this is quite te problem.
i have a 2001 dodge neon that have grown to love over the last 4 years. it’s been a great car with minimal problems.
this past fall, however, that all changed. towards the middle of november, when i would drive, the radio would cut out. i didn’t think much of it, and kept driving as usual. soon after it got worse. as i would drive the car, many times going highway speed, the car would shut off and restart itself as quick as you could snap your fingers. the car would not stall out, but if it was dark and i had the headlights on, the instrument pannel would go dark, all the gauges would stop reading (tac & spedometer to 0, gas gauge to empty, etc…) but i would not lose my headlights! i have replaced the battery, and that seemed to fix the problem for about 2 weeks and then it started all over again.
it does have an after-market remote start system installed, which EVERYONE assumed was the problem, but i still believe is not. after much fighting about it (i live in wisconsin and i’m a wuss in the winter…remote start is a blessing!) i had the wires cut to the remote start, and it is still acting up.
to make things even more interesting, there are times when i would drive the car and it would go just fine, but after i get where i needed to be and was ready to leave again, it’s like someone has pulled the battery right out of the car. i get in to start it and i have absolutely NO power! i can only assume the problem is electrical, but i can’t afford to send it to a mechanic for 85/hr. it has already been to two different mechanics with no result (the dealership i bought it from was basically stumped) and my father and brother are both at the end of their rope with ideas.
i’ve since purchased a chevy trailblazer since we deemed the neon unreliable, but with gas at 3.50 a gallon, i’d like to go back to my neon this summer.
please help!
thanks much!
sara
One possibility may be a defective ignition swith. That would explain everything except the headlights shutting off.