Hi. First post here. I'm having a good deal of problems with my 2001 Dodge Neon. A year ago the timing belt went on it, and a lot of stuff had to be replaced. It drove a bit, and then a bearing that charges the alternator went, so we replaced that about a month ago (its sat for a few months)

It drove about 50 miles (two days) and now has an idling problem. We just replaced the IAC motor because we thought that was the problem (it looked bad.. i guess, not a car guy) and apparently now it has a different slew of problems.

I was getting error (edit: p1294)? or something. It was an error code about incorrect idle speed.

So.. Whats happening now : When its in neutral or park, it idles at 1500RPM approx, and goes up and down in RPM by about 50 or 100 off. If you tap the gas the rpm goes up a big amount (before the iac motor was replaced it SKYROCKETED). When you switch into reverse or drive, it seems normal. But apparently it has problems when you reach a high speed (60ish?)

I was told to check for vaccum leaks, and i have a little sears suction gun thing that im supposed to put into the cables. Problem is i dont know what cable is what.

The catch is , i need the car this weekend, and need to get it registered and inspected (was on my brothers insurance driving it beforehand, it was his car.)

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Not sure you had DTC P1492. Those sensors were only on 2003 and 2004 Neons. You could very well have a vacuum leak. When I forgot to reattach the bellows tube back onto the throttle body one time, the engine was going full throttle until I saw it and had my "derrrrr" moment. That accordion/bellows tube will be the biggest source of a [big] vacuum leak. Check that tube for cracks. They will often have cracks down in the...dips (?) of the tube. You'll see what I mean when you look at it. Other than that, listen for a hissing noise. The only other major source of a vacuum leak would be the brake booster hose. There can be others, but I don't believe those will make the car behave as bad as you are describing.

Was the TPS (throttle position sensor) messed with at all?

 

You are correct. it was a p1294... Keep mixing up the numbers.

Going to check the hose in a minute.

edit; no cracks that i could see.. checked a lot of the tubes. the big one you talked about that led from the air filter and where the iac motor was.

 

Okay. I found the vaccume leak, it was a big giant hole underneath this big rubber pipe with .. ribs/dips/thoes things. Left to right, it was the engine ish.. the pipe itself, then underneath where the IAC motor is, and connects to what i assume is the air filter box thingy with the air filter inside. which then connects out to god knows where.

Can you tell i'm not a car person?

edit: i HOPE i found the vaccume leak. i'll be sad if theres more.. the holes big enough that a chipmunk might be able to squeeze in there.


edit and A question

I have an engine analyzer. I've read somewhere (few places) that if theres a vaccume leak and you fix it, you need to reset the computer. Can i reset it with an engine analyzer? And how would i. (its my fathers engine analyzer, i havent used much)

 

Just replace the tube, and disconnect your battery for about 10 minutes. You'll be fine.

 

That's the bellows/accordion tube I was talking about. Good to hear you found the leak though! You really only need to reset the computer to clear the CEL and codes, not that the engine won't run correctly until you do so.