2001 dodge neon
The car is very hard to start and has code PO171.
My question is should there be fuel pressure at the shrader valve as soon as I shut the engine off? I stuck a screwdriver in the shrader valve at the end of the fuel rail and nothing, no pressure at all. It does eventually start after a couple of tries and runs very bad. I am thinking fuel pressure regulator because of the lose of pressure at turn off. I know a lot of things could cause PO171, but the drop in pressure in the fuel rail as soon as the engine is turned off leads me to think regulator. Any thoughts.........

 

Sounds more like a fuel pump to me.

 

Maybe, but shouldn't the fuel rail still hold the pressure even if the pump is bad or going bad?

 

I heard there is still some pressure in the system after you turned key off.
If you have a leaky fuel injector, your cylinder is flooded after your car seat for 10-20 mins.

 

There should still be pressure is what I thought.

 

The pressure drops to 0 as soon as I turn key off.

 

If the injector was leaking into cylinder wouldn't I smell fuel when I try to start it?

 

If it's the fuel pump, you should check for fuse and relay first.

Good luck.

 

Sorry, to confused you.
I only said that as an example of a leaky fuel injector, if the system still has some pressure in it.

If you think the regulator is bad, go ahead and replace it.
Or read the instruction on how to diagnosis it. Dodge neon could be different, you now.

 

Fuses have been checked and are good and relay works. Thanks for the tips.
I am still leaning more towards the pressure regulator than any thing else. I am just seeing if anything else pops up here.