I recently bought a 2002 neon sohc 5spd I love the car other than the hesitation.It does this taking off in 1st as well as when going to 2nd I've noticed other members are have this problem. I've had it to the dealer and they contacted Chrysler Tech & were told they have had several complaints but no solution(normal conditions). I know this is not normal as ive been driving manual trannys for 17yrs & have not had this kind of problem. If any body can give ideas I would be greatful as this is very annoying
Thanks dodgefreak1

 

well, what exactly is the problem. A slight hesitation with what?

 

The hesitation is on acceleration. When taking off in 1st but very bad on throttle tip in going into 2nd gear. If you hit the throttle too much it almost stalls it drops off that bad. There are no fault codes showing. This doesn't seem to bad if i granny shift the car eg. low speed shifting,but i've had some tailgaters almost hit me when takin off at a light because the car looses so much speed when it hesitates. Nobody around here can find a solution to this even though several other Neon owners have noticed the same problem.
dodgefreak1

 

I am having the same problem, I haven't found a solution yet.

 

I would be willing to bet your number 2 or 3 spark plug wire needs changed. There was a TSB announced for this a while back. Of course you will still have to pay for wires if you take it to the dealer, but I would advise getting msd superconductors. It totally solved my 03's hesitation problem.