Neon breakdown

[snoproblem]

Well, folks, I'm a recent victim of an engine breakdown on the highway! :evil:

The vehicle is a Neon, in the '95 - 2000 range, and the cause of this breakdown is baffling and perplexing me. The engine had been making an intermittent clattering noise that would get louder if I coasted at highway speed, and at startup. Anyhow, while coasting down a hill, the clatter got noticeable, then louder, then stopped as I felt a sudden loss of power. I pulled over onto the shoulder, and noticed that the engine was no longer running. I tried restarting, no luck. It didn't even turn, but I'm pretty sure there was plenty of battery power. A look under the hood revealed nothing obvious, ditto for the ground underneath; i.e. no leaks. No bad smells, no smoke/steam, no warning lights or power loss beforehand. Fluids had been recently checked - no probs there, either. Just that clatter, which, apparently had been persisting for a couple of weeks, according to the owner.

Anyhow, the guy that rescued me conjectured that it might the timing belt/ chain, and that seems as likely as anything without any further evidence.

Any ideas? :?

[The General]

Sounds like the timing belt to me as well (a chain will rarely break... not sure which one it is though...). Although, the clattering noise, unless the belt skipped a couple of teeth a few ago, the two would not be related. These cars had many head gasket problems as well but normally there would have been a sign of things to come at one point.

I would suggest that you get an estimate for the work to be done before hand. Replacing the engine might be cheaper than having it fixed... in some cases, it may not be worth fixing the car at all depending on the year and the mileage.

[snoproblem]

Heard back from the garage, and the verdict is...

The starter was failing to disengage, and I guess something finally gave while I was driving. They're not sure if there was any flywheel damage yet.

Funny thing. I was thinking that very thing while talking to the guy who stopped for me, but couldn't put it into words at the time, so I disregarded it.

I guess first answers really are the best ones, sometimes!

[snoproblem]

Final update;

Well, the flywheel was damaged after all. Some work was also done on the torque converter. Final bill? A cool grand! Exactly what they estimated, by the way.

You know, that makes me wonder if it wasn't the first time they've had to do a fix like that on a Neon. This happen often? :?

[The General]

I've heard of similar stories but I can't recall if they had to do with Neons.

If the starter jams in the "on" position then it's quite obvious to a garage that the flywheel will be damaged. The torque converter on the other hand, is tougher to say... they do bolt up next to each other.