AboutRoland Finston Expertise I specialize in Chrysler Corp. front wheel drive cars and minivans for the years 1982-2005 based upon my 50-year DIY experience and factory shop manuals. I don't have expertise/manuals for Jeeps, Trucks, SUV's, Imports. Today I will take questions one at a time from 8am-2pm, and 6-8 pm CST, answering you within 1/2 hour. If I am shown as "maxed out" try again, in an hour, as I may be answering another question or otherwise busy. There are answers to ten thousand Chrysler questions at your finger tips: put a few key words in the "find" box (above) or click on "view past answers".
Question Car cranks but will not start. Each time I have had to push the car out of the way. After pushing the car, it starts and runs fine for days and weeks. Sitting a while, especially in damp weather seems to make it happen more frequently. Fuel pump works. Spark not present. Tried a new coil without success. Cleaned all connectors to coil, computer, fuse box. Today after sitting unresponsive for 3 weeks checking every other day to so, moved it 30 feet and it started and ran fine. Any ideas?
Answer Hi Peter,
That sounds to me like either the cam or crank sensor has gotten flakey which causes it to fail when warmed up, but recover quickly as it cools. If you have an Autozone nearby you can get a free readout of the engine computer for fault codes which would tell you which one has failed. Or try the ignition key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the odometer widow to see if it shows new 4-digit numbers, or watch the check engine light which may flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Then repeat. Then let me know any numbers that you get by either the odometer, readout, or check engine light.
Roland
