My girls 2005 neon with 45000 miles on it was running fine all day long today. Got home went inside about 3 hours later I went outside to start it and it would not start. After the 3rd try it kicked over and the check engine light came on. As soon as we pulled aways it started sputtering when you got it over 2k rpm. well I thought maybe a plug fouled or something. Drove it home and pushed down on all the plugs to make sure they were not loose but it didnt help. About an hour later I went to start it again and it fired right up. The check engine light stayed on but it did not sputter at all. It drove just fine. Now I will be the first to admit I dont know crap about cars Alot about motorcycles but not cars. is there anything I should be checking for? Any help would be great. Thank you very very much
Erik

 

Easiest way to find out what's wrong, or at least a start, it to find out what code(s) her car has. Autozone usually checks them for free, or if you know someone with an OBDII reader. If the light is staying on, it is a "hard" problem and should be fixed as soon as possible.

 

Crankshaft position sensor mine did the same changed it and is koo so far

 

my old neon did this, i had a 96 before i got the my 00, ... just like you said, it would sputter at about 2500rpm... i got it back to my house cause i thought it jumped time.... the next day i fired it back up again and it ran just fine....... turns out it had to do with the fuel filter.....

With time, the tank rusts on the inside, which is why ppl say, never let your tank get under a quarter...

what has happend is your pump has sucked up some of the rust and garbage that you pick up from your tank and from the gas pumps... aka *drugs* and its stopped up your filter..

with a few hours the pressure is release from the filter and the *drugs* and gas dropped back into the tank then when you fired it back up, you were getting a good flow of gas again...

only way to cure this is to take your tank off and flush it out as much as possible and try to get all that rust and **** out.... or buy another one.. but its noting bad.. no worries

and 9 times outta 10 the codes your computer is shooting has to do with emissions, which means your fuel system..

good luck bro.. i hope you get this fixed

 

Maybe just try changing the filter first? Much cheaper and easier than dropping, draining, cleaning, and reinstalling the tank. I have two tanks on my 23 year old truck. Both have sat dry, both have been run dry, and I've never had a rust issue. I'd have a hard time thinking a 3 year old car would have a rusted up gas tank...

 

not to mention that most gas tanks have a liner of some sorts inside as well

 

The filters are an integral part of the fuel regulator, and they're supposedly a non-serviceable part.

 

you have to buy the whole pump.

 

btw i wasnt saying just rust... i was talking drug particles in general, yes its hard to believe that a 3 year old tank is rusted up inside....... but what about the holding tanks at the gas station that have been holding gas for years and years... not to mention the dust and dirt particles thast floating around down there too. But yeah changing the pump is a good start...

 

Yeah, you have to buy a new regulator assembly for the filter. It is much cheaper though than a new pump.