Hi all,
I've had my 2000 Plymouth Neon, manual trans, since it was new. Great car, and *******ly trouble free. I intend to keep it going as long as possible as my experiences with it lead me to believe it's a well-built car.

At the end of this past winter, I started noticing that it would attempt to stall out when starting from a stop if it was very cold outside (less than 20 degrees F). I'd give it gas and the RPMs would drop almost to the point of a stall before rising again. I also noticed the headlights and interior lights would dim as well. It began right before the winter ended and when the temps warmed it went away so I thought nothing of it.

Now, this summer, I have noticed that it is becoming a bit more difficult to start. I have noticed that turning the ignition key to "on" a number of times to get the fuel pump to prime repeatedly helps things a bit. I also noticed that when the tank is less than half full it starts harder than when it is nearly full.

Could these things be related? Any suggestions? Thanks

 

Are your plugs and wires within the service interval? Are any of your power or ground wires or the PDC (on top or underneath) corroded?

 

Plugs and wires were changed this spring. I will check the connections, thanks.

 

check what darth said under the pdc, and when you have it over spray it with something to inhibit the corrosion from forming.
Very coomon for corrosion here to cause havoc.

But my official diagnosis would be;
ur battery doesnt like the cold
ull find the electrolyte has turned to almost water and may be freezing up
do a Ph test on ur batt and u'll likely see its not up to snuff for the cold.

extreme cold and extreme heat kick the crap outta batteries

your new issue:
sounds like a bad pressure reg for the fuel. i'm gonna say unrelated

but check the batt situation out 1st, cuz a bad battery will affect the electric fuel pump.
put the damn thing in the freezer for a bit and check it U want as close to 12.6V as possible at all temps.
a carbon pile load tester really helps with this, perhaps u can rent one or buy a cheap one from harbour freight.

you wouldnt believe how eager u are to test batteries when u got one lol

 

Many thanks. I'll have time to work on this over the weekend. I'll start with the PDC and then go to the battery. I'll post back with results.

 

Sorry for the late update. I wound up having to change my brake pads and shoes instead of addressing the fuel issue.

I still haven't gotten to the PDC, I will soon. However I did find that I have a faulty check valve in my fuel pump. I have the factory manual and was looking at the removal/installation procedure and noticed it calls for a special tool (#6856) to remove the fuel pump module locknut. Can I get by without this tool or do I need to order it as well?

 

Got to the PDC tonight. It was dusty in there, but almost no corrosion. When you mention on top and under, what do you mean by under? I pulled all the fuses and everything looked good. Is there something else I need to check? Thanks.

 

Pull the PDC out and look underneath it (not just under the cover).