Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I have a 1990 Geo Prizm with a 1.6L 16 valve DOHC 4 cylinder gasoline engine, and I am toying with the idea of swapping it for a Dodge Neon 2.0L 16 valve SOHC 4 cylinder gasoline engine.
Has anyone ever heard of this being done or have done it?
My biggest questions are about the position of the motor mounts and the position of the battery, as in the Neon it is near the firewall on the drivers’ side, while in the Prizm the battery is in the front of the engine bay on the drivers’ side.
I would appreciate any feedback.
Thank you and have a nice evening.
How much money are you willing to spend?
Tester
I’d pick something other than a Neon engine…
First…What are the parameters you used to select that engine? Its not an especially good one… The Geo Prizm is a Toyotie Corolla… There arent any really exciting Toyota engines in 4 cyl config anymore… They used to make a Turbo 4 in the Celica in the 80’s…200Hp…
You could swap in a Scion TC engine…not exciting… or say…hmmm…yeah Toyota has no exciting powerplants these days… Perhaps they do in Japan in the JDM market.
Going with the Neon engine you WILL have engine mount NIGHTMARE issues GALORE…which is why I dont think you should even think of that Mfg for a swap there are many other reasons NOT to go with this engine as well…too many reasons actually…can it be done? ANYTHING CAN BE DONE…but at what cost and for what reasons.
…right off the bat u should be leaning toward a toyota engine…because Most of them use the same engine mount configs on the 4cyls…or at least they should…theres an 90%+ chance they do…I KNOW for certain Honda uses this philosophy. Its a smart thing to do as a mfg…and saves money
For instance I swapped an H22 4cyl VTEC engine from a Prelude with 220Hp into my Accord (removing the 120Hp F22 4cyl)…nearly doubling my HP…and this made for a high performance Accord…just like the Accord they released in Europe…the SiR…we never got that one in the States…so I made one.
Again please tell me why you are doing this and what you expect to have at the end of the day…Performance? Wierd engine under the hood bragging rights? Doesnt matter to me I just need to know…it matters for choices Let us know…
Motor mounts and battery are the least of your worries. Where are you going to locate the ECM? Route the engine wiring harness? The fuel supply systems of those cars are incompatible–Neon has a returnless system, Prism has supply and return. Coolant hoses? What about transmission?
Sure it could be done. It would make a good TV show!
Anything is possible but it’s going to be a somewhat expensive, frustrating at times, and headache causing thing to do.
If you have to pay someone then it’s going to get godawful expensive.
If you have to ask about simple things such as motor mount and battery placement then my opinion is that you really should not attempt this yourself. Those 2 things are the least of your worries.
Why?? It’s going to cost you far more than that it’s worth. If an emissions test is required, engine swaps can turn into a real nightmare…
The commenters have really helped you realize the futility of this swap. Your not envisioning everything required to do this. I hope you have strong mechanical and electronic skills, because you’re headed into an expensive headache and possible nightmare. Too many incompatible parts to make this a cheap and easy swap.
Another thing not mentioned is how to get the Neon driveshafts coupled to the ‘Toyota’ hubs? Splicing the Neon’s ECM wiring to the ‘Toyota’ wire harness?
I would like to thank everyone for all their input on this topic. You all pointed out some issues that i had not thought of.
Thank you all.