learn me 2003 Neon SXT

Looking at one for the last daughter. It looks to be in good shape, 150,000 miles with an automatic. I'm not worried about typical maintenance stuff, just the high dollar watch out for this stuff.

Fairly safe bet, just do motor mounts, water pump and timing belt and whatever other minor maintenance if needed and avoid cheap Chinese parts as much as possible.

Yes a surviving neon today should not require much major work. They are rather easy to keep in good shape.

The only big hit that I have been hearing more about neons recently is the engine harness getting brittle.

Engine rear main seal can be costly to have someone replace and they go randomly but not often. Usually can let one leak a while before dealing with it.

If doing timing belt also do the water pump.

2nd hand info as I never owned an automatic, but if doing rear main seal of the engine. My friend says replace the torque converter.

Otherwise just normal stuff.

Thanks guys

2003 is probably the 31TH automatic, which is an old-school 3-speed hydraulic-controlled type. Ratio coverage isn't bad but 1st is a little tall. Change the fluid and it's pretty bulletproof - if it shifts smoothly and doesn't flare it should run for a long time. I have a buddy with over 300,000 miles on one just like it (admittedly he's a workaholic auto shop teacher).

A little later they went to the 41TE which is ChryCo's "famously unreliable" electronically controlled 4-speed. However, I think they were fairly reliable in the lighter Neon than in heavier cars.

The famous headgasket issue was long-since corrected by 2003, but check the coolant for oil and vice versa. It almost always blows externally, though, and results in oil weep down the back of the block rather than anything catastrophic.

Duke wrote: 2003 is probably the 31TH automatic

Last year for the 3 speed was 2000. 2001-2002 used the 41TE and 2003-2005 used the 40TE.

red_stapler wrote:

Duke wrote: 2003 is probably the 31TH automatic

Last year for the 3 speed was 2000. 2001-2002 used the 41TE and 2003-2005 used the 40TE.

I'm not going to argue too hard, but are you sure about that? 2000 was the first year of the second body style and I thought they got more than 1 model year out of the 31TH in the newer car.

Duke wrote:

red_stapler wrote:

Duke wrote: 2003 is probably the 31TH automatic

Last year for the 3 speed was 2000. 2001-2002 used the 41TE and 2003-2005 used the 40TE.

I'm not going to argue too hard, but are you sure about that? 2000 was the first year of the second body style and I thought they got more than 1 model year out of the 31TH in the newer car.

I should have checked the FAQ, it was 00-01 for the 3 speed, 02 for the 41, and 03+ for the 40.

At least I was right about OP's '03?

red_stapler wrote:

Duke wrote:

red_stapler wrote:

Duke wrote: 2003 is probably the 31TH automatic

Last year for the 3 speed was 2000. 2001-2002 used the 41TE and 2003-2005 used the 40TE.

I'm not going to argue too hard, but are you sure about that? 2000 was the first year of the second body style and I thought they got more than 1 model year out of the 31TH in the newer car.

I should have checked the FAQ, it was 00-01 for the 3 speed, 02 for the 41, and 03+ for the 40. At least I was right about OP's '03?

That would be me that compiled / wrote / edited the bulk of that. However, you were more correct than I was!

So was the 40 any better than the 41?

Not exactly important to the conversation, but:

03 was the first year of German involvement, and the started pulling content out of the Neons as quickly as possible. By 05, they were a cheesy plastic version of a car that started out pretty darn cheesy. Other than the goofy automatic, the 02 is the nicest of them all.

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Weren't these horrible in crash testing, or was that just the 1st Gens?

I drove one of those earlier second gen neons for driver's ed. All I really remember about it is that I ended up with the pedal on the floor for the highway section of my driving test just to get up to speed. Slowest car I have ever driven, by a large margin, but it was also probably driven at <20% throttle by most driver's ed kids, and was probably all gummed up inside as a result. Probably just what you want in a cheap first car though.

Streetwiseguy wrote: 03 was the first year of German involvement, and the started pulling content out of the Neons as quickly as possible. By 05, they were a cheesy plastic version of a car that started out pretty darn cheesy. Other than the goofy automatic, the 02 is the nicest of them all. That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

I'd argue that '00 was the nicest, since that's when they still had lights in the power window switches and other little touches like that that were gone as early as '01 after the merger.

Brett_Murphy wrote: Weren't these horrible in crash testing, or was that just the 1st Gens?

They were "average" at the time they were introduced, which eventually becomes horrible as standards are raised.

You see that reflected in insurance costs, my '02 neon beater is more expensive to insure than my '12 GTI with full coverage.

Those cars are simple and easy to keep up with. Timing belt/waterpump/associated pulley bearings are the only thing that's going to jump out and bite you if they've never been dealt with.

The 40/41te are pretty reliable if they've had any kind of fluid service over the years. Even when i was rebuilding transmissions during a time when 41te vehicles were still commonly being repaired, the vast majority of ones that came in were in taxicab minivans with burnt fluid. A trans cooler and one or two fluid changes over the life of the vehicle ruled out 80-90% of internal problems. They do occasionally need a speed sensor or solenoid pack on the trans, but they are cheap and external.

Anyone who thinks a 3spd Neon is gutless clearly doesn't remember driving anything sub-2.0L and auto from that time period. It was a rocket compared to a 1.5/1.6 of that time, even with less gears.

D2W, the 40 is a lighter duty trans than the 41, still the same unit over all.

D2W wrote: So was the 40 any better than the 41?

Donebrokeit wrote: D2W, the 40 is a lighter duty trans than the 41, still the same unit over all.

D2W wrote: So was the 40 any better than the 41?

Yeah, this. The first digit is number of gears, the second digit is an arbitrary torque capacity / duty rating designation (higher is stronger), the third digit is orientation (transverse or longitudinal), and the fourth digit is control method (hydraulic or electronic).