What [NOW] should I check or have checked on my Dodge Neon ? Please answer much as you can. Thanks !

Question

Three Main Points:

(1) I now have 2 Check Engine Light codes: P 0441 and P 0440.

I would reguarly get the P 0441 and auto stores would say "the top reason is a faulty gas cap, blah blah."

Well, I've gotten a new official Mopar gas cap and that hasn't cured it.

(2) Another major problem (besides the crappy Pennsylvania roads) is I can't keep these tires worn evenly no matter the routine tire rotations.

I just got a 4 Wheel Alignment at STS Tires

(and by the way, they used Hunter equipment and had those sensor plates faced anywhich way, is that right ?)

Well I was getting a slight to moderate shimmy in the steering wheel starting at 65 MPH and worse at faster speed.

The car slightly pulls to the left at highway speeds.

STS tires said that the Front Left wheel couldn't get aligned back into it's nominal range and that I "probably have a bent strut.." Is that possible ?

The front struts do seem to make odd noises on slow bumpy roads (as a test).

People ask, "well can you feel it in the wheel or in your seat?"

and frankly, because of the crappy roads, it's tough to tell !

Since it does it mainly at highway speeds, should I go and get all 4 tires balanced ?

Should I preventively and smartly get 4 new struts (hence another 4 wheel alignment) ?

By the way, I can't seem to find ANYONE who sells the Monroe Quick-Struts, yet they clearly MAKE it on their web page !

(3) I'm only getting 260 miles from a full tank of fuel...and that's driving it til the Low Fuel light comes on ! (yes I know ! bad to do !) What the heck ? ! ?

Alright, here we go again with most all the details :o

2003 Dodge Neon sxt 2.0L 4 Cyl AutoTransmission

74,000 miles

original struts

I use:

Toyo Spectrum Radial P185/60 R15 84T tires

'AMS oil' 5W-30 Full Synthetic motor oil

'K N' Air Filter in stock air box

'Centric' Front Disc Brakes

'AutoZone' Front Pads (junk..uggh)

Rotate my tires EVERY 6,000 and maintain correct pressures all the time.

Change TransOil Filter every 30,000 miles.

new Champion spark plugs every 30,000 miles.

Thanks to everyone !

Answer 1

you need to check your roters, ball joints, wheel barrings, and struts! its nothing to do with your tires! check those things ive listed and see if that helps! thanks

Answer 2

Key here is the tires that were wearing out funny on you , were they the front tires?Funny at the very beginning of your question I was thinking about struts and I read that the shop suspects a bent strut?

Well if you've noticed funny noises especially when turning your wheels as you park etc then that is a sign off bad strut mounts and they will cause the strut to seem bent even.

You can look up into the wheel wall and look up past the spring to where its sitting and watch once wheels are turned if it seems to jump or drag and get a bit stuck etc, plus look for pieces of stuff or debrie that is dangling from the top mount etc. That would tell you the upper mounts need replacing but always change the bears too that the strut uses so the wheels turn smoothly inside the mount.

If you were driving and going over bumps and kept hearing like a thumb or bumping or even rattling noise that also is probabbly the struts themselves that are at fault.

I do suggest you buy a set of the heavy duty rebuild struts from a auto supplier or from dealership but be sure yu call and check around bec prices will vary and so will warrantys too.Keep in mind that most struts when are bought new don't come with the springs thats one reason I suggest buying the rebuilts but if you can afford it them go and get new struts and springs for them but then you've extra work for mechanic too bec theyll have to install the springs into the new struts.

Anyways thats why I suggest a good heavy duty rebuilt full strut replacement but if you the vehicle hasnt had the rear struts replaced then it might be a great idea in order to smoothen out the ride and equally support the vehicle that you replace all 4 struts.

Make sure that you have the correct air pressure in your tires and that you have them rebalnced once a year.

Hope that helps and best of luck.By the way if bad roads and you don't like the ride of the vehicle or think the vehicle sits a bit low etc then again heavy duty rebulits are a great investment, plus if the engine body etc is in good shape and you want to keep your vehicle for a few years more then again the 4 strut replacement is the way to go, especially if you can do the work yourself then have it aligned asap.

Answer 3

on the first part of your question check the vacuum lines coming from the tank on that one,the ones the connect to the canister tank in the front may be loose or dry rotted that was a real common problem with those cars,secondly the shocks your looking for are available,but that wont totally cause your vibration on it,have the recheck the tires again,even a bad wheel will cause a vibration even if they show to be in perfect balance,the machine only checks balance up to 55 miles per hour it wont go beyond that point,and i just called advance auto and they have those struts in stock,so getting those shouldn't be a problem,on the gas mileage it may be the way your running it,they wont do good on gas over 60 miles per hour,id get the struts installed and a new alignment on it that will make a lot of difference in the way it drives we just did our car and it took out the vibration we had in it,,all your problems are minor though and can be repaired,good luck.

Answer 4

Sounds like you have some leaking EVAP hardware. You will need access to a smoke machine, or have a shop do it, to find out where it is leaking(this includes all the vent piping, solenoids and canister for your evap system)

On the hunter alignment, those plates are not sensors, they just allow the tires to move freely when adjusting

The tire wear sounds like it could be due to them not being able to properly set the alignment. You could have a number of things bent(strut, control arm, even the knuckle, also bad strut bearings(mount) could cause this, and the noise you hear. Neons are not the toughest car on the market, and you complain about the bumpy roads, something may be bent.... I dont think it will be worth it to get 4 new struts, Have the dealership diagnose the problem with the noise, and the alignment issue(if they cannot find anything wrong, they may tell you everything is bent and needs to be replaced, just so they dont have to fix it for free the second time)

the low fuel light comes on with about 2 gallons or so of fuel left, you are probably getting around 25-27 miles to the gallon, I think those tanks have 12-13 gallon capacity

With the seat of the pants, or in the wheel shake, It aides in finding out if its the fron or rear the vibration is coming from, thinking about it, you may have something bent up front, Maybe something else is bent like an axle, unbalanced tires will shake the car from 50-60 mph, a bad tire or bent rim will shake it at low speeds(5mph-30) an axle would shake hat higher speeds, something to think about

Answer 5

for one, the Neons have pretty thin lower A_arms on the front suspension, the K-cars were thicker! so a slight but perfectly timed bump of the curb or pothole will tweak them. Chrysler knew this after a couple of years so they put softer bushings in the front suspension to keep from damaging the a arms.. Put urethane bushings and PT Cruiser lower A_arms to fix that plus an aftermarket front swaybar like this one...

http://www.carmosaic.com/dodge-neon/prod...

The synthetic oil isnt doing you any favors. synthetic oil was originally developed for high performance racing engines. Mobil tried to popularize synthetic oil for passenger vehicles back in the early 1970's. At the time, Mobil was promoting 20K or 25K oil changes with synthetic, but they soon backed down from this. .

You probably could go a bit longer between oil changes with a synthetic, i.e. following the normal service schedule even if you fall into the severe service category, but I wouldn't advise this. In short, synthetic may give you the peace of mind of knowing that you are using an oil that is far better than necessary for your vehicle, but it won't reduce wear or extend the life of the engine. The mistake some people make it to wrongly extrapolate these benefits onto normal engines operated in mild climates, with the ultimate lack of any knowledge being manifested with statements such as "synthetics provide 'Peace of Mind,' or 'Cheap Insurance,'" or other such nonsense.

Never use a non-API certified synthetic oil (there are many of these on the market). The problem with the non-API certified synthetics is that they contain too much phosphorus (in the form of the additive ZDDP (Zinc Dialkyl Dithiophosphates)). The API has limited the amount of phosphorus because phosphorus shortens the life of the catalytic converter. These oils are fine for snowmobiles, motorcycles, and older cars that don't have a catalytic converter, and the extra ZDDP does provide additional wear protection.

This could cause your catconverter to be clogging up and using too much fuel, which is why you are getting c**p gas mileage...plus the soft tires dont help much either.