I replaced the fuel pump (with an OEM) in my wife’s 2006 Town & Country back in the beginning of May. The pump was definitely bad and the vehicle ran great after the replacement. Last week, it acted the same way. I set out to test for power at the connector located on the rear of the fuel tank. In the process of testing, it started working again. I let it set for a few days and retested and it worked every time. Hesitant, I sent my wife back out with the vehicle and it has been fine for a few days until this afternoon. On all occasions, the vehicle ran fine prior to turning it off. When she went to restart it, it wouldn’t start.
U say the pump was bad. U applied power to it after it was removed and it would not run? I could see corrosion on the wire harness causing the pump to not run. But u say wire harness is ok and pump was bad. Now, new pump runs intermittently? You feel wire harness is ok and new pump is issue?
Yes, old pump was bad. Would not operate when connected directly to power outside of tank. I don’t feel anything at the moment, looking for suggestions.
There’s a ton of current that goes through the wires that power the fuel pump. It wouldn’t be at all unusual for a connector to get fried, then work intermittently. The first thing to check: when the car fails to start, does the fuel pump run? If not, check for power at the fuel pump. At the closest connector to the fuel pump. Back-probe the connector from both sides, as you need to have the pump plugged in, creating a load, to tell if the voltage is low. I suspect you have a fried connector which isn’t making good contact somewhere between the battery and the fuel pump. If not the connector right at the pump, you’ll have to work backwards from the pump toward the battery. Could be a fuel pump relay on the fritz for example. I had a VW Rabbit years ago with this exact symptom, and the place the fuel pump wiring got fried was where the fuel pump relay plugged into the relay plate. The remedy for that is to either jumper around the relay plate (that’s what was done on the Rabbit), or probably in these modern times they’d just replace the relay plate with a new one.
Thanks for the reply, George. The relay was the first thing I tried and that was not the problem. I am somewhat familiar with the Delphi system (as it is used on Harleys). Hoping that there was a trend with the T&C that others have experienced to help me pin point the problem. The connector seems logical at this point.
If you didn’t verify that full voltage was getting through the relay while the trouble is occuring that may be a good thing to do before you go further into the wiring. The trouble might be before the relay.
I think what I will do is connect a test light to the connector at the sending unit so that the next time it fails, I will know if there is power to the pump or not.
You also might carry some starter fluid with you to have on hand when the trouble happens again. There could be an ignition problem causing the trouble and if the engine doesn’t run using some ether then the ignition system is suspect.
Honestly, I don’t remember. Seems to me it was something I did while reinstalling the fuel tank. Pinched wire or something. We have since moved on to an Odyssey! Good Luck!