first gen DOHC guy working on a 2nd gen car. 02 i think. i drove the car from the autobody place to my neighbors house. they had to jump it there. it sat for a long time there tho. the trip over ( 10 minutes) the battery light was on the entire time.

bad alternator, bad connection between alt and batt, or sheared belt right?

the gauges were also jumpin around.

the car sat another week. So i go to jump it today and it just clicks. electronics all work in the car, but it clicks. the starter doesnt turn.


first the autobody place told her it needed a new carbeurator... yeah. lol
and they wanted to rip her off. i know (1st gens at least) neons well enough so i said id try to help her out.

They told her it drives for a while and then just shuts off. They said it is because of the catalytic converter being clogged. the car only has 66,000 miles on it. is this likely?

when the ignition is turned to on - what the hell is buzzing from around the throttle body? is this normal? some kind of sensor starts buzzing and gets warm. whatever sensor is closest to the top. IAC or something.

what do you think about it not wanting to turn over now? i hate electrical bugs. they freakin suck.

 

i know when the starter clicks like that and the gauges go crazy, it's most likely the battery is really really dead. and even if i try to jump start it, it wown't let u. so first of all try to put in a good battery, then see what happens.

 

sounds wonderful. i hope thats all it is.

 

If you have a voltmeter check the volts of the battery and if it's good take the starter off go have it tested, if the starter is good it's the wiring to the starter, might just want to check the ground and power wire at the starter may be loose. Yes the "cat" can be clogged. I have an 01 and i don't hear any buzzing from the sensor and it doesn't get hot so i'd replace that unless it's something 02 does.

 

Does this car have a audio system in the car? or any other cables leading off the terminals of the battery? After my car sat for awhile the battery went dead and had the same conditions except the sensor getting hot.. The new battery should take car of it, go to autozone they can check your alternator for free...

 

yeh. car is totally stock. old ladies whip. lol. electrical gremlins suck.

 

Wow... well...

There are two things under the hood that can heat up and resonate... one is the IAC sensor (stock location is in the elbow from the airbox, driver-side fender), the other is the MAF sensor, built into the throttle body. The MAF sensor can reach over 1000 degrees in the first 2 initial seconds of turning on the ignition. The IAC sensor will heat up, but not that bad... it is an inverted thermistor, and uses heat to help gauge readings through resistance.

It is possible for a cat to go bad at 66k in a Neon...O2 sensors fouling between 65k-80k in a 2nd-gen are actually relatively common. I have noticed from my own experience and others as well, that the upstream O2 sensors MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, WILL NOT throw a code from the ECU right away. This is bad... it means poor gas mileage, and the possibility to load up the cat and foul it.

However, I guess a bit more information is needed to determine exactly where you electrical problem is... does the battery hold a decent charge when the car is off? Do you have a volt-meter or amp-meter? These could definitely come in handy. It sounds to me like you have a short somewhere, although I suppose a crapped-out alternator could also be the culprit (since one situation you mentioned was the car actually driving, then dying again down the road). Hard to pinpoint. Unfortunately, if it is a short somewhere, there is no magic-bullet advice I can give you, except DIG DIG DIG. Sorry man, I hate wiring defects.

 

yeah i think its more likely the maf then. its after the box - on the tb topside. which i have no idea about cuz 1st gens are map and its on the manifold. i was like wtf is this thing and why does it sound like this.

glad to know the cat could be the issue.... and not glad to know at the same time. lol. a little beyond what i can accomplish before i leave for college thursday. because im betting its a little beyond what she wants to spend to fix it.

guess ill spend tomorrow checkin wires. im a computer tech, so ive got all the fun digital mutlimemters and voltmeters ready. as soon as my fsm downloads i can go over some things.

thanks for the help guys. ill let ya know how it turns out.

 

I changed the battery to an extra one I had lyin around from my car. let it charge a second - and the car started right up. thank god.

drives ok. gets hesitant sometimes and misses a tad from time to time. sometimes more frequently than others.

im gonna check the plugs and wires and work my way back from there. let it run and drove it for an hour and no CEL yet.

 

told u