Chrysler Repair: 95 Chrysler Towne & Country Van, mixture problem, lean mixture

Question
I want to trouble shoot hesitation in the starting of my van. Not sure where the fuel filter is located on it. But other than fuel filter, fuel pump or even not a good connection with battery terminals, is there anything else I can check? I use to always work on my own cars but haven't on this van.

Answer
Hi Clarene,
If by hesitation to start you mean the starter motor works but the engine won't catch and run and idle, then there are a couple of things to look into. One thing to do is use the ignition key to get any fault codes that may be stored in the engine computer using 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 begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Then repeat to be sure of a consistent flash count. Then let me know the counts in the order of appearance and we can go from there. Or you can combine the counts in pairs, in the order of appearance to form the two-digit fault code numbers. The last number is always 55 which means 'end of readout'. Then go to www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html for a de-code list.
Another cause of hard starting is a mixture problem created when an anti-pollution device called an egr valve malfunctions by sticking ajar. You didn't say which engine you have so I can't be sure but here is how to check that out on the 3.8L engine:
My immediate suspicion is that your egr valve is sticking slightly ajar which will cause the engine to falter/stop at idle speed after slowing down. The valve is located near the throttle body air intake at the end of the engine, mounted in pipe that recirculates exhaust gas from the rear cylider bank exhaust pipe back around to the intake manifold. The exhaust gases have some fumes that can plate out a crud on the valve stem and thus keep it from closing tight when you are at idle. That makes for a too lean mixture so the engine stalls. The valve proper is mounted horizontally with the stem visible in a space between the body of the valve mounted on the pipe and the round top of the valve which is flanged and so if you look carefully you will see a metal rod (stem of the valve) with a slot around its circumference. You can take the tip of flat blade screwdriver and insert it in the slot and then lever the valve back and forth to check if it is moving freely (against spring action in one direction) or not. If it doesn't seem to close easily with the help of the built-in spring, then I would spray the base of the stem with solvent from a pressure can (such as WD-40 or carb cleaner) while moving the stem back and forth.  Then see if that solves the issue.
Roland