Here is my story sad but true, about a minivan that is teal blue, she took my parts and now won?t run around with all the guys in town?.Hey?.Hey?Whoa?Whoa…Hey
Jon Beaty Rocky Hill Ct.
Background: 1995 Dodge Caravan, 200,300 miles 3.3 L with Automatic Transmission, Towing Package, Standard Body, not extended, AM/FM Cassette
3 years ago: When winter came, (problem began on New Years Eve) on cold days (under 20 degrees) and nights the van just would not start. It would crank and crank and crank and crank no start. We went through the no start procedure in the factory manual the best we could and could not find anything. We put the van in the warm garage, and the next day she starts up fine, runs all is well. Problem continues, weather gets warmer, Spring comes all is well. I replaced the inline fuel filter and the Fuel Pressure Regulator as preventive maintenance measure.
2 years ago: Winter was coming, knowing what we went through last time. I guessed that it was a heat related thing, so I put in a new Coolant Temperature Sensor, at about the same time the MAL light came on, it informed me that a Heated Oxygen Sensor was not working, so I replaced it. The no start improved and it was difficult to start, when cold. And it ran sort of rough but as it warmed up, it ran ok. So that is how she ran last year.
This year?..ran perfect?until?..the first snowy and cold day?
I got in, fired right up, and drove away like I would do. I got about 5 -7 minutes away from the house, just at the top of the Glastonbury Bridge, and she just quits, I roll to a safe spot on the side of the road, and she will not start. Again she turns over and over and over, but will not start. Thank you USAA for free roadside assist, I had it towed back to my driveway.
I noticed that the engine was not getting a spark, when the engine was in ?I am not going to start mode?, I noticed that when the engine would be cold, it had spark and fired up ok.
So, I did some research and replaced the following parts; Camshaft Sensor, Crankshaft Sensor, MAP Sensor, PCV, ASD Relay and the Fuel Pump Relay. (Thanks God for Rock Auto 0nly $127.00) Now it had warmed up a bit, but the car was working OK. I took it on short local trips, and my daughter took it to the UCONN Game in East Hartford, we even took the van to bring the daughters back to UCONN, it was OK.
Colder weather returns, I take it out and when it starts to warm up, it starts to mis-fire and back fire out the exhaust pipe. I know it is about to die so I get it in a parking lot and it dies and will not start. I come back in 5 hours, start it up and drive it right home. This scenario happens 3 more times. (and numerous other times now)
1. Cold under 25-20 degrees
2. Starts perfect, fires right up.
3. As the engine gauge gets to normal operating temperature, the engine begins to stutter (small backfires through the tailpipe) and will eventually stalls.
4. The engine will restart (usually) if I turn it off and on within a few seconds of it sitting, but if I leave it for a few minutes (like go in the bank) it will not restart.
5. No Spark, it will turn over well.
6. Wait 3-4 hours (I have not timed it) Starts fine regardless of Temp.
I was reading and some people had said once they cleaned the Throttle Body, their vans ran fine, so I took the Throttle Body off the car removed the Throttle Position Sensor and the Idle Air Control Motor, and gave them a good cleaning, the tip on the IAC was filled with gunk, Cleaned and Reinstalled.
We also put a new Distributor Pack/ Ignition Coil in, ($17 at Rock Auto)
Cleaned the battery terminals, took the negative ground at the engine off at the engine cleaned it with a wire brush reinstalled it.
Tested the car, stalled again??same story?..backed cat into garage,??.Code Reader Code 11
So I put the OBD1 code reader on, and it reads code 11 Crankshaft Sensor is not getting a reading. I clear the code, wait a few hours and start the engine, let it run but not warm up shut it off and pull the code. This time I get a Code 24, it says that the Throttle Position Sensor was sending too high of an output, So, I replace it, thinking maybe this is it?..
Same think happens in the cold?.starts, warms up, stalls?..
So today I did an experiment, I put the van in the warm garage, put the code reader on it, read the code 11, cleared the code, started the engine, let it run and periodically check the reader. The car warmed up and idled fine, no codes. The engine worked fine and did not exhibit any signs of stalling.
Potential Fixes from Friends and Internet;
? New or used Computer
? Remap Computer, get latest revision
? Duty Cycle EVAP Purge Solenoid sticking
? Various wires bad connection or shorting out
? Bad grounds
? The part that the Crankshaft sensor reads is cracked?
? Another Crankshaft sensor?
Personally, I think that the computer has been programmed to not work after 200,000 miles?.
Can you Help
jon_r_beaty@hotmail.com
Well, you have something that is killing the spark when the outside temp is below 20-25
degrees.
But it is something that is not being referenced when the car is in the cold start mode.
I am not knowledgeable enough about computer controlled engine management systems to tell you what to look for but your mechanic might be if he is willing to pursue this line of reasoning.
I am trying to figure this one out also. You are right it is something that is not being “managed” during warm up mode, and then is being managed. But why does this thing not work when it is COLD, but work ok during WARM Weather. What is tough about this car is that it is so old that it is not worth much. So the question is how much money is it worth investing in it. I have been doing stuff myself for the last 5 years. I have also asked many experts who are also scratching their heads also. Thanks for the post.
mas air flow sensor is the “new” choke. perhaps that bad ?
When the problem occurs, if no spark, I check primary voltage at the coil, engine cranking. Dark green wire with orange tracer, voltage comes from asd relay. The asd relay supplies voltage to many circuits, coil–injectors–02 sensor heater circuits to name a few. The computer has to see the cam and crank signals, where applicable, or it won’t ground the asd relay. If there is a wiring circuit problem somewhere, replacing parts won’t fix it.
Update…many people thought it was the computer…So I got a used one…same thing happend…Ahhhhh
Is it still the case that you get no spark? Did you ever check for voltage at the coil pack as killing_time suggested? Did you fully inspect the wiring & harness for the CkPS?