First off, Happy Easter!

Please see my previous post about the hesitation problem:

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-c...eleration.html

Tonight, went to a friend's house for Easter dinner. I turned van on, put kid in carseat. Engine was about 1/4 warmed up. Had to back up on a little incline of about 20 degrees and I stalled. Restarted, stalled again. Was afraid I wasn't going to make it off this hill.

Started a third time and revved the engine, rpm's dropped a little and had a little sputtering, but then went up. Put van into gear and made it up the hill. Made it home, but now I'm concerned that I can't even make it up a little hill when my driveway is on an incline.

I'm thinking it has to do with fuel as it acts like it's not getting enough to get me going when first started up. I guess it could be anything, fuel pump, fuel injection, maybe a vacuum leak?!?

Going to call dealer here in the morning and see if I can bring it in. I absolutely cannot believe that the Dodge dealer down south told me this happens in these vans and there is no fix for it.

I refuse to be stranded with my kid in the van with me!

Any input is appreciated!

Bee

 

Try shooting a couple cans of throttle body/carb cleaner into the throttle body while the engine is running.

Get the spray kind with the little straw that sticks into the nozzle.Loosen the rubber intake hose between the airfilter box and the throttle body enough to stick the cleaner straw between the hose and the throttle body.You might be able to completely remove the intake hose from the throttle body,if this is the case do it.That makes it a lot easier to give everything a good dousing with the cleaner.

Warm the engine to operating temperature.

Spray the cleaner directly into the intake system but keep the engine from dying by holding the revs either by a helper inside the van or by using the throttle cable,around 2000 rpm is a good place to start.

You'll probably get a huge cloud of white smoke to come out of your tailpipe but don't worry it's normal.Just slack off the spray for awhile and it'll stop.
This procedure might light a "check engine light" if it does simply diconnect the battery for ten minutes and the light will go out.

This will clean any carbon and varnish that accumulates on the backs of the intake valves from driving short distances.These deposits actually soak up gasoline being sprayed into the intake by the injectors and hold onto it until they are either saturated or the engine warms up enough to boil them out.Gasoline detergents would keep the deposits off the valves if the engine was run long enough to clean off the deposits left from the last shut down of the engine.The injectors are also vulnerable to dried varnish and carbon deposits also.This cleaning will also help the injectors also.

 

Thank you for the information!

I took the van to the dealer and they said that the spark plugs were faulty and the throttle body was all gunked up. So I'm getting a tune up and fuel system cleansing.

Also, for the longest time my van would growl when I turned off the ignition. It turns out it was my alternator and warranty will cover that. I told him to put a new belt in while they were at it.

Do these types of vans often have buildup in the throttle body? Will fuel injection cleaner help in the future? Should I start using a better grade fuel to prevent it?

Sorry for all of the questions, but I'm kind of new to Dodge. Although my brother-in-law is a Mopar-aholic! LOL

Thanks!
Bee