QuestionI have a 2000 Dodge Caravan that will not start. It is front wheel drive with a 2.4 lt engine. My husband is sure it is an electrical problem because he cannot get it to spark. I am going to tell you what was going on with it before it quit (December) for good and what we have done.
About 1 – 2 weeks before it died completely the engine light came on and we could not figure out why. It would occasionally do that in the winter especially when it gets really cold, if the oil was low or the transmission fluid (when it gets really cold it leaks a little and always has since it was new). We live in Alaska so it does get really cold. But this time nothing was low and we could not figure out why it was coming on but van was running good so we just figured it was a glitch due to the cold. Then my husband on his way to work filled up at a gas station that was out of the way, one that we don’t ever use so when a few minutes later, while going up a hill, the van started to act like it was loosing power we assumed he got some bad gas. We drove it around locally (did not trust it to go too far) and sometimes it would work fine and other times it acted like it was not getting fuel and/or just loosing power. The thing was that it only did it when I would punch the gas down. If I let it accelerate slowly it seemed to be fine. Just reinforced our belief (or hope) that it was bad gas we just needed to burn up. Then one day I started it to warm up and it ran for about 10 minutes and then just stopped. It would never start after that. It was really cold (-30+) so we figured that “bad gas” just froze up. But…..freezing is no longer a problem and it still will not start.
We have done several things based on what we thought it might be and/or based on someone else’s suggestion.
New Battery
New Spark Plugs and Wires
Ignition Coil
Fuel Filter (he knows the pump is working)
Had the Starter tested.
Camshaft Sensor
We have tried to do the “poor man’s” code finder thing (turning the key three times, etc) and we get no error codes except for a 55 with one of them (have been told that is nothing). We have not purchased a code reader because at this point we have put a lot of money into this van and are afraid we might buy it and it still not show us anything. He has checked the timing and just about everything else we, and our friends, can think of. It will turn over but won’t fire. Any help or suggestions you can give would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Debbie
AnswerHi Deborah,
I just saw your question in the "pool" to which it had been forwarded. Sorry for the delay. Thank you very much for the detailed history. Because you say there is no spark, I would suggest that the crankshaft sensor be tested to make sure that it too is producing a signal. Both the cam and the crank have to put out a signal to get the computer to produce a spark. The orange wire should have 8V on it when the ignition is in the run position. Then if you measure voltage between the gray/black and black light blue wires of the sensor, again with the ignition switch in the run position, you should see it oscillate between 0.3 and 5V as you turn the engine over BY HAND using a socket and rathchet on the crankshaft pulley bolt. (You have to do this by hand as the pulsing is too fast to detect if you use the starter motor).
Once you get spark, if it still won't start, and there are no other codes than 55, then I would suggest that the egr valve be examined to make sure that it is not stuck ajar. It is located in a pipe that connects the exhaust maifold to the intake manifold. It has a round top and a body that is bolted into that pipe. In between the top and the body is a flange and inside the flange it a rod with a circumferential slot. That rod is the valve stem and you can move the stem back and forth with the tip of a screwdriver inserted in the slot. Spring-action will close the valve, but you want to verify that it brings the stem to a dead stop in the closed position. If not then spray somw WD-40 on the valve stem where it enters the body of the valve so as to freeup the action.
The code readout you got is probably sufficient for a "no start" problem. The 55 is the code for "end of readout". Once you get spark and fuel pump action it should start, unless there is something wrong with the timing/timing belt. You might want to check the compression of the cylinders to verify they are about even, +/-25%.
Good luck and let me know what you learn.
Roland
