'98 Plymouth Neon - Service engine light

Hi:

I have a '98 Ply Neon with 14,000 mile on it. It's only driven about
4 times a week for a half hour or so. Hense the super low mileage.
Yesterday when I started the car the 'Service engine light' came on
and its staying on. What are the most common reasons for this. Any
of them cheap fixes by chance? I don't have any money right now for
repairs and am afraid to drive the car in case it breaks down

Thanks for feedback.

 

Easiest thing is to get the computer to tell you the codes. Cycle the key:
"on-off-on-off-on" pretty quick (complete it in under 5 seconds) there is no
need to actually start the engine, just put the key to the "on / run"
position (where everything lights up)

The engine light will flash code numbers. The first and second digit of the
same code are seperated by a short pause and different codes are seperated
by a long pause. It is in hex so:
9 flashes = 9
10 = A
11=B
12=C
13=D
14=E
15=F

"- - - - - - - - - - . - - - - . . . - - . - - - -" would read codes A4 and
24

 

Thanks for the tip! I did as you mentioned and came up with the following-

12 and 43 and 55. I then did a Google to decribe the fault codes and found
this-

12-Direct battery to PCM was disconected within the last 50 key-on cycles.

43- Multiple/ single cyclinder misfire

55- End of error message.

Brief history- Car has the DOHC engine and Auto trans. When it was less
than a year old there were problems with misfire. The 'Computer' was
reprogramed and new plugs installed under warrenty. The car also has a LONG
HISTORY of transmission problem. "Fixed" twice under warrenty, and is
acting up still. The car will stay in gear too long (high rev) before
upshifting. Downshifts on occation will 'SLAM.' ( the trans probs are
intermittent) I notice that error code 12 refers to the PCM unit, which I
read controls the torque converter. Is this all related? I'm quite
confused...

 

disconnecct the battery for 5 minutes then make sure the gas cap is
tight then reconnect battery, go for a drive and see what happens

 

That could be a lot of stuff, all sensors will make this light come on, mine
came on once, I disconected the battery to reset it & it came back on again,
especially if it was a rainy day. after a check up, they found out it was
the Catalytic converter. Then it came back on about 50000 Miles later, this
time it was the O2 sensor. So I am not sure if there are common reasons for
this because it could be anything. Have your mechanic to plug it to the
analyser & it will show you which sensor is trigging the engine light. with
your low mileage, it could be the O2 sensor (I think this is a problem on
the Neon).

 

He did a Malfunction indicator lamp test and it gave the code for a misfire.

 

I'd suspect something in the distributor/camshaft sensor - that's what usually
gives you misfires/oddball timing.

 

Also fouled plugs, bad plug wires, leaking intake manifold gasket.