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Caravan/Voyager Starting and Stalling Problems

172 messages,  Last post on Nov 08, 2009 at 5:57 PM

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#1 of 172 2000 Caravan Sport 3.8 Won't Start (Nothing) by revelated Aug 18, 2006 (4:42 pm)
Hi everyone, I have a 2000 Caravan Sport that will not start. The problem seems to be electrical I think, I took it to the local garage and they can't figire it out, their computer scanner can't connect to the van's computer. So they say to take it to the dealer for a scan. The problem is described like this: You put the key to start it....the clock work's everything seems to work, but the speedmeter is blank and the PRND is blank and you try to start the van and there's nothing....you can hear the fuel pump though....if you jiggle the key sometimes the speedometer and PRND will show up but you turn the key and still nothing! So there the van sits....nothing.....any suggestions before we get into BIG money trying to find this problem.....any help would be great!   Thanks alot Replies to this message: thowell (Sep 12, 2006 8:18 pm) buzzys731 (Jun 11, 2009 4:46 pm) badgerfan (Sep 13, 2006 4:51 am) thowell (Sep 16, 2006 1:38 am)
#2 of 172 Re: 2000 Caravan Sport 3.8 Won't Start (Nothing) [revelated] by thowell Sep 12, 2006 (8:18 pm)
Replying to: revelated (Aug 18, 2006 4:42 pm) My mothers Caravan is having the same problems! The car will be sitting shut off out side and when someone walks up the windshield wipers will be on and it runs the battery down. What we found out on the first trip to the shop was the ignition switch was allowing the key to turn off and come out in the auxilary postion so the car was still actually on. So they put a new switch in and they fixed the switch so that it would not allow it to let the key out in the auxilary position. That worked for about 4 months. However, it has just started doing it again and the car again will not start. Once you jump the car, which just takes hooking the jumper cables up for one minute the car starts right off. They had a computer hooked up to it for 36 hours trying to catch the switch malfunctioning but could not catch it. When I was at a restaurant one day last week, I saw another Dodge Caravan doing the same thing, the van was off but the wipers were running so I went in and told the guy that his wipers were on. He said that he was having a problem with that and it runs his battery down. But figuring out what is wrong is the problem. Dodge won't give you any info either! Replies to this message: buzzys731 (Jun 11, 2009 4:46 pm)
#3 of 172 Re: 2000 Caravan Sport 3.8 Won't Start (Nothing) [revelated] by badgerfan Sep 13, 2006 (4:51 am)
Replying to: revelated (Aug 18, 2006 4:42 pm) I assume you have done the basic things first, like making sure your battery is OK, then making sure the battery charging system is OK? Replies to this message: thowell (Sep 16, 2006 1:38 am)
#4 of 172 Re: 2000 Caravan Sport 3.8 Won't Start (Nothing) [badgerfan] by thowell Sep 16, 2006 (1:38 am)
Replying to: badgerfan (Sep 13, 2006 4:51 am) Oh yeah. The first time it happened, we went and bought a new battery. This is my 76 year old mother driving this van back and forth to the nursing home to visit my father. Then with a new battery a week later. she goes out to start it, click-click-click, however the lights come on inside the van.   She was so paranoid that she was leaving the lights on or something else, when she got home from the nursing home, the neighbor would come over and check the car. Everything was turned off. To start the car, you don't even have to connect the jumper cables to it. just touch them to the battery posts. We take it out and run it good. The it's fine for a good couple of weeks, then it happens again. We can tie it to the wipers, because during the middle of the day, some lady walking down the street came up to the front door and told my mother that her wipers were on in the van. They were running on high!
#5 of 172 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3 Not Starting by flavijon Sep 20, 2006 (4:43 pm)
Hello everyone, I hope there is someone that can help me out. Here is my situation, bought the van new from the local dealer and had no problems for 5 years and 1 month. Thinking that I have a great vehicle I am excited that I no longer have to make a monthly payment. One day mid July 2006 I go to start it and it does not start, just turns over. Close to 100,000 km, I figure I should bring it in for the routine maintenance anyway I have it towed into the dealer. They tell me that the Power Control Module is no longer working and needs to be replaced ($1200 for the part + labour). Being in shock at the cost but I figured that it is covered under the bumper to bumper warranty I purchased I had no worries. No they tell me.... but they did find out that it would be covered under the federal emissions control. So I'm happy. I go ahead with the full 100,000 km maintenance. Thinking that I lucked out, one day later I get my van back and now my radio is no longer working and I my check engine light is on. Now what... I take it back to the dealer and they tell me that the radio is not working (just happened to stop) and they are not going to replace it and it is not covered under my bumper to bumper warranty. They engine light is one because a hose was broken, I can only think that it happened when they were doing the maintenance. No charge to fix/replace the hose, but nothing with the radio (out of luck). OK, I will have to get a new radio. I can live with that. Three days later the van doesn't start again, take it back in and this time they tell me that the ignition coil is gone, have it replaced. Get the van back and about 4 days later the van is not starting, just turning over. Have it towed in and again they say that the ignition coil is not working. Have it replaced. I get the call that the van is fixed and come and pick it up. I get to the dealer to pick it up, get the keys, start the van and nothing, it's just turning over. I had a mechanic have a quick look and no spark. Ignition coil that they just replaced and tested is not working again. The next day I speak with the service manager and they said that they replaced the ignition coil and found that there was a higher that normal voltage on the O2 censor wire. They also replace the O2 censor and got the vehicle running. They kept the van over night and started it the next day. Picked up the van and they assured me that the vehicle was repaired and working. This is the day that we were going on a family camping vacation. 7 hours after getting our van we got to our camping spot. 3 days later the van didn't start... towed in to local dealership and yet again the ignition coil was not working, replaced again. Got the vehicle back a day later. 3 days later we decided to leave a day early and get back home and it does not start again.... we end up staying another 2 days, now an extra day, missed work and this time we tried starting it so many times that we drained the battery. No codes for the dealer ship once we had it towed back in. They charged the battery moved the wiring harness around a bit and it started. This got me thinking that the problem must of been the wiring harness the entire time. The dealership put some non-conductive grease in the connector to the ignition coil and up until now (about 3 weeks) from the last dealer ship visit the van has been working. As of yesterday Sept 19, 2006 it is not starting again. I get the P codes 0352 and 0351 which are the ignition coils failing. The dealer can't figure this one out and I have run out of options.. Is there anyone out there that can help me or maybe has had the same problem with a resolution. Please post any ideas or thoughts. Thank you... Replies to this message: badgerfan (Sep 21, 2006 6:39 am) flavijon (Sep 22, 2006 8:39 am) thowell (Sep 24, 2006 4:06 am) and 1 more... upnrunnin (Oct 11, 2006 8:13 am) and 1 more... upnrunnin (Nov 22, 2006 1:20 pm) rostant (Dec 22, 2006 11:38 pm) yeorgos (Feb 22, 2007 11:39 pm) badlegvance (Jul 15, 2008 7:45 pm)
#6 of 172 Re: 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3 Not Starting [flavijon] by badgerfan Sep 21, 2006 (6:39 am)
Replying to: flavijon (Sep 20, 2006 4:43 pm) Find a different repair facility. These people obviously do not know what they are doing. Replies to this message: flavijon (Sep 22, 2006 8:39 am) thowell (Sep 24, 2006 4:06 am) ongjoy (Oct 05, 2006 10:00 am) upnrunnin (Oct 11, 2006 8:13 am) upnrunnin (Oct 11, 2006 11:58 am)
#7 of 172 Re: 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3 Not Starting [badgerfan] by flavijon Sep 22, 2006 (8:39 am)
Replying to: badgerfan (Sep 21, 2006 6:39 am) Thanks, But I have taken to two different dealers and they both can't figure it out. I have even talked with another mechanic that I know and I feel he will not steer me in the wrong direction and he is also unsure of the problem and how to correct it. Who better to find and fix the problem than that ones that specialize in their own vehicles. I am just hoping that someone out in cyberland may find this post that has had a very similar problem and has had it corrected. Replies to this message: thowell (Sep 24, 2006 4:06 am) ongjoy (Oct 05, 2006 10:00 am) upnrunnin (Oct 11, 2006 8:13 am) upnrunnin (Oct 11, 2006 11:58 am)
#8 of 172 Re: 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3 Not Starting [flavijon] by thowell Sep 24, 2006 (4:06 am)
Replying to: flavijon (Sep 22, 2006 8:39 am) Taking it to a different dealership doesn't help. I've even called the manufacturer and had the dealership manager call the problem center at Dodge. At least you got reading on the coil. This is what they do. The just don't start. Mom has actually taken her key out, turned it over and it will start. We're still wondering if it's not in the ignition. Replies to this message: ongjoy (Oct 05, 2006 10:00 am)
#9 of 172 Re: 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3 Not Starting [thowell] by ongjoy Oct 05, 2006 (10:00 am)
Replying to: thowell (Sep 24, 2006 4:06 am) My wife has a 1998 Grand Caravan Sport that worked fine until about 12 months ago, we started to have "Not Starting" problems. When you get in the car, either the battery seems completely dead or when you turn the ignition, it tries to start very briefly and then goes dead. I took it to Walmart service, thinking it was a dead battery that needed to be replaced. Instead one of the battery cables at the terminal (positive?) was so corroded that most of the wiring has been eaten away. You could start the car by turning or twisting the cable such that the wiring made contact with the battery. Well, the handy Walmart technician (bless him) cut the cable end off and installed a new terminal block with the existing cable (it was just barely long enough to reach the battery terminal). Everything worked fine for several months, until one day, the same thing happened. Battery seemed completely dead and the car would not start.   To make a long story shorter, we found out it was not the battery, but that we could start the car by just pushing or jiggling with the cable to put it in a slightly different position (Yes, I inspected the wiring and it still looks good, at least at the new exposed end). Usually one to three simple pushes (pushing the wire toward the battery terminal) did the trick. I suspect that part of the wiring further inside the cable may be corroded away inside and is the reason for this random action.   Last week, I got tired of this occuring randomly, perhaps once or twice a month, and called a Dodge dealer to find out how much to replace the entire cable. It turns out the battery cable is part of a larger motor wiring harness and the dealer wants $1470 just for the new part! (that is NOT a typo, add about $100 for labor). I will be looking at a used part from a parts junkyard or to selling/trading it for whatever I can get for it.   Hope this info may be helpful in your case. Good luck.
#10 of 172 2000 Town & Country Ignition Problem – won’t start or turn off by whatever10 Oct 07, 2006 (3:57 pm)
I have a problem in which the ignition won't engage when the engine is cold & then, after I finally get it to start, the engine sometimes won’t shut off if I turn the key back to “off” immediately afterwards.   The starting problem goes like this: I turn the key & hear a click. If I repeat the process several times (I hear one click each time), the vehicle will eventually start (within ten key turns). At first I thought this may have been a starter problem, but now I don’t think so. Also, the battery is fairly new & the terminals are clean with firm contact.   As for turning the engine off (cold engine) & occasionally not getting the motor to stop running: When the key is returned to the off position, the motor sometimes continues to run. Also during these episodes, a constant clicking sound is heard. My wife drove the van like this once & the clicking stopped after a mile or so. She was also able to then turn the engine off by returning the key to the “off” position.   Any thoughts?

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