no relay is deff fine cause i can swap them all with the horn and test them they work fine all the time... but sometimes when i hit the key the pump don't kick on... and it does this once and a while so really it can't be the orings cause even if those were bad the pump would still kick on... but when it does start the pump does kick on and it all works fine like its supposed to.. and I know its not crank sensor i've thought it was that originally but i started testing things the last time it wouldn't start and i had spark thats why i'm begining to think its something in the pcm....

 

double post....

 

Good, you ruled out the relay. Before you replace the computer you should make sure that the pump it's self is not bad. First though lets see if the computer is trying to turn the pump on. Have someone switch the key to the "on" position while you put your finger on the fuel pump relay. If it clicks then the computer is doing what it's suppose to.

Disconnect the plug on the pump/gauge sender back at the tank and use a volt meter to probe for voltage while you have a handy assistant cycle the key slowly on, off, on, off. If you have voltage and don't hear the pump when you reconnect the plug then the problem has to be the pump. If you have no voltage at this point I would suspect wiring issues.

I have had more than one fuel pump "soft seize". For whatever reason, perhaps worn bearings or brushes, a motor would quit and then from vibration, temperature or will of the gods, inexplicably start working again for a little while.

As for the O-rings this was something to look at if you do replace the pump as they are cheap insurance. I do not feel they have any bearing on your problem right now though. I just threw that in for others that may read this, I sure would have liked to read it than have to figure it out on my own.

 

well i'll have to wait till it does this whole not starting bs again lol... the first time it did it was back in october... then its worked fine till this last week... now i got it started again and its been fine since so i expect it to do it again in a lil while in the mean time i'm going to order a fuel pump to have it on hand and start looking for a cheap used pcm while i'm at it so i'm prepared for both....

 

I have the same simular problem with my 97dohc 5speed. The problem only started when we went from 10C to -15C and back 10C in less than 24hours. Car was drove to work fine in the morning, then went to start mid afternoon and the car stalled out and died. Had fuel, had spark, reset computer and the car ran again. Then while driving, coming to a stop or slowdown car would stall occationally. 4days later after computer reset I had to reset it again for it to start/run. I checked the error codes and it shows the cpu reset for a code and thats it.
I have owned this car from brand new and always have kept it tuned.
The only thing that I have done at this point to diagnose was to make sure there was fuel line anti-freeze and fuel injector treatment. Any thoughts or directions as to what may be causeing this would be appriciated. I will post what the resolve is when(if) I figure it out.

 

well nothing really to update about it yet the car has been starting fine since friday when it started up again.... so still waiting for it to not start to see if the pcm is kicking the relay on when i'm hitting the key or if my pump is bad....

 

I had the same issue with my sohc, it ended up being the cpu, it happend a few times in a period of a month where it wouldnt start. Then one day I went to start it and nothing, changed the pump, relays, fuel filter and a mess of other parts. In the end it was the CPU, it just wasnt sending the singal to the relay. I could well imagine this being your issue.

 

alright well a bit of an update my neon decided to kill while i was driving it today... with the same issues as the no start issues with the fuel pump not kicking on so seen as i decided to see if the relays were kicking on to see if it was the pcm or the fuel pump was the issue... so i got out of the car and had my wife turn the key on and off a few times and i could feel both the fuel pump relay and asd relay kicking on as they should... so leads me to my fuel pump being my issue although nothing is for sure so i will let you know how it goes once the new pump is installed... also ordered new plugwires and the full street motor mount insert kit...

 

Sorry, I almost forgot that I posted this question in the first place.

I now have a definitive answer.
I gambled on a used CPU and installed it this spring after another couple more times of not starting. Problem solved.
It has since experienced every possible weather condition and had started flawlessly.