2002 Dodge Neon Grinding noise!

Tiny
DANNYCS123
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 DODGE NEON
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • MANUAL
  • 100,000 MILES
My wife and I just did a tune up and thermostat replacement on her car and everything appears to have worked perfect. The temp is normal, it runs great, no sputtering or backfires, smooth acceleration etc. She obviously has a small leak in her valve cover gasket as there was some oil in her spark plug chambers but no other problems. After we fixed it however, there is an awful and loud as hell grinding noise coming from her front passenger side area. It does it periodically at idle as well so my guess is that the cv joint isn't the problem as it also does it when not turning the wheel. It sounds like something is rubbing against something else and it is getting worse. Is it possible that when I jacked up the car I bent something that is not touching her axle or another moving part? I placed the jack under a big thick piece of steel and didn't hear any bad sounds as I was lifting the car. We did spill quite a bit of greasy fluid down there so I am not sure if that could be it. Maybe something rubbing against a belt or the cooling fan? Help!
Monday, August 18th, 2014 AT 7:31 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Checkto see if there is a plastic shield rubbing against something and due to the greasy fluid have your axle shaft checked for broken boots.
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Tuesday, August 19th, 2014 AT 5:34 AM
Tiny
DANNYCS123
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
After a long bout of research I have come to the conclusion it is her motor mounts. When we jacked up the car we put the jack under the front passenger motor mount and I think we damaged it. The car vibrates especially under acceleration even when sitting still and the vibration can be stopped literally by applying hand pressure to the top of the engine while its running. Does this diagnosis make sense?
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Wednesday, August 20th, 2014 AT 12:16 AM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Ye syoiu could have but you had to put a lot of pressure on it to break the mounts. Sometimes the motor will jump if you brake torque it in either direction as well. But just be in a safe open area so it doesn't get away from you
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Wednesday, August 20th, 2014 AT 6:18 AM

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