Yesterday, Sunday, my 2011 Grand Caravan 3.4 litre basic van did not start, plugged the block heater in at 4pm Saturday because it wouldn't start then. So Sunday I put a heater in the engine compartment and covered the hood to the ground with a poly plastic for 3 hours, I went out it started and I drove it for 10 minutes down the highway, came home, shut it off and it restarted a couple of minutes later. Today block heater was plugged in overnight and went to start it no go. It sounded when it first turned over it was going to, but letting go of the key it stopped and then no restart again. Any help here, it's -9 out today and yesterday was -6 Thanks Robin
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Hi Robin. When you turn the key to "Start", does it sound as if the engine is cranking as quickly as it normally does or does it sound slow?– mike65535Dec 10, 2018 at 20:01
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yes it cranks normal and it sounds like it is starting it hesitates back to cranking– RobinDec 10, 2018 at 20:03
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yes it it does and it feels like its starting and then it goes back to cranking mode, when I heated it up yesterday and started it right away– RobinDec 10, 2018 at 20:06
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any other ideas, someone told me to wiggle the gear shift back and forth and that didnt do anyrthing– RobinDec 10, 2018 at 20:15
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Please explain "back to cranking mode". Do you mean when you turn the key to start, the engine cranks quickly and then sounds like it's going to actually start, then gives up sounding that way and goes back to only cranking?– mike65535Dec 10, 2018 at 20:16
1 Answer
I would check the MAF, and the intake air temp sensor and the coolant temp sensor not the one that feeds to the guage.
If you can get a vehicle code scanner or barrow one. Make sure you check out the live data on those sensors. If the sensor is bad it will show a unrealistic temp for the conditions. Like if the engine is cold and it reads 100deg or if you know the temp outside and the engine is room temp and it is reading more than 7 degrees off in either direction use reason. The MAF or MAP signal should be stable and not jumping all over while not cranking viewing in graphing mode is easier. MAF should still be showing a reading that is not 0 volts and not higher than .5 when engine is stopped.