Chrysler Repair: 2.5L V-6 dies unexpectedly/restarts in 20 minutes, crankshaft pulley, pulley bolt


Question
This car will at anytime just stall while driving and then sometimes will have to sit 20 or so minutes and will restart.  Sometimes it will start right away.  It drives well before and after.  I took it to get the codes read yesterday, it died 200 yards from the Autozone,  sat for 20 minutes, restarted and there were no error codes stored.  The engine turned over but would not start. I left it for 20 minutes( bar next to car-- went and had a beer)  then it started right up.  Any thoughts?

Answer
Hi Austin,
I suspect that it is either the camshaft or crankshaft position center which is breaking down as the temperature of the engine heats up, then self-repairs on cooling down.
It usually would set a fault code, but on the margin of inoperability it might not trip the fault code threshold.
You might try measuring the signal output from each sensor while the engine won't start, using a digital voltmeter and using a socket wrench on the crankshaft pulley bolt to rotate the engine by hand and while the ignition is in the "run" position. The voltage should oscillate between 0.3 and 5V as measured between the ground wire (black/light blue) and the signal wire (tan/yellow for the cam, gray/black for the crank) by inserting a pin thru each wire's insulation to probe the conductor.
Other than waiting a while until the sensor breaks down enough to turn on the check engine light, there is probably no other approach I can suggest.
Roland