did a search, found some info. on this but still looking for help. Im picking up a 1996 Neon today, this car is to drive while my Trans Am is in storage for the winter.....it has a cylinder 1 misfire, the wires and plugs have been changed(by current owner) what else could cause this??? What should I check/change first....and in what order untill problem is fixed. The car other than that runs very well, has 135k miles on it, picked it up for $500

 

I got the car, they said they have also replace the coil pack, cam sensor, and fuel injectors.........so what else could it be?

 

Incorrectly gapped or a badly seated plug/wire. Or a bad spark plug ...or loose threads not tight... or could just be the spark plugs are cheapies that dont hold up...

 

I think she said her husband used champion plugs this last time....I plan to work on it this weekend so any suggestions are appreciated, as I have never owned a dodge b4!!!!

 

You can swap wires (#1 & #4) and plugs (ditto) to eliminate those. You can just pull the #1 wire off the plug and get it close to the valve cover to make sure there's actually spark from that wire as well.

The coilpack fires 2 plugs at the same time - #1 & #4 together, and #2 & #3 together. The cam sensor plays into fuel injector timing, but not spark timing. And if it was the crank sensor, you wouldn't be able to run the car at all... So if it isn't the plugs or the wires, it probably isn't the coilpack. I'd do a compression test and leakdown test paying particular attention to the #1 cylinder... My guess is one of the valves or valve seals is leaking by. Not a very common ocurrence, unless the timing belt was broken at some point and those valves got bent...

Best of luck!

 

Simple system of looking at a cylinder. It would either be commonly fuel or ignition related. First check ignition sounds like that had been checked but double check as it generally easy. Plugs and wires. Start easy work hard. If you are getting spark and since its mate works then you probably have fuel problem. Maybe a dirty injector. Can of top engine cleaner would be nice but if you pull ijector and switch with a neighbor then you'd know if it was a dirty injector. Also with proper adapter and a very good meter you could check injector firing to see if it is firing. but easier is a stethascope and listed for pintle movement. But if tip is clogged you may not hear a problem. So an injector swap will let you know if that is the problem. If still not changing then you need to look for advanced diagnostics for firing electricaly or ignition firing isses like cam sensor not firing for cylinder 1. Anyhow jsut the basic thought process. Also a pulling a plug and checking for compression with or without a gage in comparison to the other cylinders would be a another quick check for base engine. You get the idea.

 

Just curious if you have found anything out. I have a 96 neon I bought new and haven't had alot of problems just the head gasket and minor repairs until lately it misses to the extent of shaking you to death when idleing but when you up the rpm's it straightens out it also shows # 2 misfire changed the same things plugs, wires, coil pack, etc. same thing have had it to every shop and no one knows. However it doesn't have good compression # 1 has 170, #2 has 50, # 3 has 170, # 4 has 90, if you put oil in the cylinder it raises the compression temporaraly so maybe if you figure yours out i can also. I really like my neon but am ready to run it off a cliff. ha ha No if it comes down to it I will put a new motor in it however I am not convinced thats what it needs it doesn't smoke uses no oil and has no blowby. Also when you unplug #2 injector it doesn't change anything but unplug another one and it about dies.