1996Dodge Intrepid ES with a 3.5 V6, has 137000 miles, automatic transmission.
Will not crank over, won’t start, starter spins but does not engage.
I bought this vehicle with a so called “Leaking water pump”. I checked the oil dip stick and saw clean oil, no water or antifreeze on it. Bought the car and drove it 30 miles home and parked it. The next morning there was about a half quart of antifreeze on the driveway. Checked the overflow bottle, which was nearly empty. Put in almost a gallon of antifreeze and drove to Autozone. Picked up two bottles of water pump sealer. Since the water pump was not making noise, I hoped this was a cheap fix for at the time being. I poured one bottle it into the overflow bottle and the leak completely stopped. I then drove it over for three weeks, almost two thousand miles, had a small water leak and put in the second bottle and had no more water leak problems. The temp gauge always read lessthan half way on the gauge, no overheating, drove great, put almost two thousand miles on it after that. I then got a check engine light, went into O'ReillyAuto Parts and the code was Mis-Fire. Cleared the code and thenext day, got another check Engine light. Went back to O'ReillyAuto Parts and the code was the same Mis-Fire. Cleared the code again and they said it wasmost likely the spark plugs or the spark plug wires. Bought plugs, pulled out the 5”inch spark plug boot and then pulled plug number one on the front right. Asyou know the plugs are way down inside the manifold, takes a 4” inch extension and the spark plug socket. The plug looked great, checked the gap on new plug, replaced it and put the boot back on. I did not replace the other five at that time as I left the task for another day. Three days later, while driving on the freeway the temp gauge went past the half way mark and I pulled over, opened the hood and the engine compartment was hotter than normal. Tried to remove the over flow bottle cap half way and antifreeze was coming out of the over flow tube, letthe car sit for a few minutes, then drove to a friends home and parked it for about five hours. Got back in the car (almost midnight), started it and drove homebound on the freeway. Was going 70 mph with cruise control working fine, when the temp gauge began to climb, I thought the thermostat must be sticking, so turnedon the heater to see if that would help circulate the antifreeze, all of a sudden I got an Engine Oil light and Check Engine Light on, then the temp gauge dropped and I thought all was good. The Engine Oil light went off and then the motor began to sputter and there was no power as I pressed on the gas pedal, dead gas pedal. My heart sank and the car began to slow down and coasted to the side of the freeway. Came to a stop, put it into park and tried to restart it. The starter was turning but no engine turn over, nothing but the sound of the starter. The engine quit and I was thankful there was a full moon and no rain. I grabbed my golf clubs and made the walk of shame down the freeway. There were four different vehicles that passed me and nobody stopped. I walked a bit over a mile before a State patrolman turned on his lights and scared the crud out of me. He got out laughing and said, “I just got to know what’s going on. I have never seen anyone carrying golf clubs down the road at midnight before”. I told him my story and he gave me a ride home from there, giggling all the way. Next day, my mom and I went out with a tow rope and we towed into a repair shop, the guy went out and tried to start it, just had starter noise. He said, “Sounds like no compression, may have broke the timing belt and if you did, you may have bent the rods if this is a Interface motor your screwed If the timing belt is broken you may have blown the motor. Call the Dodge Service Dept. and find out if it is an Interface motor and remove the timing belt cover and see if the timing belt is broken. I called the service manager and found out it is an Interface motor (I thought OMG) but he said “The chances of the rods bending and the motor blown would be pretty minimal if anything. So, take it apart and find out if the timing belt is broke and call me back”. So, I began my task, went to www.1aauto.com and watched a two-part video on how to take out the radiator, A/C belt, Serpentine Belt and tensioner,Crankshaft pulley, the two timing belt engine covers and what did I find? That the timing belt was NOT broken, now what the heck do I do? “Check the timing marks on the block, since it is a dual overhead cams motor I checked to make sure the crank was at Top Dead Center(TDC) and rotated the engine clockwise to line up the mark on the crank pulleyto the TDC mark on the block, checked both the camshaft sprocket alignmentmarks and found the passenger side camshaft sprocket was to the left of bothindented marks on the block, so the camshaft must have moved one tooth to the left somehow. The white indented mark on the camshaftpulley was not in the same position as the drivers side camshaft pulley which was between the two dented marks on the block. So I figured the timing belt skipped a cog, simple fix right? According to www.1aauto.com I took off the belt tensionerand loosened the timing belt. Bought anew timing belt and water pump. Replaced both and even turned the crankshaft two complete turns and lined up to TDC, checked the camshaft sprocket alignment marks and both sides are in the middle of the two marks on the block, seems all is perfect. I had high hopes, put it all back together, which is a process, but that is why I love mechanics anyway. So, went to start it and what happened? SAME thing, starter making noise, no cranking, no fire. I called the service dept. and he said “Replacethe camshaft senor and crankshaft senor and it should fire right up”. I researchedwhere these are located and will most likely replace them today and see what happens next. Any clues out there in this World Wide Web of Internet what I can do next? By the way, I have also torn it all back down and checked the timing belt alignment marks and rotated the crank to TDC, both the camshaft sprockets are aligned perfectly in the center of the alignment marks, re-rotated the crank two more turns and re-checked thecamshaft, all perfect! I have taken photos of this whole process for anyone toverify what has happened. My phone number is 406-530-1103 and my email is DonLSchneider@gmail.com thank you very much anyone? I have read and reread so many forum posts about this problem that my eyes are getting terrible the last two days. Posts that have 97 Intrepid 3.5L Won't Start, NeedHelp! Some say ECM is bad, some say Camshaft and Crankshaft Sensors are bad, amI on a wrong path?
I had one fault code 12 having to do with Battery disconnected within last 50 on-off key cycles. I should have gotten a code 11 but did not get it.

Checking Fault Codes
To obtain fault codes using the MIL (Check Engine Light):
1. Cycle ignition key to ON, OFF, ON, OFF, ON within 5 second (do not actuallycrank engine!!)
2. Count the number of times the MIL on the instrument panel flashes on andoff. The number of flashes represents the trouble code. There is a slight pausebetween the flashes representing the first and second digits of the code.Longer pauses separate the individual two digit trouble code.
Example: Lamp flashes 4 times, pauses, then flashes 6 more times. This is anindicates a DTC of 46.
3. Lamp will always flash 55 at the end of the test. This signals the end ofthe test.



11*No crank reference signal detected during engine cranking
11*CKP sensor targetwindows have too much variation
11*Intermittent loss of either camshaft or crankshaft position sensor
12* Battery has been disconnected within last 50 key-on cycles

WHAT direction can someone suggest please?

 

Crank shaft sensor, very easy

 

I have changed out the Crankshaft and Camshaft Sensors. Took photos along the way. Noticed the camshaft sensor, located on the left (drivers side) upper camshaft area next to the thermostat had no paper spacer on the end of it per factory information you need the paper spacer resting on the camshaft. I had hoped that was the problem of no start, no fire. Then changed out the Crankshaft Sensor, wow that was only accessible after taking off the right front wheel and going thru the splash shield. Took photos but can not add to this post, over quota??? Is my next move / purchase an ECM (Electronic Control Module), a MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) Sensor, a PCM (Powertrain Control Module) or what? I have no trouble codes after doing the key check trick, The starter spins the engine, but there is no sign of life yet. I will get a scan tool tomorrow and see what the computer says. Thanks for reading sure could use some idea's.

 

I read an article that I will paste below, guess I will go get a MAP Sensor and an Auto Shut Down Relay, I still get no trouble codes from the ECM however, any clues out there?





The power supplied to the fuel pump, ignition coil, fuelinjectors, and parts of the power module is controlled by the logic module through the Automatic Shutdown Relay (ASD); the idea is to shut off fuel pressure and the ignition systems when the key is turned off to prevent fires,dieseling, and other problems. The relay is located in different places ondifferent years.

The ASD relay isclosed (allowing power to flow through it) when the ignition is first turnedon. If the signal from the ignition reference is lost while the engine isrunning, or if the turbo boost pressure reaches and exceeds the over boostcut-off point, the logic module cuts power to the ASD, which in turn removespower from the fuel pump, ignition coil, injectors and those parts of the powermodule. This causes the engine to shut down.

The logic modulemonitors the relay driver. If it senses that the relay driver is notresponding correctly it will trigger a code.If the logic module does not sense an absence of current when the circuit isopen, or 12 volts DC when the circuit is closed, it knows that the circuit is openor shorted, and triggers code 42. In later models which used the SMEC orSBEC, the logic module monitors the output of the fuel pump relay output aswell as the fuel injectors. If it does not see 12 volts DC when the relayis activated, it triggers code 42.

Failure of theautomatic shutdown relay is often shown as inexplicable stalling or refusal tostart.

Bohdan Bodnar noted,“The ASD can be triggered by a broken wire or short in another place, e.g. thefuel pump.”

For troubleshooting purposes only (don’t drive like this!), EdHennessy wrote: “You can try feeding power to the fuel pump directly. Connect12V+ from the battery through a fused link to the positive terminal of the coil. That will back feed 12V to the fuel pump through the ASD circuit. If thepump runs [it should be easy to hear], the ASD relay is bad. If not, the fuelpump or its wiring is probably the problem."

On most Chrysler cars, you can hear the electric fuel pumpengage for a second or two as soon as you move the key from OFF to RUN (notSTART - it will still engage but you might not hear it). If you do not hearthat, there may be a failed relay, fuse, or fusible link, or even a bad fuelpump. You might want to try testing your car for thisbeforeit refuses to start,so you will know whether you can hear it or not. (

Try disconnecting theMAP sensor, which can cause a car to not start without setting any fault codes! If you disconnect itc ompletely, the car may start, in which case it is definitely the MAP sensor.

The MAP sensor in Chrysler cars



The air inside theintake manifold and atmospheric or barometric pressure is sensed by theManifold Absolute Pressuresensor, which sends a signal to the ECU. The ECU uses thisinformation along with data on the air’s temperatureto infer the density of the airentering the combustion chamber, when calculating how much fuel to add to thismixture. This information is especially important at Wide Open Throttle(WOT) because the system does not use feedback from the oxygen sensor at thattime. At idle, information from the MAP is used to regulate the AISmotor (setting theidle speed).

Starting in 1987 the MAPsensor is mounted in the engine compartment on the passenger sidefirewall.

The MAP sensor is a strain gauge which changes its outputvoltage based on the amount of vacuum or boost it is connected to. Thisvacuum/boost signal moves a silicon diaphragm inside the MAP sensor. Thisdiaphragm is thinner in the center than it is around the edges and is mountedwith a vacuum below the chip. A steady 5v supply is provided by the ECU,so the voltage from the MAP shows the relative pressure of the manifold.

Dead MAP sensors are fairly common. When the MAP sensor goes, the result may bestalling, the engine stopping even at highway speed, or failure to stop. Wewere told that there is “an available air bleeder valve kit to preventintermittent operation and premature failure of the MAP sensor. The valve allowsa small amount of dry air into the MAP vacuum line to prevent a condensationbuildup. It’s a low cost add-on, inquire at the dealer for the part. I used upsix MAP sensors before finding out about this - haven't lost one since.”

The Barometric Pressure Read Solenoid



The MAP sensor inputfrom the manifold to the atmosphere is switched by the Barometric Pressure Readsolenoid. This solenoid is controlled by the logic module. It takes a readingof the barometric pressure to calculate incoming air density and uses this tocontrol boost in turbo engines. At closed throttle the solenoid is momentarilyactivated. This happens one time per closure but not more frequently than everythree minutes and this happens only within a certain engine speed band.

At idle, some enginesmay ‘miss’. This is because the computer continues to sample the outsidebarometric pressure using the MAP sensor. If this happens it can beignored as it is a glitch in the software of the logic module.

While the logic moduleactivates and deactivates the solenoid, it monitors the output of the solenoiddriver. If it doesn’t see near 0 volts DC when turning the solenoid on or 12volts when turning the solenoid off, there is either an open or shortedcircuit. If this happens, it triggers a code 37