HELP!! 2000 dodge caravan 3.0 died on wife with no warning I just had the timing replaced and all the stuff in there, and it ran excellent for 2 days then just dies today. I went to where it is and tried to start it and got these 3 problems. sometimes when i try to start it will do nothing at al, no clicks no noise and no action at all. Then sometimes when i try to start it, it just turns the engine over and over strongly but does not start. Then sometimes when im trying to start it, the starter seems to clunk into place but doesnt turn the engine at all. The battery is brand new so its definitely not it. I would think that it is the starter if it wasnt for the fact thats sometimes it turns the crap out of it but it still doesnt start. I spent all my money on getting what was wrong before fixed and this happens, i think imma have an aneurism

 

Who did the timing belt? I am thinking the tension may have been loose, causing the belt to jump time.

 

i had it done at a shop. im curious though, would it cause all of the above problems like sometimes when i turn the key it does nothing at all like its just completely dead except for the fact that all my electronics are functioning, and also how sometimes the starter will engage for a second but not turn the engine at all?

 

i did notice; but am not sure, that the instrument panel seemed a little funny while trying to start like there were more things lit up than normal. Would that possibly indicate that the computer may be locking the engine to keep it from turning over, like the times when i turn the key and starter will not turn the engine or also when i turn the key and it does nothing, or could it possibly mean that the computer has went bad im not sure what to do cuz it is a long way from the shop that did the work and would hate to have them tow it back to fix it and assume they will probably lie and say its something else so they dont have to foot the bill.

 

while looking at the car today me and a mechanic who is a friend of a friend noticed the wire harness that attaches to the distributor was only halfway plugged in, so we plugged it in and now it eliminated 2 of the 3 problems. now it just turns over but does not start, also the auto shut off relay is making noises. the mechanic who was looking at it with me said he thinks that because the distributor wiring was barely touching and probably sparking, basically shorting, that it may have blown the computer. The shop that did the work agrees that they probably didnt connect the wiring all the way but it cant short the computer because on my engine it doesnt send any electricity to the computer. so i am needing any info i can get so i have some ammo when i go in there to havethem fix it at their cost. Like can it blow the computer and would that work, could it have blown the cam sensor or any others associated with the distributor, and could it have maybe blown the auto shut off relay. i just wanna cover all my bases for when he calls me to tell me what hes found. thank you all for your help

 

'2000 dodge caravan 3.0L: just had the timing and stuff done and it ran like a champ for 2 days until it shut down without warning on my wife. while trying to restart it sometimes it would a) do nothing at al b)engage starter but not turn engine, and c) turn the engine just fine but not start. while looking at the car today me and a mechanic who is a friend of a friend noticed the wire harness that attaches to the distributor was only halfway plugged in, so we plugged it in and now it eliminated 2 of the 3 problems. now it just turns over but does not start, also the auto shut off relay is making noises. the mechanic who was looking at it with me said he thinks that because the distributor wiring was barely touching and probably sparking, basically shorting, that it may have blown the computer. The shop that did the work agrees that they probably didnt connect the wiring all the way but it cant short the computer because on my engine it doesnt send any electricity to the computer. so i am needing any info i can get so i have some ammo when i go in there to havethem fix it at their cost. Like can it blow the computer and would that work, could it have blown the cam sensor or any others associated with the distributor, and could it have maybe blown the auto shut off relay. i just wanna cover all my bases for when he calls me to tell me what hes found. thank you all for your help

 

Can they ck for codes? Sure you could have a blown controller.

 

there werent any codes at all

 

Problem supposedly solved. The shop said that something with the computers ground was corroded witch caused it to not fire up, and the clicking in the asd relay was not coming from the asd relay but from somthing else there i cant remember but it was clicking because the computer was trying to get ground from there to compensate. Dont know if maybe it was something else or not that was easy but they dont really wanna say it was. I think its funny though that the distributor wire harness disengaged at the exact time the other thing went wrong but, whatever. They did what they did for free and although i have to pay the tow bill, if its running good and no more problems im happy with that. Thanks to ev3eryone for all help and suggestions.