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Thread: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

  1. #1
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    '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    Hi folks,

    Sister in Law is getting a '99 Neon, it's a "need-a-car-right-now" kinda thing, and I won't have any veto before it's hers, or know what model/trim it is. But I am probably going to have to help with any problems and issues that come up with it.

    So what can I expect, and what should I look out for that will need immediate attention? Kinda suspicious when I hear she got $1700 off the asking price...

    I guess HG should be good in that year. Gotta worry about the tranny if it's the A604 though... what else?

    thanks in advance,

    RW222

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    Boost, it's what's for dinner... Turbo Mopar Staff Aries_Turbo's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    its the 413/31TH.... same trans as in our cars.

    the HG should be fine.

    anything that goes bad should be cheap to fix/replace.

    my wifes 98 neon has 147k on it and all it has needed were some struts (two diagonal ones were bad ), one wheel bearing, outer tie rod ends and one balljoint.

    those are the only things ive had to replace other than wear items like brakes.

    check the trans fluid and make sure its not burnt. change it every year and youll be fine for like 200k miles.

    good little cars. id like a dohc 5-speed myself.

    Brian

    Quote Originally Posted by turbovanman
    This one is easy, I have myself to blame, I rush things, don't pay attention to gauges when I should, change to much stuff at once then expect miracles, the list is endless.

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    turbo addict Dodge Aries K's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    I have a DOHC 5 speed and a DOHC ATX...

    They're great cars to drive. Both of mine have needed very little work thus far.

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    Boost, it's what's for dinner... Turbo Mopar Staff Aries_Turbo's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    i find the dohc atx to be a terrible dog lol. at least my wifes is

    Brian

    Quote Originally Posted by turbovanman
    This one is easy, I have myself to blame, I rush things, don't pay attention to gauges when I should, change to much stuff at once then expect miracles, the list is endless.

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    turbo addict Dodge Aries K's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    It's not bad at all actually. It's not FAST per say... but when you're already moving so it can go into it's 4000+ RPM power band it's pretty fun.

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    Boost, it's what's for dinner... Turbo Mopar Staff Aries_Turbo's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    right. but you have to hold it in the gear cause it wants to shift way too early. if the trans and the rev limiter was set to shift at 7500rpms it would be nicer.

    Brian

    Quote Originally Posted by turbovanman
    This one is easy, I have myself to blame, I rush things, don't pay attention to gauges when I should, change to much stuff at once then expect miracles, the list is endless.

  7. #7
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    Screw the line pressure all the way in

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    Boost, it's what's for dinner... Turbo Mopar Staff Aries_Turbo's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    but that doesnt take care of the rev limit in the ecm. i wish someone would hack the 96-2002 neon ecus so we could reflash them.

    Brian

    Quote Originally Posted by turbovanman
    This one is easy, I have myself to blame, I rush things, don't pay attention to gauges when I should, change to much stuff at once then expect miracles, the list is endless.

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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    inspect the timing belt or find out when it was replaced last, otherwise just fix it as it breaks. neons have a bad rep for no reason at all, there so much better then any escort or caviliar/sunfire of the time.
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    Boost, it's what's for dinner... Turbo Mopar Staff Aries_Turbo's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    and they wipe the floor with hondas pretty easily, power and handling. especially with a set of sway bars and springs.

    Brian

    Quote Originally Posted by turbovanman
    This one is easy, I have myself to blame, I rush things, don't pay attention to gauges when I should, change to much stuff at once then expect miracles, the list is endless.

  11. #11
    turbo addict Dodge Aries K's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    I put a manual PCM in my ATX Neon. I was going to do the tranny swap but my wife bought me a whole Neon instead. Anyway, the car goes 100 MPH in 2nd gear at 7000 RPM. You have to put it into the 1 or 2 to use the high RPMs but woo boy does it rock. Apparently the ATX isn't supposed to rev that high though because of the torque converter.

    Since she's driving said Neon, I'm going to put the auto PCM back in so the lockup will engage again.

  12. #12
    Boost, it's what's for dinner... Turbo Mopar Staff Aries_Turbo's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    thats awesome! im going to have to try that sometime. I can just make a TPS/RPM/time based switch to lock the torque converter.

    I dont know why they have limits based on the torque converter. lots of performance cars rev really high with autos.

    maybe someone on here can offer up an explanation.

    Brian

    Quote Originally Posted by turbovanman
    This one is easy, I have myself to blame, I rush things, don't pay attention to gauges when I should, change to much stuff at once then expect miracles, the list is endless.

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    Bad Mother Flecker Turbo Mopar Staff fleckster's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    Quote Originally Posted by Aries_Turbo View Post
    thats awesome! im going to have to try that sometime. I can just make a TPS/RPM/time based switch to lock the torque converter.

    I dont know why they have limits based on the torque converter. lots of performance cars rev really high with autos.

    maybe someone on here can offer up an explanation.

    Brian
    With the position of the converter in the FWD layout and the fact that they never tested it at RPMs that high, they were probably worried about the Torque Converter becoming a huge granade aimed right at you!

    John M. Fleck

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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    Quote Originally Posted by fleckster View Post
    With the position of the converter in the FWD layout and the fact that they never tested it at RPMs that high, they were probably worried about the Torque Converter becoming a huge granade aimed right at you!
    Broken Stator + Nuts = Ouch????

    At least on a rwd car it would just cut your legs off.
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    hmmmmmm i like my nuts.....

    i know russ J revved his 2.2 16v really high with the auto but I think he had a built converter. i wanna try it with the wifes car... maybe ill strap a big scatter shield under there to protect my nuts.

    Brian

    Quote Originally Posted by turbovanman
    This one is easy, I have myself to blame, I rush things, don't pay attention to gauges when I should, change to much stuff at once then expect miracles, the list is endless.

  16. #16
    turbo addict Dodge Aries K's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    The AF/X PCM you can get for the Neons with the auto raise the rev limiter up to I think 7600 RPM AND still make the lockup torque converter do it's thing last I heard. I never had one, but am considering one for my 99 since the wife doesn't want to drive a standard in fear of screwing it up.

  17. #17
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    Hmmm still haven't seen it yet, but it left a bit of an oilslick on my driveway last night while I wasn't here... looks like it is probably leaking on the belt/passenger side.

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    turbo addict JDAWG's Avatar
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    is it a sohc or dohc? Look at the spark plug tube seals, cam seals, and vc gasket. Also the cam sensor seal is misdiagnosted as blown hg alot, but i think that is on the other side

  19. #19
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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    Quote Originally Posted by RoadWarrior222 View Post
    Hmmm still haven't seen it yet, but it left a bit of an oilslick on my driveway last night while I wasn't here... looks like it is probably leaking on the belt/passenger side.

    or the oil pressure sending unit. Back of the block (firewall side) about center.

    Ron

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    Re: '99 Neon, what am I in for?

    Quote Originally Posted by Turbodave View Post
    Broken Stator + Nuts = Ouch????

    At least on a rwd car it would just cut your legs off.
    Good point, there.

    Leave it to Dave to make a great understatement.

    Anyways, I've always wondered about the "low" rev limit on the PL body ATX.

    This explanation makes sense.
    It also makes me wonder about the wisdom of trying to spin the engine higher than the factory allowed on the PL ATX cars..... without a scattershield.
    It could, uhhh, really hurt.

    -Nick

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