Chrysler Repair: Town & Country 2005: wont start after a brief stop., exhaust gas recirculation valve, chrysler town and country

Question
We have a Chrysler Town and Country which we bought brand new in October 2005. It has about 75,000 miles on it. It has several issues. The current issue is if we use it and stop at a store, or to pick up kids, it will not start again. Initially it took about 15 minutes before it restarted but now it is taking 3 hours. The Chrysler Dealership said they need to replicate the problem in order to find out what is wrong. This does not happen all the time. It has happened twice this week. Please help.

Answer
Hi Rena,
There are not too many things that will cause a 'no start' temporarily without also setting a fault code. So the place to start is with a fault code readout of the engine computer. An Autozone or similar nationwide parts store chain will often give you a free code readout which is done with a plug-in code reader that attaches to a socket that is under the dash. If there is no such opportunity any independent garage should have a code reader and would charge less than $40 to do it. Get the 4-digit code numbers, ask what they mean, and then ask me a follow-up question with the results and we can go from there.*
As far as no starts without such a code, the most common is an exhaust gas recirculation valve that is sticking slightly ajar so that when you try to start it the mixture is too lean to create an idle condition. As it cools down the valve may close spontaneously. That is more likely with the older style egr valves that are on the V-6 engine. If that is the case, simply spraying some WD-40 on the valve's stem where it enters the valve body is a solution. The other is a failed gas cap which is not allowing air in the tank to displace the vacuum created by the fuel pump. That is more likely to occur on longer drives, followed by a no start, then on short trips, however.
Let me know what you learn from the readout, and if you would like to check out the egr valve tell me which engine you have.

Roland
*You might also try the ignition key to get the codes:"On-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less. Then watch the odometer window on the speedometer to see if the mileage rading changes to show 4-digit numbers, preceded by a P.

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