need help to figure out why a dodge neon wont go to reverse
 

well my friends owns a neon early model, and a couple nights ago at work he tried to shift it in reverse, but it wouldnt move, i mean it could go to any other gear, but not reverse. so we just drove it in drive and it drives fine, i think maybe its the tranny that needs to be replaced, but im not for sure. and comments? thanks in advance, since i was thinking about buying it just to get around until my car is fixed.

There is a silnoid pack on the front end that could be causing the problem. Are there any leaks? How does it shift? is it clean, fast, smoot or does it slam into the next gear, takes higher RPMs before it shifts?

well idk about the leaks, but from what i know it shifts pretty rough, and he has a auto but he shifts it into 1st then 2nd, maybe hes been doing that along time, thats might be wrong

usually that wont cause a problem shifting it like that, check the shift linkage, if its a rough shift then it might be the tv shaft needs adjusting, or it could possibly be in the trans

he told me that hes going to buy a car. so idk what he will be doing with it.

My guess will be reverse is toast inside the trans.

I just pulled out an automatic trans from a 98 Jetta that had the problem of REVERSE working, but no forward gears. The whole clutch pack was toast. The sprag was in a million pieces within the trans.

what kind of tranny could you replace on the neon? i heard it has a 2.5L but im thinking im wrong

Well, I'm not sure exactly what year the Neon first came out, but 1) it needs to be an OBD2 .
Secondly, you'll need to replace it with more then likely the same type of automatic transmission seeing as how the ECU and rest of the computer has to match.

Just because a DIFFERENT transmission will bolt up, doesn't mean it'd work, unless you change all the programming, and wiring harness, ect.


Hope this helps.


-nick

Throw in a known good tranny that is the same as what is in there if you are going to replace it.

could you replace the motor and tranny with a 2.5L engine? or would you have to replace the computer also?

You can do anything you want to.

It just all takes money. And time. Mostly money.

You start with the swap, then realize that you need a wiring harness, then you realize you need this, then that, then you have to get a new driveline, then you need to fabricate this and that.


I'd just find another transmission that is the same year, same style to put in it, IF i could fix why it wouldnt go in reverse first.


-nick

Thanks guys.for ur help. im hoping he will figure it out soon

best bet is to put it back in the cracker jack box and bury it somewhere you'll for get about it

You need a transmission, plain and simple. You can find 1gen neons in every J/Y. You need to use a 2 gen transmission, depending on the year, I believe they are all the same except for the '95. 96-99 should all work for you.

dated a girl who had I believe a 2000 and something Neon and the tranny was terrible and it had similar problems. We took it to the dealership and the tranny was replaced. sorry man looks like there isnt any good news but i do hope for the best for ya

1995 neon
 

I have a 1995 neon, the issue I have is that when it's in drive. It moves forward just bearly but does the same thing when it's in reverse. yes also forward. Can someone help me?