dodge neon i need help

[bryce cleaver]

well one day I was at work and my cousin had my car. He hooked the cables up wrong when he jump started with the positive on the negitve and the negitive on the positive. i have replaced the alternator re ran the wires to run everything. i put my voltage meter on the battery and it read 12.4 and when i start it up it jumps down to 11.4 then when i turn on the radio or lights it dies. i have had the wires checked out and the alternator checked and they are all good so I am wondering if it is the brain but I dont know what that part is called and where could i find it

 

[kc9ljo]

What year is your neon, and what enginre is in it? This is one of those times when it is probably best to have the problem diagnosed by a GOOD mechanic. I've seen alot of people spend alot of money guessing at what's wrong in situations like this. But I'll try to help if you get my the year and engine.

 

[kc9ljo]

There's a fuse box under the hood, next to the battery. Check fuse #21, it should be a 20 amp fuse. If that's ok there's a wire that goes from starter to the alt. it's black. Somewhere on that wire there is a fusable link, make sure that did'nt get smoked. Let me know if this helps.

P.S.
This info is for an 03 neon with a 2.0 engine.

 

[anderkart]

I'll bet the fusable link for your alternator blew when you jump started backwards.

On older cars the fusable link was simply a short 6" long section of a special type wire, on more resent cars like yours its commonly a much larger than normal sized fuse that plugs into an electrical box under the hood. That electrical box will probably also contain regular sized fuses and relays.

The fusable link will be rated to blow at somewhere around 100 +/- amps.

The fusable link i think is your problem here will just have 2 wire connections and probably just plug in. (but it might be a short section of special wire like older cars instead) 1 of those connections will be wired to the battery's positive post. The other 1 will go to the large B+ output terminal on your alternator. So when this fusable link is blown, the alternator will usually still be charging, but the output cant get back to the battery...

An easy test to confirm if this is your problem, is to see if the big B+ output post of your alternator has battery voltage with the engine off. This output post should read battery voltage at all times.

And then while the engine is running, also measure the output voltage at the alternator, and then compare that to whats getting back to the battery. You should never have more than a 1 volt drop/difference between those 2 points.

Also, definitely check every single fuse in the car. Jump starting backward may have blown several fuses.

Its also very common to damage the cars ECM (computer) when jump starting backwards. But not always.

I'm not sure what year your Neon is but the voltage regulator for your alternator might be built into the computer...
Here's some info about that:--> http://www.batauto.com/Forums/index.php?topic=4166.0

You might research here too:--> http://www.google.com/search?source...T4GZAZ_enUS369US369&q=dodge+neon+fusable+link

 

[bryce cleaver]

I have the car running with a 30 amp fusable link with a 40 amp fuse in it I can not find a fusable link for the wire. I think it is a 12 gauge fusable link wire. but my dealership does not even have it. so where can i find one of these at. not what I am worried about is that I am going to catch something on fire because of teh 40 amp fuse not blowing when it gets to hot. but I think I am fine the wire is not hot but for safty does any one know where to get a fuseable wire

 

[anderkart]

Napa, Car Quest and Ford dealers sell 8" lengths of fusable link wire.

I'll bet your dodge dealer has it out in the shop too, but they just dont sell fuse links over the counter so they can charge you $300 to install it...

If your alternator has around a 100-amp output, an 8" long/12-gauge fuse link sounds about like the size I'd expect it to need.

But bring your your old burnt fuse link wire along to the parts store and compare the actual wire diameter size (not the insulation thickness) to the new fuse links they sell to make sure you stay with the same gauge/size.

ps: might as well buy a spare, they dont cost much...