Chrysler Repair: 94 van wont turn over, plymoth voyager, far ends

Question
hi i have a 1994  plymoth voyager it was running fine up intill lastnihgt when it was raining and today it try to start but dies right away the battery has spark  i hear almost like a backfire noise  and then it dies right away i have to bang the batterry post just to get the van to try to turn over  do u know what the problem may be ?

Answer
Hi Darren
I would start by checking the battery clamp/battery post interfaces to be sure that they are clean and shiney. Then check the wires on the -clamp at their far ends where they are attached to the engine and the body to be sure those are clean and tightly attached. Then see how it cranks. If it still doesn't crank strongly then you would want to charge the battery or get a jump from another battery. Is the battery near the end of its warranty life?
Then use the ignition key to see if the engine computer has noticed what my be causing the problem. It stores two-digit numbers, called fault codes. You can get them by turning the 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. Tell me what the counts are, in order of appearance and we'll go from there. Also tell me which engine size is in the vehicle.
Roland