Chrysler Repair: 98 Grand Voyager , Wont crank over 3.3l, fuel pump relay, internal shorts

Question
engine won't crank over,unless i jump the starter relay,also lots of clicking from auto shutdown relay with key in off position,with key on fuel pump relay clicks madly, can also here pump running constantly.


Answer
Hi Kevin,
That is very interesting. The power for the starter relay actuation coil comes from fuse 10 in the power distribution center under the hood so check that fuse. The actuation of the relay is handled by grounding the powertrain controller pin 8 of one of the two black 40-pin plugs at the controller. So you could check the patency of the dark blue/tan wire between the relay and pin 8.
The autoshutdown relay should not be clicking with the ignition in the off position, of course. The actuation coil of that relay gets 12V all the time from the battery but again the powertrain controller (pin 67 of the other black plug at the controller) is going to actuate the relay when that pin is grounded. So you might check the dark blue/yellow between that pin and the relay to see whether it might be shorting to ground which would cause it to click due to a break in the insulation. Absent some problems with the powertrain harness to the those two relays you may have a powertrain controller that has gone bad. Of course if the ASD is being activated inappropriately the fuel pump and its relay will also follow suit.
So the question is why the powertrain is failing to activate the starter motor, and why it is falsely activating the ASD relay? Of course it could be a problem in the ignition switch, so my inclination would be to unplug all the plugs to the ignition switch and see if that stops the ASD from clicking. If so, then I would check the ignition switch for internal shorts and opens. Let me know and I can then tell you how to check for those possibilities.
Roland