Alright, so my fiancee was driving her neon the other day and she came home and said it was "putt putt putting" at lights when she was stopped. So I turned on the car, threw it in reverse and definitely felt it. It was idling very low, so low that the lights on the car were flickering as it was about to stall it seemed but never did actually stall.

Backed out the driveway, the sputtering was pretty bad moving in reverse. Got it into Drive and same issue while I was stopped, but accelerating and getting going seemed ok. After about 15 mins of driving (I'm in Calgary and it's very very cold this week) and the car was warmed up, I noticed driving at speeds around 70km/r the car would shake a bit and sputter but then be fine after a few hundred meters again.

Kept driving around and upon accelerating at lights, it would sputter and not gain alot of speed (loss of power it seemed) as I was trying to accelerate. Once in a while something would click (felt like a transmission as it was under my feet on the driving side) and it would accelerate at it's normal speed.

So not sure what to try first here, I have been looking all over the web and don't want to keep throwing money at it trying things, so I would like to get my priorities straight and work down the list.

So far here are things that I have read that could be the issue.

Torque converter
Miss firing (spark plugs, coil pack, etc)
Fuel filter or pump
EGV? Not sure if this car has it?

Any other suggestions? What should I be trying first and foremost? Car has 180k KM on it, not sure when the plugs were done last though, could be over 50K ago...

Anyways, thanks for any suggestions!

 

One thing to add. The night before, it was about -30C out and we were at a family's house for dinner, we started the car and only sat it for maybe 5 minutes before driving off. THis was the night before we started to see the issue, maybe I bunged something up by not letting it warm up enough?

 

I'd start with the plugs and wires. Give them a good check over.

 

Yea I figured that would be a decent start as well. Only about 40 bucks for plugs and sparks of decent quality from autovalue. Coil pack how ever is not cheap (95) so I will hold off on that. Still not sure why it would be misfiring only when the engine has been heated up and not on initial start...

 

5 minutes warmed up is enough. I usually let my car warm up 3-4 minutes in the Winter time before I drive it away (Slowly until my car get warmer).
It take a long time to warm up if you just sit at idle. Plus, you waste gas, and clogged your cat more easily.

Unplug the TCC connector right behind the transmission dipstick tube to see if the problem goes away.
If the TCC is on at the wrong time, it can cause problems like this.

 

Your 2000 Dodge neon has this system. My 2005 doesn't has.
It should open only when your engine is warmed (Say, above 150 F, or so), not when your engine is cold.
Too much exhaust gas in at idle (low rpm), and your engine will die.

You should check this system, along with sparks and fuel.

 

Only a few hundred of the very first MY 2000 Neons had an EGR system. All MY 2000 Neons after that, and following years, did not have an EGR system.

 

Ok I was thinking about this too. I drove it around a bit last night and today, same thing always though, about 5 minutes into driving after the car is warmed up, studdering at stops, then acceleration is very slow. Both times I have driven it, after getting up to about 60KM/H (I believe still in 2nd gear), there has been a loud "click" or metal thunk (quite loud) from under the driver side for sure. After this loud noise, the engine kicks it up a notch and I get power again.

Now I was somewhat thinking it could be a fuel pump issue, but from where that sound is coming from, it makes no sense at all. So I'm still leaning towards the transmission which is not a good sign either.

Has anyoen tried Lubegard on their trannies before? I will be doing the wires and plugs this weekend probably then move onto the tranny from ther I think.

As for the torque converter plug (TCC? what is the second C? ahah) do I just unplug it then go for a drive? Is this safe? Cause even after driving the car around with the issue, getting it into the garage in Park and reving the engine gives no problems what so ever.

Thanks!

 

If you have a 4 speed trans you won't be able to unplug the TCC (torque convertor clutch) solenoid separately...

Also Lubegard works good, but it's more of something you put in BEFORE you have problems.

 

They called them solenoid A, solenoid B (or Solenoid 1, solenoid 2).
Usually on a 4 speeds, it only take 2 solenoids to control the upshift, and downshift of all forward gears.
I don't know how many solenoids Dodge Neon has, and which one controls which.

It's safe to unplug the TCC connector, and go for a drive.