I searched for a thread, has anyone ever encountered... while driving my 97 sohc, it started surging real bad in 3rd. Almost like I was loosing all fire. I have not changed anything that could have caused it, completely stock. Today I changed the plugs, inspected the wires and ran the car at idle and up to 3k and down, then checked for codes like my haynes says. No codes at all, so I drove it and it rarely does it in 2nd, but in 3rd, it would go for a while, then start jerking back and forth. None of this was happening at idle, or out of gear in the driveway, it doesnt seem to be related to the engine at all. I then noticed that on the way back from the test drive, the speedo stopped working completely. Now it is doing it more frequently and still no codes. I am new to neons, and would greatly appreciate it if someone could lead me in the right direction, preferrably the KISS approach. Thanks in advance for your help.
Jim

 

How long have you owned the car and how long has it been doing this? What caused it to start doing this? The first thing I would check is your tranny fluid. I had a similar problem with my 97 neon.

 

I have only had it a year, I pulled the tranny and replaced the clutch and tb, cleaned up the tranny and used redline mtl as recommended in the forums. obviously I cannot speak to any abuse before I got it, but there is only 127K on it. only hahaha

 

No CEL?

 

nope, no CEL, I just drained the MTL fluid, looks good and appears to be the same amount I put in, 2.5 quarts. still will not throw codes. if it was a fuel or ignition problem or timing, would I get a CEL?
Thanks guys
Jim

 

You can skip a tooth on the SOHC (except '96) and not throw a code. Mine ran like that until it skipped a second tooth, and then the timing belt broke... how close are you to the 105k mile timing belt/water pump change interval?

I've also had problems with the TPS not reading correctly and not throwing a code. That caused more of a lurching than the timing belt did. The crank sensor can also have problems and not throw a code. That would be my first guess, although new crank sensors aren't cheap... salvage yard maybe?