Question-------------------------Hi Roland and merry christmas ok i took my car and got a code readout and only codes came up was the battery and P1698 so i know the computer was good and i tryed the stuff you said and my wife says she thanks it the key switch becouse sometimes when she go,s to stop it all quites working and then comes right back on.i get to looking and sure and behold the keys swinging will make it act up so with this new info i try a new ignition starter switch in the stearing coulmn. car been doing fine hope this helps someone else too have a great day.
Mark
Followup To
Question -
Hi i got a 96 chy concord 3.3 eng lh body and somrtimes when you go to start it the gages dont come on like the gas tac.check eng air bag none of them the car will start and run but wont shift out of 1st I had it hooked up at autozone and no coads came up i have replaced the eng cntrl mod. and tried the ground wire under the right side headlight have replaced the autoshut down realy too any info would be helpful and i have a acct with alldata but cant find no info on this thanks.
Answer -
Hi Mark,
The gauges and the trans problems you are having both point to an issue with the digital data bus communication system between the powertrain (engine and trans controllers), the body computer, the instrument cluster and the air bag controller. Without a diagnostic readout box (Chrysler DRB II) to attach to the bus connector, that is under the dash to the right of the steering column, si as to question the system for failure codes, about the only thing you can do is very basic stuff: check fuse G (20 amp) in the power distribution center under the hood, check fuse 13 in the fuse box under the dash, and then check that 12V is getting to the system from fuse 13 when the ignition switch is 'on' by testing the pink wire at the bus connector under the dash. It might be that one of the fuses has a crack in its conductor that is opening and closing on its own so look very closely at the fuses. The code readout that you would need to do is done with the DRB II plugged-in under the dash, not in the engine compartment which is another plug that 'looks' only at the engine controller. The under dash plug 'looks' at the digital data bus and the transmission controller. So that would explain why you got no codes on the readout. The trans sticking in one gear (actually second gear) is called limp-in mode and that too is symptomatic of a problem with the data bus because the trans controller needs to get the speed sensor output to shift the trans properly and so in its absence (because of the bus problem) the trans goes into a defensive mode to prevent internal damage.
So check the fuses and also verify the 12v on the pink wire on the plug. There also supposed to be a 2.5V + voltage on the violet/brown wire on that bus plug, and a 2.5V - voltage on the white/black wire, so you could verify that when everything is working and then re-check when it is malfunctioning to see if you detect anything different about the voltages on those three wires at the data plug.
You also could go to a Chrysler dealer and have them readout the fault codes that might be stored on the data bus by plugging their DRB II into the data bus plug. Ask what the fault messages are, and how what would be the cost for them to invesitigate and repair the problem. Then you could write me back and I can look into the troubleshooting manual that I have that is based on knowing what are the fault messages/codes.
One last thing to do is to check the plugs at the body controller that is under the dash on the right cowl, just to the right of the passengers right shin. You have to remove the end cap on the dash under pad, and remove a trim panel, and then cut the cloth under the panel on the dotted lines to finally get to the body controller which has 3 plugs. The bone-colored plug is where you will find some of the same wires that are at the under dash plug. What has happened with convertibles and may also happen with sedans if there is a leak around the windshield is that water can drip down onto the controller and its plugs which are on top and shortout the pins/sockets to oneanother which causes all sorts of control "gremlins". So if you see any association between your problems and rain or carwashing, then that would be a distinct possiblity as to the cause of the failure. You can clean the bone colored plug and socket with spray contact cleaner from an electronics store to remediate water/crud present at the interface between the plug and socket.
So there are some ideas to get started on correcting this problem. I hope you can find out the cause easily.
Roland
AnswerHi Mark,
Thanks so much for the report back. The heavy set of keys swinging from the ignition key is a common cause of problems/failure of the ignition switch which indeed has 2 sections that are necessary to provide power to the cluster and to the transmission controller (which is what caused the P1698 code). So that observation by your wife was the relevant clue. May I suggest that she use a separate key fob that just has the car keys on it so as to avoid a similar problem in the future? I suspect that you would have found the pink wire I suggested that you check out to have been missing the 12V as needed when all this was going on, which would have implicated the ignition switch. But she but two and two together and got the same clue.
Nice going... and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to your family.
Roland
