Daughter has 2000 Neon. Came home from college and says car smells like "fire" when she came home.
I check everything before starting this morning and all is good.
Start car and 3-5 seconds later it stalls. Does this 3 times in a row. On 4th time there is nothing.
Battery has full power, all connections are tight and no evidence of anything "burning".

I'm at a total loss on what this is. My thinking is starter(even tho I know once car is running this ain't it), then alt, then maybe coil packs, bad sensor?

Any ideas?

Do you hear the fuel pump run 2-3 sec ....key on ?

Does it have skim? The thick gray keys? Does a red dot light come on in the cluster and go off or does it stay on with the key cycled to the run position.

Check all the engine harness wiring. They are too close to the motor and the insolation can melt between the wires causing all kinds of problems. Mine did and was acting just crazy, had to tare the bundles apart and re wrap all the wires. Look over on neons.org which is a forum like this but just Neons.

Red dot stays on.
All wiring that i can see and follow are in good shape.
Fuel pump is sounding as it should.

Could either be a bad or unprogramed key or the SKIM module is bad. Get the codes read by the dealer. Should get you in the right direction.

Ok, i didn't read your first response completely.
Key used was one I just had cut. I assume there is a difference between that and original keys? We have both originals.
If that is case I'll try the original. I've never owned a vehicle w/coded key. Doh!!

Sounds like you found the problem. If you don't care about the security key and want to have more cheap keys you can do this;

Take the lower column cover off and tape or glue the original key close enough to the ignition switch to let the switch read it. Then replace the cover. That way you can use any cheap key you want.

The chip in the key is proximity, so as long as it is close enough for the switch to read it, it will work. I have even used the security key with the end broken off and held it up to the switch while cranking with a cheap replacement key. Once the engine starts and runs long enough for the red light to go off, it doesn't need the chip key close in order to keep running.

In other words, all the car needs is to have the chip key close to the ignition while cranking and until it runs for a few seconds. After that, it does not matter where the sender key is.

IHTH

Yep, key is solved
now onto next problem

thanks fellas.

WHY does this 2000 have this particular style of key .....and some higher dollar and later model Chrysler cars do not ?

Particular option packages maybe? As a used car dealer, we deal with this all the time on Mopars built since 2000 or so.

In fact, one of the first things we do is to check whether the key is black or gray and make a note of it in the file. And if there is only one key with the car and it is the transponder style (gray), we have a spare regular key (black) cut just for the door locks.

Then we ask the end customer if they want the expensive security key retained or if they want us to secure the key to the switch so they can use the cheaper key.

It is quicker for us to do it than it is to explain to the customer how to do it. In our rural area, nobody wants to deal with a $100 key.

well, the original problem has been solved. It suffers from the dreaded PCV/intake/oil pooling.
"Fire" smell was from it burning off exhaust.
I guess from it sitting for long periods, it pooled up larger to where it didn't burn off as usual from everyday use.

Dealer wanted 1800 to fix but adding a quart of oil between oil changes seems to be make better business sense.