Hi all,

Hoping someone here can help. I've been scouring the forum for ideas and nothing seems to be working. Let me also preface this by saying that I pretty much know d*ck about cars. Here's my plight:

My 02 Neon has been having trouble starting for a couple of weeks. Turn the ignition and it'll crank but won't fire. I have power; lights, radio, dash, dome, everything works fine. Pump the gas a little and that seems to help push it through. However, one of every four or five starts seems to reset everything - clock turns to 12:00.

Took the care to get it smogged last weekend and it failed due to ODBII/sensor not being ready. Tech told me to drive 80-100 miles without disconnecting the battery or resetting anything. No problem.

Until it was a problem. Drove the care without any issues for a few days, then two days ago it pulled the same trouble; wouldn't fire, gave it some gas and it fired up but reset the electrical system again. Now I'm concerned about getting it retested for smog since the PCM reset again, and the sensors won't be ready.

So - what can I do to try and A) get the car to fire up properly, and B) keep the PCM from resetting?

I've already changed the spark plugs, as well as the battery terminals, and just purchased a new battery cable (not installed yet). Not convinced it's battery-related, but again, my knowledge of engines stops about there.

Thanks to all for any insight!