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Asked: Sep 26, 2008 - 08:14 PM

Status: Closed

Dodge Caravan, no start, no spark.

Does anyone know what do i do next for 96 dodge caravan 3.8L Our van went dead, had it towed home....made quick check, had to replace coil pack. Van started and ran for about 2 weeks...BOOM...went dead again, made visual check of van and everything looked ok.....coil pack, crank sensor, cam sensor etc.... all checked out ok.......had check engine light code 353...i checked wiring system, noticed RED/YELLOW wire (ignition coil cyl. 3 and 6 driv) from computer to coil pack was giving me a grounded signal, so i disconnected the RED/YELLOW wire from plug, and the van started with misfire...was advised to replace computer......computer was replaced with rebuilt one.........now i get a grounded signal from the GRAY wire (ignition coil cyl. 1 and 4 driv) from computer to coil pack.......... RED/YELLOW wire is ok with NEW computer but still have misfire........................................................................
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...............................when all 4 wires are plugged in, from computer to coil pack, van will not start with either computer.....lost at this point....HELP!!! thanx in advance=)

In Makes & Models > Dodge > Caravan
In Maintenance & Repair > Engine > No start
1 answer - 406 days ago

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Voted Best Answer

zaken1

Date: Sep 27, 2008
Time: 10:15 PM

The first thing I would check is whether there is either a dedicated ground wire going from the engine to a ground point on the firewall; or two ground wires coming from the negative battery terminal; the larger one going to an engine bolt, and the second wire going to a body bolt. The battery MUST be grounded to BOTH the engine and the body. But the factory ground wires may have been removed or damaged during 12 years of service.

If the auxiliary grounds are intact, an additional possibility is that one or more alternator diodes have
gone bad. If this happens; the alternator may still produce enough
power to keep the battery charged, but the alternator output waveform
will be so uneven that it adversely affects the computer and ignition
system. Depending on the quantity and location of bad diodes, a
volt/ohmmeter will not always detect this kind of problem. For that reason,
an oscilloscope is sometimes the only tool that can be depended on to
find bad alternator diodes. Of course, it is also possible to substitute a known good alternator.

I would also consider the likelihood that the rebuilt computer has a fault in it. Many specialists refuse to use rebuilt electronic components; because of the likelihood that the testing of those components was insufficient to cover all the possible issues which could occur. For that reason, I would prefer to get a used OEM computer from a wrecking yard, rather than a rebuilt unit.

I hope this helps!!!
Joel