Car behaving weird: throttle response horrible

Dutch_Neon · Post by **Dutch_Neon** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:25 am

Ever since I had my '00 Neon it has been a little off when I pull up. It got kinda shaky, if you know what I mean. However for the last couple of weeks it's just been horrible.
First gear is fine but after that it's just a misery. For example, when I pick up the throttle in 2nd to hard, it just seems to flood and I get hardly any response. The shaking has gotten very bad in basically all gears exept first, when I pull up a little faster than usual.
It will just accelerate, hold back, accelerate some more and hold back again. When I pull it into the higher revs when it's shaking like this, I get an engine check warning light around 4K rpm.
Sometimes I even get a loud sound, seeming to come from my exhaust, causing me to let go of the throtlle completely. It isn't an explosion but it almost sounds as one.
I asked a mechanic (no Chrysler mechanic though) and he thought it might be the lambda sensor causing it to run rich and perform badly. Could this be it? He said the sensor is bad and it makes the engine want to kick back when I give it to much gas.

OB · Post by OB » Sat Jan 20, 2007 10:30 pm

Id look at the TPS as well, it could have worn spots causing on/off throttle response. It would likely happen in all gears though. A bad 02 sensor, as you noted in your post, could also be a possible culprit, and might also account for the unusual sounds coming from the exhaust (overly rich mixture in the cat might cause loud afterburn). If you do replace the 02 sensor, id highly recommend checking to make sure the cat wasnt damaged as well.

Dutch_Neon · Post by **Dutch_Neon** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:43 am

Today I got stuck in a traffic jam. My car always vibrated heavily and had irregular revs when the engine was running in neutral (always meaning the last couple of weeks since I've had this problem).
Cause I have been standing still for so long, moving an couple of meters every now and again, something happened

Dunno why but suddenly the engine check light came on and stayed on. Before it only started to blink at 4K RPM and go out as soon as I let go of the gas. Not anymore though, and it came on while running in neutral (800 rpm).
Checked the OBD and it said 1684 and 0301. Now 1684 is not something to worry about, it just means the battery has been disconnected. However it hasn't been!
The P0301 is what worries me, misfire detected in cylinder nr1...
What to do? Still think it's the O2 sensor?
BTW, since the engine check light came on my car seemed to run smoother and less bothered by all it's issues. Heavy vibrating (cause of irregular revs) got a whole lot less and it seemed to have better throtle response.

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:50 pm

Are your plugs and wires good?

Adam_T · Post by **Adam_T** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 1:06 am

check your plugs and wires. this just happened to me last week. EXACT problem you just had. and it was because when i changed my valvecover i messed up one of the caps on the snapping part of the wire connectors. and it was a cylinder 1 misfire blah blah. checked plugs and they were fine, and i replaced wires and it was perfectly fine again.

but again..EXACT problem that you had (at the stop light) the exact details. i had it happen. its your wires/plugs.

has to be. not getting a good enough connection. thats why your engine light would fade in and out, the wire was just not connecting fully and touching on and off.

and eventually it stays off and you get that loud ass noise like something blows up and blah blah....

change your wires and you will be fine. get them from a autozone or soemthing. ordering new ones offline will ship to long. take someone elses car though. you arent supposed to drive far at all under misfires.

just go grab some oem ones for 20 bucks.

dblsg · Post by **dblsg** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:45 am

^

s, check your plugs and wires first

Dutch_Neon · Post by **Dutch_Neon** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:06 am

Got the sparkplugs replaced today and instantly the car performed better. Only one of the old plugs was a little worn but the others were still pretty ok. But three out of four plugs were wet from oil, which doesn't help a good combustion.
I am resetting the OBD programm now, hoping the engine check light will stay away after that. If not, I can go on with my search for the problem.
Already the engine is running much smoother when waiting for the lights and it picks up on the throttle much better.
Thanks for all the input. Hopefully the problem is fixed now, if not I'll ask for opinions again.

Mr Josh Zombie · Post by **Mr Josh Zombie** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:01 am

if you have alot of oil on your plugs, chances are you need new spark plug tube seals on your valve cover

Dutch_Neon · Post by **Dutch_Neon** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:39 pm

Thanx! Gonna look into that. My car will be serviced in a week and a half, might get it done then. The light hasn't come back on and performance is wonderfull.

prez3636 · Post by **prez3636** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 11:24 pm

I am having this same problem. Ever since I got this car (about a week ago) I thought the car just really had no pickup. Then, the other day the check engine light came on and I checked the code the way that it was listed to on here to, and I got a P0301 code which is the misfire cylinder#1 deal. After reading this post I rushed to the store and made it there at 8:55 just in time to pick up new plugs and wires. The plugs I got are Autolite Platinums, and whatever wires they had for my car. The car seems to be a little better, not really though... throttle response not great by any means and kinda feels like it bogs a little bit when you get on the gas. The code is still coming up also after checking once the new plugs are in. I really have no clue what to do? Any ideas would be great. Also, in my haste, didn't read up on platinum plugs... why are they not good for your car/neon? Could this really be the problem? I just really dont want to keep throwing money away, even if it is only 10 or 12 bucks at a time ya know. Anyways, again, any and all help is GREATLY appreciated!!

Thanks in advance,
prez

lolelectricbluesxt · Post by **lolelectricbluesxt** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 12:16 am

If I remember correctly, and I'm sure somebody will chime in to correct me, but platinum plugs do not work right in our engines. That may be your issue. I'm sure somebody can recommend some good ones for you. I havnt had to worry about it yet, only have 16k miles on my car.

FinalSomnia · Post by **FinalSomnia** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 3:28 am

It's not so much ALL platinum plugs, but I know (from personal experience) that the Bosch and the Autolite platinum plugs suck @$$ for my car. I tried the NGK platinums and they worked just perfect. I'm on a set of iridiums now - the platinums were just fine, but I upgraded my ignition system (see my garage)

I do find that, like others have said, a bum set of plugs and/or wires can cause all that to happen. I was getting plenty of trouble from my engine in more or less exactly what you were describing, until I changed the plugs and wires.

I did find that misfiring went away when I changed the ignition coil, too, BUT that was probably a my-car-only thing.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:08 am

Dutch_Neon wrote:Got the sparkplugs replaced today and instantly the car performed better. Only one of the old plugs was a little worn but the others were still pretty ok. But three out of four plugs were wet from oil, which doesn't help a good combustion.
I am resetting the OBD programm now, hoping the engine check light will stay away after that. If not, I can go on with my search for the problem.
Already the engine is running much smoother when waiting for the lights and it picks up on the throttle much better.
Thanks for all the input. Hopefully the problem is fixed now, if not I'll ask for opinions again.

Were the plugs wet on the outside or the inside? If they're only wet on the outside (porcelain side), then Opi is right: probably tube seals. If they're wet at the tip but not on the outside, then it could be valve seals or some other stuff. How many miles do you have on that engine?

prez3636 · Post by **prez3636** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 12:36 am

Okay, so i went out and got the iridiums that everyoe has said such great things about today... and still nothing. Still has a rough idle, no pickup really, all the same symptoms??? I do have brand new wires also, but I'm still showing the P0301 code?? Any ideas on where to go from here?

Acorus · Post by **Acorus** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 4:18 pm

I've been having something similar to this happening. I get a nice, afterburn effect off of my exhaust when I drive "hard" and the car idles roughly. Upon inspection this morning it looks like a motor mount is cracked and my ghetto cold air intake's hole for the 02 sensor has been broken and the 02 sensor is hanging about. This means I've been taking in harsh air for god knows how long. And when I went to replace the plugs today I had leaks everywhere. The tubes were 1/10 full of oil. Oh, and a new development, after I revv the car up a little it sounds like something is bouncing around in the motor as the RPMs are coming down. Any Ideas as to what this is. (Hope I didn't jack the thread here.)

Post by **jonnymopar** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 10:32 pm

Acorus wrote:I've been having something similar to this happening. I get a nice, afterburn effect off of my exhaust when I drive "hard" and the car idles roughly. Upon inspection this morning it looks like a motor mount is cracked and my ghetto cold air intake's hole for the 02 sensor has been broken and the 02 sensor is hanging about. This means I've been taking in harsh air for god knows how long. And when I went to replace the plugs today I had leaks everywhere. The tubes were 1/10 full of oil. Oh, and a new development, after I revv the car up a little it sounds like something is bouncing around in the motor as the RPMs are coming down. Any Ideas as to what this is. (Hope I didn't jack the thread here.)

Not sure what you mean about afterburn on the exhaust. As far as the sensor hole on your cold air intake, that's just the intake air temp sensor, not your O2. The O2 sensor is in the exhaust. Letting the air temp sensor just dangle wouldn't cause anything. I don't know how much unfiltered air that little hole can draw in over time though. Hell, just throwing a piece of electrical tape over it would solve that issue.

Cracked motor mount: which one?

The bouncing around sound is probably just noisy lifters. I started using Mobil 1 oil at 27k miles and that very same noise started under the same conditions (RPMs dropping). My car now has 71k and runs flawlessly, other than that noise.

By the way, nice thread jack!

Kidding. You could have started a new thread, but we're not assholes over here about it.

Acorus · Post by **Acorus** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 11:01 pm

jonnymopar wrote:
Acorus wrote:I've been having something similar to this happening. I get a nice, afterburn effect off of my exhaust when I drive "hard" and the car idles roughly. Upon inspection this morning it looks like a motor mount is cracked and my ghetto cold air intake's hole for the 02 sensor has been broken and the 02 sensor is hanging about. This means I've been taking in harsh air for god knows how long. And when I went to replace the plugs today I had leaks everywhere. The tubes were 1/10 full of oil. Oh, and a new development, after I revv the car up a little it sounds like something is bouncing around in the motor as the RPMs are coming down. Any Ideas as to what this is. (Hope I didn't jack the thread here.)
Not sure what you mean about afterburn on the exhaust. As far as the sensor hole on your cold air intake, that's just the intake air temp sensor, not your O2. The O2 sensor is in the exhaust. Letting the air temp sensor just dangle wouldn't cause anything. I don't know how much unfiltered air that little hole can draw in over time though. Hell, just throwing a piece of electrical tape over it would solve that issue.

Cracked motor mount: which one?

The bouncing around sound is probably just noisy lifters. I started using Mobil 1 oil at 27k miles and that very same noise started under the same conditions (RPMs dropping). My car now has 71k and runs flawlessly, other than that noise.

By the way, nice thread jack! Kidding. You could have started a new thread, but we're not assholes over here about it.

As for the afterburn thing, my exhaust sounds like its sizzling. An odd sort of sound really. At first I thought I had another hole in my tires. I'm no exactly sure but I know the muffler is making the noise. I'm going to try to peek at the cat next time I hear it.

I'm not sure what kind of damage that can be caused by the hole (thanks for clearing up my confusion btw.) but I know dust/water/ect. could be getting in, that alone makes me nervous, I'll probably end up putting an old license plate piece with some Jb weld on it. Easy fix, good piece of mind maybe.

I've been hovering around 70k miles for a while now, and it just started, I've just changed the oil and did a nice seafoam cleaning. Not sure if that could/would cause anything. Oh, and its the upper motor mount. Above the wheel well. (the plastic on the inside is all cutt and movable.)

Es2k · Post by **Es2k** » Mon May 07, 2007 11:46 pm

prez3636 wrote:Okay, so i went out and got the iridiums that everyoe has said such great things about today... and still nothing. Still has a rough idle, no pickup really, all the same symptoms??? I do have brand new wires also, but I'm still showing the P0301 code?? Any ideas on where to go from here?

Hey prez, if you already replaced the spark plugs and wires and it is still getting a misfire, im pretty sure its the coil pack. i bought one for my car (MSD) for 80 bucks, and its only four screws holding it on top of the egine so its real easy to replace. Just remember that there are 2 different coil packs if you have a 2000. you have to look at the one you currently have. PM me if you need more help or dont understand.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Tue May 08, 2007 9:05 am

Es2k wrote:Just remember that there are 2 different coil packs if you have a 2000. you have to look at the one you currently have. PM me if you need more help or dont understand.

I thought that 1996 was the only year with two different coil packs??

Es2k · Post by **Es2k** » Tue May 08, 2007 12:19 pm

i have a 2000 es and you have to check if the pins are flat or round.

Es2k · Post by **Es2k** » Tue May 08, 2007 3:41 pm

jonnymopar wrote: I thought that 1996 was the only year with two different coil packs??

My mistake, i read the webpage again, and your right. 1996 is the only one with both.. sorry

Dutch_Neon · Post by **Dutch_Neon** » Fri May 25, 2007 7:30 pm

Well after stubornly driving with this engine problem for about 5K miles I decided this could not continue any longer. I didn't want to just start trying to replace stuff and hope for the best nor did I want to bring it to the dealership to have it checked since they charge 75 dollars just to do a diagnostic scan.
But as I said, I'd been driving with this problem for too long (no misfire codes though) that I decided to pick up some new plug wires. Here they cost about 75 dollars, not the 20 mentioned earlier.
But all is good now!

2GN.ORG

Car behaving weird: throttle response horrible

Car behaving weird: throttle response horrible

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