Dodge Repair: intermittent shutdown/stall problems


Question
1999 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3L 4spd 198k

This van keeps on doing this intermittent shut down problem. The engine will shut down;  then if the engine is rotating at cranking speed, it will restart immediately by itself (sometimes with a quick jolt) and if not at cranking speed, I need to stop, put the transmission in N or P and then it will restart immediately (except at two occasions, when it took few cranks to re-start). This problem is going on since April 2014. I cannot isolate any pattern! It can happen at slow speed or on the highway. It can happen while the engine is cold or hot. It can happened with or without AC etc. Following is the only available info that I am sure of:

1) Whenever it shuts off, only the 'Alarm Set' and 'Service Engine Soon' lights come on on the dashboard. Both go out irrespective if the engine restarts by itself or not.
2) It can happen few times in a day or even in a single trip to run few errands around town. Or it may not happened for few days! The problem is increasing in frequency.

I have checked wires for damage, cleaned throttle body, cleaned EGR valve, check vacuum hoses, cleaned ECM contacts, cleaned almost all ground points, check MAP sensor voltages. The OBD II tool is not returning any fault codes.

My question is that with you extensive experience, what do you suggest to check/replace. Have you faced/solved this problem before? Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Shafique,
I found your question in the "pool" to which Kevin had referred it. If the shut down occurs when foot is off the gas and decelerating or when trying to accelerate then I suspect the egr is not closing tightly which it has to do under those conditions or the mixture is too lean to maintain an idle.
Roland