Belt Auction

2004 Dodge Neon timing belt and water pump change...i did the work myself to save a few bucks but now it ....?

It hesitates at low rpm. A slight hesitation is noticed when idling, but not too bad, runs smooth when rpm's are increased. The car has a 5 speed and it also hesitates when i shift gears at low rpm.....like if i am driving slow. Shifting at higher rpm's like when accelerating on to the highway, no problems. I bought all the parts at O'Reilly's , Gates timing belt and Gates accessory belts and a brand new water pump. The replacement belts were the same size but quite a bit tighter, car has 85,000 miles on it. Is it possible i have the belt tensioner's adjusted too tight? I know the timing belt is right on the money because i checked and rechecked it several times. Will the belts eventually stretch a bit? What else could be causing this problem? Forget the "Haynes" manual.....whoever wrote that book was clueless......I wish cars were simpler like the old days, this job was pretty hard for a home mechanic like me. Thanks in advance. Motor is 2.0 base model.

Public Comments

1. well if you know its right maybe its a fuel thing like filter or dirty fuel system so if you have recheck timing id try a bottle of fuel treatment and maybe a new fuel filter
2. You got the timing belt a notch off.
3. if your absolutely sure its in time then start looking for something that could have got left off like a hose or a wire or something, the belt will stretch out some but not enough to cause that problem,if it was running good before this then it has to be in the timing,i have did a lot of those and had the belt slip when it shouldn't have slipped, one tooth will cause what your having happen,the 2.0 is a fairly simple engine to work on but has to be perfectly back in time or it wont run right,if it were me id recheck the timing again just to be sure on it,good luck.