Bad door check strap likely on your car.

 

My neon says "fuse" I've checked all fuses and all are good, the battery runs out of charge in a few hours, but when I jumpstart it, the dashboard lights flicker, n if the car is lucky it stays on, when the battery has a good charge I disconnect the red wire from the battery n the car is suppose to stay on, the alternator is good, I'm thinking it might be the fuse in the power wire that connects to the alternator, any ideas please help, thanks

 

Hi Guys,

I have similar problem as stated in the first post.

Fuse displayed few times and car won't start.
Read some posts and tried replacing #13 fuse but no help. This time the car went completely dead. No lights come on when door is opened.

I asked a friend to give me a boost. When battery is connected to another car's battery it stays on but as soon as you remove the cable it turns off completely no lights come on with key in or door open.

My diagnostics:

Fuse dead: Fuse between alternator and battery if there is one ( Please let me know if 2004 dodge neon has such a fuse)

Battery dead: Battery was bought in March 2013, it may be a faulty battery I can get it replace but I do not believe its a battery.

Alternator dead: Never changed, mileage is 150,000kms

Please let me what you guys think. We checked all the colored fuses (red, yellow etc) not the big black fuses.

Thanks for any advice.

 

Have you actually tested the alternator or battery to confirm they are good?

 

Hi Darthroush,

Thanks for the reply.

I bought the battery from Walmart, I am thinking of taking it to them to check if its a defective battery.

How do we test an alternator?

if alternator is dead, wouldnt inside lights still come on when you open the door?

 

Parts stores can test both. As for the alternator question, a dead alternator means your battery won't charge. If the battery has a charge, the lights will come on. If the battery is too dead or ruined, you won't get anything.

 

@BassMan09;2943689
did you ever figure out what the problem was 7 years ago or did you just scrap the car? I've replaced the battery with a brand new one(which died after about an hour) The IOD fuse is good. I took the alternator to have it tested and it was bad so I got a new one and just installed it. Jumped the car off and it died. I jumped it off again, but this time left the cables hooked up for about 10 minutes. I took them off. It lasted prob about 5 minutes idling while I was getting my phone and wallet to leave and it died. Idk what the problem is. Wires from the alternator aren't harmed in any way. Please help

 

BUMP:
A Belated Welcome to the 2nd Gen Neon forum. Probably would have been a better idea to have begun a New thread here 2nd Gen Neon - DodgeForum.com, so you get replies just for your woes.

You've probably fixed this problem by now but if not I'll see if I can get things started. Scan for trouble code clues & post All Numbers, as they can help focus a trouble shoot. If you don't have, can't borrow a code reader, or scan tool, or can't get the vehicle to a parts store for a no cost trouble code scan, if you can get battery power to the ECM & turn the ignition key from Off to Run (but Don't crank the engine) 3 times, stopping at Run the third time, the ECM will display codes in the instrument panel, so post the Numbers in your New thread.

From your description, it seems to me the alternator isn't charging the battery. SO, if you had the New replacement alternator bench tested before you left the store with it & know its good, then in the under hood power distribution box, check fuse 21, as it's the fuse for the alternator field winding. If its blown, or not connected to the alternator, the alternator can't self excite to output anything to charge the battery. Some beginning thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.