alright, my neon is being a real bastard. i have had everything done i can think of or anything any mechanics can think of and it's still not working. it's very hard to explain what's going on, basically my car just slowly dies out on me - when i push the gas it just begins to feel like it's choking and then it stalls. if i pull off to the side of the road and wait a while it will usually start right back up. if i don't give it any gas it seems to idle a little bit better, usually when i start it back up there is a lot of exhaust (sometimes it just won't even start when i am just leaving the house and the massive smoke cloud appears because i have to hold down the gas to get it to start). I've had the spark plugs changed, oxygen filter, fluids, i had the catalytic converter replaced because a mechanic told me that may be the problem and consequently had the o2 sensor replaced which is still showing up as broken on the check engine light. i have gone through a lot of money and i'm nearly ready to abandon the whole thing. does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be? also another side note is my gas gauge doesn't seem to work properly once i hit less than 3/4 of a tank it drops to E and then gradually comes back up. the whole thing is very frustrated, if it wasn't my only mode of transportation and i wasn't a broke college kid i would just hit the thing with a sledgehammer or something.

 

I am typing this quickly, have to go out to eat with the wife, and my mind is all over the place, so bear with me.

What codes are you throwing?

I am currently going through the same thing with my '96 Neon. I have worked out most of the stalling bugs, but it still does it maybe once during a day of driving. It used to stall all the time after about 5-10 min. of driving. Here is what I have done so far and recommend you do.

This sounds like a fuel issue, which I believe was/is my problem. The previous owner did some of the same stuff you did.

One of the most ignored filters is the fuel filter. It is supposed to be changed every 30k miles. I don't think mine was ever replaced and the car has 79k.

That alone made the car run much better.

You allready did wires and plugs. Pull the plugs and check to see how they are looking. If they have a white coating, it means you are running lean, starving the engine of fuel. Make sure they are the recommended NGK COPPER NOT PLATINUM plugs (can't remember the letters/numbers, will get back to you) make sure they are gapped correct, no electrode damage etc. and put them back in. Make sure you firing order is correct.

Replace all the filters you can. Air filter, even if it looks just slightly dirty, do it anyway. Replace the PCV.

I will bet that this alone will solve most of your problems. But to be sure, remove and clean your throttle body.

That is what I have and has been (prev. owner) to mine. It is running alot better. I plan on cleaning the TB again to be sure. I have a friend that works at a Chrystler/Plymouth dealer and is gonna hook me up the computer to pull the 4 digit codes so I can get a better idea what is wrong. I am still throwing a Code 43 when it does occasionally stall.

Other suspects could be the TPS sensor. You may have even jumped a tooth on the timing belt. I think I might have, but I won't know until I yank all that off and replace it along with the waterpump.

Are you throwing any smoke out the rear tailpipe? If so, what color? I know mine puffs a tiny bit of black when it is first cold-started. I am guessing this is the valve stem seals going bad. If you have white smoke, that means you could be burning anti-freeze as you might have blown the headgasket. Check your oil/antifreeze to see if either has mixed with one another. The antifreezed will look very dirty, the oil will look foamy and like dirty milk.

I will post back later with some more ideas.