OK, I'm new and have been looking into an issue I have been having. I have a 2004 Neon and it was running pretty smooth until about 6 or so month ago. I was driving along just fine when the engine light comes on and the bell rings. Suddenly the car starts to sputter and loses power. I pull to the side of the road and it seems to idle fine but when I press the gas it sputters and can't seem to get beyond about 25 MPH. I shut her down and sit there for a moment wondering what had happened. I pop the hood. All looks fine. I get back in and turn it over and she runs fine but the engine light stays on. After a couple days the engine light goes off. I think that maybe it was something temporarily clogging the fuel filter or line.

So the next time it happens and all other times it happens I see an odd flux in the fuel gauge, then the engine light, then the sputtering. Sometimes the sputtering will go away after turning the car off and restarting. Other times it will not start for several minutes. So I am thinking it's the fuel pump/filter/sensor unit. Anyone else have this happen? If so and all I have to do is replace that, great. But if that is not it, I would rather spare myself the joy of dropping the fuel tank. Any ideas?

 

Have you had the code pulled? Heck, you can pull it yourself. Turn the key from the off position to the on position three times quickly, and your odometer should say "done," followed by any codes.

 

Nice! I did not know you could pull the code that way! I will check that out the next time it happens and let you know. It may not be for a few days to a week. It usually happens once or twice a gas tank. Thanks!

 

Just put this in another thread, but left out a claryfying point here:

 

Welcome to DF! When was the last time you replaced your fuel filter?

 

How many actually replace it regularly though? You have to buy a whole new pump assembly to do so...

 

Thanks for the welcome! I'm with Darthroush on this one, I only want to change that if I have to since it involves dropping the gas tank and replacing the whole fuel/pump/filter/sensor assembly. I'm betting I will have too, but curious as to the cause and if anyone else has seen such bizarreness.

 

Ahhh... Thank you for the clarification Darthroush!

 

Finally got the P0340 code so I am going to replace the cam shaft sensor next chance I get. Thanks again for your help! The key trick to get the code is super helpful!