Intermittent no-start, no-crank on the Caravan. (or: Help Tunawife avoid forcing a car payment.)

Almost directly on the heels of the issue we had previously (engine speed mismatch CEL, ended up being a torque converter I swapped in my driveway, but I also whiffed and replaced the transmission solenoid pack first, which was way more expensive than the converter, but took about two hours less of my time) we have a new issue.

It may not be all that new. A long time ago, measured in years, we had a no-start, no-crank which acted all wonky. It wouldn't give the key back, relays clicked and clacked, generally lots of weird things happened that were not :: crankacrankavroomvroom :: I got her to start with a lot of persuasion and a jump pack. I figured the battery must be getting low, I swapped the battery, it did it once more and I figured the new battery wasn't fully charged and it has not happened until this year.

A week after I finished solving the actual problem (torque converter, there was still ATF drying in the driveway), it acted like the starter was dying. It went :: clicka :: instead of ::crankacrankavroomvroom:: It did this a few times, and most times it would start by rolling it through the gears a few times and praying. Only once did it do the wacky "I'm not gonna give your keys back! I'm gonna honk the horn and click random relays!" thing. One of these times was when we woke up in Rhode Island, having but a few hours to be at a super important appointment in Boston. That time, the successful attempt was more of a :crankcrankacrankscraaaanka chugachugachugachugachugavroomvroom:: TunaDad did some research and found a TSB on my car (uhh, I should have mentioned that this was a 2011 Caravan with the unassailable 3.6) where reflashing the WINS module would solve a no-crank, no-start where sometimes the car would act possessed. It also said that it could be temporarily cleared by pulling the M27 fuse and reinserting it.

It did it while I was not around, and Tunakid #1 heroically got the hood open and pulled the fuse and it indeed cleared the condition. She got a :: crankacrankavroomvroom :: and I was super happy to have absolutely confirmed the condition.

Monday we had the dealer to that flash and a few others is applied for (up to four were the same cost). Today it :cachink:: and the second keyturn got a icky sour sounding engine which barely started but cleared up eventually (like the chugachuga from Rhode Island earlier). Of course now it starts every time and everything is fine. (My car is like a misbehaving child. "what? No that wasn't me! Everything is totally fine here. Just go back to normal things...")

The TIPM is basically the only thing left I can imagine which would make things act this intermittently wonky.

I need some help. That's $350 minimum and Tunawife is super unhappy about an unreliable car and a car payment is hanging over my head.

I have a 2011 Town and Country with weird issues too.  The big one being a PCM, alternator and battery replacement about a month after taking ownership in 2015 to the tune of $1500 (I got the Used Car Superstore to pay half) - alternator burned up and took the PCM with it.  I have since encountered intermittent no-start, sluggish start, and battery issues.  I did some searching and did not want to spring for the dreaded TIPM.  I found these folks: verticalvisions.com.  I ordered a by-pass test cable and have been running my van on it since last October.  The only issue I've had is a non-start condition below freezing, but letting the fuel pump run a few seconds before cranking seems to do the trick.  I'll be ordering the plug n play bypass kit before too long so my Darling Wife won't have to deal with the cold start thing.   I have no idea if it'll work in your case, but their documentation is pretty helpful nonetheless.

Good Luck!

Not a good time for us Chrysler minivan lovers...  Mine has been acting up lately as well.  Had the A/C fixed again and had the mechanic do plugs, wires and a coil - feeling the occasional miss and figuring at 200K+ miles they were due.  Get it back and the next day - stumbling and a CEL. Take it back - bad coil (fixed for free).  Get it back again - next day - another CEL, but no stumbling.  I need the van to move bikes around, so I ignore it and keep driving it.  Monday afternoon and this morning - no CEL.  Less stumbling...  Strange... 

Part of me keeps wistfully looking at a newer 2017 Grand Caravan GT, but like you - really don't want another car payment...  At least not until I can unload some of the other projects.

How are your grounds?  Could anything have gotten bumped loose when you were replacing the torque converter or solenoid?

As someone who just got their tax bill today and saw our three cars were worth a total of 8k (and that's generous considering one just turned 300k), I am a huge fan of avoiding car payments.

dj06482 said:

How are your grounds?  Could anything have gotten bumped loose when you were replacing the torque converter or solenoid?

As someone who just got their tax bill today and saw our three cars were worth a total of 8k (and that's generous considering one just turned 300k), I am a huge fan of avoiding car payments.

From the minute I started reading this, this was my first thought...First rule of electrikery is that if a device acts like it is possessed by Satan, then it has to be a grounding issue.

In some cases the lack of ground is easy to spot

No grounding issues I or TunaDad found.

I can get and afford a sweet brand new Pacifica, with an aggressive interest rate, but I'd rather not. 

The TIPM sounds like it may be close, but golly, $350 to guess at this thing again. I can't imagine what I'd do next. I figure I can sell it on Craigslist for $5K disclosing the issues.

Also: We're driving for a super special procedure for Tunawife and have already paid for another Colorado trip next year for the homeschool, so we need this to be rock solid. Right now, she ain't.

Also, weirdly, a year old version is selling for about the same price as a new one, but with 20k more miles.

I once had a bad battery cable in my '94 K1500 that caused some similar symptoms.  Hoping it's something cheap and easy.  Does it make sense to pay the dealer the diagnostic fee and then just fix it yourself?

Having worked on Mannnnny Minivans the first thing I would be looking at is the TIPM and having a really, I mean really close look at the wiring going to the TIPM, any small issue such as a broken lock can cause all kinds of strange issues. Some of the pigtails are still in the Chrysler system but you will need a good parts person to find them

Next up is grounds, clean, tight, voltage drop test and heavy load test, even the.small ones.

Good luck. Paul B

I would try the TIPM. The last one i diagnosed i was right about if that counts for anything, but there are so many interconnected functions and possibilities with those stupid things it feels more like ruling out what it isn't than proving what it is. 

I've decided I don't like the 08-up vans near as much as the 07-down. It's too bad because i love the 3.6, but there's a lot of annoyances that come with Chryslers designed after ~'04.

With those symptoms my first thought is battery connections and cables. Make sure they are clean, tight, and happy.

I came in here to mention grounds. Take off all the grounds under the hood and use a wire brush, have your way with them. Then clean them with baking soda and water. Then put the grounds on, but not after looking at the strands of wire that you can see at the terminals. The. Paint the connected ground points. 

Not that it isn't the TIPM, but this is nearly free, except for 2 hours of your life. 

If it makes you caravan owners feel better, our stupid Odyssey just came back from the dealer. Bad rings. 

Honda doesn't make 'em better than anyone else.