Long story
I am having issues with my 03 Grand Caravan 3.8L ES, First the two field wires for the Alt was cut and someone used wire taps to put them back together(Last owner) Well i didn't know it until it quit charging, and found one of the taps melted. Well i removed the taps and soldered the wires together and heat shrink, A day later i got a small evap leak code, I cleared it and it came back but went away on its own. Now a week later mind you its been driving fine for the past week I started it and let it idle while i loaded the kids and it stalled and thrown the MIL, but it fired right back up and stalled out again afew minutes later and afew more times, I pulled out my scanner and it was the dreaded P0601. Now i know normally that code just turns on the MIL but it doesn't effect driveabilty. Well today i went out to it and turned the key and started getting a relay clicking freaking out the dash and the van shutting off right away and the clicking went on. Now when i turn the key i hear the normal sounds, the cluster isn't freaking out but it will not spin over and no more P0601.... before i put out the $300 for a PCM and program any thoughts? In the video you can hear the relays before it shut down and after...

 

Well i jumped the relay and it spun over, i put ground to the relay and turned the key and it turned over, So is it needless to go any further or the PCM is dead now? Or is there something else i can check?

 

If you grounded 85 at the relay and it turned over, that reduces the problem to either the PCM or just a couple other things. I believe you can still buy PCMs from the online computer parts guys for around $200, which includes programming to your vin. But have you checked for melted injector/map wires in the section that runs under the PS reservoir? This section of wires melting is a systemic problem on the early gen 4, and happens like clockwork. If that wiring harness is melted (and not repaired), then it's almost certainly going to fry the new PCM the same way it did the original one.

 

I will check, I knew about the wiring issue but didn't know what area of the wiring, so if its under the PS tank i will check it, But i unhooked the battery for about 1hour 30 minutes yesterday while i went to town and when i came back i hooked the battery back up and it started but less than 10 seconds later it shut off and i could hear the relays clicking, AC was off but i could hear the compressor clicking, Fuel pump turning off and on IGN clicking off and on causing the cluster to start spiting codes.

 

This van is from up north i wonder if a grand strap broke Where does the PCM pull ground? Or does it ground through mounting bolts? If so wheres the body ground?

 

The one under the battery tray is usually the worst.

 

Well i think i found what caused the issue, The connector at the corner of the back head "had" two retaining pins to hold it up well i found it hanging at the exhaust so i pulled the cover off the wires and found them melted together..... When we get back from my little girls party today i will fix the wiring, I use solder and heat shrink and i will tie it up with zip ties so it never falls again. and maybe that will fix it but i fear its too late for the PCM. Tho i have seen that fix this issue with others.

 

btw only broken ground i found was at the front of the engine(belt side) that connects each side of the engine mount.

 

Although many of us describe this as 'frying the PCM', I've always wondered if there is actual physical damage from the crossed wires, or if it's just the firmware in ROM that gets scrambled. If it's the later, then a dealer reflash of the PCM should fix it. This problem is so common on the early gen 4 that it would be really helpful if someone who knows (for certain) would post if the PCM damage is physical, and can only be repaired by replacing the damaged HW components. I tend to suspect the problem is just a ROM overwrite, but would not advise anyone to spend $100 to reflash until someone can confirm it's not physical hardware damage.

 

Well got home did a temp fix and reroute of the wires. no more clicking of the relays, Turn the key and get the no spin issue, Ground the relay and it will turn over by the key. When you turn the key i can hear the normal relay clicks, fuel pump prime etc but no spin.