This is my Dodge Neon information page.

Interesting facts and stuff about my Neon!

VIN#

IB3ES47C9SD377883

Manufacture Date

Aug 95

Mileage

278524

Engine

2.0 Liter SOHC

Transmission

5 speed Manual

Times around the equator of Earth

> 9

Distance traveled to the Moon at
239000 Miles

Made it there.
On my way back
1.165%

Gallons of gas used at 28MPG Average

9947.00 Gallons

Gas cost at $2.35 Average cost over
11 years

$23375.45

Average Time spent
in the car at 60 MPH

4642	Hours
193.41	Days
27.61	Weeks
6.9	Months

Number of Oil
Changes at 4K

69.63

Sets of Tires 8

Goodyear Ta's (factory tires)

Douglas (Wal-Mart)

?Brand (Pep Boys Tires)

Yokohama (NTB)

Yokohama (NTB)

Cooper Cobra's

Sumitomo (NTB)

Falkin (Discount Tire) Good Deal!

Sets of Front Brake pads

7

Sets of Rear Brake Shoes

0

Engine Timing Belts

3

Head Gaskets

1

Tie Rod Ends

2 ( 1 Left 1 Right)

Struts

4 (all 4 corners)

Fuel Pump

1

Fuel Filter

1

Radiator

1

My Dodge Neon has seen it's fair share of life experiences.
We just crossed 244000 miles!

AT 235K ITS FINALLY HAPPENED.
I got the low oil pressure warning light coming on at idle.
This is confirmation that the engine is officially warn out.
Good thing I built another engine 400K+ here I come ;)

230K Came at a cost MORE INFO HERE!

Repair parts and repair info.

Is you gear shifter floppy and loose feeling?
It’s probably your shift bushings. See pictures to the Right

I make new bushings that press into the end of the shift cables where they connect to the transmission.
They are made of PTFE Teflon which is capable of taking 400 Deg F easily. They should outlive the car.

These bushings are known to fit 95-01 Neon's as well as PT Cruisers.

Zip tie was a rigged way to get me going.

Bushing gone!

This is the pictures of the Stiff Shift Bushings Installed.
I used to sell a bushing set for the transmission for $30 including shipping in the US via USPS Priority mail.

When I started making the bushings, no one else was.

Now there are new urethane ones made less expensive and equally long lasting.

They aren't like the stock bushings but are drop in fit, from what everyone has told me.

I’ve heard 0% complaints or issues with them.

They sell a complete set of 4. 2 for the tranny end and 2 for the shifter end.

http://www.howellautomotive.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=802

Under the shift stick

On the tranny (not showing larger bushing)

Is your neon cutting out and just dying with no trouble code or check engine light?

Well in my case it was the PCM. The big multi-pin plug is soldered to the main circuit board. the main "Ground" points on the plug where it soldered to the circuit board had fatigued and broke loose. I also found 1 place near the back of the board. I dug out the potting goo and repaired the board.

This was effectively like doing brain Surgery on yourself with a steak knife and spoon. The Red circles are where I found bad solder connections

1. You must know how to solder well.
2. You can't be faint of heart to dig in to it. CAREFULLY! you screw up and
you buy a new PCM!

Fuel Pump problem?

When my fuel pump started to go out, The car was going down the highway. as I was going up a hill I noticed that I had to floor board it to keep my speed.
The first stop light I pulled up to and begin to start off from required near full throttle to muster even enough power to begin moving. One I arrived at my destination I turned it off. Latter when I went to start it nothing. You could hear the pump run, but no fuel delivery at the injectors.

One way to test fuel pump
One way to make sure that there is enough fuel going to the engine is to use a valve stem tool to remove the valve stem from the fuel injector manifold rail. Then connect a piece of hose to it and place the hose in a fuel safe container, like an old oil container. Then turn the ignition key on. the pump should kick on for 3 or 4 seconds then cycle off. Once it does, turn the key off and look at the amount of fuel pumped. if its very little or none, less than a 1/4 cup or so, then you may have a delivery problem. If its more than a 1/4 cup then its probably delivering ok. But you would need to check the fuel pressure. I checked mine after replacing the pump with a standard tire gauge. I held the gauge on the manifold and had my wife turn the key on. Lots of PSI. I don't remember the exact reading.

Engine overheating?

Well my neon needed a new radiator. She was overheating with the air on going down the highway in 96 Deg weather. I tried flushing with and refilling and it didn't work. I checked with both Pep Boys and Autozone and they didn't have them in stock and it would have to be ordered. and cost around $200 So I tried the web, The obvious site to try was www.radiator.com and it was a great choice.
Not only did I get the radiator I needed when I needed it. I also got it delivered to me on a SATURDAY! and all for around $110 US. The quality of the unit was great and it fit without any problems. In fact I had it changed out in an hour, tops! I HIGHLY recommend them

SENSOR LOCATIONS

IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE AND THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR LOCATION

I have the Engine ELECTRICAL SCHEMATICS PAGE1 and PAGE2.
These should help troubleshooting.
Page 1 contains the Sensor and Injector Wiring.

Page 2 contains the Alternator / Charging and starting Wiring.

	Check engine light on? This is how you get the codes! Without starting your engine, turn the ignition key on and off 3 times leaving it in the on position at the end of the third cycle. This will start the "check engine" light to flash a code(s). The example for codes 12 would be like this. Flash, short pause, Flash, Flash long pause (Next code). If you have went to Autozone or a shop and they have given you some P#### type code. I can now help you with those. or go to Here for Help
NEON PCM Codes Description of Trouble Code
11 12 13 14 15 17 21 22 23 24 25 27 31 32 33 34 35 37 41 42 43 44 46 47 51 52 53 54 55 62 63 64 65	Timing belt skipped 1 tooth or more from initial learned value; Intermittent loss of either camshaft or crankshaft position sensor; No crank reference signal detected during engine cranking Direct battery input to PCM was disconnected within the last 50 key-on cycles No change in manifold absolute pressure (MAP) from start to run Manifold absolute pressure (MAP) sensor voltage out of range No vehicle speed sensor signal Closed loop temp not reached or engine cold too long 02 sensor problem (oxygen sensor), upstream or downstream Engine coolant temp sensor out of range Intake air temp sensor out of range Throttle position sensor (TPS) out of range, or disagrees with MAP Idle air control motor circuits problem, target idle not reached (+/-200), vacuum leak found Injector control circuit problem Evaporator purge flow monitor failure or evaporator solenoid circuit problem Exhaust gas recirculating (EGR) system failure or solenoid circuit problem A/C clutch relay circuit problem Speed control solenoid circuits problem Radiator fan control relay circuit problem Torque converter clutch solenoid circuit or park/neutral switch failure Generator field not switching properly Fuel pump relay control circuit problem Auto shutdown (ASD) relay control circuit problem No ASD relay output voltage at PCM Fuel level sending unit - volts out of range Fuel level sending unit - no change over miles Multiple/ single cylinder misfire Battery temp sensor volts out of range Charging system voltage too high Charging system voltage too low Fuel system lean Fuel system rich Internal controller failure No cam signal at PCM End of error messages (If you get this only, no errors were found) PCM failure - SRI mile not stored (THIS COULD INDICATE A FAILING PCM) PCM failure - EEPROM write denied (THIS COULD INDICATE A FAILING PCM) Catalytic converter efficiency failure Power steering switch failure
CODE DESCRIPTION AND INFO
12	This kind of a nuisance code. It almost always shows up. It usually means that the voltage to the PCM dropped below a certain set point. Like when you start your car. Don't loose any sleep over this one. My Neon gave me this code every time I checked it.
21	This is usually caused by the O2 (oxygen) sensor closest to the engine going bad. The Factory one lasts about 40-50K. I replaced mine with a Bosch unit at 47K I now have over 230K still on the Bosch replacement. I probably should have replaced it long ago but it never gave me a reason to.
25	The Idle air control valve can become dirty. I recommend as a every 6 months preventative maintenance to spray carb cleaner in the IDLE AIR PORT. This cleans the buildup off of the valve. Also a vacuum leak or a very dirty or faulty PCV Valve can cause this.
43	I have had this come up for 2 different reasons. 1. My plugs or Plug wires were bad or going bad. I use Bosch Platinum Plugs. 2. The 3 pin connecter plug going to the Coil Pack had intermittent connections from corrosion and then later from engine heat wearing down the connection where the wire connects to the pins of the plug. It's possible that it could be caused by a fouling out coil pack. It just hasn't happened to me. I still have my original coil pack.
	I have the Engine ELECTRICAL SCHEMATICS PAGE1 (110k) and PAGE2.(189K)

CLEARING THE PCM CODES
To clear the check engine light and the code’s you can do one of two thing’s. One pull the negative battery post off the battery for 30 second’s. This clears the computer codes and the light. However it also clears your radio presets and clock. Another way is to pull the fuse labeled “Fuel Pump”. This fuse is in a box under the hood behind the battery (See photo to the left), Should be the only yellow 20AMP fuse in there. This fuse also disconnects power to the PCM "computer" as well “ Kind of a secret to the general public” Just leave this fuse out for 30seconds or so. Then replace. This will keep your clock and radio presets. The engine might be a little hard to start or die the first time since the computer has to relearn everything again
2000+ Fuse block
My Engine Rebuild Page has moved Here..

MY PROJECT SECTION.
Here I'm going to lay out some of the additional work that i'm doing on my car. After years of abuse by the weather, the paint is finally shot, plus there are hail dents all over the poor thing. 1. I'm currently working on sanding the entire car. and fixing all the hail dents. 2. I'm going to relocate the battery to the trunk. Details coming soon!	This is a list of Mods Completed. 1. Energy Suspension Motor Mounts. 2. Spyderbone Header. 3. SOHC Ram air intake. P.S. I can scratch all the way up to third gear!
	This shows the Header that I bought off E-Bay. The construction is 304SS with a chrome covering. The metal if fairly thick so I feel it should have a good life expectancy. When I bought it the site on E-bay said that it would require no modifications. Well by the photo you can tell that, that isn't entirely true. I had to cut off about 5.5 inches of the pipe in front of the catalytic converter. I also had to cut 2 inches off the supplied adapter pipe. The next picture shows the final mount up. Link to E-Bay site http://myworld.ebay.com/ebaymotors/spyderbone
	Here we see the finished mount up after modifications. The clamp was temporary. I took it to a muffler shop and had it MIG welded solid.
	Looking at the Header installed. Factory air filter removed for viewing. BTW the bracket that mounts the factory air filter box doesn't fit correctly now as well. I was putting a cold air pipe on it anyway.
Pic of Ram air intake. Coming Soon

Last Updated on 6/14/2008
By Len Averyt
Email: Techknowman@techknowman.com