Yesterday I was driving up the road and my car quit on me, (96 2.0 sohc) and still wont run, it starts to run then just boggs out. I checked the timing, seems to be fine, and now im thinking it might be a fuel problem. my gauge never works (even though ive replaced it) I can hear the pump come on, and theres no pressure from the valve on the fuel rail.....any suggestions? Oh, and I tried for codes, but none are coming up.

 

I wanna say fuel pump because of how you said it was dieing in the middle of the road.

 

yea its the feul sending unit... had it happen to mine when it was running... costs about 100 dollars to replace.... give or take from here in peoria...

 

Ok, I was talking to a few ppl about a new pump, (Expensive!!! $350 in canada) Everyone keeps telling me that the filter and regulator are part of the pump assembly, but, After I took a little peek I see what appears to be the filter/regulator beside the pump sitting just behind the rocker.....call me crazy but I thought the 95's did have it all in the pump ***., but changed it in 96 to an exterior filter?????...thought i might save a couple hundred if changing the filter solved my problem

 

oh, and another thing, when i checked the timing i pulled the plugs and noticed that cylinders # 1,3&4 were wet with oil, After I calmed down a bit I thought maybe oil leaked in as the plug tube is seated in the valve pan, so mabye the oil just leaked in??? I hope. Cause the car never burnt oil b4 , and never smoked. Forgive me, this is the 1st neon ive owned, and the 1st neon ive ever worked on

 

another quiestion, does anyone know if a pump from any dodge will fit as long as its a 2.0? And which neons it will fit from? mines a 96, cant find any fuel pumps anywhere.[:@]

 

www.howellautomotive.com or www.modernperformance.com both should have the Walbro 255 lhp pump for a little over $100. Don't know what shipping would be, but I'm guessing a lot less than $250... I picked mine up from ebay for a little less (still not installed, just waiting for the stock pump to die after 24k miles...). It just has a higher capacity, in case you ever need it. But there are no other modifictaions needed to run it, it's a direct swap. The problem with the fuel level is with the sending unit, which is part of the pump housing... I've seen a how-to out there on how to fix it, but I can't remember where...

The changeover for the fuel system happened in the middle of the '96 model year. Went from a metal tank with a big external fuel filter, to the plastic tank and the lifetime filter as part of the regulator assembly. The external filter sould be under a removeable panel, just forward of the rear passenger wheel. The recommended replacement interval is 35,000 miles. When it gets clogged, it will airbind the fuel pump. Happened to me on a road trip from CT to GA, 2 a.m. in the middle of Virginia... What sucks is I had bought a filter that week, and didn't get around to it... The original fuel pump is fine, still, somehow... The Walbro pump will fit either style, you just reuse your old pump housing (comes with new seals for both types of housing).

It's hard to guess pressure at the fuel rail without the fuel pump constantly running. The engine would have to be running or strarting, or you'd have to have a DRB-II unit to turn the pump on by itself. When you take the key to on, the pump only comes on for a couple of seconds, then turns off until the PCM can read a reliable crank signal.

Oil in the spark plug tubes is a fairly common thing for the SOHC's. And you're right, it's probably just the seals where the tubes mate to the valve cover. Pull off the valve cover, stick 'em back on with a little RTV or whatever, and that should be that. If the seals look really bad, a new set isn't all that much at the dealer.

Best of luck!