Vehicle

Dodge Neon

Chrysler's compact of the nineties, sold as Dodge, Plymouth and — outside North America — Chrysler, all one car. The head gasket is the thing to know: early cars used a single-layer steel gasket that fails between the cylinders and the coolant passages, and the multi-layer replacement is the standard fix rather than an upgrade. The 2.0 is a chain-driven or belt-driven engine depending on head, and the SRT-4's turbocharged version shares little beyond the block with the ordinary car — different fuel system, different management, different clutch.

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Dodge Neon, front view — Cutlass · CC0 (external)

Generations

First generation 1994–1999

One body, two badges, and no separate Chrysler name in North America. The 2.0 DOHC is the enthusiast engine; the SOHC is the volume one.
- A404 / A413 / A470 / 31TH 3-speed automatic
- New Venture T-350 5-speed manual
Body styles

Sedan · Coupé

Platform

Chrysler PL
Engines
1.8 four-cylinder — petrol · Europe

2.0 SOHC — ECB · petrol · 98 kW (132 hp)

2.0 DOHC — ECC · petrol · 112 kW (150 hp)
Transmissions

5-speed NVG T-350 manual · 3-speed TorqueFlite 31TH automatic

Drivetrain

Front-wheel drive
Second generation 1999–2005

Sold as Dodge SX 2.0 in Canada. The SRT-4 of 2003 is a genuinely different car under the badge — turbocharged, with its own gearbox and brakes.
Body styles

Sedan

Platform

Chrysler PL
Engines
2.0 SOHC — ECN · petrol · 98 kW (132 hp)

2.4 turbo — EDV · petrol · 160–172 kW (215–230 hp) · SRT-4

1.6 — petrol
Transmissions

5-speed NVG T-350 manual · 3-speed TorqueFlite 31TH automatic · 4-speed Ultradrive 40TE automatic · 4-speed Ultradrive 41TE automatic

Drivetrain

Front-wheel drive

Information, not instruction

CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.

Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.

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