1996 Neon stalling problems

My g/f has a 1996 Neon with about 130 K miles on it. While she puts
less than 10K miles on the car a year, she has neglected to get ANY
work done to it. About 3 months ago it developed a problem of suddenly
dying while driving. It usually would die within 10 miles or about 20
minutes of driving. If you then let it sit for 5-20 minutes, the car
will fire right up again and run another 5- 10 miles before doing it
again.

We took it to a shop and they did some basic maintenance, scanned the
codes and repaired a faulty wiring connection somewhere beneath the
battery tray. They also replaced the fuel filter.

Well, it didn't fix the problem. This weekend I drove the car around
and again confirmed the original fault, sudden stalling after about 15
miles of driving.

I have now replaced the coil, spark plug wires, spark plugs, oil and
air filters, gave it an oil change, the basics.

I will do a scan check shortly, and am now faced with driving the car
myself to see if I repaired it. Are there any other possible causes
that I might be missing that can cause this?

Thanks!

If the vehilces slowly looses power then cuts off you may have a fuel pump
problem. Test the fuel pressure. If all is good find out what code is
present and also state what codes were found at the shop you said did the
work on it.

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

damnnickname wrote:
> If the vehilces slowly looses power then cuts off you may have a fuel pump
> problem. Test the fuel pressure. If all is good find out what code is
> present and also state what codes were found at the shop you said did the
> work on it.
>
> Glenn Beasley
> Chrysler Tech

Hey Glenn, thanks for the reply! I don't have a fule pressure gauge,
and the codes are 11, 12 and 43. I am thinking this is crankshaft
sensor related from what I've read up on the net. I took the car out
for a spin the other day, and you could slowly feel the hesitation
coming on after 15 minutes of driving/10 miles or so. Upon
accelleration, the car starts to hesitate a tiny bit, but over 5
minutes gets worse. WHen the car really starts to shake, the engine
will die when you come to a stop. Let it sit for 3 minutes or so and it
starts right back up and will run for another 10 miles or so.

Now for the current problem. The new style OEM crankshaft sensor that I
bought today also needed the purchase of a new wiring adapter to adapt
it to the old wiring harness. I'm an electronics tech, the crimping
and splicing isn't an issue, but there were no instructions with the
new wires and connectors. When I asked the dealer to give me a
printout, they refused, saying that I should know what I was doing.
(strong letter to dealer to follow!)

ANyways, can you advise how to connect the new sensor to the old wiring
harness?

Thanks!
Curt

"Curt" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> damnnickname wrote:
> > If the vehilces slowly looses power then cuts off you may have a fuel
pump
> > problem. Test the fuel pressure. If all is good find out what code is
> > present and also state what codes were found at the shop you said did
the
> > work on it.
> >
> > Glenn Beasley
> > Chrysler Tech
>
> Hey Glenn, thanks for the reply! I don't have a fule pressure gauge,
> and the codes are 11, 12 and 43. I am thinking this is crankshaft
> sensor related from what I've read up on the net. I took the car out
> for a spin the other day, and you could slowly feel the hesitation
> coming on after 15 minutes of driving/10 miles or so. Upon
> accelleration, the car starts to hesitate a tiny bit, but over 5
> minutes gets worse. WHen the car really starts to shake, the engine
> will die when you come to a stop. Let it sit for 3 minutes or so and it
> starts right back up and will run for another 10 miles or so.
>
> Now for the current problem. The new style OEM crankshaft sensor that I
> bought today also needed the purchase of a new wiring adapter to adapt
> it to the old wiring harness. I'm an electronics tech, the crimping
> and splicing isn't an issue, but there were no instructions with the
> new wires and connectors. When I asked the dealer to give me a
> printout, they refused, saying that I should know what I was doing.
> (strong letter to dealer to follow!)
>
> ANyways, can you advise how to connect the new sensor to the old wiring
> harness?
>
> Thanks!
> Curt
>

They cant give it to you because they have no idea, The last one I did I
believe there were directions in it but the color wires didn't match what
the directions said so and the wires aren't in the same places so I used
trial and error. I think the only color that was the same was ground, the
blue wire.
The other thing is if the connector is ok and not damaged, take those parts
back to the dealer and go to an after market parts store, they will give you
the sensor that does not require the harness


Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

OK, thanks! I can meter the old and new sensors on the bench, so I'll
figure it out. All electrical parts at this dealership are sold as non
returnable items. and the one aftermarket store I went to said it was
an OEM part only, apparently not though.

Canada stinks when it comes to stuff like this and availability, I run
across the same with electronics parts and availability. Thanks again
though!

Curt