A few small problems I need someone elses opinion on

[brownb]

Hi All

I have enjoyed my 97 neon for many years up untill this year, when I changed the timing belt and just the other day, I had to get the head gasket replaced.

Now I have two other problems that I am going to fix myself, they are:

1) My throttle is giving me some problems, when I start the car it idles high(1500-1700 rpm) which doesn't really bother me, when I shift gears the throttle doesn't drop as much as it is suppose to, it goes down to 2250 rpms, and sometimes when I come to a stop it quickly goes to above 3000 rpms all without me touching the accelerator. My intial thoughts are a sensor of some kind, maybe a idle or throttle sensor, I would appreciate someone elses opinion.


2) I have a rattle sound that comes and goes. When I start the car it is there, or come to a red light you can hear it. If I play with the clutch and move the car ahead just a notch, I can usually make it go away. I have had it to a transmission guy to see if it is a release bearing, but it felt the clutch was in good shape. The noise does seem to go away when I get into higher gears. I don't think it is valves sticking because i use a lighter oil, usually synthetic in the engine.

Thanks

[jjth39347]

I think your right on the First question but on the second one try using a more expencive gas and go through some tanks of it and also a more expencive oil and go to auto zone or some other sore that is popular for car stuff and ask them their opinion

[darien99]

First - probably IAC. Either that, TPS or a vaccum leak.

Second- it's probably your throwout bearing...common problem. Not a big deal as long as you can deal with the noise.

[brownb]

Thanks for the response darien,

I have spoke with a few people and they have told me that I should look at the tps.

Could you give me and idea how much you figure it would cost to fix the release bearing in the clutch.

Not to sound dumb, but what is IAT?

Thanks

[darien99]

The only dumb question is the one not asked.

IAC - Idle Air Controller. It's one of the sensors in the throttle body, diamond shaped.

The throwout bearing is something like 50 bucks, I have no idea what you're going to be charged for labor. I've also heard that the noise is caused by a worn fork, but I'm not sure about that. I know that I've got a new throwout bearing in one of my Neons and it makes the same noise, so there might be some truth to it. I'd ask your dealer.