QuestionI have a 1995 dodge neon, just recently i have replaced the battery and the starter some wires on the battery, i thought maybe my alternator was shot but im not sure what is going, the car will be fine for about a couple of weeks, then it will die on me then i have to boost it and then its fine for another couple of weeks what do you think the problem might be?
AnswerHi Germaine,
You may have a light "on" all the time, such as in the glove box or the trunk, so check to make sure those hidden lights indeed go off when the doors are closed. There are many other possible causes for current being drawn even though the ignition is off. Here is the procedure I gave earlier to a person with a similar problem. I am not as well equipped to deal with a Neon because I have not found a shop manual to buy at a price that is acceptable to me as a volunteer, but I hope we can solve this one together without the manual.
"The best way to find what is causing the draining of the charge on the battery is to obtain a volt-ohm meter at an electronics store or an auto parts store, or borrow one from a friend. (You can for a little more money use a meter that also measures current (amps) and use it the same way as I will now describe except you will be trying to find fuses that when removed reduce the reading on the dial). You should be able to get one for under $20. Then you disconnect the clamp from the "-" or "neg" post of the battery, then remove the "+" or "pos" clamp. Then put the two test leads of the meter on the two clamps (one lead on each clamp) with the meter set to read ohms. It should read something less than infinite, but you would like it to read more that 100 ohms and ideally much more ohms than that, which would mean there was no source draining away the charge. If instead you find that it reads only 5 or 10 ohms that means there is a component that is draining the battery. (If you intend to measure current, then the battery needs to be in play so you would just remove one battery clamp (the - post one) and insert the leads of the amp meter between the clamp and post that you have disconnected the clamp from).
The procedure to find out the drain source is to disconnect each of the fuses (start with the larger fuses in the power distribution center box under the hood, if there is such a box in the Neon it would be located near the battery) that are assigned to a specific circuit in the car, one at a time, and see if the meter reading moves toward infinity (ohms) or decreases (amps) as the result. If there is no change in the reading of the meter, then replace the fuse and move to the next one in the distribution center box and see if it causes an increased reading, etc. When you find one (or more) such fuses that when removed caused the reading of the meter to go up significantly, then look for the label on the fuse box for that fuse, put the fuse back so that the reading decreases again. Then do the same testing with the fuse box under the dash on the driver'r side, concentrating on the fuses there that may be related to the one in the power distribution center that appeared to be involved.
Then if the fuse isn't labelled as to its purpose write me back and I can tell you which fuses/circuits the fuse in the distribution center powers up in the secondary fuse box that is under the dash. Then you will go to the under dash box and do the same thing, and when you find the smaller fuse that also raises the resistance (decrease the current) when pulled you will begin to unplug each of the electrical items that are powered by that fuse and keep checking until you find the item that causes the reading to go up again. That is the faulty component that is causing your problem.
You will want to do these tests with all the doors closed so that no lights are "on" and the car is sitting just as it is when you have it shut down. Be careful not to change anything about the car doors/lights (always close the doors before reading the meter) while you are doing this testing or none of it will make any sense.
This is something you can do yourself and save labor costs by so doing. If you find a fuse that when removed causes the reading to rise significantly, tell me what the number of that fuse is and I will tell you what to do then to solve that problem specifically (how to unplug the suspected faulty item).
Whenever you go to reconnect the battery, always put the + post clamp back on first, then put on the - post clamp. The reverse is true when you disconnect the battery (as I described to you at the start). It is done that way for safety so you don't accidentally short the battery and get a burn."
It also could be the case that the battery is reaching the end of its useful life, so compare its age to the warranty duration and be prepared to replace it when the warranty period runs out.
Good luck on this project.
Roland
