QuestionI have a 1995 Chrysler Concorde with a 3.5L V6. I can't seem to get the car to start. It will turn over but wont start. It has a new fuel pump and new crankshaft position sensor. It ran fine up until I had to replace the thermostat. I flushed the coolant and replaced the thermostat. Then I went to start it and it will crank but not run. The fuel pump works and there is adequate fuel pressure and there is spark at the plugs. I did the check engine code trick and it gave me codes 12,35,77,55. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi Corey,
The 12 means the battery was disconnected from the pcm in the past 50-100 ignition key cycles so unless that is not the case it is routine and nothing to worry about. The 55 means "end of readout". The other two are for circuits that are involved with the radiator fan relay and speed control circuits so those wouldn' affect the starting. Because you have fuel and spark I wonder if it might be a mixture issue. One item that isn't well monitored by the pcm is the egr valve, and if that is slightly stuck ajar it will cause a too lean mixture to get the engine to catch and idle. Here is the answer I gave to another owner who had a similar sort of issue (start but not a good idle):
I would take a look at the exhaust gas recirculation valve which is located behind the engine near the air intake throttle valve. It is mounted in a pipe that runs between passenger side exhaust manifold and the air intake manifold. The valve is mounted horizontally and has a valve stem between its round vacuum actuator top and the body of the valve attached to the pipe, inside the flange that connects the two parts. The stem has a slot into which you can insert the tip of a flat-bladed screwdriver so as to lever the stem back and forth against spring action which should move freely and close tightly. If the stem seems to be sticky so that stem doesn't close all the way by spring action, then you can try spraying some penetrating solvent like WD-40 on the valve stem to freeup its motion.
If the valve is sticking slightly ajar it will make for a rough idle and poor acceleration such as you describe because the mixture is too dilute. It is one of the most common causes of this symptom. So see if you can find the valve and check/lubricate the stem. To check it in motion you can rev the engine from idle to 2500 rpm and back to idle and watch to see if the valve stem moves freely in both directions to the extreme open and closed positions. It may be that the interior of the valve is cruddy so that might require that it be unbolted from the pipe where it it attached and cleaned. But chances are good it will only be a sticky stem. Feel free to write back with the results and other questions you might have.
The only other mixture affecting item is the MAP sensor but it should set a code, unless it has gone inaccurate but not so much as to set a code.
Other than those, is there anything that might have been disturbed by the thermostat replacement would be what you might want to think about.
Roland
