QuestionQUESTION: I have 1992 Chrysler New Yorker fifth Avenue. We just had a new battery installed and car will not start. Owners Manuel says Anti-Theft Electronics might not allow car to start. How do we reset device to allow car to start?
ANSWER: Hi Nancy,
The theft not being disarmed is shown if the engine starts and then dies after a couple of seconds. If that is what is happening use the door key to lock then unlock the driver door, and if that doesn't do it then try the passenger door lock again using the key. Let me know if that is not the symptom or this key doesn't clear the armed system.
Roland
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QUESTION: That is what happened the 1st time we tried to start it(started then died after couple secs) after the new battery was installed. Now it is just turning over and not starting at all. You can hear the fuel pump engaging but is almost acting like it is not getting gas, It was fine before new battery installed.
ANSWER: Hi Nancy,
The fuel pump will run for about 1 second when you turn the key to the run position, normally. It starts pumping again when you start cranking it over but you can't hear it so well. If there are two of you, one can listen at the fuel tank area to try and hear the pump while the other person tries the starter. Let me know if you can hear it or not.
Now then it does seem that you have 'no start' that may be unrelated to the theft system. Try turning the ignition key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on", doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the 'check engine' light which remains 'on' to see it begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause, then repeat the process to be sure of an accurate set of flash counts. Then tell me the counts in order of appearance and we'll go from there. These flashes may tell us another reason why it won't start.
On the history of this: who/where installed the battery and did the 'die after start' begin immediately so that you never have been able to start it since then? Or did it run normally, and if so how many times. Is there anything else in the history I should know such as why the battery needed to be replaced, etc.
There is a situation where if the theft system is challenged too many times or it suspects someone is trying to disconnect it, it will put the vehicle into a 'hard' shutdown from which it will have to be freed by means of a diagnostic readout box at a dealership. But we may not be there, as yet. It could be a co-incidental 'no start' unrelated to the battery or the one-time theft system cut off after running for a couple of seconds. Or we still may not have disarmed the system due to a bad wire from the door lock to the anti-theft module. If we can just get the engine started again it is then possible to just disconnect the system, but not until that point.
Roland.
PS Please 'rate' my answer. Thanks
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QUESTION: Your answers are fantastic. I can not check the count on the check engine light right now. The car is sitting outside Advanced Discount Auto Store where we purchased a new battery and they installed it. History. The car has always started fine with just turning the key on. This AM the car would not start. It turned over but not start. We jumped it according to the directions in the owners manual but once the positive cable was released from the jumper cables we realized the cable was very loose. The car was driven approx 5 miles to the auto parts store where the battery was tested and only displayed 294 cold cranking amps and we were told the 2 year battery (which was 6 yrs old) needed to be replaced. We do not know it the original problem was only a loose cable or not. Once the new battery was installed the theft system went on and we had to use the key in the drivers door to disarm it. They disconnected the cables a couple of times and each time the theft system had to be disarmed. It is possible the theft system has been challenged too many times. They even pulled the fuses out of the fuse box and put them back. It might be in a "hard shutdown" mode because of them trying to get it started and trying different things At 1 point they said to turn the ignition key on and off 40 to 100 times to reset the computer. They were checking the Internet, and with other mechanics. It did start once after the new battery was installed but died right away and never started again. Cranks great just won't start. The auto parts store has a diagnostic computer readout box. Would that tell what code is not allowing the engine to start?
AnswerHi Nancy,
It may be in the 'hard' shutdown state. That definitely will happen if the plug directly at the theft control module itself is pulled when the engine isn't running. Some of the actions taken yesterday (pulling fuses for example) may have been interpreted by the module as if someone had tried to do that even though they didn't actually try. There is a light on the dash which is off when the alarm system is not armed, is flashing when the system is in the process of arming, or is on when it is armed. What is the status of that light?
The way to try and diagnose the situation with a reader is via a blue colored plug socket on the left end of the dash, either behind a small door or under the edge of the dash. It is an OBD-I generation code system so the store would need such a reader, and the cable that fits that socket. The Chrysler unit is called a DRB-II (even though it is for codes in the OBD-I system).
What you might try is to lock/unlock when you return to the store and with the car fully secured as you left it (all the doors/trunk/hood closed). Observe the alarm light to see if it goes off or what? Then try to start it.
If that doesn't work, another thing you could try is to turn the key to the 'accessory' position 3 times and leave it in that position on the third try (like the on-off etc. I mentioned but go the other way). After you do that, the tail and parking lights should start flashing and the horn sound twice. This is a diagnostic setting where you can then try all the various parts to see if they are working, but I don't think you need to do all that. Rather immediately after you go to the third 'accessory' position and leave it there, let the lights start flashing and the horn toot, then turn the key from the accessory to the 'run' position which takes it out of the diagnostic setting. Then see if the alarm system light is on or off, and if off, then try to start it. If it is on then do a door lock/unlock and then try to start it.
Then if that doesn't work, try the 'on-off-on-off-on and leave on', count the flashes. You group the flashes in pairs as they come out to form the 2 digit fault codes. You will definitely get 1,2 and 5,5 but in addition there may be other flashes that tell us something else that is keeping the car from starting: like 11 which says the crank sensor is bad or 54 says the cam sensor is bad.
If none of that gets it to start, then I would call the dealer and verify that they indeed have a DRB-II, tell them the story, and ask if they believe it is in a 'hard lock down'. And can they reverse that?
Good luck and please let me know what happens.
Roland
PS Thank you for the kind remarks and nomination. It was nice to find that when I got out of bed late in the evening to see if you had written back!
