gasket and carbon deposits on valve springs. Replaced valve springs and head gasket per TSB.

5/25/00 - CEL and runs rough, hesitates. Dealer says #2 injector connectors loose. Replaced engine wiring harness.

8/25/00 - CEL and vehicle seems to be accelerating on its own. Dealer says high voltage from TPS. Replace throttle position sensor.

11/30/00 - CEL but drives ok. Dealer says loose terminals at purge duty cycle connector. DRB III tested, codes for multi cylinder misfire and purge solenoid circui fault, repaired terminals at purge duty cycle connector and retested, purge system OK.

As you can see it's been a busy year for us at the same dealership. They've been nice and all but our 3/36k warranty is almost up. The car now has just over 35k miles on it and I'm wondering what will fail next. Our choices seem to be…

1) Drive it and keep our fingers crossed that nothing will happen for another year.

2) Sell the car and hope we get $7k for it.

3) Buy an extended warranty from the dealership. I haven't inquired as to prices.

4) Try to get them to buy it back under the WI Lemon Law. Not holding my breath.

5) Enter the car in a demo derby

Any other options or suggestions?

Thanks,
Jeff
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Old 12-05-2000, 03:20 PM
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Dan S Dan S is offline
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I would say keep it. I have a 1996 Base Neon and I have beat the thing to death without 1 single problem. Do you know how to check the CEL? If so, go to Neons.org and find out what the code means. That should be a little easier for you. Also, use Mopar Combustion Cleaner and just do the regular maintenace. It should be fine now that you have most, if not all, of the TSB's done.

Dan S
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Old 12-05-2000, 11:49 PM
eternalfear eternalfear is offline
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well it seems i'm not alone with the numberous nitpicky as well as large problems with my '98 neon r/t. the check engine light was nearly a monthly occurence at one point, with the headgasket, engine misfire, and to top it off, my whole trunk flooded due to poor taillight gaskets! oh...and i won't mention that the sunroof one day just quit working, and the assembly is now replaced. i'm at 34k and just took it off the road for the winter, and am a bit weary about the coming miles as well.

i've had the spark plug wires all replaced, and the misfire problem has ceased for the past year though, and drove it 8k in 3 weeks without a hitch this summer.

i can't say i would put my trust fully into the car...perhaps that's why i bought a '96 SOHC neon that seems to enjoy a good beating alot more than the r/t. but with so many options to increase performance for the r/t, i won't be getting rid of it any time soon. personally, i'd skip the extended warranty. with the headgasket replaced, i don't know of any other major problems from other DOHC owners i know--just quick fix ones. and with my experience at the dealer, i wouldn't even trust them to fix it. they gapped the spark plugs they REPLACED due to misfire (the 2nd time!), at double the distance required. and i was wondering why it ran so unevenly after being fixed.....
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Old 12-06-2000, 01:07 AM
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2Sweet Neon 2Sweet Neon is offline
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Biggrin

i had a problem with my misfiring and a checked the fuel injectors plugs (where they plug into the fuel injectors)and one of them was bent. I straigted it out and it runs fine now.That might be a problem that is and easy fix.
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Old 01-13-2001, 04:30 PM
bkcorris bkcorris is offline
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don't take this the wrong wat, but most of the problems with the neon motors, especially the DOHC, is that it was meant to be driven hard(er). the carbon up easy under normal driving wich is why they have a TSB for the valve springs. Actually the valves get eextremely carboned up and cleaning the valves, and installing a stronger spring to basically help seal the valve better with carbon deposits. I recommend keeping the car and just doing a decarbon treatment now and then, but something like sea-foam actually works better than mopar combustion chamber cleanr
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Old 01-13-2001, 04:32 PM
bkcorris bkcorris is offline
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that was also a major factor in the discontinuing of the DOHC.
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