Chrysler Repair: 98 Grand Caravan - cranks but no start, 4 digit numbers, wd 40

Question
Roland,
I have hunted your answers and can't find this so here's hoping you can shed some light on the subject. I have a '98 3.0 liter Caravan that ran fine when parked. It sat for a couple of weeks and then when we went to start it it would crank but not come alive. I have replaced the battery (it needed it anyway) and done a general tune-up on the car replacing the plugs, wires, rotor, and cap. I know I have fuel getting to the injectors and that the fuel pump is working. I am out of guesses so I am hoping you have some ideas.

Answer
Hi Myles,
Have you checked for spark by pulling the wire from the center of the distributor cap and holding the tip about 1/4" from the cylinder head while a helper cranks it over?
Have you checked the egr valve to see if it might be stuck slightly ajar? It is located at the rear of the engine, just below the intake manifold.  Look for a small pipe that branches off the top of the main exhaust pipe of the front manifold as it crosses over to connect to the rear manifold at the back end of the engine. Follow that small pipe to the egr valve. The valve is mounted horizontally and if you check the area between the body of the valve and the round vacuum actuator you will see a flange inside of which is a rod which is the valve stem. That rod has a slot into which a tip of a screwdriver can be inserted which allows you to move the valve open and shut (shutting by internal spring-action). Check that the valve closes to a dead stop by means of the spring. If it seems to be hung up, spray some WD-40 on the stem where it enter the body of the valve to free-up the action.
Aside from spark and mixture issues (which the egr could mess-up) you would need to check for fault codes. I am not sure this will work but try turning the ignition key 'on-off-on-off-on and leave on' doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then look at the odometer window to see if the mileage reading changes to show any 4-digit numbers which would be codes that would indicate a possible cause of no start. Other than that, a code reader that plugs into a socket under the dash by the steering column would be necessary to get the fault code readout.
Let me know any codes and we can go from there.
Roland