2000 Dodge Neon sounds like a deaseal

CHRISTIANRMELTON21

MEMBER
2000 DODGE NEON

Engine Mechanical problem
2000 Dodge Neon 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 168K miles

Okay so I have 2000 dodge neon with about 167,000 miles on it. And it use to have bad oil leaks. Well one day it like started shaking and shut off and I had it towed and the issue was a spark plug had oil in it. So I replaced some kind of seal and replaced all my spark plugs and got the car fixed. But then once it started after it was dead for about a week. It started sounding like a diesel. I got the oil leaks fixed and asked what the noise was that I was hearing. And they said something about my bottoms end hitting something because I let my car run to low on oil when it use to leak oil. And they said I should either get a new engine if I want it not to make that noise. Or just get a new car. The diesel noise only is when the car is warmed up at idle. But when I drive it sounds normal. And if you roll down the windows and listen as you drive it sounds normal. But when I come to a complete stop it goes back to sounding like a diesel when idling? What could be the problem where the people right about it? Currently it has no oil leaks and it always filled with oil.

5 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi Christianrmelton21,

Thank you for the donation.

I don't think it is the fault of the con rod bearings. If it is, a knocking noise would be heard when revving the engine.

I would suspect the valve lifters to be the cause. Try to determine if the noise is from the upper or lower part of the engine.
Does slightly revving up the engine reduces or increases the noise level? Dose it go away intermittently when revving?

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Sunday, December 7th, 2008 AT 1:36 AM

CHRISTIANRMELTON21

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Yes it goes away when im driving, and if I sit in park and rev it the noise goes away once it gets past like 2rpms. Bit then when it idles back down it goes back to making that noise.

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Sunday, December 7th, 2008 AT 10:39 AM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi Christianrmelton21,

I believe that the noise should be from the valve lifters. They are hydraulically controlled and tends to stick when the oil is bad or low. The lifters would have to be serviced and tested and replaced if necessary.

Noise should be ticking type whereas con rod noise would sound more like something knocking when accelerating.

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Sunday, December 7th, 2008 AT 11:37 AM

CHRISTIANRMELTON21

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4 POSTS

But my car has oil in it at the right levels. So are you saying the one time it ran to low on oil my liffters got damaged or somethign so thats why it sounds like this now? And it sounded like this for like 7months now so im guessing if it was the engine thing they said then it probially would have died by now. How much would that be to get done to my car what you said I should do

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Sunday, December 7th, 2008 AT 12:31 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi Christianrmelton21,

These hydraulic lifters tends to wear or stick over time and when that happens, there are excessive valve clearance resulting in the noise. The problem is not a matter of sufficient oil, but whether the oil was replaced in time over a period of time.

For some models, these are incorporated in the intake and exhaust rocker arms. Prices are
1. Intake rocker arms $ 37 per piece.
2. Exhaust $ 49.45.
Labor time is listed as 1 hour.

Normally not all would fail, however most shops would recommend replacing all.

This is of no grave concern but it does affect the performance of the engine and fuel consumption.