All, here is my problem: 2000 Plymouth Neon will not start. Like not at all, no noise, no clicking, nothing. Dashboard lights and you can hear the pump (fuel) kick in.
What I have done: Replaced battery and starter (huge PIA due to a bracket in the way). Tested the starter relay and it is less than 1 Ohm so, I think it is good.

Any ideas? I checked the voltage on the starter, reading ~11 volts all the time it seems........any help is greatly appreciated.

 

I'd get a remote start switch and see if the engine will crank. If it will, turn the ignition on and see if you can start the engine. If it will start and run, your gnition swithc is bad. If not, see if you can turn the engine over by hand.

 

Thanks, I will give the remote start a try - I am at a loss. I have read about a fuse inside the cars box to check as well.

 

My father was about as mechanically UN-inclined as you will ever see. However, he could build a radio from scrap. He always told me to always look for the simple and cheap fix first. A few years ago, I had a guy drop a Yamaha Silverado off for me to work on. It would not start. We rolled it into the garage and he left. Before he got home, I called and left a message with his wife that it was fixed. Motorcycles have a kill switch for emergencies. He had bumped it and didn't notice. All I did was climb on it, hit the starter and it wouldn't start. I noticed the switch was off, turned it to run, hit the starter and it fired up. Your problem probably won't be that easy, but look for some simple thing that safety systems prevent it from starting. It could be a fuse, it would be a switch, a bad ground or something else simple. Don't fall into the trap of taking a bunch of things apart.

Since you say it doesn't do anything, I'm thinking electrical. If your engine was locked up, you'd hear the starter engage but not crank the engine.

 

So, big thanks to ol' grouch - I would have not thought of the ignition switch but, I got one for about $20 at the autoparts store and make the biggest rookie mistake I have made in a long time.... So, what I did was just a regular torque bit vice a security torque bit which caused a major pain to get the ignition switch off and I ended up breaking the ignition actuator. So, thanks to Amazon, I got a new one and the actual bits needed overnight and installed when I got home tonight. (It was storming yesterday). Got it all buttoned up, reconnected battery and it started first time. So, after it is all said and done, it was either the a) ignition switch or b) the actuator but, regardless, it is fixed now and working!

 

You're welcome. I have the truck version of your car. I like it as it has a lot of older technology that is easy to understand. If your car is over 100,000 miles and, I hate to sound sexist, a young woman was driving it with a ton of things on the key ring, it was probably the key cylinder. I've seen simple things cause big trouble. Glad you got it fixed.

As an illustration, I got a car in the shop once that would shut off on rough roads. It was a 1970 or so Ford LTD. Not a car known for quirky problems. I couldn't reproduce the issue. The owner, an older gentleman, came in and I asked him to show me how it happened. I was treating a customers car gently. We went down the road where he lived and he was doing a good 60 or more on a washboard gravel road. He would have gone faster but the car was almost floating at that speed. Then it shut off. Back then, Fords had round keys for the trunk and squared off ones for the ignition. It has a wide slot for the key ring. Te weight of everything on the ring pulled down on the key and the bumping turned the key off. He never noticed when he would restart. I put a new ignition switch in and told him to get a two piece ring. One side for the car and the other for the 6 million other keys and tools on the ring. I also suggested racing shocks.

Then again, I had a gal come in one fall as her fuel mileage dropped by half or more. I fixed that one with a shower hook. This was for her purse. She had pulled the choke out and hung her purse on the rod. She was pleased as punch for a $5 repair (parts and labor, then again, it WAS the early 80's) and her purse to hand.