QuestionI recently got a 97 Intrepid 3.3L with 131,000mi for 500.00, if I can get it to run. This all began when a friend took the car to a shop to get the trans. fixed. This car was used to pull a boat, and lost OD and drive. Anyway, they shop drove it to a trans shop. They said to rebuild it. They drove it back to the shop (friends lack of funds). This is where I come in. The car sat for about 14 months. A week before I saw it, my friend tried to crank it. Dead battery, so he charged the battery for a few hours, but did not remove the battery terminals. It would crank but not start. When I went to try to help start it, a week later, the 20amp IGN,RUN,START,ACC fuse in the PDC was blown. Replaced the fuse, no luck. So the next week it was towed to my house. The fuel pump doesn't cut on. There is voltage to the relay, but he ASD is not allowing the relay to function. I replaced the crankshaft sensor (had the same problem on a 97 Explorer). Still no spark or fuel. I replaced the cam sensor(still won't start). I also checked for any stored trouble codes and found none,so I started testing at the PCM, with test that I found at Alldata, using a multimeter. I grounded PIN 67 and have voltage at PIN 6. The ASD relay also clicked when Pin 67 was grounded.I reconnected the PCM to the connectors. Then removed the ASD relay in the PDC. Next,I took my meter and connected the positive lead to terminal 85 in the PDC and neg lead to ground. I set the meter for ohms. Then I turned the key to on to see if I had ground.I have 110.5 ohms at 200k with key on and 109.9ohms at 200k with key off. Should I have ground even with the key off? I removed the ASD relay and measured both B+ circuits.The voltage was 12.5. Then I turned the key off and disconnected the PCM and measured the ASD relay control CKT. The resistance was below 5.0 ohms. Could I have an short to ground circuit? I also checked and cleaned the ground terminals on the frame rail. Another thing, the only relay that clicks on is the transmission relay. Another question is, would the ignition switch have anything to do with the ASD not functioning? I'm trying to avoid having to tow the car in to have it tested on a scanner. Im pretty good on the mechanical side, but still learning on the computer side.
AnswerHi Malcolm,
I am a little disadvantaged in having to work with a '94 Intrepid shop manual (though I should receive a '98 that I bought on eBay this week). I assume that the blown fuse in the PDC was fuse A. That one powers alot of things: Circuits A21, A 31 and A81 with a total of 8 fuses in the junction box. So you might need to check those fuses also:14,18,20,19,17,10,2,3.
I would be inclined to just jump from the rear pin to the front pin of the ASD socket (B to D) which by-passes the PCM control of the circuits for the fuel pump, ignition coils, and oxygen sensors just so as to see if you hear the pump run, get spark, and finally get it to start. If it does that then work on why the ASD won't close on its own. Just don't leave the jumper in and drive it because that is unsafe, and of course if you forget it the pump will burn out ultimately.
The way the PCM at 67 is supposed to behave is that for 1 second after you turn the key to run it should ground and the relay should close. Then open if you don't do anything else. When you start cranking it should ground again and the relay closes and remains closed until either the engine starts and runs or you stop cranking with the starter motor. So you have to watch it from the moment you turn the key to run to see what happens.
Let me know what you find and maybe we can figure this out.
Roland
