Chrysler Repair: 96 town&country no spark..., engine sensors, cam sensor

Question
96 town & country no spark. change fuel pump&coil and it still dont start

Answer
Hi Phillip,
I suspect that your problem is with one of the two engine sensors that time the spark and the injectors to be in synch with the engine rotation (crank or cam sensor). The logic in the engine controller cuts the power for the spark and fuel pump if either of those signals are absent as a matter of safety against fire. The controller can detect whether this is correct and if so store the observation as a fault code number, either 11 (crank) or 54 (cam). You can find out if this is the case:
You can readout the engine controller for stored fault codes with your ignition key. Turn it: "On-off-on-off-on and leave it on" (doing this within an elapsed time of 5 seconds or less). The check engine light will remain 'on' but then begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. The last sets of flashes will be five in each. Then repeat to be sure you have the numbers correct. Group the numbers in pairs to form two-digit numbers which are the codes. The last code will be 55 which means end of readout.
You can get the meaning of the codes at www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html
The translations aren't specific enough to know exactly what to do, but directs you toward the system in which a fault was found. You can send me a follow up question for more specific advice. If I am "maxed out" then use the comments section of the 'Thank and Rate' tab below to reach me. Be sure to mention which engine you have. I can describe how to test either sensor to corroborate the fault code. New sensors are under $100 but you would want to replace only the one that has gone bad.
Roland