2005 Dodge Neon Blown Head Gasket

MACK5818

MEMBER
2005 DODGE NEON
4 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
55,780 MILES

I have recently just bought this car; 2 days afterward my car overheated & it also makes a bubbly noise after it gets turned off. I got it towed back 2 were I had bought it they said it is suppost to make that noise because of the AC (even though when I'm not using the AC it still make that same bubbly gurgle noise) & that the cap to the anti-freeze wasn't on tight enough. So they tightened it & I go the car back, about 2 months later I had started to notice the temperature gauge would spike up to hot fall back down & jump all over the place. It got all the way to hot a couple of times so I would stop for 40 minutes (still hearing the gurgle & bubbles) to try to let it cool down, but when I would start it back up again about 5-10 minutes later it would get hot again so I would speed to my next destination to let it cool longer. It would be fine one day hot the next, then it hot all the way to hot n was beeping in my face so I pulled over to the repair shop. Now they are telling me the head gasket is blown & it will cost me "a couple thousands of dollars." I know this is a rip off & I have a warranty, should I let them rip off my warranty dealer, could this have been prevented 2 days after I bought my car when I told them about the problem, do you think I'll have to pay any money out of my pocket, & is it my fault that this happened to my car because I drove it while it was hot? Its a SXT 2.0 L 4 CYL they said between V2 & V3 there was leakage and V1 & V4 had carbon build up that didn't match the mileage which is only 55,780.

4 Replies

IMPALASS

MECHANIC
3,112 POSTS

Hello -

To better assist you is your model a SE or SXT and what is the engine size in liter

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Friday, September 11th, 2009 AT 4:25 PM

IMPALASS

MECHANIC
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Hello -

To better assist you is your model a SE or SXT and what is the engine size in liter

Thank you very much for the donation

Please let us know if what the final fix was for your car so we can better assist others. Thanks!

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Friday, September 11th, 2009 AT 4:25 PM

MACK5818

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2 POSTS

Its a SXT 2.0 L 4 CYL they said between V2 & V3 there was leakage and V1 & V4 had carbon build up that didn't match the mileage which is only 55,780. I also ask him to check the thermostat & sensory which he said was fine, & asked him if the oil was grayish in color which he said that there may be some discoloration. Is it a pretty good assumption that it is the head gasket? The repair shop said I probly won't have my car at all next week, does it take 5 working days to complete this task?

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Friday, September 11th, 2009 AT 5:36 PM

IMPALASS

MECHANIC
3,112 POSTS

Hello �

Well, lots of questions there.

As for driving the car hot... Yes... If you did then that would be your fault I am sorry to say. Any time your vehicle starts to get hot out of range you should shut it down at once. Heads warp then you have a blown gasket.....

It may be up to them with the warranty. Taking it back for it starting to get hot was the right thing. You should have continued to do that though..... Sorry...I am sure you don’t want to hear that. Many things may have been causing it to heat up... Bad thermostat, radiator, cap, water pump or even the cooling fans.

If this is under warranty then by all means... Take it back and let them fix it.

As for the price... Yes... That is about right and depending on what other damage it may be a little less or more. Once the heads are off they need to be totally torn down and a machinist refinish them. All the valves need to be checked and the bad ones replaced. Time frame... About right also... It will take time to take it apart and unless they have a machinist there... Which they probably don’t, they sub that out to a machine shop to work the heads... Now you are waiting on them..... Once back then put it all back together.

If you look at your engine... As you see there is a ton of goodies on top of the heads that must come off. Then all that must go back on correctly. It is a lot of work. Since you bought it used it may have gotten hot before you purchased it. The place you bought it from would have no idea of that. So it may have been bad going into the dealer before you bought it.

Even I purchased a used vehicle for my daughter � checked it out on the machines etc...1500 miles later I was pulling both heads....... It happens I am sorry to say.....

Well it is hard to say if it is a head gasket... Or not... Was it blowing white smoke out the tail pipe? Is there oil in the radiator fluid, or radiator fluid in the oil?

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Friday, September 11th, 2009 AT 10:56 PM