new motor

Will a 2000 Neon 4 cylender be a direct fit in a 1996 Avenger. I can get the motor for almost nothing, and need it for my friends Avenger, that has a bad rod. I have read that people use the Neon motors, but was not sure of a year match? Neon has 90,000 on it.

Will a 2000 Neon 4 cylender be a direct fit in a 1996 Avenger. I can get the motor for almost nothing, and need it for my friends Avenger, that has a bad rod. I have read that people use the Neon motors, but was not sure of a year match? Neon has 90,000 on it.
No. The Neon and Avenger have similar engines. They both share the same engine block, the 420a. Thats where the similarities stop because the Neon has a different style head design then the Avenger. The intake on the Neon is in the front and the exhaust exits the back where as the Avenger's intake is in the back and the exhaust exits the front of the engine. The 2000+ Neons all came only with SOHC except for the SRT-4 which is a 2.4L DOHC engine. The 4 cylinder Avenger is a DOHC. The older Neons 95-99 had the DOHC option. If your friends Avenger has the 4 cylinder engine but with a bad rod you could transfer the Neon block over to the Avenger that way and it should work. You cant just drop in the Neon's engine though.
Hope that helps, let me know if you need any more information.

thanks, that is probably how it will go then. My friends brother works for dodge, but they told him it would cost 4200 to fix. I can get this motor for 300 and swap all parts over, I guess.

FWIW, I just did this - sucessfully putting a 1996 avenger head on a 1997 neon dohc block. Couple of things you might want to check - the neon came as a sohc or a dohc and the avenger only as a dohc. If you use a sohc block, I'm pretty that the pistons will need to be swapped out as well as they are different between dohc and sohc. 2000 was second gen neon and I don't know how easily those blocks will interchange - they may be exactly the same, I don't know and you might want to verify. Other than that, it was a straight forward swap, no drilling or tapping required.

If you haven't pulled an avenger motor before, pay no attention to the manual that tells you that you have to drop the tranny out the bottom first and then pull the motor out the top. If you remove the radiators and fans and pull the unit forward, there is room to pull the engine and trans together. I found it necessary to complete remove the crossbrace so that there was sufficient space to tilt the engine.

Good luck! (I've been working on mine since January and will be GLAD when it's finally done)

(I've been working on mine since January and will be GLAD when it's finally done)

ouch

The SOHC Neons do have different pistons then the DOHC due to the different head design. The engine you have is the SOHC so you will have swap out the DOHC pistons from the Avengers engine to the Neons block the rods should be interchangable but check first to make sure. You could use the SOHC pistons with the DOHC head but it would lower the compression more and it would be sluggish at low rpm.

how much compresion loss are we talking about, this is car for a friend of mine's son, in college. Not lots of cash to be made on this one.

Does anyone know of anybody who has used a stock sohc lower end with a dohc head, without changing the flat top pistons to the pistons with valve relief groves in them? I am going to try it, and would like to know any known issues. I will use clay to check my valve clearence before final assembly, to ensure there is enough room so that the valves don't hit the pistons.

alright, I did the clay test, and the valves did not hit the pistons. It looks like there is only about 1 1/2mm of clearence, for error. Is this ok for this motor or should I change or maybe litely mill the piston tops? Need help fast, my friend is wanting the car soon!!!

FWIW, this is from neons.org (http://faq.neons.org/faq/FAQ_ET.html#EQA)

2.5.11 Q: Is there any parts interchangeability between the SOHC and DOHC motors?
A: "Putting DOHC pistons in an SOHC engine has been done. The two engines have essentially the same block and crank except for the PCV system in the '95 SOHCs. DOHC pistons raise the compression a little less than half a point. The DOHC engine actually has slightly less compression than the SOHC because it has 54cc of combustion chamber volume. The SOHC has about 48cc. Thats why the DOHC uses slightly domed pistons, to get the compression almost all the way back up.
If you are planning on putting a DOHC head on the SOHC block even after you change the pistons, you'd better plan on getting a DOHC donor motor for the project. Otherwise, it'll get real expensive quickly. You'll need the manifolds, throttle body, sensors, some timing belt drive components, and wiring harness to get it running. You'll also need a DOHC computer to get the right fuel and spark. SOHCs and DOHCs will run with the wrong computer, just not that well. The fuel and spark tables are totally different because the engines have different airflow characteristics."

Of course, you already have the other DOHC parts...

Let us know how you make it out please...

all of your info has been great so far, so I have to go to the well again!!!

Engine is all together, and almost ready to drop in. but I need to know if there is a tork specification for the cam bearing caps, I can not seem to find any info online for them. It sounds funny but I found all other specs but them. The outer caps have bolts with 10mm heads, and the inners have 8mm heads. This is all I have left besides the pan swap. So any help would be great.

Well, the engine is in and I started it, it sounds good. I have to finish up some CV axle work, tork flywheel bolts, put the lower cross member on, and fix a exhaust doughnut leak. Next couple of days should tell if it was a success.

I ended up using the block, rods, pistons, and crank off of the 2000 neon. All the rest of the engine had to be swapped. The only real work around was the fact that the tempeture sensor in the bolck was on the opposite side of the engine. Easy fix by adding wire to the harness. Not sure yet on any horse power loss, it is to early to tell, but had good throttle response. Will let all know soon.

dyno possibly to see what kind of power it has now? of course i doubt you want to spend the money to put it up on one, but just an idea.

I may have to see if I can get it done at my local college, I have been told they sometimes do it. I also have some friends at the local Dodge dealership, maybe they can do it. I guess I could just test it out with a head to head race with a stock one, that would be funner

Well the car is complete, and runs great with one real bad problem. I blows water out the exaust, but it is not coming through the cylinders. There is no missfires or lack of proformence. Also no water in Oil, So is the head cracked from a water jacket to the exaust port? is this a known spot to crack?