So if I am reading this right you have good spark to each plug right?....if you have good spark at each plug I would lean towards timing and it is firing at wrong time, seeing that u did a timing chain you may have things firing on wrong stroke and therefore no compression....double check that at tdc has both valve close for compression stroke....spark, fuel, compression should atleast make some noise....are you getting fuel?? is pump turning on and pressurizing the system.....a small test light at injector will let u know if it is pulsing too....double check valves closed at tdc...and make sure you are getting fuel, and verify spark and let us know....

 

After checking and rechecking, I have narrowed it down to the cheap EBAY timing chain set that I put in. I took off the valve cover and found the number 2 piston wasn't coming up at the correct time that valves were opening. I have given up ordering any vital engine parts on EBAY to save a couple of dollars. Probably be a week before I can get back to work on it but will keep everyone posted on the outcome of the timing gears and chain. Joe

 

oh man....I feel your pain on that one....bought a fuel pump for my van this summer off ebay too to have it last bout a mnth then loose pressure and tough starts....I had to change it a second time with junkyard pump....I hate doing same job twice due to my cheapness....still better then paying a shop to do the job though......good luck with it and keep us posted cheers

 

One other thing, when cranking I had no spark at the plugs. But when the key was released from cranking the plug would show a spark for a second.

 

First off, although this is currently a quiet forum, your thread is being displayed as a second gen instead of gen 4. I've never worked on any van other than our '03 and '05, so I was ignoring your thread until I happened to notice the 2003 in your sig. Perhaps there might be a bit more response if it shows up as gen 4.

It may help if you posted the reason for the work you did - most importantly what the problem was before you started the work. I've thankfully never need to mess around with the chain on either of our vans, but have done a few timing belts so I understand the concepts of the situation you're describing. Here's my input - very much JMHO - just throw it into the waste basket if you wish.

My guess is that there are very few makers of timing chains, and I can't imagine that any outfit making these parts would intentionally skimp, either in the material or labor. If you make a junk timing chain that's shown to cause engine failure, how long could you stay in business? Sure, a one-off defect is possible for anyone. But I can't see someone, EBAY or anywhere else, selling chain-related parts with any history of failure.

If you're willing to accept the above speculation, there would be 2 other possibilities for you current problem. First is obviously a mistake on the reinstall of the chain. I obviously can't comment on that, and it's up to you to confirm the job is totally correct.

Assuming quality parts and good install, there is one other possibility. On one of the other Dodge forums, I recall reading a fairly long thread on timing chains. IIRC, there was quite a bit of commentary in that thread about people having trouble related to chain parts not matching their specific van. Apparently there was some variation in parts, and quite a bit of confusion about which part(s) corresponded to the various van years. No idea if this is possibly your problem, but wanted to make you aware of it, just in case. This was quite some time ago, and hopefully you can find that information with some searches.

Good luck, and I hope you get this fixed without a lot more pain!

 

I just joined this forum to see if anybody could help. I did say the motor was pulled and a new crank kit and timing chain were installed on the first post. I did list this as generation 2 by mistake and couldn't figure how to change it. I have worked on cars since high school, I am currently 58 years old. The timing chain was installed correctly and was the correct listing on EBAY, but there were no marks on the chain. I won't no for sure if the marks still line up after I take the cover off. What does JMHO mean?

 

Only pump I've had luck with is Bosch. I put 3 Airtex pumps in my car before I got a good one. Never had luck with Delphi either.

 

Finally got to work on the van again. Removed the timing chain cover and inspected the chain and gears against the new ones bought from auto zone. The marks were off on the ones I installed, the ebay one only one mark on the crank gear and two on the camshaft. The chain had only one marked link instead of two. I didn't check it against the old ones I removed, and the book wasn't too clear about all marks on the chain and gears were supposed to match. Because the book said 3.3 and 3.8 I thought the colored links on the chain were for the 3.8. The crank gear had only one mark that looked like the mark for the chain and not to line up the gears. Hopefully this will solve the starting problem, won't be able to work on it again till Thursday. Will keep everyone up to date!

 

glad to hear you got her figured out...you could probably get away with marking gear that are on as they should be with new ones or old ones as a template and line everything up properly and return autozone kit....I am sure some ppl will tell you to just use known autozone gears, but up to you....your call....good luck, and thanks for the update

 

I would do that, but the chain that I got from ebay was sloppy and the unmarked chain concerns me. I really don't want to tear it a part again, so I'll just go with the auto zone matched set. Thank's for the advise, if it wasn't mine I probably would do it your way.