Engine head gasket failed.

- Pittsboro, NC, USA

Instrument cluster loses power unexplicably during normal car usage. Power is immediatly restored after the loss, however it makes vehicle difficult to drive at times when odemter is being reset. Excessive leakage in vehicle's trunk and driver's side back seat has occured. Bosak to fix after car was recently bought, however, leak not completely fixed and re-discovered 1 year later. A hole was discovered in the drivere's side rear wheel well as a result of unexplicable excessive corrosion. It was also discovered that seals were broked on drivere's side door and window track was glued improperly causing the window and track to come loose. Out of pocket expences not revovered by dealership. Also discovered was a severe leake from head gasket. Called several repair places and found the Neon's have had much trouble in the past.. excessive oil loss, and repairs are costly. Front engine mount off; causing pressure in transmission lines and trans fluid leakage. Please contact me asap about the car; need to recover costs.

- Merrillville, IN, USA

Head gasket leaking oil everywhere/dealership charged me $600 for replacing the defective gasket. Why should I have to pay for their defects.

- Milton, FL, USA

The engine part has not failed yet - I've been told the head gasket is leaking and can go at any time. That was told to me on the date I wrote as 'failure' chrylse should replace this part with their updated parts for free for the consumer. I want to see something done about this as I have heard too many accounts of the gasket going and chrylser not doing anything for the consumer.

- Lexington, KY, USA

Head gasket failed. Nlm

- Findley Lake, NY, USA

Noticed low on oil. Oil was leaking out on the engine. Took it to the mechanic who said that it was an engine head gasket problem.

- Palm Beach Garden, FL, USA

Engine head gasket leaks and needs repairs on most if not all Neons from what I hear.

- Silver Spring, MD, USA

Engine head gasket of the first few years of Neons are known to fail often. This failure can cause engine head to leak oil and anti-freeze. This could lead to engine failure if not repaired. The head gasket for Neon's was redesigned at least once to fix this design problem. In my opinion, the early Neon head gaskets should be recalled to fix this defect.

- Poughkeepsie, NY, USA

The head gasket is a known problem that develops a leak at cyl#4. it was detected when the engine began overheating. A new head gasket was developed mid 1998 due to the number of problems and was used subsequently for all new engines and repairs.

- Shaker Heights, OH, USA

Vehicle was overheating. Looked under the vehicle and it was bubbling. Consumer thought it was some coolant. Vehicle was taken to jiffy lube and coolant/oil change was done. Two days later, vehicle started running hot and was taken to Firestone. They checked the thermostat and noticed that coolant had leaked onto the spark plugs. It was taken to fast to jiff lube, problem is still happpening.

- Colmbus, OH, USA

I feel that because of the neglect of Chrysler, I shouldn't have to pay for their manufacturing defects. I incurred expenses of $55.80 for parts, and $495.15 for labor. At 61,535 a car should not need a head gasket to be replaced. Approximately 6 months ago I also had to replace the compressor and the condenser. The condenser was leaking oil and the expenses incurred again were approximately $630. I feel that Chrysler should be liable for some of my repair costs.

- Marine City, MI, USA

Blown head gasket anlong with the front brakes needed replaced and the rear brakes leaking. The speedometer does not work. I know there may be extra miles on my car however most were highway due to allot of traveling so these parts to go out so soon are very dissapointing when I take excellent care of my car

- Port Orchard, WA, USA

Overheated the last week of December 99 and have been losing radiator fluid since then; no sign of water in oilpan until today. Towed to an Oregon dealership and was told that manufacturer will only pay for the parts and not labor. The service advisor as well as one of their mechanics admitted that there is a problem with the original cork-based head gasket design and that the manufacturer has a new metallic-based gasket. If the manufacturer has these new parts available why isn't there a recall for this item? consumers of this particular make and model should be reassured that the vehicle they have purchased will not fail due to one faulty item!

- Portland, OR, USA

Vehicle was leaking oil. Vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop, and was informed that engine head gasket needs replacement. Dealer notified.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

I have taken my vehicle in for inspection to a few different service centers to make sure that the diagnosis was the same. The diagnosis reveals that my head gasket is leaking oil. Upon inspection at each different service center, I was told that there have been several Neons between 95-98 that have had the same type of problem. I have even been told this from a service rep at the Chrysler dealership. I pursued this issue by contacting Chrysler customer service and after roughly two weeks, I was told that Chrysler denys any claim of negligence in the manufacturing of my head gasket. Even though they are aware that there are several other Neons or other Chrysler vehicles with the same size engine having the same problem, they will not assist in any repair of this kind.

- Plano, TX, USA

Oil light came on, car was leaking oil, had car towed, informed of head gasket problem.

- Union Beach, NJ, USA

As I was driving my 1995 Neon home from work, I noticed that the oil light came on. I became concerned and pulled into the nearest service station which was less that 1/2 mile away. I asked the service tech to look at the car and he said that there was an oil leak. He suggested that I have the oil changed and see if there were any loose fittings from my previous oil change a few weeks earlier. The oil was changed and the car started only to continue to leak oil again. I was told not to drive it and had it towed to my dealership the following day. The dealership diagnosed that the cam seal/plug had cracked off and caused damage to the engine. As a result, I would need a new short block installed in my 5yr old car at a price of $3500. I feel that the cam seal/plug is defective and that is why it cracked off. I have spoken to other people in the auto industry/repair industry and it is a known problem with the Neon car. I cannot imagine that I should be held to pay for the replacement of the engine when I did everything I was supposed to do by stopping the car immediately. I spoke to Chrysler directly and within minutes of contacting the dealer, they (Chrysler) agreed to pay half of the repair only if I had the service done at a Dodge dealership. I appreciated this gesture but I am still looking at paying $1700 out of pocket for the damage. I feel that Chrysler is aware of the problem with this defective part. I have read complaints on your website and would greatly appreciate a phone call to see if I can get any help in resolving this issue. As you can imagine, I am extremely upset at this point. I have contacted my dealer and wrote a letter to the general manager. I did receive a call from the svc mgr, who will admit no fault. At this point I am waiting to hear from the svc mgr with a firm repair price but as of yet, he has not returned by call. I feel that I am being unfairly treated and being penalized because I did not buy the extended warranty.

- Springville, NY, USA

I have already replaced the entire head gasket system less than a year and a half ago. Already it is leaking oil. That is ridiculous. Something has to be done about this problem.

- Casselberry, FL, USA

Heater no longer worked. Fluctuation in operating temperature. Emission gasses in cooling system was diagnosed as a faulty head gasket

- Succasunna, NJ, USA

Engine head gasket was blown and engine has leaked oil for almost a year. The repair costs almost $600 and the dealer told me he has seen more of these than he can count, yet no recall.

- Mountain View, CA, USA