Moparts
NEON Help! Please.
Posted By: geno440
NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 11:37 AM
1995 Neon SOHC 5 speed. Motor sucked in water and broke a rod. Ran fine before. Got a used motor. New belts, etc. Installed it. Started right up. Drove it to the body shop for paint. Got a new paint job. It took a fit and wouldn't start. Then it started, so I took it to my local mechanic for the final check over and inspection. It took a fit and wouldn't start. We replaced every switch and sensor and computer as well. Finally I got a new wiring harness and it started right up. Ran good for a day and now it seems to be the same thing all over.
Anybody out there got any ideas? HELP!
We have replaced every switch and sensor at least twice with mostly good used parts.
I got about $3k in this car and I am going nuts.
Posted By: Rapid340
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 12:01 PM
Yikes,
I would say have a mechanic drive it for a day or so, so he can hopefully read what the computer is seeing while the problem is happening.
Its too expensive to just replace stuff when you are not reasonably sure what is failing.
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 12:09 PM
As it sits right now it won't even start.
Posted By: 69MOPE
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 12:10 PM
Pull the oil pan and adjust the crank sensor gap. You won't find any spec for this gap in any book. I made the gap .008". Because the sensor is not adjustable you will have to remove material from behind the bolt mounting tab. Use your old crank sensor first to see if this works. When I had a few neons with a similar problem to yours I contacted a Chrysler engineer and was told that if the gap is at its widest spec, when the block gets hot, the crankcase spreads just enough to open the gap over spec. also this, in most cases will not set a code.
Posted By: Bill MeLater
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 12:26 PM
Those cold air induction kits have probably ruined more motors than just about anything...
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 01:31 PM
Quote:
Those cold air induction kits have probably ruined more motors than just about anything...
That is what happened. following a truck in a rain storm
Posted By: coronet1966d
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 01:42 PM
try swaping out the computer
Posted By: Supercuda
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 01:51 PM
Before you spend any more money throwing parts at it get a code scanner and see what the computer thinks is wrong.
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 02:33 PM
Quote:
try swaping out the computer
Already did that twice.
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 02:34 PM
Quote:
Before you spend any more money throwing parts at it get a code scanner and see what the computer thinks is wrong.
My mechanic is an ex Chrysler dealer. It has been scanned many times. It shows no codes or abnormalities.
Posted By: coronet1966d
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 02:37 PM
is it cranking just wont fire or no crank?
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 02:57 PM
It appears to have spark. It has plenty of fuel pressure, (70 psi +) but when cranking it does not squirt fuel into the cylinders. I removed the fuel rail to see. It only squirts fuel into number 2 and not as much as I would expect to see. I have tried 3 fuel rails and the all do the same.
Posted By: Supercuda
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 03:14 PM
I hate to say it, but you need a different mechanic. The last refuge is to throw parts at a problem. I know some extremely good certified Chrysler mechanics that can make that computer sing and dance and tell you a ton of information that will let you fix the problem properly. Doesn't sound like you have one of those guys. Also sounds to me the scanner is a generic one, not a factory one, which can tell you more than just codes. A lot more.
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 04:03 PM
He was a certified chrysler mechanic for 30 years and yes it is a certified chrysler scanner updated last in 2006 when they lost their dealership.
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/14/09 04:04 PM
Quote:
Pull the oil pan and adjust the crank sensor gap. You won't find any spec for this gap in any book. I made the gap .008". Because the sensor is not adjustable you will have to remove material from behind the bolt mounting tab. Use your old crank sensor first to see if this works. When I had a few neons with a similar problem to yours I contacted a Chrysler engineer and was told that if the gap is at its widest spec, when the block gets hot, the crankcase spreads just enough to open the gap over spec. also this, in most cases will not set a code.
He is looking at this possible solution now - thanks for the tip.
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/19/09 06:33 PM
We did the clearance thing on the crank sensor and it did not help.
Anyone have any ideas? Please.
Posted By: blk00rt
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/19/09 09:34 PM
may sound funny but have you checked all your engine grounds. a friend of mine had a loose ground and his engine would give him hard times starting and cut out sometimes.
Posted By: FurryStump
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/19/09 11:12 PM
My 97 had a tsb for the wire harness rubbing on the master cylinder chaffed a hole in it and it started to buck. Just a thought.
Posted By: Rapid340
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/19/09 11:19 PM
The fuel pump could be bad.
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/20/09 12:03 PM
i replaced the wiring harness with a used one. We checked to make sure all the grounds are conected. The fuel pump is good.
I am so at a loss.
Posted By: hemicar1971
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/20/09 04:34 PM
I have a few Questions. What year of motor did you swap too? What year of wiring harness is now in the Car? What PCM are you running. 70 Lbs of fuel pressure seem like a lot, I thought 48lbs was the number. It sounds like you have an injector problem, either with the injectors or through the Harness itself.This is what I can gather without seeing the car.
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/21/09 11:50 AM
The new motor is from a 96. It has 96 stamped on the block.
We changed everything (sensors, etc.) over so that the old wiring harness would plug in.
We used the original PCM plus another one that I got from a scrap yard with the same number as the original.
I have also got a wiring harness from a 95 as well from the scrap yard. I thought we had it made when we put the second wiring harness on. It started and ran pretty good. But within a couple of hours of running it was back to the same situation.
When it started, it threw a code. The code in the Chrysler manual said it was a intermitent loss of timing. It made it sound like the crank or cam sensor was not working. We have replaced both more than once.
The fuel pressure I quoted may not be exactly what we found. I just remember him telling me it was good.
I am really frustrated. I have a good bit of $ in this car and cant get it going.
Posted By: chrisf
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/21/09 02:03 PM
i had a 95 and it would run fine then die. it was the crank sensor.
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/21/09 03:43 PM
Quote:
i had a 95 and it would run fine then die. it was the crank sensor.
I tend to agree but we have tried at least 3 different crank sensors. One was brand new.
Posted By: 6PacCuda
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/21/09 11:41 PM
Make sure the ground on the radiator support is good. It is the one by the battery with the 8mm screw. They will not start if that wire is messed up.
Posted By: B5TA
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/22/09 12:02 AM
When you said you replaced wiring harness, did that include the one going to the crank sensor? We had a similiar problem with my boys '96 and it was a "break" in the wire going to the crank sensor about 6" from the plug. One other thing you said the fuel pump is OK, did you check to make sure you had power going into the pump at the tank, when my boys pump started to act up it would pop the fuse under the hood, put a new one in (fuse) and it worked good for a while till it hit that bad spot again. ,we changed pump and that fixed that.
Kev
Posted By: hemicar1971
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/22/09 02:22 AM
The 1995 PCM is unique to 1995 only Neons. It is a single plug harness. The 1996 to 1999 is a two plug harness for the PCM. Like I said in an email go on
www.neons.org . All the answers to your question will come from that web site. It is dedicated to Neons only and these guys know their Neon related stuff just like people on here know the older Mopar Performance information.
Posted By: geno440
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/26/09 11:24 AM
Still no luck ...... even posted it on neons.org
Posted By: 540challenger
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/26/09 01:09 PM
Quote:
Still no luck ...... even posted it on neons.org
Can you keep it running while spraying starter fluid down the throttle. This will at the very less eliminate it being a fuel problem.
Posted By: Tony H
Re: NEON Help! Please. - 10/27/09 05:21 PM
I'm following this POST.
My friend did a Head gasket. The car ran great for about 10 minutes then died. Like someone turned the key. hasn't started since.