As title states, my 96 SOHC neon has a hard time w/ any incline of any significance. Not only that, but it constantly has trouble accelerating... Something is not right but I have no idea what.

 

There could be a hundred reasons why this is:

How many miles on the car? When was the last time you did a tune up? Has the car been well maintained or dogged to heck?

Do a compression check. Low compression will do this.

Check to see if you have a plugged muffler/cat. If they are almost plugged up, it can cause this. It is usually one of the first symptoms - slow accel, poor performance.

Do the dodge key dance and see if you have any error codes, or go to a parts store and get them to give you a free readout from your OBD-II port.

 

it has a lil less than 64k miles, seems like it was maintained bout average, its in pretty good shape other than this & a gauge cluster issue thats typical of neons..

thanks for the quick response.

 

Most catalytic converters will last longer then 64K miles, but not always. It could be partially plugged, but I doubt it. A quick check is to drop the muffler system at the exhaust manifold, and if your problem goes away, then check both the cat and muffler.

By 1996, Dodge was putting MLS head gaskets on their cars (Multi-layered steel) to get around the faulty head gasket they put on Neons in 1995. That said, you still may have a very early model 1996 car that used the old gasket, and around 60K is when they started failing. Make sure you do the compression check first.

You may also want to do an entire intake system cleanout. Lack of air caused by years of soot buildup can create airflow problems leading to lack of power. Clean out the intake manifold, clean the TB, IAC, TPS, and even the EGR (including the tube).

Finally, a 1996 car has a lot of years on it. A good fuel system check should be in order. Check fuel pressure at the rail. If low, then you can replace/clean the fuel sending unit. Low fuel pressure will cause lack of power as well.

 

thanks for the help.

if it was the head gasket wouldnt there be leaking of either coolant or oil? or smoke from exhaust? i dnt have any of those symptoms..

if u could recommend which order i should check these things based on difficulty & time & likelihood of being the problem, how would u order it? just tryin to make the most of my time.

 

Not always. A head gasket can start to fail slowly and work it's way up to complete failure.

1) Compression check. If you have the tool, takes about 5 minutes to do. If you don't, $10 at http://www.harborfreight.com/flex-dr...ter-92697.html

2) Exhaust. Jack up fron of car, put it on jack stands, slide up under it, two bolts hold the exhaust to manifold. Drop it down to rack and pinion and use a wire to hold it down and keep it from rattling around. Drive car. Loud as hell, but if car accellerates up hills as it should, great! Go to muffler shop and have an expert check out the muffler and cat to see what is plugged. Takes about 20 minutes to do (including driving time). Cost, you may have to replace the exhaust donut. About $10.

3) Intake. A couple of cans of carb cleaner, a big pan of gunk/kerosene to soak the manifold and throttle body, a stiff long handled bottle brush, a good stiff brush, some pipe cleaners for the little holes, a new intake,TB, and EGR gasket. Clean the crap out of them - inside and out. Time - about 2 to 3 hours. Cost - should be less the $50 total.

4) Fuel system. If pressure is low, a new unit is about $250. Easy to replace. Just drain the tank, drop it down (1 bolt) and clean it out (while you can easily), replace unit. You can try to clean the old one, but a 16 year old unit is going to go bad one day, usually leaving you on the side of the road. Time - about 2 to 3 hours depending on your skill level.

 

well, I dont know much bout cars in general so I had it looked at by a guy that knows his stuff. He put it on a lift & we pretty much figured out whats goin on with my car. Head gasket is indeed on its way out, but its not officially blown yet. Theres a small oil leak on the closer driver-side seam on the engine block. The water pump is leaking like a bastard, ive been filling the reservoir every time prior to starting the car. As u pointed out this mechanic does suspect a partially blocked catalytic converter, but he recommended a product called 'cata-clean' or somethin like that.

 

If the water pump is leaking there is a good chance its bad and causing timing issues. I have owned 95's and 96's and I have never had to change a head gasket yet. Check compression on the cylinders to confirm the head gasket is causing the motor to run poorly. An external leak usually does not cause the motor to run different. If the leak made it to a cylinder causing the compression to be low, this would be your issue. I am curious to the vacuum reading and calculated engine load when your having the issue.

 

the guy said that the vacuum reading was "good, really good." What is a 'calculated engine load'?

Im gonna go to a few different garages and see bout them doin a compression check.

 

Whats really good mean? It was higher then normal? Calculated engine load is shown on a scan tool. I use in reference to "loss of power" conditions.