First off, I want to say that this is a great forum. I have been lurking for a while now, and read posts all of the time. About 2 weeks ago my Avenger started having problems. It died on me last week, so I finally have a good reason to register and post.

Here are as many details as I remember.

My Car: 2000 Avenger 2.5L, 126000 miles

About 2 weeks ago, I was driving down the highway at about 55 (2000 RPM), and the car just shut down. All electrical worked, but the engine just acted like I turned the key off. I put the car in neutral and it started right back up. Over the next couple of days, it did this a few more times. Sometimes it wouldn't restart until sitting for 2-3 minutes, other times it would restart itself.

I changed my plugs, wires, and rotorbecause I knew it was time for a tune up. The next day, the car ran perfectly all the way to work and throughout the day. On the way home, it died again.

I did some reading (including several posts from this forum) and changed my crankshaft postioning sensor. At that time,I also added injector cleaner into the tank and filled up. Once again, the car ran perfectly throughout the day. After work, the car bogged down when I tried to accelerate. After I got to where I was going, the car would not start. The starter was cranking and I checked for spark at the plug wires. Everything seemed fine, but I could not get it to start.

I had the car towed to a garage, and they tried several ideas. The fuel pressure checked out fine. They said the spark was weak and I need a new distributor. I replaced the distributor and still no luck. After 10-12 hours they gave up and told me to take it to the dealership.

I had the car towed to the dealership. They spent 4 hours diagnosing, tried to charge me for 5.5, and said that it was getting too much fuel but they didn't know why. They also added, "Our best guess, and it is only a guess, is the PCM." They said the compression on the front three cylinders was 150-200 and all voltages checked out. The computer was not throwing any error codes. The spark was good, and the O2 sensor seemed fine. I am fairly sure they checked the fuel pump relay in the firewall, because they broke the bracket.

I found 1 PCM that was 60 miles away. Installed it and there was no change, so I put the old one back in. I talked to a few other mechanics and they said that it could be the coolant temperature sensor. I changed it today. Once again, no change. I also checked resistance on all of the injectors and they measured 14.6-14.7 ohms, dead center of spec. I also cleaned all electrical connectors that I had disconnected with electronics cleaner. When the key is turned I can hear the fuel pump engage.

I am out of ideas, and pretty much broke at this point. I would really appreciate any ideas you guys have.

 

Welcome to DF, AvengerInIndiana.

Check the intake air temp sensor which is located along the farthest left runner and the MAP sensor located on the end of the intake log, next to the IAT sensor. Did you change out the entire distributor or just the cap and rotor?
I wouldn't think it to be the ASD relay or PCM (already troubleshot) since they allow the spark/fuel to flow. The crank and cam sensors provide the signals to the PCM and the ASD is the switch and you get those signals. There's another sensor(s) that is playing a supporting role that isn't within parameters to allow the motor to run...for example the coolant temp sensor. If it reads hot and or overheating, once you turn the car off, it won't allow you to restart until the temps go below the threshold. I say to check the IAT and MAP sensors because it will do something similar...since the other stuff didn't pan out

 

Thanks silver,I will change out the IAT tonight. I did change the entire distributor, which, from what I have read, includes the ignition coil and the camshaft positioning sensor. Is there any way to test the MAP sensor or is it just a replace and see type of thing?

 

Update:

Today, I changed the IAT. Still no change, but a friend showed up while I was changing it and we spent a little more time diagnosing. Checked the timing, and I haven't jumped time. Monday I am going to try another set of plugs and an oil change. The oil has a lot of fuel it in, and may be a factor. I was also flipping through my Hayes manual and Autozone gave me the wrong gap size. Hayes says .39-.44 and I gapped all of the plugs to .50 I checked the front three plugs and the spark is though. I also though that the catalytic converter might be a problem, but I am getting exhaust pressure when I try to turn it over.

I am still open to any ideas.

 

Are you sure you're getting spark? Was there anything on the plugs, like oil or fuel? This worries me.

 

Positive. We pulled the front three plugs, all were wet (fuel), dried them off, and turned it over once to make sure we were getting spark. All three received a good spark, even with the incorrect gap.

 

It's odd that you get spark and the plugs are still wet. Are you getting any backfire from the intake? What type of plugs are you using?

 

At times, there is "poofing" from the intake, which is probably backfiring, but I haven't working on a fuel injection car before, so this is all a litlle new to me.

The plugs are bosch platinum. Nothing fancy like the +4's, just the regular platinums.

 

Okay, last update on this one. I finally made it back to the car on Wednesday. I changed the plugs and the fuel fowled oil. The back 3 plugs were detonated and the front three plugs were fuel soaked. Anyway, it didn't start. The only other idea that I had was that somehow the shop had put the distributor on backwords. When I unbolted the distributor, on of the flanges was broken off. I returned the distrubutor and replaced it with a new one, jumped it and it fired right up. There was a lot of smoke from the exhaust for about 5 minutes because of the excessive flooding, but after that, everything is perfect. It is running better than ever. Right now, I am in the process of trying to recoup some of my money from the bad repairs/crappy diagnostics.

 

Wow! Just wow!
...and I'm glad you found out what it was...but, wow!