QuestionThanks for the prompt response.
It's a 3.3L V6.
And when it stalls... well, I guess I should say that it dies. The RPM go all the way down, and I'll feel the power steering get stiff and I have to coast to the shoulder. The dashboard lights stay on and I never see any problem. It has never restarted on it's own. I have to shut it off and then restart. Sometimes it does it on the first try and sometimes not. Today it took a handful of tries, restarted, I drove for a few feet and it died again. I repeated the process and was able to keep the car running until I got home.
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The text above is a follow-up to ...
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I have a 2001 Town and Country that stalls while I'm driving. Mostly at slower speeds (40mph) but it has also done it while driving 70-75 on the interstate. I took in to two places and they were not able to gather codes. It acted up for the first mechanic, but he had no answers for the reason. He did say that it seemed to stall when it switched gears. The other mechanic thought that it was the throttle position sensor and I had that replaced. Unfortunately, the stalling still persists. I keep reading about fuel filter issues but both of them seemed to dismiss the idea.
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Hi Danielle,
Without codes makes this difficult. I wonder if you might try to see if there could be a self-readout function that is activated by the ignition key. Turn it "on-off-on-off-on and leave it on" doing this in an elapsed time of 5 seconds or less. Then watch the odometer window of the speedometer to see if any four digit numbers are displayed. If the mechanics have good readout tools, then we have to conclude there are no stored codes.
When you say stalling, do you mean that it dies and you have to coast to stop and try to restart it, or does it just loose power and then regain speed on its own?
The only two things I can imagine are first that the ignition switch may be flakey and spontaneously shutting down one of several circuits that it controls. Do you notice anything else to shut down/lights to go on/other concurrent changes when this happens? Try giggling the key when the van hesitates, but don't turn it off.
The other possibility is a device called the exhaust gas recirculation valve which also probably needs to move when the gears change, if that is indeed something going on when the stall occurs. So I would check the valve stem of that valve to make sure it is moving freely. Please tell me the engine that you have so that I might let you know how to find that.
So give those ideas a try. I doubt it is the fuel filter if it is happening a mid-speed too, because it mainly would show up under high fuel flow demands.
Another possibility is the catalytic converter is plugging up and causing the engine to shut down due to backpressure. You can have that checked out at a good independent muffler shop (not a chain, which will try to sell you something whether you need it or not). If that were the case it would usually manifested as a loss of power at high speeds, but it could be on and off again if the honeycomb were loose in the pipe.
Please let me know if you learn something that solves it or that I might be able to give you some further advice.
Roland
AnswerHi Danielle,
OK, so it is shutting down entirely. That would probably eliminate the catalytic converter possibility and the fuel filter too. It sounds to me like either a spark issue or a mixture of fuel/air. So here is the egr story: the exhaust gas recirculation valve is located near the rear corner of the engine on the side that is next to the firewall, and it is close to the air intake tube and throttle valve. It is mounted on small diameter pipe that runs between firewall side exhaust manifold and the air intake manifold. The valve is mounted horizontally and has a valve stem between its round vacuum actuator top and the body of the valve attached to the pipe, inside the flange that connects the two parts. The stem has a slot into which you can insert the tip of a flat-bladed screwdriver so as to lever the stem back and forth against spring action which should move freely and close tightly. If the stem seems to be sticky so that stem doesn't close all the way by spring action, then you can try spraying some penetrating solvent like WD-40 on the valve stem to freeup its motion.
If the valve is sticking slightly ajar it will make for a too lean mixture when you slow down, or accelerate hard or maybe when the gears shift(?), or want to re-start and idle the engine such as you describe, because the mixture is too dilute. It is one of the most common causes of this symptom. So see if you can find the valve and check/lubricate the stem. To check it in motion you can rev the engine from idle to 2500 rpm and back to idle and watch to see if the valve stem moves freely in both directions to the extreme open and closed positions. It may be that the interior of the valve is cruddy so that might require that it be unbolted from the pipe where it it attached and cleaned. But chances are good it will only be a sticky stem.
You could also carry a spare spark plug with you and then when it has stalled, and if you had a friend on board who will operate the key, you could remove the cap from one of the plugs on the engine, insert your spare plug, and then holding the rubber cap position the threads of the plug against the side of the engine for a good "ground", have the friend try to crank it and see if you are getting a spark across the electrodes of the plug. If not, then it could be you have a flakey crank sensor which is beginning to fail when it heats up (which causes a loss of the spark signal) and then self-repairs when it cools. It may do this for a while before setting a code (P0320).
Otherwise, keep checking for codes, try giggling the ignition key, and watching for any concurrent changes when it shuts down.
Roland
