I have a 95 neon it has no power under the hood to start ,or to fuel pump has a good battery but still have no idea why there is no power

Asked by R25x Aug 20, 2017 at 03:59 PM about the 1995 Dodge Neon

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

1 Answer

R25x, I have an 05 SXT Neon and was having the same sort if problem. I was stumped for sure I had replaced wires plugs an o2 sensor an idle air sensor a map sensor fuel filter air filter and other things before I discovered what the problem actually was. Any Guesses ? It was a clogged Catalytic Convertor ! I know I know you prob don't believe me but trust me that's what it turned out to be. I felt like an idiot because I kind of suspected this from the beginning but discounted it because I thought with the erratic shifting and constant bucking and popping had to be something else but it wasn't it was the cat. And that little lesson only cost me about 400 in parts I didn't need but I guess 400 is cheaper than even one college class so I'm ahead on that level but don't really feel any wiser in fact quite the opposite. Anyway if you loosen a few of the flange bolts that connect the exhaust manifold to the cat , don't take them off only loosen them bout half way and then go for a drive and watch the power amazingly come back. Its a religious experience for sure I was shouting hallElijah and high fiving every man woman and child for a 3block radius. Unbelievable for sure. You see loosening the bolts actually gives the engine exhaust a route to escape therefore allowing it to breathe again and subsequently run again . it'll be a little louder but it will run. You can also do this just in case you can't get those stubborn bolts loose. Drill a couple decent sized holes into the engine side of the cat it'll also give the gas an avenue to escape and run again . Either way will do two things it'll confirm that the cat is clogged by running again. And also it'll confirm that the cat is defiantly clogged. Oh yea one thing if you decide to drill the holes instead of loosening the bolts do it on the underside of the cat not the topside front like I did, that little stunt made me learn the hard way that the hot exhaust gas now venting directly into the engine compartment is a really bad thing. I melted my overflow container for the coolant system and damn near caught it on fire. What a dumbass moment huh I was so excited to hear and feel it run again a just about ruined it for good. So I used some high heat in weld and closed the topside drill holes and banded a piece of sheet metal over them to act as a heat shield in case of jb weld failure. Later I took a piece of short rebar and ramroddes the inside of the cat through the drill holes to break up the material inside and allowing car to breathe. I then closed the bottom holes and now runs like a champ. I know this is a long post but if it just saves one person from having to needlessly replace parts like I did it'll be worth it. I wish I had read something like this first. Good Luck. -G-

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