Injectors causes what sound? or are you referring to the "spurts"?

Yeah.. maybe jealousy 'cause the SRT stole its garage space... I love
my SRT-4! But I want my Neon to run well too... It saves me a LOT of gas
money here in California...

WHL wrote:

> sounds like it may be an injector going bad or the whole car is seriously
> jealous (me too) over the purchase of the SRT-4. you can use a long
> screwdriver as a stethoscope to search for the noise. just be careful of
> high voltage and moving parts.
>
> "Ken" > wrote in message
> om...
>
>>I have a 2000 Dodge Neon ES (3-spd automatic) with about 50,000 miles.
>>There are a few issues:
>>
>>Since about 30,000 miles, it has made a ticking sound when I first start
>>the engine in the morning. It's loudest in the beginning, and will
>>gradually become softer until it's not audible anymore (when the engine
>>warms up to operating tempurature) within 5-10 minutes. The ticking has
>>a frequency of about 2 ticks per second at engine idle speed, and will
>>increase as the engine is revved. The ticking is louder when it's colder
>>(colder weather, or sitting for more hours).
>>
>>Recently (last 5,000 miles), when I start the car, there is also a LOUD
>>clacking noise that is sporatic and comes in bursts, lasting just one or
>>two seconds each... This clacking noise is pretty scary.
>>
>>The car hasn't been driven much the past three months, as I have just
>>purchased a new toy (2004 Dodge SRT-4), but the last time I drove it, I
>>experienced occasional "spurts" from the engine. For example, I'm
>>accelerating at a slow and steady pace, and for a split second, I feel
>>the engine "tugging" the car forward, kind of like an engine with a
>>rough idle.
>>
>>Any ideas? I'm pretty ignorant to diagnosing problems and am new to any
>>type of repair work. Through the life of the car, I've down regular
>>oil/filter changes myself, and have taken the car to the dealer for a
>>30k tune-up, but that's all... The recent problems have really got me
>>wondering... I'm thinking about new plugs/wires and flushing the cooling
>>system... The ticking noise may be normal? but the loud clacking noise
>>can not be good....