Ok, this is going to be like writing a book, sorry. I replaced the headgasket, timing belt, and tensioner in my wife's 97 SOHC Neon. Once the head was back in, I started to reassemble everything else... I made a mistake and plugged the coil wires, into the CAM sensor plug. I put everything else back together not noticing that I never hooked the coil up, and tried to start the car, obvoisly it didn't fire up. I think I fried the CAM sensor... once I exchanged the wires, the car started up. The car had been taking like 15 seconds of cranking to turn over everyday. It would make a slight jerk the second it started... and ran a little rough at idle. I replaced the CAM sensor, and still had the same problem. I thought maybe the timing belt was slightly off... so I pulled the cover and the marks were perfect. We ran it for about a week this way and it seemed ok... then all of a sudden it took a little longer and longer of cranking to turn over. Then one day we were going down the freeway and got a "hickup" sensation. We pulled into walmart to do some shooping, and the car seemed to be working pretty well... parked it, came back out, and it will not start for ANYTHING. It has fuel pressure, spark, and crank. All hoses are tight, and unobstructed.... I am not sure what is going on here... and I REALLY need some help, we are both fulltime college students, and work full time, we need both our cars so PLEASE help! The head was totally reworked, new seals, seats, springs, retainers, and a complete valve job (milling was not needed). I did not find any blown fuses... There are no codes... I don't know where to go from here...

Thanks in Advance!

Raviaan

 

Wish I could help man, but wow, that sux. My advice, bite the bullet take it to the shop.. Hate to be the bearer of bad news

 

Nah, just gonna tow it home, pul the head again, and start from scratch, maybe pull out the cherry picker and just get the motor out of the way and go through the electrical system, some idiot installed an alarm, fog lamps, and winshield wiper lights all half *** backwards... could be a short, bad computer, anything... if a computer reports no codes (not just a light off) - I mean if it can report that it has no codes stored, that means the computer is at least working... but if I get nothing at all... that would mean the computer is fried... right?


Thanks again
Raviaan

 

if its giving you a 12 and 55 that means the computer should be fine, make sure your fuel pump didn't go out. If it was really cold I heard that if you warm it up a bit with some heat lamps or a heated garage it can help it start, but I would really check into fuel problems.

 

If the eengine ran, the PCM is doing it's job. If a scan tool comunicates with the PCM, than it is still functioning.

How much fuel pressure does the car have, even being 1 pound less than what it calls for will make the car not run.

I would almost lean toward fuel, because there are no codes, fuel system problems will not throw codes.

No random cyl misfire codes or anything?????


It's really hard to diagnose a running problem when you can't touch the car.





Jeff
Philly