Hi,
I'm posting this for my daughter.
Occasionally she has trouble starting her Caravan after it's been sitting for about 20 minutes. She's found that if she hits the accelerator hard just before attempting to start, it starts fine, but she does not, it will turn over and over, but will not start. She hasn't noticed this behaviour befor now, and is wondering if there's a problem that need to be corrected. Thanks for your help.
John

 

Could be that she has a leaking fuel injector, or there is a service bulletin on misfires caused by faulty spark plugs and wires. She should take it to the dealer to see what her problem could be. Should be under warranty.

 

Thanks Brandoncrone,
If she had some problem like the ones you describe wouldn't the check enigine light come? (I assume it's the idiot light in the shape of an engine.)
John

 

no not necessarily, the misfire monitor hasn't started yet. Usually that takes about 30 seconds of run time.

 

Right, but wouldn't the light come on at some point?
John

 

Probably not, once the engine has started and stopped skipping the small amount of fuel that is leaking past the injector isn't enough to cause a misfire. Each firing of a fuel injector lasts at most 4 to 6 milliseconds. The long start is due to the fuel pressure leaking down and it takes a few seconds for the fuel pump to repressurize the system. The best way to verify everything is to hook up a fuel pressure guage to the fuel rail and watch the guage after the engine is switched off. If it goes down in a hurry then it is most likely a bad injector. If not, then there is another problem someplace else.