[5th Gen : 08+]: 2011 GC - No Start (not the usual symptoms)
#1
04-24-2018, 07:48 AM
Join Date: Jul 2015
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2011 GC - No Start (not the usual symptoms)
My sister's '11 Grand Caravan won't start. We've gone down a rabbit hole of research on the Internet and I'm afraid now we might be connecting the wrong dots. Here's a synopsis:
- She's a school teacher. Drove it to school fine. At the end of the day the battery is stone dead
- Husband tries to jump it. No crank, and cables arc and get really hot
- My brother shows up with a jump pack. Witnesses said arcing, the van immediately kills the jump pack
The above was relayed to me by witnesses - I wasn't there. Sounds like a big short somewhere.
We have it towed to my dad's house. He removes the battery, charges it and reinstalls it without drama. No arcing, no hot cables, etc. Everything works as it should, but no crank and no fuel pump prime. I went over there to try to diagnose. The key fob worked as it should, turn to run, the right solenoids click but no crank. We provide 12V to the starter and fuel pump pins on the relays and it cranks, and the fuel pump runs but no start. Left the battery hooked up all week - it's not draining.
Dad disassembled the TIPM looking for burns on the printed circuit board. Looks good. Puts it back together and it cranks with the key now. WTF? But now, the ignition switch is sticking in the crank position. You have to manually turn it back to RUN. Isn't that purely mechanical (i.e., no electric mechanism would keep it from returning)? Another clue is that my sister had mentioned that it wouldn't let go of the key fob while a couple of times. I noticed the recall for this behavior stopped with the 2010 model year.
So now I don't know what I'm looking at issue-wise. TIPM? Transmission position sensor? Ignition switch? My sister does not have a ton of money to throw at it. I've seen a bunch of posts where the stealer just throws thousands of $$ in parts at it (at the customer's expense) and STILL didn't fix it.
Looking for advice as to what to check next.
- She's a school teacher. Drove it to school fine. At the end of the day the battery is stone dead
- Husband tries to jump it. No crank, and cables arc and get really hot
- My brother shows up with a jump pack. Witnesses said arcing, the van immediately kills the jump pack
The above was relayed to me by witnesses - I wasn't there. Sounds like a big short somewhere.
We have it towed to my dad's house. He removes the battery, charges it and reinstalls it without drama. No arcing, no hot cables, etc. Everything works as it should, but no crank and no fuel pump prime. I went over there to try to diagnose. The key fob worked as it should, turn to run, the right solenoids click but no crank. We provide 12V to the starter and fuel pump pins on the relays and it cranks, and the fuel pump runs but no start. Left the battery hooked up all week - it's not draining.
Dad disassembled the TIPM looking for burns on the printed circuit board. Looks good. Puts it back together and it cranks with the key now. WTF? But now, the ignition switch is sticking in the crank position. You have to manually turn it back to RUN. Isn't that purely mechanical (i.e., no electric mechanism would keep it from returning)? Another clue is that my sister had mentioned that it wouldn't let go of the key fob while a couple of times. I noticed the recall for this behavior stopped with the 2010 model year.
So now I don't know what I'm looking at issue-wise. TIPM? Transmission position sensor? Ignition switch? My sister does not have a ton of money to throw at it. I've seen a bunch of posts where the stealer just throws thousands of $$ in parts at it (at the customer's expense) and STILL didn't fix it.
Looking for advice as to what to check next.
#2
05-09-2018, 06:17 PM
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Okay - replaced the TIPM and it still didn't want to start.
Pulled the plugs from the PCM and a bunch of water came out. We had the stealer re-flash the PCM for the recall and they evidently broke some kind of water deflector/protection. It was taped back together with electrical tape, which actually made the situation worse.
New ECM fixed it. Dealer claims no responsibility, of course.
Pulled the plugs from the PCM and a bunch of water came out. We had the stealer re-flash the PCM for the recall and they evidently broke some kind of water deflector/protection. It was taped back together with electrical tape, which actually made the situation worse.
New ECM fixed it. Dealer claims no responsibility, of course.
#3
05-26-2018, 12:44 AM
For my van, the issue was my shifter. It didn’t want to recognize that it was in Park. If I put my key in and push the brake and put the shifter into drive and then back down to park and jiggle it a little, that would make it work sometimes.
If not, pull off the little tab thing by the shifter and push the button in there. That’s the neutral safety switch. That bypasses the park sensor and will allow you to start your vehicle without it being in park. Keep your foot on the brake though! You don’t want any lurching.
If not, pull off the little tab thing by the shifter and push the button in there. That’s the neutral safety switch. That bypasses the park sensor and will allow you to start your vehicle without it being in park. Keep your foot on the brake though! You don’t want any lurching.
