Question2005 Dodge Grand Caravan 125,xxx miles. Has had the typical stall after filling with gas but this time after filling the tank it stalled and it now starts in a very high idle and does not come down. When you step hard on the gas it does not idle up it stutters and chugs. There is a very loud screeching sound that seems to me to be coming from the intake manifold area and not the block area this is the most disturbing. The exhaust is dripping oil and the snow behind gets black. There is lots and lots of smoke, seems blackish, especially if you give it gas but mostly white. But hard to tell, it is 1 degree outside. It can be driven but runs around 45 mph with out touching the gas. There are no engine lights on and I tried the 3 time key thing and there were no codes that came up. Only things I have tried were to check the air filter, it’s clean. The butterfly valve moves freely and I removed 6 gallons of gas. Any ideas would be great.
AnswerHi Rick,
You are aware that the minivans in the '05 or so era have a problem with the fuel tank vapor collection/recycling system that is well-documented but which Chrysler won't recall. I suspect that raw fuel has collected in that system and that is why it is idling high as you describe.
For now I would be inclined to drive and hope that it clears out on its own accord. If it does, then don't ever fill the tank even close to the top. Otherwise the typical fix is to replace the entire tank and recovery system which is expensive.
On the screeching, I wonder if that might be a drive belt that is too loose and slipping on a pulley.
The smoke, if black, is consistent with too rich a mixture, proabably due to the recovery system mess.
But if the smoke seems to be excessive and white, and smells like anti-freezed when you let it condense on your skin, then that signifies some sort of a leak of coolant into a combustion chamber, usually due to a head gasket leak. So check out the smoke once the engine will idle again at normal rpm.
