problem with wife's pacifica

[jimbo74]

so i guess this has been going on for awhile, and my wife just dismissed it, and never told me about it..... today, she said it was the worst it has ever been.....

so...... it was 100* outside, and we jumped in hte car to go, wouldn't start..... crank was good, so the starter and battery are out... -- doubt it is a nuetral or park safety switch issue, as i tried wiggling it to no avail... just wouldn't start..... tried several times, with 30 seconds in between..... nothing, just wouldn't start........ then.... i got it to start after sitting a minute or 2...... this happened every time we went to go somewhere today... during the hottest part of the day.... now that it is cooler, it starts up first time, no issues.

vehicle had 1/3 tank of gas, thought that could have been the issue, filled it up, same thing.

seems to only do this, when it is hot..... no issues when it's cool

it's an 06 chrysler pacifica

[Squeebs]

its a chrysler pacifica. problem solved.

kidding. never heard of that... some heat sensor gone bad that thinks its to hot to run? some sort of auto kill?

[HULK]

I need some more info about it....Does it do it after the car itself has been driven and it is hot, or even if it is hot outside and it is the first time you start it?  Has it died on you while you were driving it?  Once the car is running, does it run rough when stopped at a light? Do you have the 3.5 or 3.8?  In my past experience with Dodge/Chrysler vehicles, just knowing what I know, my mother in law's town and country did a similar thing, and it was the crankshaft position sensor.  She has the 3.8 on her van.  Sorry man, but I have not heard too many good things about those vehicles, plus I have worked on them many times.  My parent's neighbor has one, and they have dumped some money in it.  Though I do know some people who are very happy with them, so hopefully you have good luck with yours.

[junya92toy]

Could be vapor lock, try stepping on the gas all the way.

Certain hondas would do this after driving it and its hot, after you let it sit for 15 mins it wouldnt restart. The main efi relay would heat soak, and break a connection in there, cold it would shrink and make contact, hot it wouldnt.

[jimbo74]

Not sure on engine. Does it first time after it has been sitting and then everytime thereafter but only if it is still hot outside. When it is cold there are no issues. Also the cel never triggered

[Squeebs]

I work at a lube shop, and ive noticed that a lot of dodge products have dealer repair stickers under the hood that say "ecm reflashed on instert generic date here"

Maybe it just needs to be reflashed. contact the dealer see if there is a recall

[4RunnerChevy]

Our jeep had similar issues, ours was a crank sensor, then the ECU.  Then I had pick and pull come get the POS Chrysler product.

[HULK]

The crank sensor is very popular to cause this on Dodge/Chrysler motors for some reason.  I would say change that out first.   You might be able to get one from carparts.com, or specialized parts planet.  I know they ship their products, and guarantee their parts too.  4runnerchevy had it happen on his jeep as well.  It is definitely cheaper than the ECU.

[*FFC*]

Sounds like what our old Ford used to do. Coil/ICM maybe???

[4RunnerChevy]

The crank sensor is very popular to cause this on Dodge/Chrysler motors for some reason.  I would say change that out first.   You might be able to get one from carparts.com, or specialized parts planet.  I know they ship their products, and guarantee their parts too.  4runnerchevy had it happen on his jeep as well.  It is definitely cheaper than the ECU.

I got the cran sensor from RockAuto for cheap.  I got the ECU from a rebuilder for cheap with a warranty.  I would look up TSB's and consumer complaints before you start buying.  Maybe someone else had the same problem.

[jimbo74]

Little update. Does it everytime you start the car. Doing it now in cold, morning weather. Tried starting in nuetral as well as park. Wiggled the shifter as well. On my last attempt when it did start, i had accidentally wiggled it too much and somewhat into reverse. So maybe it is the tranny linkage or nuetral safety switch? It doesn't stall when driving, nor display any cel. However i will confirm engine size and run the code scanner just in case later tonight

[jimbo74]

Its got 3.5 engine. We might have it figured out. Prelim tests 2nite were good. Will see if prob solved in morning

[HULK]

Let me know, I'm curious.

[jimbo74]

so, it looks like it was an issue of a dying fob battery. her car has a IDENTITY fob that isn't part of the actual key. i guess it had been blinking all of a sudden, on it's own..... when i saw this, i thought that the spot where it was blinking from looked like a ! to me, that would indicate a warning, or attention signal

so we found her old spare that was trashed due to accidentally being dropped into an industrial paper shredder... and what do you know? started up first time.... and everytime there after.....

[HULK]

At least you got it going. Cool man.

[4RunnerChevy]

Glad your back, and glad you got it figured out.  Now lets turn the Pacifica into a wheeler, so you can wheel. Honestly she won't mind.

[jimbo74]

haha, i would rather try and wheel with the 2wd dodge dakota i am borrowing from ym father in law, its a standard cab, with a 6 ft bed.... 2000, 3.9l, automatic... with 31s


hopefully, i will be getting a first gen 4runner soon.... my plan is to get an 85, but i am ok with 86-89...... the 85 just for the higher frame arch.... but when building it --- you redo all the stuff that makes a sa different from an ifs anyways




i am glad her car is fixed!!!!! man, i was thinking... oh great.......