1998 Dodge Neon: engine overheating

Filed Aug 11, 2007 · Engine · 90,000 miles · UT

The 1998 dodge neon is notorious for faulty head gaskets. The problem is first noticed by an oil leak and the vehicle overheating. The head gaskets are expensive to replace. After the car gets hot, it stalls at every intersection and every time the vehicle starts to slow down or is placed in neutral (manual transmission). My car stalled in the middle of a busy intersection where traffic was getting on and off of the freeway and would not start again. I had to get out of my car and push it to the side of the freeway entrance because it was the only available place to move my car to. It was fortunate that this incident did not cause an accident or result in me getting injured. Chrysler is well aware of the problem and has issued an improved gasket replacement kit, (which is costly) but refuses to take responsibility for the problem by issuing a recall. My car needs new head gaskets and I have been quoted $900 for parts and labor. I don't have that much money, so now my car sits parked in the street and I now have to take the city bus, which closest stop to my house is 1.5 miles, or walk places with my 3 children in 100 degree weather. I don't know what I will do when winter comes. Chrysler needs to be forced to issue a recall for this problem. There are hundreds of complaints for the exact same issue on website such as mycarstats.com and many forums. Most of the blown head gaskets happened on low mileage vehicles. My car only has 89,000 miles on it. If you do a google search for 1998 dodge neon blown head gaskets, you will get over 80,000 listing of forums, discussions and articles relating to the same problem.

Filed Feb 12, 2004 · Engine · KY

Vehicle was leaking oil. Took vehicle to dealer, and dealer determined that valve seals were leaking. Consumer felt engine could overheat and catch on fire.

Filed Dec 30, 2003 · Engine · FL

Car overheated eventhough there were plenty of coolant. Thick smoke coming out of the hood so I shut off the engine and cruised to a stop. I did not want the engine to catch fire. Mechanic said that it was a blown head gasket and that it was a common problem with the neon. Why was there not a recall. Does someone have to get injured before there is one. I called chrysler and they nicely said that my warranty had expired. If this was defective to start with, the warranty should cover the cost of repairs. Thank you for listening. Bc

Filed Jun 9, 2003 · Engine · ME

Noticed oil leaking from under vehicle while traveling at highway speed, vehicle overheated.

Filed Jan 21, 2003 · Engine · CA

Consumer stated that while driving and without warning the head gasket blew causing the vehicle to overheat and die out.ts

Filed Aug 21, 2002 · Engine · MI

My car overheated so I took it to a repair shop. They said I had a blown head gasket and should not drive it any further because if it gets empty it could blow my engine also could get so hot and cause a fire.

Filed Aug 8, 2001 · Fuel system, Visibility · CA

I purchased this dodge neon used with 23,000 miles. I have had nothing but problems with it since the very beginning. First the fuel pump went out. We had continuous problems with oil leaking and overheating. The air-conditioning has started to work only occassionally. The seals on the windows are very poor and it always sounds like the window needs to be rolled up. The trunk didn't have any seal to protect against the rain and my interior was flooded several times during the winter, over a couple of years until we were able to figure out where the problem was. I actually had to remove the back seat and all interior carpet for the rainy season. Now the water pump and my head gasket have given out. I had heard about the head gasket problems on my many service visits, but always held out hope until now that is. These repairs will cost me well over $1,000. And the car is barely 4 years old. Very big mistake I made purchasing the dodge neon, not only is it always in need of repair, but they have the absolute worse dealer customer relations and service department that I have ever dealt with. I stopped going to dodge for service after my first couple of encounters with them.

Filed Jan 10, 2001 · Engine · IL

While driving head gasket malfunctioned, causing engine problems, and vehicle overheating and stalling unexpectedly which may result in a crash. Common problem. Please provide further information.

Filed Jun 3, 2000 · Engine, Tires · NV

At only 19000 miles the car has blown the head gasket, the front drivers side tire split down the side in several places,both drive belts broke causing dead cells in the battery,now temp gauge goes to red when in traffic with A/C working.dealer replaced head gasket and belts but cant find the overheating problem. What a piece of junk!!!!

Filed Mar 23, 1999 · Engine · MA

Engine head gasket failed, this is a common enough problem with the engines used in these cars that chrysler has issued serveral tsbs on it. None of the failures to my knowledge have to date caused anything worse than overheating due to oil/coolant loss, but could potentially cause more serious damage if left unrepaired for any length of time.

Filed Feb 5, 1999 · Electrical · MI · fire

My daughter was driving the car, when it became stuck in the snow. She was not rocking the car, only sitting in it waiting for someone to come with a shovel, and noticed flames shooting out from under the hood. She got out of the car, and went and called for help. The car was totally consumed in flames in a matter of minutes, and was a total loss. I feel there was a problem with the engine. I have found a couple of sites on the web that mention recalls due to engine overheating, but we were never contacted to bring the car in for service.