Expert: Roland Finston - 10/11/2011

Question
I have a 2000 Chrysler, Town & Country LXI, 3.3 Ltr. 140K miles. I am trying to keep it alive. It turns over for at least 10 seconds many times longer. The starter has been a trooper. Once running all is fine. There is a lingering fresh gas smell right after starting, from the exhaust. I have tried fuel additives. The EGR seems to be working fine and I do have resistance on the coolant sensor. I was going to change plugs and wires but it runs fine after it starts. Curious for your diagnosis. Thanks.

Answer
Hi Henry,
The best approach to this is to see if the engine controller has recognized a sensor or other cause for poor starting. The egr is always of interest so be sure that it is closing to a dead stop by the internal spring action.
But code readout could be as simple as using the ignition key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the odometer window in the speedometer to see if the mileage changes to show a P followed by a 4-digit number(s). Let me know and we'll go from there. If that doesn't work (it was not available in '99 but it was in '02 according to my manuals) then you can go to a nationwide autoparts store such as Autozone where they often will do a free readout with a reader that plugs into a socket under the dash to the left of the steering column. A shop may do it for about $40 if you can't find a parts store for free.
Roland