Actually, I know those engineers. Trust me, they didn't want a "crash" motor
any more than you do. They were forced into it by the EPA. Those neat little
valve clearance notches in the pistons proved to be a "reservoir" of
hydrocarbons that are 'hidden' and won't burn. I.e., smog. They had to go.

But they tried their best. There IS enough clearance so that a belt that has
jumped two teeth will NOT cause a crash. And even a one-tooth jump turns on
the Czech engine light so you know something's amiss. And they REALLY broke
their stones to get 100K belt life on the DOHC.

I just did a belt on mine - not a hard job at all. But don't even think
about it without the FSM and a torque wrench handy! I suggest replacing the
hydraulic tensioner also, and carefully checking (feeling for roughness) the
bearings in the tensioner and idler pullies.

Rick Ehrenberg

PS-
If you've got Crane springs on a DOHC - a GREAT upgrade for RPM AND smoother
idle (!) - change belt at 60K.

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Sun, 3 Oct 2004, Anthony wrote:
>
> > Well, started out to dinner Friday night. About 4 miles up the road,
> > smelled antifreeze, and heard squealing from under the hood. I figured
> > water pump bearings/seal gone, and got it over to the side of the road.
> > Had it hauled home yesterday and went parts shopping. It is a '95 Neon
> > with ~140,000, so it is about time for things to start wearing out. I
> > learned, that some designer decided to drive the water pump from the
> > TIMING BELT on the 2.0L.
>
> Designers don't get to touch the engine until it's time to prettify it
> with shrouds and covers and pick the font for "2.0 DOHC!" on the camshaft
> cover. Your beef is with an engineer or a task committee, not a designer.
>
> > The 2.0L is a non-free revving engine in both SOHC and DOHC
> > configurations,
>
> For several decades, Chrysler engine engineering was headed by an
> *extremely* sharp engineer, and one of his rules was "No interference
> engines with timing belts -- you can have an interference engine only if
> it's got gears or chains." When he retired, that rule was tossed out by
> idiot kids who grew up in Hondas.
>
> DS