Hi folks... I am a "newbie" here, so if this has been covered, I would appreciate it if you could at least point me to the thread.
First of all, It is not really a Caravan, but a 97 T/C LXI with a 3.8L. (I hope this is OK!)
It is a daily driver for my wife. It has 135 K miles on it, and most often runs perfect, regularly gets 24 MPG, and we are very happy with it.
That being said, within the last month it has developed a problem where it will idle rough, and sometimes quit running when she stops at an intersection. It had not set any codes. I took it into an established auto / electronics shop in Fargo, and they replaced the air idle motor and cleaned the throttle body. They also replaced the plugs, wires, and PCV valve. They tested the fuel pressure, and had 50 PSI at the rail.
A few days later, the same symptoms appeared again. I called and they said they thought my fuel pump may have an intermittent problem. I replaced the FP myself, and the filter at the same time. The problem was gone for a couple of days.
Earlier this past week it started it again! We have discovered that the problem only appears when it is very cold outside (like below 10 degrees) and seems to disappear as the weather warms up. I took it back into the shop today, and the tech drove it for a half hour, and it ran perfect. He drove it off and on all day, and of course it would not act up. The temps were in the high 30's today. They hooked up the computer again, and of course no codes. No surprise to me, as the check engine light has never come on.
I left a little disgusted, but I understand that they can't fix it when they have no idea what is wrong. I don't want to throw a bunch of high priced parts at it! I am going to bring it back to them during the next cold spell, if the problem persists. They are more than willing to keep working with me. They did tell me that they checked all of the electrical connections under the hood, and they did find that one of the battery cables was "a little loose" but they couldn't imagine that this would cause the problem.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I am enjoying the forum. My ride is a 98.5 Dodge 2500 4X4 Laramie with a 24V Cummins. I was actually researching an issue with that when I found this forum!
Thanks!
Mark
First of all, It is not really a Caravan, but a 97 T/C LXI with a 3.8L. (I hope this is OK!)
It is a daily driver for my wife. It has 135 K miles on it, and most often runs perfect, regularly gets 24 MPG, and we are very happy with it.
That being said, within the last month it has developed a problem where it will idle rough, and sometimes quit running when she stops at an intersection. It had not set any codes. I took it into an established auto / electronics shop in Fargo, and they replaced the air idle motor and cleaned the throttle body. They also replaced the plugs, wires, and PCV valve. They tested the fuel pressure, and had 50 PSI at the rail.
A few days later, the same symptoms appeared again. I called and they said they thought my fuel pump may have an intermittent problem. I replaced the FP myself, and the filter at the same time. The problem was gone for a couple of days.
Earlier this past week it started it again! We have discovered that the problem only appears when it is very cold outside (like below 10 degrees) and seems to disappear as the weather warms up. I took it back into the shop today, and the tech drove it for a half hour, and it ran perfect. He drove it off and on all day, and of course it would not act up. The temps were in the high 30's today. They hooked up the computer again, and of course no codes. No surprise to me, as the check engine light has never come on.
I left a little disgusted, but I understand that they can't fix it when they have no idea what is wrong. I don't want to throw a bunch of high priced parts at it! I am going to bring it back to them during the next cold spell, if the problem persists. They are more than willing to keep working with me. They did tell me that they checked all of the electrical connections under the hood, and they did find that one of the battery cables was "a little loose" but they couldn't imagine that this would cause the problem.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I am enjoying the forum. My ride is a 98.5 Dodge 2500 4X4 Laramie with a 24V Cummins. I was actually researching an issue with that when I found this forum!
Thanks!
Mark