Dodge Neon 2.0 SOHC Head Bolt Issue

[SwampSurvivor]

So posting this for a friend.

The car is a 2000 Dodge Neon. 106K miles. Previous owner overheated it and blew the head gasket; to the point that the coolant coming from the engine was fouling the spark plugs.

The head was warped a bit. Block was straight. Had the head milled, put on a new gasket and put in a new set of head bolts.

The engine now leaks coolant from the head gasket area on the corner nearest the steering wheel. From a bit of research, this is extremely common on these cars as Chrysler didn't drill the holes in the block enough to accommodate for a milled head, etc. While it appears to have been a factory issue on the "older" engines, the newer ones will do it if the head has been milled.

There have been a few things I have read online about this. Such as - shimming the bolt with a washer, redrilling and retapping the block and then cutting a bit of thread off of the bolts.

The bolt is NOT hydrolocked - we made sure the holes were clear. We used 3 cans of brake cleaner, MMO and canned air (I kid, I kid). But they are not hydrolocked causing it to not go down any more.

So - my question is what would you do? Or what can be done.

It seems that people on the Neon sites are fans of just losening the head bolts, cutting the threads on the one, then putting them back in.

Since we just put the head gasket on and it has only come up to temperature once or twice, will that cause issues? Will a new gasket have to be installed? What about the copper spray seal ... will that have to be applied?

Can we just remove the one bolt and cut? Or back all of them off to 30 ft/lbs or something - enough to take most of the pressure off to pull the one out and cut ?

Going through all of the labor to take the head off and clean the gasket is not desirable ... it's a cheap craigslist car. 3 engine mounts, exhaust and intake manifold, wire looms ... and all the other stuff in the way of the timing belt to remove the head

Thanks in advance!

 

[4wheeldog]

The solution of shortening the single problem bolt seems the obvious simple answer. I see no down side to trying it. If it works......Great! Otherwise, disassemble, tap hole deeper and do it again.

 

[TFB1]

I'd remove the bolts one by one and install a hardened washer under them, in most applications with aluminum heads they are std practice...

 

[Silverado12]

^^^Good idea. That's what I would do too.

 

[eljefino]

I did my 05, it had an MLS head gasket and didn't have too much "goo" that looked like it would go bad if tension were relieved/ renewed.

The torque pattern goes from middle to out, it shouldn't tweak it too bad to have a corner bolt out then back in.

The "home plate" mount plate on the side of the timing cover... I'd like to hang someone from his toenails for that thing.

If you were GearToolNologies, you could spray copper spray in the intake while it's running, and that would coat the head gasket from inside out.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
I did my 05, it had an MLS head gasket and didn't have too much "goo" that looked like it would go bad if tension were relieved/ renewed.

The torque pattern goes from middle to out, it shouldn't tweak it too bad to have a corner bolt out then back in.

The "home plate" mount plate on the side of the timing cover... I'd like to hang someone from his toenails for that thing.

If you were GearToolNologies, you could spray copper spray in the intake while it's running, and that would coat the head gasket from inside out.

I'm pretty sure there are some new scratches on the inner fender and the timing cover trying to get that thing back on. What an asinine design, really.

We almost did not use the copper spray because Joseph used it. I thought it wasn't a real thing. It has a new MLS head gasket. It appears that the Neon people don't have a problem with removing the bolts, either.

My first (joking) suggestion was to just dump a few bottles of head gasket in-a-bottle haha.

 

[qdeezie]

Buy some head bolt washers from ARP. I believe they come standard on most ARP head bolts.

 

[Kruse]

Use an ARP stud to replace this single head bolt.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Well we go it up to temperature last night. Turns out it's the spot on the head where the temperature sensor goes on - my friend believes he ran the sensor in too much and cracked it.

Is this head done for or is there a way to repair the cracked temperature sensor area?

Car seems to run and drive decent. No speedometer (but it shifts) and the cable operated HVAC is a bit messed up.

 

[mk378]

Drain coolant, unscrew sensor, clean and dry out the area, apply a whole bunch of sealant and screw sensor back in only slight to moderately tight.

 

[eljefino]

Sounds like a job for stop leak dust. Maybe also find a 7 lb radiator cap.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Sounds like a job for stop leak dust. Maybe also find a 7 lb radiator cap.


In the past I have run with no rad cap at all to avoid leaks or exploding old rusty metal coolant lines.

I think the plan is to use some JB weld and maybe some Alumaloy? This is a $300 car. And a Neon with 106000 miles is nearing the end of its life anyway.

The head gasket dust may work too. It's just seeping ... not even a leak, really.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Miller88

I think the plan is to use some JB weld and maybe some Alumaloy? This is a $300 car. And a Neon with 106000 miles is nearing the end of its life anyway.


I thought that too, and gave up on the AC at about that mileage... 6 years 80k miles later, it was still surviving some lapping days! I had to run the heater to keep the overheating chime off, but it was out there doing, lap after lap.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Auto or manual trans? If it were my car, I would be worried about the 41TE. The rest of the car isn't really great or bad, but that 41TE has a reputation for being short lived.

I donated a set of old snow tires to the car so I could be rid of them. I think this car is the definition of winter beater. Provided we can get the heat to work.

 

[IndyIan]

It was a 95 with the old 3spd auto, seemed to be pretty tough, took 20-30 minutes at a time of WO up down shifts between 1-2... I think some of the 2000's came with it too. The 41TE wasn't as robust I read, but if you don't beat on it, probably its fine.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I have a feeling the car is going to have a hard life

IF the coolant thing can get resolved, my friend is thinking of Auto-Xing it next weekend. Then , when it snows, driving it around on unplowed streets with two front snow tires.

I think it is going to be fun for a sub $500 car