2007 dodge caravan 4-cyl was dying at stops - repair shop made adjustments and it runs ok now but repair shop claims the injectors need "cleaning" ($110). He does not have "test" kit but claims injector cleaning is a normal maintenance item for this model at 30k miles.

Is it reasonable to find a place to test the injectors to see if they really need cleaning? Can this be done at home by a tinkerer? Mileage remains around 24 in the city.

It is running fine now. I don't know what adjustments the repairmen did as this is my daughters car in another town (I am going there in a couple of weeks and i would like to get myself well-informed so i can check this out while I am there).

What all is involved in testing injectors to find out for sure if they need servicing/cleaning/replacing?

 

idk what yall can adjust on these there aint no scrws to turn no timing to adjust, with them low miles i cant beleve that they are dirty? 24mpg on a 2.4 van is pritty normal in town. i hadda 1999 2.4 and best i ever got was 29 on teh hiway

 

Fuel injection sevice is just a maintenance. If you had a bad injector, in most case's a injection clean may not fix the problem. But you do need to from time to time is remove the throttle body and clean the blade and the AIS motor. An fuel injection service can't hurt the injectors. And as far as i know there no tester for fuel injectors for gas motors. There is a pop tester for diesel injectors.

 

You can have them tested for spray pattern and flow http://www.aa1car.com/library/2003/ic30336.htm but it will probably cost as much as your mechanic wants to clean them. I wouldn't go this length unless you have some indication that an injector may be failing.

 

I talked with my daughter and the code was P2074 (MANIFOLD PRESSURE/THROTTLE POSITION CORRELATION
- HIGH FLOW/VACUUM LEAK). A "saturday mechanic" friend took it to autozone and they showed the same code. He also found a vacuum hose had been left off and the clamp dangling (by those jerks at the repair shop). He connected the hose and reset the clamp, and it ran ok for a while and then the check engine light came on again and it started sputtering. She is afraid to drive it now and we both think the repair shops over there (in Corpus Christi) are all con artists just trying to run up a big repair bill without doing anything or even knowing what to do.

I have read a lot of posts here (and on other sites) and it seem this is quite involved. The vehicle has about 30k miles, is two years old, and shouldn't be having these problems. We are still searching and trying to figure out what to do, but, if anyone has some real good advice, i am all ears.

Taking it to a dealer over there is pointless as they are even worse than the independent shops. If this can be fixed by replacing the "sensor" (since I am suspicious that the mechanical operating parts are probably all good), or a "sending unit", or some such computer part, then that saturday mechanic might be able to do it, but, i really hope someone here has had a p2074 on this type of 4-cyl dodge 2007 model and can post here with some insight.