Chrysler Repair: 1996 T&C starts then stalls...intermittant, exhaust gas recirculation valve, exhaust gas recirculation

Question
Went out the start the van 1996 T&C 3.6L 145,000 miles this morning and it would turn over, run rough for about one second, then stall.  Tried ~10 times with the same result.  The gas gauge didn't register any gas and the trip computer didn't display any values except for the compass.  The radio had not lost its presets, so the  battery hadn't been disconnected.  Went to go get more gas, just in case it had been siphoned.  Got home and tried again and the van started. We stopped it and restarted a couple of times to try to recreate the problem and couldn't. Gas tank was almost full and the trip computer again "knew stuff".  When it did start it was running very rough but smoothed out to the normal running a bit rough. Anything simpler than the computer is going bad?

Answer
Hi Beth,
Codes 12 and 55 are unremarkable. The 12 means that sometime in the past 50-100 key on-off cycles the battery power to the computer was lost. This may have happened but you might not remember it, but in any case I would not assocate that with your symptom. I would go check the egr valve as described in my first answer.
Thanks for positive evaluation.
Roland




Hi Beth,
I assume that you have the 3.5L engine in the van.
I would take a look at the exhaust gas recirculation valve which is located on the driver's end the engine near the air intake throttle valve. It is mounted in a pipe that runs between rear 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 rough idle 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.
The other thing to do is to try and get any fault codes from the engine computer:
turn the ignition key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing this in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the check engine light which will be "on" to begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Then repeat to verify the count is accurate. Group the numbers in pairs in the order that they read out, forming two digit numbers which are the fault codes. 55 should be the last code because it means end of readout.
The go to www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html or write me back with the results for what to do.
I would not worry about the temporary loss of readouts, that can be due to low battery voltage during cranking. I doubt that the computer is the problem.
Feel free to write back with the results and other questions