Neon troubles

Discussion in 'Neon' started by Doug, Aug 14, 2008.

  1. Doug

    Doug Guest

    As a second car, we have a 1995 Neon that ws a good relaible car up to
    about 180,000. The engine and transmission are still tight BUT....

    The car suddenly goes dead on the road with an apparent electrical
    problem. Igniton, dash and all accessories go dead. If one waits a few
    minutes it can be restarted.

    The obvious things like ignition switch, fuel filters, fuel pump, fuel
    pump relay, battery, battery connectors, etc have all been checked.
    It may well be a wiring harness connection problem.

    Finding it is the bugabo. Two dealers and an independant garage have
    tried with no luck.

    Any ideas?

    Doug
     
    Doug, Aug 14, 2008
    #1
  2. Doug

    Bill Putney Guest

    Don't you just love intermittent problems! :)

    Don't know why you checked some of the items you did - i.e., don't quite
    know how a fuel filter will cause dash to go dead.

    But get the schematics to the main bus circuits and trace it out. Check
    main grounding points - there's usually one main one from the battery.
    Trace the main power cables - look for shorts to ground (around exhaust
    especially) and opens (not as easy to spot visually). Check your
    battery connections again. From the schematics, see what fuses or
    circuit breakers would effect all those things at one time and do some
    wiggling of fuses and connectors. Got a multimeter?

    Oh - and batteries can develop intermittent internal shorts, and
    internal opens (cracks) to one of the posts - have seen both happen -
    neither of those would show up in any tests - how old is the battery?
    If it's more than 3 years old, it is suspect. If more than 5 years old,
    replace it anyway - even if you don't think it's the problem - you might
    be surprised.

    Good luck.

    Bill Putney
    (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
    address with the letter 'x')
     
    Bill Putney, Aug 14, 2008
    #2
  3. Doug

    Bill Putney Guest

    Oh - and don't waste your time on the fuses and loose connections that
    couldn't affect the whole bus - that's why you need schematics to narrow
    that process to a handful of connectors and fuses. Fuses can have
    cracks in the element that *look* fine but will open up at certain
    temperatures. Ohm it out while putting stress on the fuse.

    Bill Putney
    (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
    address with the letter 'x')
     
    Bill Putney, Aug 14, 2008
    #3
  4. make sure the battery connections are clean and good and tight
    there is a ground wire attached to the core support infront of the battery
    (plain sight) that is the ground wire for the things you described and if
    it is loose it will cause all sorts of weird things to happen
     
    man of machines, Aug 17, 2008
    #4
  5. If you have the tilt wheel, set the adjustment in the middle and see
    if it makes any difference.

    I'd have to check, but there may be a main fuse going bad or with poor
    connection in the fuse
    box under he hood.

    I'd have a look at the battery connections too, including the cables.

    The other replies are also good advice.


    RRB
     
    likearedrubberball, Aug 26, 2008
    #5
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