Strange problem with 97 Dodge MinVan 3.0 V6. A real head scratcher

From : ken day

Q: my son who lives out of state called me and told me about this strange problem with a 97 dodge minvan. been a real good vehicle up to now at 180000. after it gets warmed up it starts missing and shuts down completely. as this is happening the interior dome light comes on and starts flashing.....the windshield washer and wipers also come on and neither will quit no matter what is done until the battery cable is removed. when it quits it acts like a bad coil will do after heating up but he has replaced this new plugs simply because it was time for them and new distibutor cap and rotor. also replaced the plug wires . he cant get it anywhere to get a computer diag because it wont wont run but a few blocks.it quits after about two-three minutes driving when it gets up to temp or about five minutes idling. it will not start again until it cools for 30-40 minutes. when trying to flash the code the only thing that comes up is battery has been disconnected recently. i hope one of you can shed some light on this. sure would appreciate any help i can get. thank you very much ken .

Replies:

From : tbone

me too -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving sounds like the computer unit to me. my son who lives out of state called me and told me about this strange problem with a 97 dodge minvan. been a real good vehicle up to now at 180000. after it gets warmed up it starts missing and shuts down completely. as this is happening the interior dome light comes on and starts flashing.....the windshield washer and wipers also come on and neither will quit no matter what is done until the battery cable is removed. when it quits it acts like a bad coil will do after heating up but he has replaced this new plugs simply because it was time for them and new distibutor cap and rotor. also replaced the plug wires . he cant get it anywhere to get a computer diag because it wont wont run but a few blocks.it quits after about two-three minutes driving when it gets up to temp or about five minutes idling. it will not start again until it cools for 30-40 minutes. when trying to flash the code the only thing that comes up is battery has been disconnected recently. i hope one of you can shed some light on this. sure would appreciate any help i can get. thank you very much ken .

From : fmb

sounds like the computer unit to me. if it were the puter and if it is acting on a change of input from the temp sensor and he didnt want to tow it to a shop.... could he fool the puter by providing a cold engine input from the engnie temperature sensor what would that look like would his engine continue to run after startup if you pulled the sensor wire and the engine warmed up what if it was pulled and grounded i wouldnt apply voltage unless i could do so accurately and had the documentation that said exactly how much voltage to apply. same with resistance to ground there goes the grounding of the wire idea. fmb needs more coffee .

From : ken day

on sat 11 mar 2006 154042 gmt fmb fmbb@sbcglobal.net wrote sounds like the computer unit to me. if it were the puter and if it is acting on a change of input from the temp sensor and he didnt want to tow it to a shop.... could he fool the puter by providing a cold engine input from the engnie temperature sensor ill call and have him do that. he has tried to flash out the code with engine cold and gets the same result. battery removed recently..or something like that. what would that look like would his engine continue to run after startup if you pulled the sensor wire and the engine warmed up we will find out - what if it was pulled and grounded i wouldnt apply voltage unless i could do so accurately and had the documentation that said exactly how much voltage to apply. same with resistance to ground there goes the grounding of the wire idea. he is a pretty good shade tree mechanic but i dont think he should try that with me trying to instruct him by phone especially since im not sure of how to do it lol . what about a bad ground somewhere causing feedback the blinking dome light and wipers refusing to turn off sounds like the classic symptom for that on a non computerized vehicle. i told him to double check the ground from battery to engine /vehicle and from engine to chassis. ive fixed things like that many times on rvs. ive seen some really crazy things happen on them . they dont have a very good grounding system. fmb needs more coffee thanks a lot ken day .

From : geekboy

sounds like the computer unit to me. my son who lives out of state called me and told me about this strange problem with a 97 dodge minvan. been a real good vehicle up to now at 180000. after it gets warmed up it starts missing and shuts down completely. as this is happening the interior dome light comes on and starts flashing.....the windshield washer and wipers also come on and neither will quit no matter what is done until the battery cable is removed. when it quits it acts like a bad coil will do after heating up but he has replaced this new plugs simply because it was time for them and new distibutor cap and rotor. also replaced the plug wires . he cant get it anywhere to get a computer diag because it wont wont run but a few blocks.it quits after about two-three minutes driving when it gets up to temp or about five minutes idling. it will not start again until it cools for 30-40 minutes. when trying to flash the code the only thing that comes up is battery has been disconnected recently. i hope one of you can shed some light on this. sure would appreciate any help i can get. thank you very much ken .