I have a 2001 Dodge Intrepid with 93,000 miles. It was running great until about 3 weeks ago when unexpectedly it would not start. When I turn the key, the car will crank and crank and crank, but not turn over. It would only crank and not start for a couple days, then one Sunday morning it I tried to start it and it fired right up. Ran perfectly fine. The follow day, it went back to only cranking and not starting. After not trying to start it for a few days, it started like there was never any problems. Now it mostly just cranks without starting, but there's been a couple days where it will start up with no issues.

I talked to my trusted mechanic, he's never seen such a problem in any car and has no idea what it could be. Wants me to bring it in on a good day when it starts or have it towed there so he can try to figure it out. I also talked to another mechanic, he says he worked on another Intrepid with the exact same problem which is some wiring near the intake manifold that will cost $1800 to replace. Does anyone else have any ideas or have had similar problems with their Intrepid?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, but right now the thought of spending up to $2k on this car is frightening!

 

Yea, I had a similar problem in the past, but it may not be the same cause as yours. Mine was a MAP sensor (less than $50 and takes about 1 min to change), but you could also be looking a fuel problem. Do you have a check engine light? It's always a good starting point. Next when the malfunction occurs, just unplug the MAP sensor cable and try to start. If it starts right up (but will not run the best with the default value when disconnected), replace the MAP as it is probably stuck internally. If not, invest in a $20 fuel pressure gauge and ensure you have good steady pressure, if not either a plugged fuel filter or pump going bad. In either case these items will NOT cause a engine light (the MAP can, but to date I have not seen a engine light induced by this sensor).

PS, I would NEVER go back to the mechanic who quoted $1800 for some wiring!

 

Hi there - I have a 2002 Dodge Intrepid SE. Just a couple weeks after I purchased the vehicle, my check engine light came on and I began experiencing the same problems you are. It seemed like it would start only when it wanted to. It would start perfectly some days, and it would go days without starting at all. We hooked a small, personal-use computer (borrowed from a friend)up to it, and although I don't remember the code that was detected, turns out it was the Cam Shaft Positioning Sensor that we needed to replace. The part was about $60 and it was a 10-15 minute job.
Best of luck!!

 

You need to start by pulling OBD II P-codes. Lots of possibilities, so we'll need the codes to narrow it down. This consistent of a problem, there should be some.

 

I think what he ment was no codes were available. Some malfunctions do not trip codes such as fuel pressure (and a sticking map sensor in my personal experience).

 

True to a point, but low fuel pressure will present as P0171 & 0174 if the vehicle is still able to run and drive.

But the first thing I do with any crank/no-start that seems to have compression is check for DTC's. If no DTC's, then check to see if it fires with starting fluid. No fire, find the spark problem. If it fires, then I go to fuel pressure. No pressure, check for power and ground to the pump. No power to FP, check relay and circuit. If it has power & ground, obviously replace the pump. If the fuel pressure is OK and it has spark, then we go to noid lights and injector pulse detector. No pulse, scope the CMP.

Anyway, I could go on and on, but he needs to tell us first whether it's a fuel or spark issue and if there are any DTC's.