Problems with 1995 Dodge Neon ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

While driving head gasket blewout. vehicle overheated. took vehicle to dealer. problem was remedied. *ak the manufacturer redesigned the head gasket due to numerous complaints from consumers, but refused to reimburse this consumer because the warranty had expired. *yh

While driving, consumer heard strange noise and then vehicle died, mechanic stated cylinder head broke, causing timing belt to break, water pump to lock up, and other parts to fail, consumer states this is a manufacturers defect and questions why there is no recall, consumer is also requesting reimbursement. *slc

Vehicle experienced overheating and shut off. vehicle taken to dealer, and informed of a head gasket failure. manufacturer notified, and informed consumer that vehicle was out of its warranty, and not covered under a recall. feel free to provide any further details on this matter. *ak

Bleeder valve cap cracked, causing fuel to leak from the car. occured 3 different times. oil leak occurred from the head gasket. erratic and difficulty when accelerating.

Head gasket failure then engine failure

Driver experienced no heat, and then problem became worse. dealer said it was head gasket. *ak

Engine head gasket failed 12/9/00. it was determined that it was a salvaged engine. a replacement engine, also salvaged, was sent to mechanic by great lakes warranty company. on 1/18/01, the head gasket failed once again, only 4 weeks since the last repair for the same problem. the great lakes warranty expires 1/26/01. it is unknown why the original engine was replaced.*ak

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

A bent valve caused misfiring in cylinder #4. *slc

Upon verifying that it was the head gasket, was informed of other such problems from other dodge neon owners. i believe that this should be looked into. what other problems could exist. do we need deaths to occure as with the tires? *ak

Vehicle experiencing overheating while driving. vehicle taken to independent repairshop, and informed consumer that a head gasket failed. dealer notified, and informed that vehicle was out of its warranty, and not responsible for repairs. *ak *slc

Gasket failures (head and transaxle) diagnosed by ultraviolet dye test. brake deficieny discovered in high speed commuter traffic with near collision. the frequency of the same complaints from many owners suggests that a large recall action is in order before many serious accidents result.

All components listed had early/premature failure. worst situation is head gasket. would like to be part of class action lawsuit against chrysler if applicable.*ak

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

09/13/2000-head gasket, timing belt, water pump all failed. 8/1/2000-fuel gauge stopped working.*ak

The head gasket, and brakes have been reported unmerious times by others

Overheating. local mechanic suspects head gasket problem

Car leaking oil finally got worse, diagnosed as head gasket was told by other neon owner that problem was being fixed for free. my dealer considered it a warranty work but charged a deductible - twice what he would have charged had a been original owner. complaint more with dealer than dodge.

Engine head gasket ,second failure. head gasket was replaced on extended warranty at 61,222 mi. second head gasket (redo) had to be replaced at 97932 mi. dealer "split the cost" with me, charging $520.08 for repairs. the vehicle was left dirty for me to pick up, oil & coolant dripping from undercarriage, fenders and steering wheel greasy. *ak

Engine head gasket failure, second time. head gasket was replaced on 'extended warranty" at 61,222 miles. second head gasket (redo) had to be replaced at 97,932 miles. dealer decided to "split the cost" with me, charging $520.08 for repairs. the vehicle was left dirty for me to pick up. oil & coolant dripping from undercarriage, fenders and steering wheel greasy. *ak

Major oil leak through head gasket. reported to nhtsa due to high failure rate on dodge neon head gaskets.

Head gasket is defective in all 1995-1999 dodge neons, in 2000 models,dodge corp used a different manufacturer and the new head gaskets have a safety cover to prevent burning.i have reported this to chrysler corp(my file #[xxx])and they refuse to admit to the defect and only will grant $100.00 to provide assistance to a $820.00 repair.vin#[xxx], please help!!*ak information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Headgasket failure.......started with coolant bubbling and the repair shop diagnosed it as the headgasket. dealer charged me $1000 to fix problem that he acknowledged was a defect in the cars design. i need help getting my money back!!!

The month i bought the car i had to get the motor mounts replaced and the transmision. the motor mounts were busted and i shouldn't have been driving the car on the transmission. since i bought the car the paint job has been peeling. i have no paint on the roof. i had to sand down what was left and primer it. the rest of the paint on the car is peeling everywhere. recently the gauge cluster went out. when i would turn on the car the gauges wouldn't do anything. then it stopped, now the speedometer won't move along with the odometer. so i have no idea how fast i am going. last, whenever i get out of my car from driving it smells like someone farted, i have a constant check engine light that tells me its the o2 senser but it's not we tested those. the catalitic convert is bad on the car and i have to replace it.

I have an appt with kuhn chrysler to diagnose problem by the number of complaints i have read i say it is pretty obvious that i am right and it is the head gasket. obviously, this is a very wide spread problem. t he dealer that i talked to said that chrysler is offering partial reimbursement on some of the repairs. partial reimbursement!! this is obviosly a manufacturing problem and they should be paying for full replacement. i was told that since i am not the original owner they may not pay anything at all and it is my problem.. get a clue look at the complaints!!! i am getting very disguraged with everyone that i have talked to and about ready to sell the car, cut my losses, and know better in the future never to buy a dodge again!!!*ak

When applying brakes they would grind. also, would have to pump brakes. dealership replaced rotors and brakes pads. but, problem still continued. it has been three weeks. *ak possible engine failure caused oil to leak. the steering wheel vibrate and vehicle pulls. *yh

Engine head gaskets have prematurely blown out, causing the engine to completely malfunctions.*ak head gaskets failure caused the vehicle over heated, engine kocking and steam, bubbling/cracking of coolant container. a/c malfunction and fan motor becomes lhot when turning on. *yh

Head gasket failure causing car to overheat. don't know yet if damage to head. car has several electrical "glitches" that don't affect safety. has also failed twice before - fuel tank sensor caused car to never register less than 1/4 tank so ran out of gas. also another type of fuel sensor caused car to lose power - gave impression that car was losing injectors.*ak

Just bought this used. head gasket is bad - $1,300 repair! *ak

Oil light comes on, leaving huge puddles of oil when stopped. also, vehicle leaves a trail of oil when driving, and vehicle smokes a lot. contacted dealer, and dealer stated there was not a recall on this problem. *ak

Head gasket cracked, leaking oil. *ak

This problem of defective head gaskets is widespread, and should clearly be a manufacturer recall. the consumer is getting screwed on this vehicle. what does it take to make the powers that be see this and to do something about protecting us from defects that should be corrected by gmc? *ak

Head gasket blew, need to resurface the head, needed a new timing belt, a new rear oil seal, coolent flush and more totaling 818.00 and i am still having problems with the car. *ak

Took vehicle to dealership begining of may, they said it was the head gasket, spent $545 to repair. sometime near the end of the month i noticed oil leaking again - had sent note saying ck rear seal -- they had to repair main rear seal - $350 --- if i hadn't noticed the oil in the dirt, and not trusted that it was "fixed" or brushed it off -- i could have faced a cracked head --- there was practically no oil in the vehicle. i put in 2 qts to get to dealership and they put in $10 worth of oil -- problem seems fixed, but $1,000 is a lot for a car not even 5 years old yet. contacted chrysler, supposedly they will pay for the head gasket, haven't seen it yet. i have spoken to many 1995 neon owners, all have this same problem.... please look into - thank you!!!. *ak

Vehicle stalls at any speed, any time. vehicle taken to dealer numerous time. had to replace the power control module. vehicle still stalls. cannot remedy problem.*ak

Head gasket leaked. then had to replace clutch because it failed after oil leaked on it. spent tons of money and it's now my understanding that dodge was aware of this problem. with such as severe oil hemmorhage, i'm lucky my car is still operating. i'm a student and can't afford these problems. no one can. and we shouldn't have to pay for something that could have been recalled. i'm irate. *ak

Head gasket blew on the #4 cylinder blowing coolant and oil through the engine and exhaust system. as a result of this problem the engine block cracket between the water jackets. *ak

Engine overheated while going 30mph.blown head gaskett,antifreeze turned brown because of oil leaking into radiator, this caused the thermastat to clog and fail. major oil leaking from engine. a/c will not hold freon, this will cost $700 to repair.

I have had this car since 1995. i do not use the car other than for very limited driving as seen in my low mileage. it is march 23 of 2000, my car has approx 29,000 miles, very low and all these problems. the car is currently in the shop being told that the head gasket that they replaced in 1/99 did not hold, which in 99, they thought was odd that it went so soon. i am also having the car fixed because the power steering switch sensor has failed. i believe that on a car with little mileage that i should be incurring this much problems. if this car has this many problems, they should redesign the car and not sell them until so. also, please feel free to contact fitgerald and they can tell you other problems with this car!!!l *ak

Head gasket leaking oil everywhere/dealership charged me $600 for replacing the defective gasket. why should i have to pay for their defects. *ak

The paint on this veh and many others is defective! chipping and peeling all over the car. no safety defect listed within vehicle. *ak

The head gasket caused my water pump,transmission,radiator, to be replaced. it made my engine overheat all the time..i had to replace everything..it also leaked oil all the time. i spent money all the time to replace the oil that leaked out. *ak

Instrument cluster loses power unexplicably during normal car usage. power is immediatly restored after the loss, however it makes vehicle difficult to drive at times when odemter is being reset. excessive leakage in vehicle's trunk and driver's side back seat has occured. bosak to fix after car was recently bought, however, leak not completely fixed and re-discovered 1 year later. a hole was discovered in the drivere's side rear wheel well as a result of unexplicable excessive corrosion. it was also discovered that seals were broked on drivere's side door and window track was glued improperly causing the window and track to come loose. out of pocket expences not revovered by dealership. also discovered was a severe leake from head gasket. called several repair places and found the neon's have had much trouble in the past.. excessive oil loss, and repairs are costly. front engine mount off; causing pressure in transmission lines and trans fluid leakage. please contact me asap about the car; need to recover costs.

I feel that because of the neglect of chrysler, i shouldn't have to pay for their manufacturing defects. i incurred expenses of $55.80 for parts, and $495.15 for labor. at 61,535 a car should not need a head gasket to be replaced. approximately 6 months ago i also had to replace the compressor and the condenser. the condenser was leaking oil and the expenses incurred again were approximately $630. i feel that chrysler should be liable for some of my repair costs. *ak

Engine head gasket of the first few years of neons are known to fail often. this failure can cause engine head to leak oil and anti-freeze. this could lead to engine failure if not repaired. the head gasket for neon's was redesigned at least once to fix this design problem. in my opinion, the early neon head gaskets should be recalled to fix this defect. *ak

Vehicle was overheating. looked under the vehicle and it was bubbling. consumer thought it was some coolant. vehicle was taken to jiffy lube and coolant/oil change was done. two days later, vehicle started running hot and was taken to firestone. they checked the thermostat and noticed that coolant had leaked onto the spark plugs. it was taken to fast to jiff lube, problem is still happpening. *ak

Overheated the last week of december 99 and have been losing radiator fluid since then; no sign of water in oilpan until today. towed to an oregon dealership and was told that manufacturer will only pay for the parts and not labor. the service advisor as well as one of their mechanics admitted that there is a problem with the original cork-based head gasket design and that the manufacturer has a new metallic-based gasket. if the manufacturer has these new parts available why isn't there a recall for this item? consumers of this particular make and model should be reassured that the vehicle they have purchased will not fail due to one faulty item! *ak

Engine head gasket leaks - i believe that this is a manufactuer defect, as all neon's have this problem get a clue. *ak

I bought veh in dec of 1998 have made $2000.00 worth of engine repairs since 02/01/00 which consisted of replacing entire engine now a year later my veh is leaking oil again from the rear main seal which will be another $400.00 dollars to repair and i still owe 4000.00 on the vehicle with the amount of complaints on the engines on these cars you would think something would be done i cant keep replacing engines every year. dodge has really screwed thousands of people on this vehicle. *ak

The head gasket is a known problem that develops a leak at cyl#4. it was detected when the engine began overheating. a new head gasket was developed mid 1998 due to the number of problems and was used subsequently for all new engines and repairs. *ak