2000 t&c shut off

i have a 2000 t&c and have had it since febuary....my husband got up one morning took the kids to school and it ran fine.....i got in it about 3 hours later and it would do nothing..... my husband said the fan was running but i had the ignition off... tried to jump it off it cranked and stayed running about one minute then shut off.... heard some cliking in the relay box.... husband said it was the auto shut off thing making noises....he switched it out with another and still nothing...... he got it to crank one more time for a few seconds then the check engine light came on and now nothing........ please help!!!!! we both work and having only one car is rough...... *sigh*:headshake

Jump start it using jumper cables and another vehicle. If it starts you likely have a battery issue. Have the battery charged then load tested. If the battery is 5 or more years old just replace it. Make sure the battery connections are clean and tight.

"The fan was running". Which fan? Radiator cooling fans or climate system blower fan? Either way it sounds like it could have drained the battery. Need to know which for troubleshooting specifics. Oh and welcome to the forum.

when we did jump it off it was with jumper cables and another vehicle..it just wouldnt stay crunk......my husband tried it again today and was able to get it to crank but would shut off while still connected to the other car.:frown:

it was the radiator cooling fan that was still running.


i appreciate you answering me so quick.

You have a bad radiator cooling fan relay. It's mounted on the frame next to the radiator - driver's side. Cost anywhere from $30 to $60.

you were right!! thank you so much....we also found out why it would not stay crunk.....the little ground wire had some how come loose from the terminal thing and thats why it would only stay crunk while connected to another car....the relay thing was 46 dollars and some change with tax at autozone.

thank you again for all of your help i bout went crazy without my van. :)

Happy to hear all is well. Ya that little ground wire thing at the terminal thing will do it everytime. :cheers:

In case you don't know and I've got to smack me for not telling you this but you can check for fault codes by cycling your ignition switch 3 times from off to on (not start) leaving it on. You then either count the flashes of the service engine soon (SES) light or read the codes directly off the odometer display. These codes will give you a clue of which direction to go. The SES light indicates a code is stored in the memory. Some codes will be stored even without the SES light coming on.

yea we had bought a book for the van and it had that in there but it wouldnt do anything after we cycled the switch....dont know...prolly wasnt doing it right lol ....


thanks again :)