For starters I'm pretty new to fixing my own vehicle without a mechanic. Having said that, please dumb down the car jargin for me so that I may understand. Haha. Well, anyway, I've been having major issues with my 2000 dodge neon for over a year now. My major problem is jerking between 1500 and 2000 rpm. Doesn't happen every time I drive, seems to happen in stop-and-go traffic when I have to slow down and immediately speed back up. When its jerking I can sometimes smash down on the gas pedal and it'll quit. My gas mileage is horrible, about 15 mpg. Engine seems to warm up a bit slow but once it's warm it stays right on the halfway line, never higher. I took it to a mechanic who told me it was the throttle control and that I needed to fork out 2,000 dollars to replace the tranny. I didn't believe him so I took it into my own hands. Took it down to auto zone and got my check engine light read. The man would not tell me the exact code (Probably because I'm a girl) and just told me it was a faulty knock sensor. I replaced the knock sensor, spark plugs. Didn't make a difference other than level out my idle. I also replace the transmission fluid and filter last winter which helped with the jerking for about 4 months. I also changed my engine coolant which turned off my check engine light for about a week. (Check engine light has been on solid for past year) I've also noticed that my car is EXTREMELY sluggish and just really has no UMPH to it. I'm wondering what the hell could cause my knock sensor code to go off, if its not a faulty sensor?! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

At least you know how to change transmission fluid.
Most girls don't know a thing about their cars. My sisters for example. They rely on me, and my dad to take care of their cars. When their cars broke down, I bring their cars to the shop so, the mechanic guys would not overcharge them. I fix their cars, and my car now.

Some mechanics will be honest to you, some will not. Make sure you take your car to another shop so they can check on it.

You know Dodge Neon cars don't worth that much anymore. You can buy another used Dodge Neon for $2000.

You could try to fix your car. We can help, but I have to tell you that it won't be easy. You might or might not find your answers on here.

 

If you replaced the knock sensor, and the trouble code went away then you have fixed the problem related to that code.

If the check engine light is still on, then you still have one or more trouble codes.
Not all problems will show trouble codes.

You can turn off the check engine light by erase the trouble codes stored in the ECM (Electronic Control Module).
Unhooked the battery cables for a few minutes will also erase all the trouble codes, but they will soon come back if you haven't fixed the problems yet.

 

On Dodge Neon cars, there is a simple trick to get the trouble codes without the use of the OBDII scanner.

It's called the "key dance" trick.
This video show you how to do this trick:


You won't make it works the 1st time, but remember 3rd time is the charm.
If you have any trouble code, it will be displayed in the instrument cluster (where the odometer number is).
Write your trouble codes on here.

 

^ Guess it was a good thing I put that video on there lol.

OP- If you have an Android or iPhone, there is an app called Torque. It costs $5 and, when paired with one of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELM327-OBD2-...-/160550105283, it becomes an awesome tool. You can check and clear codes with it, and see what your car is doing. It reads different sensors and all that good stuff. It'll be a lot more helpful than going to Autozone every time. Just figured I'd throw that out there, I have it and use it on my cars as well as friends' cars.

How many miles are on the car? Do you get any funky smells coming from the exhaust with the car running?

 

Well... since it sounds like something that has happened to me for the first time out of all the vehicles I've ever owned. I'm going to say it might be the camshaft position sensor.

With my car I couldn't go 60MPH+ nor the RPMs over 2k-ish (stupid car doesn't have an RPM gauge.. lol dafuq?), and gas mileage was pretty crappy (about 60 miles to a quarter tank).

There's an SRT forum (different community) the camshaft/crankshaft CEL error thread is like 70 pages long... Just about every single member that owns an SRT has actually had to replace the camshaft position sensor (lulz).

 

Aside from pulling the engine codes, were the spark plug wires changed with the new plugs? They should be changed every 60,000 miles, or, every other spark plug change. Also, did you get copper plugs? Gapped them to 0.035" too?

 

To clarify and reply to a few things. I have 156k miles. AutoZone told me the knock sensor code was the only one that came up and when I replaced it I unplugged the battery and engine light stayed off while idling and came one as soon as I got above 15mph. I will be going to AutoZone to get the engine light read again and will post an update. When I replaced the spark plugs I got copper ones that were gapped at
.035. But I should also mention that the two plugs on the left (near the battery) had oil on them but was told it was fairly common and I cleaned as much oil out as I could. I'm trying to get rid of this problem car but need it to last through the winter! Thanks for the replies!

 

oh, and spark plug wires were replaced.

 

You should keep a blanket in your car, in case your car broke down in the winter time in the middle of no where. I experienced it.
Little oil on the spark plugs is okay. It might just be gasoline + carbon deposit on them (Look a lot like oil). Check your engine oil every week to see if you are losing oil quick.
A compression test will tell you a lot about the internals of your engine (If your engine cylinder 3, and 4 are bad), but I guess you don't need to do this test because you won't be able to rebuild your engine.
I think your car has a bad sensor somewhere. Replace it and your car will run for a while.