97 Dodge Grand Caravan Died While Driving and Won’t Restart

Reader Question
My question is I have a 97 Dodge Grand Caravan SE 3.3l, it just died while driving down the road bogged out for a second then caught and I was able to make it home, parked it and it hasn’t started since, it will crank but won’t start.

I’ve replaced the alternator, battery, battery cables, camshaft sensor (twice to make sure), fuel filter, ASD relay, fuel pump relay, recently had the tranny rebuilt less then a month ago.

Checked for spark has good spark, did the turn the key 3 times thing to see if it would throw any codes, which it hasn’t. I can hear the fuel pump whir when I turn the key on. I’m at a loss with this and don’t know what else to do, not working atm and don’t have the money to take it into a shop again. Thank You and God Bless.

Hi there
Hi there,

Thanks for getting a rate quote….seems like a very fair price at that.

I would first start out by checking your fuel pressure at the engine with a manual fuel pressure gauge you can usually rent from your local auto parts store. You can sometimes bang on the bottom of the fuel tank with a rubber hammer or a block of wood AS someone cranks the engine over…this can help jump start a weak fuel pump. I would try this first and see what happens. If it starts you most likely need a new fuel pump.

You might also want to check the crankshaft position sensor, although you say you have spark….the crank sensor also controls fuel pump and injector pulse, and I would suspect you do not have fuel getting to the engine OR you do not have enough fuel PRESSURE at the engine. The pump could be getting a signal (the whir noise you hear) but is not providing the proper fuel pressure to start the engine.

The crank sensor should look something like this
Crank shaft sensor

Blessings,
Austin Davis