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1999 Grand Caravan Sport not starting.
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9399Dodge
New User
Oct 12, 2024, 2:36 PM
Post #1 of 4
(324 views)
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1999 Grand Caravan Sport not starting.
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Hi. I'm new here. I hope someone can help me.This is long so please read everything.I have a 99 grand caravan with the 3.3 and auto with overdrive and 260k plus miles. I have owned it a few years but know very little about its past history. For some time maybe a year or a little over the van would take spells of shutting off by itself. This happened while sitting still and while driving. The last several months it got worse and happened more often. It ran fine the rest of the time. It would also have spells where the gauges stopped working but hitting the dash usually got them working again. On the night of 4th of July all of the lights and gauges stopped working except for holding the dimmer switch on high and the brake lights worked. I was close to home and was able to get there. Everything started working again later that night. It ran ok again except for the quitting spells. It started draining the battery and I would have to charge it every few days and it took spells were the relays in the fuse box rattled. Then the negative battery cable and ECM\PCM would get hot. Again, it ran fine the rest of the time. On the 26th of July it was hard to start and would quit in a few seconds. It did this several times. The relays again rattled or clicked. I kept messing with it and realized if I got into drive it ran better along with feathering the throttle. Took it to my mechanic and no codes showed up. It ran ok the rest of the day and the next one. Went to start it on the 28th and nothing. Starter won't crank and fuel pump isn't kicking on. Everything else works
My neighbor used to work on cars some and found the starter cable was loose at the starter and tightened it up. Still nothing. I pulled the instrument cluster and found the infamous solder joints that go bad and re done those. Still didn't work. I can ground the pump and starter fuses and they will both work when key is turned. When the starter turns the tach doesn't move but the fuel gauge works. You can feel the starter relay click when the key is turned but starter doesn't engage. Again, everything else works as normal. I found the dealer description of the van in the glovebox and it is supposed to have remote lock\unlock key fobs but I have never seen them since I have had the van and the key isn't a chip key. Anyone have any ideas? Now the door locks are not working nor is the heat\ac blower front or back.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 12, 2024, 3:08 PM
Post #2 of 4
(321 views)
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Re: 1999 Grand Caravan Sport not starting.
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You have a van with a million miles on it and multiple different problems that have never been resolved.
I don't know what you mean by "grounding fuses". That is the definition of a short circuit.
You're going to have to tackle these issues one at time and I doubt it will be over the Internet.
The one symptom that has a familiar ring to it is the tach not working when cranking. That tends to point to a bad Crankshaft Position sensor.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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9399Dodge
New User
Oct 12, 2024, 5:21 PM
Post #3 of 4
(316 views)
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Re: 1999 Grand Caravan Sport not starting.
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I used a jumper wire to check the relays to see if they had power and if so where the power was. Was the relay getting power and if so did the power then go to the other side of the relay to the starter or fuel pump that it goes to. If it does continue then the relay side is working and you need to try and figure out what is between the relay and object you are needing to work is keeping it from working. It hasn't had multiple things wrong. The only thing it has been doing is turning off by itself and that wad random and ran fine the rest of the time. The gauges started not too long ago and the starter and fuel pump started the end of July and it has started since. I took the gauge cluster out and found the bad solder joint and fixed it. I am only asking if anyone has any ideas.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 12, 2024, 6:07 PM
Post #4 of 4
(313 views)
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Re: 1999 Grand Caravan Sport not starting.
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We are professional techs. We don't diagnose with "ideas". We systematically test circuits to find out what is missing or not working. Every relay requires 3 signals and a load to operate. Arbitrarily jumping contacts can fry a computer in a heartbeat if you don't know exactly what you are doing.
Your words...
The fuse box rattles
The PCM gets hot
The negative cable get hot
Hard starting, would quit in seconds
The tach doesn't work
It started draining the battery
It hasn't had multiple things going wrong?
I don't think there is anything we can do for you. This thing has way too much mileage. and has too many issues
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Oct 12, 2024, 6:09 PM)
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