I have a 2007 Town and Country touring with a 3.8 engine. It has 67,000 miles on it, It fires right up when I start it but it dies right away, Sometimes it lets me feather the gas and it will run a few more seconds, but it usually just dies right away. Like the fuel pump kicks some gas in for start up, but then doesn't work? Any ideas??? Thanks in advance if you have any. It's been well maintained, although another question is it burns about a quart of oil every 2000 miles or so, is this going to get worse. I have a 2002 caravan that burns about a quart at 3000 miles, and it has 198,000 on it.
Some of the excess oil you are using is recycled into the throttle body for re-burnng to maintain a non-polluted environment. Unfortunately, some of this oil coats the moving parts on the IAC, Idle Air Control valve and prevents it from moving freely. Remove the IAC motor and clean it well. It has two allen head type screws secured to the back of the throttle body. For routine cleaning, remove the rubber air cleaner hose to the throttle body and slowly spray throttle body cleaner into the thin, crescent moon shaped opening on the top of the throttle body mouth while the engine is idling. Spray too fast, the engine will die.
If as you say you feather the throttle and it runs a bit then dies, then I doubt it's the IAC. The IAC controls idle speed. As soon as you press the throttle you're above ildle. The throttle plate opens and lets in all the air the engine needs negating the need for the IAC air source. The IAC is out of the picture at that point as it is still stalling above idle. If you feathered the throttle and it would run until you took your foot off the throttle then yes, the IAC could be the issue.
On possible cause is the security system malfunctioning and shuting down the engine. Another could be a bad throttle position sensor. I'm going to poke around the net a bit. In the mean time try disconnecting the negative battery lead for a few minutes then reconnect it. This will reset the modules and the PCI data bus.
No one had a 7/70 (unless they paid for one extra) in 07.
I would suggest to remove the throttle body and also remove the IAC from the throttle body. Clean the IAC, IAC pathway, and the throttle body front and back completely. If the throttle is sticking as you try to press it, that tells you the throttle body is badly built-up with carbon.
I think you might be on to something there on the Map sensor, i completely forgot but I had a bad one on our 2nd gen caravan back in the day. And this is acting exactly the same way. I do intend to clean up the TB and IAC valve pathway tomorrow. I couldn't work on it today as we had some commitments we couldn't get out of. Good thing we have an extra vehicle. Thanks for your help. I'll let you know what it is when I figure it out. If i remember right if you unplug a map sensor you should be able to keep the vehicle running by feathering the gas right???
I don't think the engine will run without the MAP connected, it will probably stall like it is doing now. The MAP sensor is one of the crucial parts of determining the fuel mixture by letting the computer know how much air the engine is getting and how much load is on the engine.
Before you go further, have your battery load tested. Your symptoms are right along the lines of a dying battery. If it tests the least bit flaky, replace it.
The many computers in these Chrysler vehicles are well known to get fritzy when the battery is not tip top.
Well I'm a bit frustrated. I checked the battery and it checked ok with a load tester. I cleaned up the terminals while I was at it and afterwards it reset itself and starts. So I ran it to work the next day and i got a check engine light for the first time, it hadn't come on when it wouldn't start. I have a code checker and it read misfire on #1 cylinder, so 67,000 miles original plugs I picked some up and replace them last night, no more check engine light and it runs good. But all the plugs looked good. I've owned this vehicle since 28,000 miles with no problems.
My frustration is that while I picked up plugs I also picked up oil and filter as I have right around 3000 miles on the change. This is right around where I change oil. As stated in my first post I added a quart of oil at 2000 miles, and I checked it before I dropped the oil and it was about 3/4 quart low, and that is in 1000 miles. I'm afraid I have the same problem as the guy with the post about changing an engine. I'm not afraid of rebuilding or changing the engine, but don't think I should have to be spending this kind of money on a vehicle with 67,000, What should I do. Be a creep and sell it. Pull the heads and do a valve job? Overhaul the whole thing.
I've also had a problem in the last few months with the airbag light strobing on and off from time to time. Any ideas there? I've been a solid mopar fan, and I have 4 kids so were a minivan family for sure, I can almost hear honda and toyota calling my name if the enging ends up costing me huge $$. Well anyway thanks for your help and ideas, and for listening to me climb up on the soap box and rant for a while.
The misfire on #1 could be related to a leaky/bad fuel injector. It would also cause you to have starting problems due to fuel pressure leakdown.
There's a Chrysler service rep who posts, I think his name is 'andyg', but you can search. He should know what is the major cause of oil usage on these engines. It could be something as simple as valves guides or seals.
Well I'll keep you posted. I threw in the towel and towed it into the mechanic, fortunately when I get stumped I can do this as my wife's cousin has his own shop and has a ton of experience. I figured I would do this rather than throw sensors at it until I figure it out.
Well I got the van back and it's running, but nothing really fixed, except I wouldn't even crank after it sat for a couple of days, he threw a charger on it and went back to it after an hour and the battery was almost fully charged. So I'm thinking maybe a bad cell in the battery, where it works intermittent? I'm going to swap batteries from our 2001 caravan and drive for a while and see how it works? I'll post an update after a week or two.
Yeah try swapping batteries. One more thing, if it starts dying right after start-up again look for a little red dot on the dash. If it's on, the issue is with the Sentry Key system. That will let the van start like normal, then kill it like you turned the key off after 3 (or so) seconds...
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