I bought this car for my stepdaughter who is 16. 1995 dodge neon 2.0 87k miles. The guy I bought it from just completed head and valve work due to a timing belt breakage. The car drove home just fine for the 30 mile trip. The next day I gave it to her and she drove it for 30mins and it died and would not start. I replaced the fuel filter and it started right up and drove perfect for about another hour. I parked it and when I returned and backed it out it died, I restarted it and drove about 10feet and it died and would not start. I then replaced the fuel filter once again to see if it would start (thinking maybe there was alot of rust or dirt in the tank and it might need flushed out) The car still would not start so I tried starting fluid and still nothing.

I did the key dance and came up with codes 11, 54, 12, 43
compression test 45, 45, 50, 45 (seems very low to me)
I tested the cam positioning sensor and it read 5v to .06v
I pulled the plugs and they are all getting spark (#2 plug seems to be soaked with gas all others were dry)
The engine seems to be turning over very easily almost to easy.
oil is clean not milky and does not smell of gas.
car was not smoking and did not make any sounds when it died.
I can hear the fuel pump relay click and the fuel pump come on.
Any help would be appreciated I am at a loss. Thanks in advance!!

 

I am going to check the timing belt tomorrow to see if it jumped a tooth or something.

 

if you say someone did work on it .... but yet it ran fine for a little bit id be worried about shoddy work. liek something was loose or not connected properly. But you said things test out ok like compression and spark. id check all the electrical connections first. make sure nothing was loose and then came off during your initial trip.

i got a handheld scanner for $31 at pepboys over the weekend. Its regularlly 60 bucks but on say for $39.99 and they did 20% coupon thats in the current flyer.

My key on/off only showed me a p0700 code (generic trans problem) but the scanner showed me a p0750 Bad solenoid so when i replaced it works. Maybe the handheld can get you more indepth with the codes?

good luck

 

Compression numbers are way to low, 100psi is the lowest you should ever see. Be sure there is no restriction in the intake or exhaust. More then likely a timing belt and or valves.

 

timing marks are dead on so Im still at a loss. How could the valves bend if timing is on?

 

I am going to put it all back together and retest the compression with a different gauge and test the fuel injectors. Thanks for the input so far guys.

 

took the cam gear off and the dowel pin was sheared. The bolt was just a little more than hand tight so poor installation is the blame. I hope replacing the pin and proper torque will solve the problem, crossing fingers hoping no valves were damaged.

 

I was going to mention to you to check that dowel, this is not uncommon for them to break off after someone one was in there. Pray for the valves, they may be okay considering how the situation occurred.