Hello

I know nothing about car, but just found that the Service Engine Soon light on for my 98 Neon with 135K. Does it mean something wrong and urgent for repair? Anyone has ideas on this? Thanks in advance.

zm

Go here and follow the instructions and let us know what the results are:

http://www.neons.org/neontsb/diagnost.htm

Print a copy and keep it in your glove box, it can be your friend in times of emergencies.

No flashes on and off. When it's on, it is fairly steady, and sometimes, it goes off suddenly. Thanks for your reply.

zm

Hmm weird. Try it one more time.. I know sometimes my Neon will get stubborn and randomly NOT show codes.

You should flip the key to the on position (but not start it) and off 3 times...I think within 5 seconds. You should hear the fuel pump buzz the first 2 key turns then leave it in the ON position on the 3rd time....hope that helps. I did it wrong the first few times I tried it.

Thank a ton, Kat.
I have tried what you said, but still did not work. I flip the key to on position, but do not start up, the Service Engine Soon light is on and then off. There is no flash at all.

Yesterday I was driving the car less than 1 Km, the light is on and then after a while, it is off, wondering what's wrong with the car. I just bought it two months ago, and did not drive that much.

Thanks for your help.
zm

Sorry about that :(

How does the car run? If it runs fine, my wild guess would be that perhaps an O2 sensor is going out (very common on Neons). All I can really say is perhaps take it to AutoZone or an autoparts store that offers free scans to see you can at least find out the problem area of your car....and avoid costly repairs later on.

i dont know if you are explaining it right but you need to turn it off and on three times and the third time leave it in the on positon. It will flash the codes with gaps in between each set of numbers.

I had the same problems with my 97, it would come on and stay on for awhile then go off and stay off for a day, it had me thinking there was a short in it but eventually it came on again and stayed on, turned out the O2 sensor had to be replaced. If you have an Auto Zone by you then you can take it there and they can hook it up to a computer and tell you what is wrong, usually.

that ignition flipping thing, that doesn't work for 1999 neons. It might not work for 98, either, I'm not sure, but I know it wont for the 99. The Haynes manual is a big help, I'd recommend that to anyone, not just for the whole check engine thing, but for most car problems. My check engine light kept going on and off, too, but i changed my oil the other day, and it stopped and has since stayed off.