I would take a deep look under the fuse box. I've heard some of the contacts of various relays and fuses get corrosion. That causes intermittent contact function. Check it.So my 2001 T&C (3.3 l) was running spectacularly until two months ago it would start after my sons soccer game. (Btw, I had just filled the gas tank less than 5 miles before). I had it towed home and posed some questions to the group under the thread “PCM Swap - VIN decoding”. I am just now getting around to troubleshooting the van.
The symptoms: I had a no crank, no spark situation. There was a single click at the starter relay. When I jumped pins 87 and 30, it spun just fine, but no spark. I read every forum post I could find and was pretty sure it had to be the TransmissionRange Sensor (TRS). I was finally going to perform the necessary surgery this weekend, but decided first to test all the relays and fuses on more time. Everything checked out except there was a very light ‘spark’ when I was plugging in the fuel pump fuse. I went in the cabin and the van fired right up. I drove it a few miles and everything was great. I turned it off and tried to start it again and same issue. I pulled the two circled fuses, wiggled around the female ends, plugged the fuses back in and voila, she started again. After nearly a dozen driving cycles, the symptoms are somewhat sporadic.
My thoughts: I wonder if it is the fuel pump. The gas gauge has been wholly unreliable for more than a year, so I am now thinking that is the root problem. Would a faulty fuel pump cause the no crank, no spark?
Either way, I need to burn off a metric crap-ton of fuel before dropping the tank!
2001 T&C No crank, no spark (Fuel Pump?)
So my 2001 T&C (3.3 l) was running spectacularly until two months ago it would start after my sons soccer game. (Btw, I had just filled the gas tank less than 5 miles before). I had it towed home and posed some questions to the group under the thread “PCM Swap - VIN decoding”. I am just now getting around to troubleshooting the van.
The symptoms: I had a no crank, no spark situation. There was a single click at the starter relay. When I jumped pins 87 and 30, it spun just fine, but no spark. I read every forum post I could find and was pretty sure it had to be the TransmissionRange Sensor (TRS). I was finally going to perform the necessary surgery this weekend, but decided first to test all the relays and fuses on more time. Everything checked out except there was a very light ‘spark’ when I was plugging in the fuel pump fuse. I went in the cabin and the van fired right up. I drove it a few miles and everything was great. I turned it off and tried to start it again and same issue. I pulled the two circled fuses, wiggled around the female ends, plugged the fuses back in and voila, she started again. After nearly a dozen driving cycles, the symptoms are somewhat sporadic.
My thoughts: I wonder if it is the fuel pump. The gas gauge has been wholly unreliable for more than a year, so I am now thinking that is the root problem. Would a faulty fuel pump cause the no crank, no spark?
Either way, I need to burn off a metric crap-ton of fuel before dropping the tank!
The symptoms: I had a no crank, no spark situation. There was a single click at the starter relay. When I jumped pins 87 and 30, it spun just fine, but no spark. I read every forum post I could find and was pretty sure it had to be the TransmissionRange Sensor (TRS). I was finally going to perform the necessary surgery this weekend, but decided first to test all the relays and fuses on more time. Everything checked out except there was a very light ‘spark’ when I was plugging in the fuel pump fuse. I went in the cabin and the van fired right up. I drove it a few miles and everything was great. I turned it off and tried to start it again and same issue. I pulled the two circled fuses, wiggled around the female ends, plugged the fuses back in and voila, she started again. After nearly a dozen driving cycles, the symptoms are somewhat sporadic.
My thoughts: I wonder if it is the fuel pump. The gas gauge has been wholly unreliable for more than a year, so I am now thinking that is the root problem. Would a faulty fuel pump cause the no crank, no spark?
Either way, I need to burn off a metric crap-ton of fuel before dropping the tank!
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I'm assuming by now You have also checked or tested the coill pack? Or Ignition Control Module? I remember I have a friend who had the same symptom, and he was told to replace a module that sits somewhere behind the radio. I can't remember the name. I'll try to find out.Thank you. I did completely disassemble and clean everything. No sign of corrosion and I even tried to do the same with a spare IPM. Every connector (make and female) was scuffed and cleaned. Once installed, I had the same symptoms with both IPM’s.
I do have the day to myself (no kids) and am troubleshooting it. I did, in fact, eventually burn out the fuse for the fuel pump, so I think that is a clue at least. It led me to pull off the cowel and plenum to check the injector harness, but I replaced it just a few years ago and used a metric crap ton of asbestos and heat resistant tape to protect it from the heat. That is where I am at right now….still inspecting that harness. But everything looks good in the typical problem areas so far.
Also, I did put a multimeter on all the fuses and everything checked out (once I replaced the burned out fuse for the fuel pump).
I will report back. Still open to suggestions about the blown fuse. I must have pulled and replaced it four dozen times trying to find some pattern for when it would start and when it wouldn’t. I never identifies a pattern.
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