Dodge Neon overheating problems

Filed Jul 1, 2019 · Body, Engine · 223,400 miles · CA

Person sold an inoperable vehicle. Using verbal manipulations he claimed in the add and later face to face that the vehicle has a clean title (carfax report shows it as salvage with multiple reported accidents and 8 service history records), certain mileage (148000 claimed, 223.300 in reality), he was the 2nd owner (3 owners in reality) and no major issues - was told in person during the sale operation, also told he was selling the car for his friend thats why there was a different person name on a title ((xxxxx)). Seller was convencing and did a great job at confusing igor and decieving him. The seller lied about the smog check also and took advantage of the buyer - the car didnt pass the smog check the next morning 6/27, and later the same day didnt start anymore for good. Seller send a text message to igor that same morning saying that car is overheating and water has to be placed in the radiator daily, but it's a very dangerous procedure as the water inside the tank is of a boiling temperature and can splash uncontrollably under pressure resulting onto an injury, which was a mockery as by that time a car was marked as inoperable by a mechanic and that was a miracle that it made it to the curbside. Currently it is absolutely dead metal. The car was fraudlently and intentionally made to work just one day specificly to make a sale. (xxxxx) intentionally gave out the false facts about the car and misled (xxxx) towards the sale completion. (xxxx) trusted the seller, false info and fake odometer pictures thats been forced at him, as he couldnt see things clearly in person and was misled and verbally manipulated. All records as documents on this car, add screenshots and text messaging between (xxxx) and seller (xxxx) are available as proof. Redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

Filed Jan 24, 2015 · Electrical · 114,000 miles · PA

Odor of burning plastic, caused by overheated wiring (pin 16) on turn signal and light control. Light would only function on low beam ; while high beam indicator was lit . Fog lamps have been lit ,when switch is headlamp on position, for three years. They could not be turned off unless you used left turn signal. When headlamp malfunctioned I bought replacement switch. During installation, found wiring harness terminal was difficult to remove, as it was malformed and brittle due to excess heat. I took pictures to document wire position; there is no pin 15 or 10 : also no wire to terminal positions 15,10, and 12. There is a pin 12 on the switch.

Filed Nov 4, 2014 · Electrical, Lights · 200,000 miles · UT

Started to see smoke and then the headlights stopped working properly. After disassembling the wiring connector from the headlight switch, I discovered the connector had overheated to the point it was charred and crumbling to pieces. This is not a misuse by operator, but a safety failure of the electrical system. This could have resulted in a fire as the fuse protecting this circuit did not fail when the circuit obviously overheated and melted and charred the plastic connector.

Filed Jun 24, 2014 · Electrical · 163,000 miles · KY

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 dodge neon. The contact stated that smoke started to emit from the engine comparment while the battery was being charged and the vehicle overheated. The contact turned the vehicle off and after restarting the vehicle the temperature, speedometer, fuel and RPM warning lights illuminated. The vehicle failed to start. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The failure and current mileage was 163,000.

Filed Mar 19, 2014 · Electrical, Lights · 120,000 miles · VT

Smelled hot wiring and headlights stopped working properly. After disassembling the wiring connector from the headlight switch, I discovered the connector had overheated to the point it was charred and crumbling to pieces. This is not a misuse by operator, but a safety failure uf the electrical system. This could have resulted in a fire as the fuse protecting this circuit did not fail when the circuit obviously overheated and melted and charred the plastic connector. I have pictures of the part if you would like them.

Filed Jan 6, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 134,000 miles · IN

The neon was driving down the road when I lost acceleration and it spewed transmission fluid (and mixed with what I later found out was cooling fluid) all over the road. The car could no longer accelerate and is inoperable. The mechanic later determined that the radiator had failed and leaked coolant into the transmission causing it to overheat and fail.

Filed Jul 22, 2009 · Lights · 91,000 miles · CA

2004 dodge neon lost head lights while driving late at night. Had there not been traffic in front and behind, I would have ran off the road. Multi function switch harness melted connector to multi function switch causing short to fuse 16. Prior to fuse 16 blowing, a melted plastic smell was coming from the column cover. Replaced multi function switch which showed signs of overheat (copper tarnished). While disconnecting the mfs harness, the connector was overheated (melted) and was falling apart. Both fuses (17 & 18) to the headlamps were intact so issue is inside the cab. I still need to have the harness connector to the mfs replaced.

Filed Feb 16, 2009 · Engine · 39,000 miles · OH

I made a short trip to a local store and large amounts of smoke started coming from the front of my car. The car was overheating and I had to stop and pull over. The car had to be towed to the dealership. The car had a head gasket failure.which cost $920 to repair. Although the vehicle is old (1997), it only has 39,000 miles on it and it is ridiculous for something like this to happen to car with such low mileage. I have done quite a bit of research online to find that several neon owners have had this same problem. The 1995-1997 models have been predominantly affected by this problem. I contacted chrysler about this and they will take no responsibility for this.

Filed Feb 3, 2009 · Electrical · 60,000 miles · WA · fire

At 60,000 miles my 2003 dodge neon r/t started smoking from the steering column. At the time I thought it was dust caught by the sunlight and since nothing appeared to be wrong with my car, I forgot about it - one week later- I started by car and my headlights wouldn't work, concerned and remembering the "dust in the sunlight the week before, I called the dodge dealership in the area and dropped off my car a little while later. Turns out the wiring harness on the steering column had overheated and melted together ( there was also a problem with the gas tank pressure but I could never get them to tell exactly what the problem was) luckily the harness was not completely destroyed so the wires could just be replaced. I asked them what caused the problem and if they were just replacing wires, well, wouldn't it happen again? Once again all I got were vague non commitale answers, a 1,200 dollar bill, plus, I was refused a courtesy vehicle - yeah I had to foot the bill fr driving a rental car for a week. I research this problem and found that the 1996 neon had been recalled for this same problem but the cause of the problem was never fixed, also, the pt cruiser has the same defect. The dealership told me that it was not possible and basically what went wrong was my fault, some how. Again very vague and non-committal. I found out that unless a problem is a safety issue, meaning I guess that a few people have to die, a recall will not be issued.

Filed Oct 18, 2008 · Lights · 78,000 miles · IA

2003 dodge neon, low beams quit working a few weeks later the fog lights became intermittent, then eventually quit working too. Upon examination it was discovered that the connector that attaches to the multifunction switch is melting from being overheated during headlamp/foglamp use. Dodge is aware of the problem but does not have a recall on it. A repair kit is available, the description for which clearly indicates that dodge is aware of the problem. Research also reveals that the same repair kit is indicated for several other chrysler products exhibiting similar design deficiencies.