Ok, so I am an avid forum goer on many other sites, and I do admit I never had reason to come to a dodge forum.. I just have a work van. But this van is definitely in need of a few good brains figuring out, and I know in my other experiences.. forums are the "go to" place.

Here's the run down:

First it started just randomly dying going along the road. All gauges dropped, and though I'd have plenty of electrical power, something was "shorting it" to not allow it to turn back on. Had to wait a few minutes... wherever you were, be it in a nice safe place or 4 way light intersection. I can't have this! Ya know?

So we brought it to our mechanic and he said he narrowed it down to the far right connector on the computer. He said he could move it to get it to turn off if it was hot.. he'd let it run over an hour in the garage and moving that would shut it down. It was either the computer, or somewhere in the wiring.

I purchased a computer from All Computer Resources.. it's a professional distributor of ECU's etc.. they reman. Long story short, it didn't solve the issue. So we didn't know what to do. There was a bit of carbon pinging going on, so I (personally) replaced the Rotor Head, Distributor Cap, Coil Pack and air filter. Hoping that the Coil Pack was the shut down issue for some reason, we thought it to be fixed.

Naw.... it wasn't...

Now the pinging is gone (The contacts on the Distributor head were SO white with corrosion)... So that's great. Running like a champ now! ...but still dies and you have to wait till it is ready to start back up. To tell that, I put the ignition to ACC systems (just before rockin' the starter) and if the Battery / Gas gauges, etc, come back up then it will start no worries and run strong. But if the gauges are flat down when I put the ignition to ACC, it will just run the starter and not start.

So I've now replaced the Crankshaft Position Sensor and it seems that that has 100% fixed the shutting down in any kind of heat while riding.. but... Yesterday, after letting it set for 10 minutes (ran it for 15 up the street to pick up my daughter) it wouldn't start again and all the gauges were dropped. After 30 minutes, the gauges came back up and it ran wonderfully.

I've narrowed it down to the Cooling Sensor.... only other sensor would be the Throttle Control Sensor (I believe) and I don't think it's that. I think the Cooling Sensor may be failing, or something... so I think this is why it's now not starting.


Any and all thoughts welcome, and I'm willing to discuss this any further. I just really really need help. I'm not a mechanic, but I can do the simple enough things. I can twist a wrench, but I'm not pro... nor a hack. If I do it, it has to be done right whenever I do.

Cheers for any and all comments!

 

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Hmm, but I don't see the ignition switch causing the gauges to glitch out. They have light, there's dome light, and horn. It turns over just fine... I can turn it over till the bat is dead if I wanted, but the gauges up that means something is shorting out or sensing and shutting down it seems to me. Ignition would be either doesn't crank over, or cranks over and over without starting BUT doesn't affect the dash gauges. It shouldn't affect my gas gauge and temp gauge and bat gauge correct? Only reason I think this, is because I've replaced ignitions in both PT Cruiser and GMC Jimmy, and they had the symptoms I spoke of, but the gauges were still working and reacting. My gauges are just flat, until the "error" is sorted after turning it off and waiting a few more moments then back on.

And yes, I ment On it seems. I thought ACC was just before on, I'm sorry. Again, not a mechanic, but not a total noob.. or am I? lol!

Thank you so very much for your reply! I really appreciate it.

 

Replace the ASD relay, it controls power to everything you've mention that's losing power.

Check out the ASD relay sticky at the top of this forum: https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-r...internals.html

 

Anyone else have thoughts before I head off to work? So far, between 2 dodge forums.. the answers are Ignition and ASD Relay switch... Anybody thinking the Cooling Sensor like me?

 

On a computerized you need to verify what codes the computer has put up.
All the gages could be going to park because the cluster lost voltage due to the system power control or the cluster has power but lost the buss connection to the PCM. The one gage not controlled by the PCM is the Oil Pressure that goes directly to the cluster.
The next time that all the gauges go to park, run self test on the cluster. If it will not function in self test it is probably system power dropping.
Since the cluster is dead and the engine is dead my vote is for system power control which also will shut down the PCM.
good luck!

 

Having a smilar shut down issue in 99 Ram Van, 5.2. Would just quit but only when it was hot, especially if I am driving slow in bumper to bumper highway traffic coming home. Just changed the coil and think that has it solved. When it quit I pulled the engine cover and took off the coil wire on top of the distributor. When i turned the engine over there was no spark. New coil has me making it home with no unexpected stops. When the engine died all the gauges also went to default. Engine turned over like crazy, but wouldn't start until it sat for a while.

Don't know if it will help you or not, but there but thought I'd relate what I was just working through.

Best to ya,
Jim

 

The shutting down while driving along issue was CERTAINLY the Crankshaft Position Sensor for me! Very highly recommend changing that if it's dying as driving along! Now the only issue I have, and rarely, is after running if I shut it down for 10 mins or so it will do the same fail... but I'm 99% sure it's the ASD Relay switch. I unplug it and plug it back in and it comes back. If not, it's maybe the Cooling sensor.. I'm replacing both.

Cheers everyone!

 

I'm not having any shutdown issues since replacing the coil, but might consider replacing the crank sensor just because it has a LOT of miles on it and I now know it is a source of trouble. Thanks for the tip.

Jim

 

It is a super easy (2 bolts, no getting dirty) fix, so I'd highly recommend it!

Cheers Jimbo.