Chrysler Repair: Concorde hard starting, exhaust gas recirculation valve, side exhaust manifold

Question
I just bought a 1995 chrysler concorde,and there is a problem I just ont understand.It sometimes takes 2-3 times to start the car.Could it be the starter oing?

Answer
Hi Jojo,
I can't comment on the starter motor without some description from you as to how it is sounding. Does it crank for 5 seconds without stopping, is it running the engine at about 250 rpm? Unless it is failing to crank reliably, or turns the engine slowly I would not worry about the starter motor. You might want to see if the battery's purchase date is  coded on it and compare its age with the warranty period. If the battery is about as old as its warranty period and the motor is not turning over vigorously by the starter motor then it could be the battery is partially discharged or ending it useful life.
If the starter is working well, then I would turn my attention toward the engine fundamentals. You can do two things:
Check the engine controller for fault codes using the ignition key. Turn the ignition switch "on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing this in 5 seconds or less. Then watch the check engine light which will be 'on' to begin to flash, pause, flash, pause, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Then repeat to verify the counts. Then group the counts into pairs in the order that they readout to form the two-digit fault code numbers. You can get a translation for the codes at www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html  or write back and tell me what they are and we can see if any would cause the starting issue.
The second thing is to check the exhaust gas reciriculation valve which if it sticking ajar will cause the mixture to be too lean to start well.  I would take a look at the exhaust gas recirculation valve which is located behind the engine near the air intake throttle valve. It is mounted in a pipe that runs between passenger 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 hard starting, rough idle and poor acceleration 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. Feel free to write back with the results and other questions you might have.
Roland