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1999 Town and Country dies and will not start
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arkhunter1
New User
Oct 4, 2008, 6:41 PM
Post #1 of 6
(2839 views)
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1999 Town and Country dies and will not start
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I have 1999 Chrysler Town and Country with a 3.3 liter v-6 with 140K miles. Last week it would not start after I replaced the power window regulator. I thought maybe it was the power window regulator so I unhooked it and it still would not start. All the dash lights worked, radio, windows, etc... but it would not turn over at all. I tried to jump it and that did not work. After trying to start it for about 15 minutes it fired off and work great for about a week. Probably 20 times.
Yesterday my wife was driving it and it just died going down the road and then would not start. Again everything works except it is not turning over. The dash lights go out when you turn the key. Battery and alernator are both good according to autozone. I went and messed with it and again after messing with it for about 20 minutes it just fired off like nothing was wrong. I drove it home and it started again this morning. Someone told me it is the MAP sensor.
Any ideas, It has my wife scared to drive it since we do not know what it is or if it is going to do it again.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 4, 2008, 8:59 PM
Post #2 of 6
(2837 views)
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Re: 1999 Town and Country dies and will not start
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Ok: You said dash lights go out when you turn the key and the starter doesn't always turn the engine - right?
That strongly suggests a battery cable problem. They must be known clean and good at the battery and follow them to engine block (ground) and on to starter (pos) ends.
Battery cables at battery may seem tight and still not connect well. The amp load of starter may just make the poor connection behave just like a disconnect for a moment,
T
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
Oct 5, 2008, 4:15 AM
Post #3 of 6
(2830 views)
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Re: 1999 Town and Country dies and will not start
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Yep - It either does nothing or starts like nothing is wrong at all. I have checked them and thier is some corrosion but nothing excessive. How much is too much? The cable clamps also look like acid has eaten the coating off of them. They look like they are copper.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 5, 2008, 4:55 AM
Post #4 of 6
(2825 views)
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Re: 1999 Town and Country dies and will not start
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You can't just look and guess they need to come off and be cleaned up with a wire brush, sandpaper, greased or replaced. I've seen them tight and clean and not make enough contact for a LED light bulb let alone a starter.
In a jam - you could spray them with some WD-40 or similar, and sometimes a "tug" on a cable (carefully) will allow another start to get to destination but they need to be known good.
If you caught it down you could see just which one and it probably is just one at the moment is the problem. When one can the others need correction at the same time,
T
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
Oct 5, 2008, 5:17 AM
Post #5 of 6
(2821 views)
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Re: 1999 Town and Country dies and will not start
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sorry for the ignorance. When you say come off are talking about removing them or just unhooking them from the battery and cleaning them?
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 5, 2008, 6:30 AM
Post #6 of 6
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Re: 1999 Town and Country dies and will not start
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The clamps at battery should be part of the battery cable - each with an eyelet (usually) at the other end and just as important. Connections are only as good as the weakest link line a chain analogy.
The clamp connection at the battery should be removed and wire brush cleaned, any nut/bolt should be good to tighten up propery and grease (dielectic or any helps prevent corrosion) and when retightened make sure it's truly tight by twisting on the clamp when you would expect it to be tight. They can fool you with corroded threads of bolt/nut or be at an exteme beyond ability to tighten more in especially the old lead clamp type which this may or may not still use.
Whole new cables could be the best choice if corrosion is an issue. Rare to me but issues inside the wires along their way could also be a problem.
Note: Fine stranded copper got expensive and cheaper alternatives were coming into use even at this age of vehicle. Fine copper strands tolerate more vibration and motion with engine than alternatives over the years.
There are specific battery post and cable brushes that are helpful for battery end and brush could be used to clean up eyelet type connections. Finger in sandpaper could do also.
IMPORTANT: When working on connection alway start and end with negative battery post connection. It is VERY important that while working on any other wire connections that they are not live and current can flow thru the tools you use and short out - avoid these problems with battery neg off first and back on last.
Note: Assorted electrical items in vehicles will be reset by disconnecting a battery including computer memory, clocks, up to and including security things, aftermarket things, and possibly key remote functions.
There are low amp "memory" savers that can be used to assist in this area. Different types avalable so follow instructions with what you have if you opt to use a memory saving device for use when disconnecting a battery,
T
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