Chrysler Repair: 1989 3.0L V-6: skips, stalls, hard starts sometimes, hall effect sensor, engine controller

Question
My dad has a 1989 chry New Yorker with 50,000 original miles. The car when driving seems like it skips, it even stalled once. Some times it does not start right away. To me it sounds like a magnetic pick-up. But I was told that the v-6 does not have one. what could this be

Answer
Hi Robert,
I assume that he has the 3.0L V-6 which while it doesn't have a magnetic or hall effect sensor in the distributor it does have a photooptic sensor that can also begin to fail. The symptom you describe could very well be that. But there is a way to find out:
The most useful thing to do would be to readout the engine controller for fault codes now, which you can do yourself, at anytime. Here is how:
Reading out the engine controller memory for fault codes is the first step. Try using the ignition key: turn it "on-off-on-off-on" and leave it "on" (doing this quickly, no longer than 5 seconds). By "on" I mean just the normal position when the engine is running, not the cranking position. The 'check engine'light will remain on when you leave the key in the "on" position with the engine still not running. But then watch the 'check engine' light to begin flashing, then pause, flashing, pause, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause and keep track of the numbers. Repeat the readout and verify the counts are correct. Then group them in pairs in the order that they came out, thus forming two digit numbers. You may notice that the pause is shorter between the digits of a given number, and longer between the numbers themselves. Then send me a 'follow-up' question telling me the results of your readout. By the way, 55 will be the last number (two groups of 5 flashes each) and that is the code for "end of readout".
I have the troubleshooting manual for the
V-6 engine  and we can look up the possibilities of what is wrong based upon what fault codes you show. There is also an essay on fault codes at the site:
http://www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html
which gives the meaning of the code numbers. But then you need to get specific info for what exactly might be the diagnostic tests or parts to replace to complete the repair. Let me know the codes and I can give you some direction. The 11 code is about one of the two sensors and the 54 is about the other one, both are in the distributor.
Roland