95 caravan stalled will not restart

[PC Medic]

I have a 95 caravan 3.0 Ltr with about 128k miles on engine. Runs very well
until last night.

Was on the way home with the family on the interstate and traffic came to a
slow stop/go crawl briefly (15 minutes) while an accident was cleared ahead.
At one point traffic came to a stop and as we started to move again got up
to about 25mph and suddenly nothing (total loss of power). Coasted in
neutral and restarted, again begin to accelerate and again just stalled.
Coasted off to the shoulder and now will turn over, but would not restart.

Just over 1/4 tank of fuel, No trouble code using ignition method,
everything looked good under the hood (what you can check standing at the
side of the road any way).

I have had it towed to a local garage and they are to look at it this
morning. Unfortunately this is one problem where they could call and say
anything from bad coil to blown head gasket (though the gasket would be a
long shot I think).

Thinking maybe Fuel Pump, TPS or IAC Motor. Up until the point it stalled
was running smooth and quiet. Anyone have any ideas what else may be a most
likely cause.

TIA

PC Medic

 

[Dave Gower]

... again begin to accelerate and again just stalled.
Coasted off to the shoulder and now will turn over, but would not restart.

Looks like most likely a fuel problem, if accelerated briefly. Besides pump,
you could have a blockage in the tank i.e. a piece of debris sloshing around
and lodging on the intake. Or your injector could be seizing up. Have you
cleaned it regularly?

Tests are simple: pull a plug and check for spark. Open top of throttle body
and check for fuel injection.

 

[sidewinder]

Yeah take it to a shop who is actually going to look for the problem instead
of throwing parts at it till it starts.

 

[Daniel J. Stern]

I have a 95 caravan 3.0 Ltr with about 128k miles on engine. Runs very
well until last night. Coasted off to the shoulder and now will turn
over, but would not restart. Just over 1/4 tank of fuel, No trouble code
using ignition method,

Always adviseable with a sudden won't start to disconnect the main power
(either the battery negative terminal or the quick-disconnect on the
positive cable) for a couple minutes, reconnect, attempt to start the
vehicle and THEN check the flash codes. Frequently this will turn up a
code 11, which indicates trouble with the distributor's optical (in the
3.0) trigger or the wires between the engine control computer and the
distributor.

DS

 

[Daniel J. Stern]

Looks like most likely a fuel problem, if accelerated briefly.

Not necessarily.

you could have a blockage in the tank i.e. a piece of debris sloshing around
and lodging on the intake. O

No. This is not a '61 Rambler!

your injector could be seizing up.

There are six injectors on a 3.0, and it's highly unlikely they're
"seizing up".

Tests are simple: pull a plug and check for spark. Open top of throttle
body and check for fuel injection.

This, once again, is not a '61 Rambler; pulling a spark plug is schlock.
It also is not an '88 Aries that has an injector visible by "opening the
top of the throttle body".

DS

 

[harry martinko]

I would start by checking the cam and crank position sensor.....also, the
fault code didn't appear until after multiple checks.

 

[PC Medic]

restart.

Looks like most likely a fuel problem, if accelerated briefly. Besides pump,
you could have a blockage in the tank i.e. a piece of debris sloshing around
and lodging on the intake. Or your injector could be seizing up. Have you
cleaned it regularly?

Tests are simple: pull a plug and check for spark. Open top of throttle body
and check for fuel injection.

Already checked and getting fuel, but no spark.

 

[PC Medic]

restart.

Looks like most likely a fuel problem, if accelerated briefly. Besides pump,
you could have a blockage in the tank i.e. a piece of debris sloshing around
and lodging on the intake. Or your injector could be seizing up. Have you
cleaned it regularly?

Tests are simple: pull a plug and check for spark. Open top of throttle body
and check for fuel injection.

Already checked and getting fuel but no spark

 

[Dave Gower]

No. This is not a '61 Rambler!

Huh? I never owned a 61 Rambler but any vehicle (particularly one 9 model
years old) can have problems with fuel tank debris. It's just less common
now.

There are six injectors on a 3.0, and it's highly unlikely they're

"seizing up".

Oops, didn't read the post carefully enough . I was thinking of my 92
Voyager, which had a 2.5 with TB.

This, once again, is not a '61 Rambler; pulling a spark plug is schlock.

There's nothing wrong with checking for a spark the old-fashioned way. It'll
tell you real quick.

 

[eldred30]

Not necessarily.


No. This is not a '61 Rambler!


There are six injectors on a 3.0, and it's highly unlikely they're
"seizing up".

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have an 89 Dodge Grand Caravan with the 3.0L engine. Some years ago,
while traveling at highway speed, I experienced a sudden engine cutout
for about a second or two, followed by normal running for about a
minute until I pulled off the road, and then nothing. It was the fuel
pump.

 

[PC Medic]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- -

I have an 89 Dodge Grand Caravan with the 3.0L engine. Some years ago,
while traveling at highway speed, I experienced a sudden engine cutout
for about a second or two, followed by normal running for about a
minute until I pulled off the road, and then nothing. It was the fuel
pump.

Bingo! Give this man a cigar.

That's exactly what it turned out to be. Sure was easier (and cheaper) in
the old days when they were mounted under the hood.

Thanks to all that replied.