QuestionNo way to make this short and sweet... My van started skipping, hesitating,
coughing, hiccup, whatever you want to call it. When this happens, the van
jerks, the speedometer jumps down some or to 0. Sometimes cuts off and will
restart. Thought it was bad gas, so used some fuel treatment. Seemed to be a
little better. Have drove it to IL from AL and back, after the front 3 spark
plug were changed. Hubby didn't have time to change the others... Only skipped
a few times and barely felt it. Did not drive the van for a few days, was hard
to keep running when first cranked. Doesn't ALWAYS do this! But the serpentine
belt come off, fixed that, drove home, still slipping. Parked for 2 hours,
cranked, water pouring out and over heating. Had to replace hose and thermostat.
Okay for a day... Slipping worse! Now sometimes it will not crank. Turn to on
you can hear 3 or 4 clicks. In between the speedometer and the odometer, there
is a small dot or asterisk blinking. When the dot is blinking the van will not
crank, when it isn't blinking it will, but won't stay cranked! Went to Auto
Zone, the manager did the on and off thing with the switch, no codes! Said maybe
spark plugs and wires or crank sensor! My hubby says he has no idea! I need my
van! Can you please help me?
AnswerHi Bethany,
Let me ask a couple of questions for clarification.
What do you mean by "won't stray cranked" and "won't crank"?
Do you mean the engine will not start and idle, or do you mean the starter motor won't turn engine over at all? It sounds to me, if you get "3 or 4 clicks" when you have this problem that the starter motor itself won't respond and that you are hearing either a soft click from the starter motor relay or a loud click from the starter motor solenoid itself (which is on the starter motor) but in either case the starter motor will not 'crank' the engine over. If that is the case, then I would suggest that issue is purely related to a low state of charge on your battery which could be remedied by putting it on a charger overnight if you have a charger or removing the battery and taking it in to be charged at a garage (using another vehicle to carry in the battery) or finally, if the battery is about at the end of its warranty, to replace it.
On the skipping/hesitating/coughing/hiccuping/slipping worse issue... I would ask you to turn 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 that the counts are accurate. Then let me know the counts, in the order of appearance.
I don't know that I believe the Autozone manager without your doing this yourself, now. If there is indeed no code (other than to sets of flashes, 5 in each, which means no codes) then I have another idea. But for that, I need to know which size engine (L?) you have.
So tell me those answers and we'll go from there.
Roland
PS Is there any info in the owners manual about the 'blinking light' that you mentioned?
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