I really need help with this.
I just purchased a 97 Neon from a coworker that uses it everyday. The radiator was bad so I took it out last week in order for me to put in a new one this weekend.

I replaced the new radiator and now the car will not start. When you turn the key it cranks and turns the the engine perfect, but the wierd thing is it feels as if its not getting any fuel. Also, the radio, the headlights, the horn, turn signals do not work. And when you put on your blinkers a buzzing sound comes out. Oh the only thing that ligths up in the dash is the oil light. Even when I brake the brake lights do not turn on but the oil light inside the dash does. Did I short circuit the car? Or did I mount the radiator on a wire, I checked but everything seemed to be ok.

 

it sounds like your battery is dead, try boosting or charging it, also pull the codes and maybe there is another problem, maybe you should clean the battery posts and where the red wire goes into the fuse box behind the battery, because it sounds like you have no power, and is you oil full?

 

here are 10 possible causes for the engine to rotate but not start

fuel tank empty
battery discharged
battery terminals loose or corroded
leaking fuel injectors, faulty fuel pump, pressure regulator ect
broken or stripped timing belt
ignition components damp or damaged
worn , faulty or incorrectly gapped plugs ( no not run platnum plugs in a neon)
broken , loose or disconnected wiring in the starting circuit
broken, loose or disconnected wires at the ignition coil or faulty coil
defective crankshaft sensor or PCM


why dont you just lightly press un the schrader valve on the fuel rail, if it is getting fuel it will spray out so be careful and it would be best to put rags under it.

 

fuses??? Start there or in line relays...

 

Take a real good look under the car by the radiator for any disconnected or pinched wires, If it ran before, it is most likely something you disturbed during the radiator swap. It cranks so that rules out the dead battery theory. Checkfuse #21 in the PDC, it is a 20 amp fuse that powers the automatic shutdown relay and the fuel pump relay. The ASD relay also powers injectors,ignition coil pack,supplies power to the dark green/orange wire on the alternator, and same color wire on both heated oxygen sensors. It also sends a signal thru the dark green/ orange wire into the PCM. Hope this helps some.....

 

Has anyone got a detailed picture or some direction as to where all the fuses are etc. My haynes manual is good but not good enough.

 

The fuses are on the left side of the dash when you open the drives door. There are also some in the fuse block on the battery box.

 

OK here is the scoop. I belong to the Corvette forum as I have had Corvettes pretty much all my life. I purchased this car as a gift and wanted to grab a sledge hammer and destroy the hell out of it. I had my buddy come over who is ASE certified and we worked on it from 7AM to 6PM trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with the car.

It seamed as if a positive wire was broken within the wire harness and sticking to the chassis of the care. All indications led to this as the car was positively charged. The lights did not work but were receiving juice. The radio, wipers, brake lights everything about the car had juice but was not working because not only did the positive wires have juice but so did the wires that were supposed to be negative. There was no ground, making anyone who knows a bit about cars that there was a faulty wire.

Well, guess what

No faulty wire,, right under the battery box (the big plastic box that holds the battery) there is a ground wire that connects to pieces of the chassis together.

Yeap, that stupid &^%$ was not grounded correctly. My buddy and I must have checked every single wire in that wire harness during the day. The car at one point looked like Spiderman's house with all the wires separated from the harness.

I am writing this so that anyone who ever faces something like this might want to check that. All by the way on Neons if they are not grounded correctly the car becomes positive charged.

I posted this because this is what we do over at the Corvette side and I really like how you all stick together here and have these cars over civics.

 

Thanks for the info. Electrical problems suck.

 

Grounding problems suck in particular. Took me half a day to figure out I had left one disconnected when swapping out the radiator. Glad you got it up and running though!