Caravan cylinder 6 misfiring

Hello! Looking for help! We have a 3.3L engine in our 98 Dodge Caravan.

I was on a trip in Northern Ontario, when half way through the trip, the engine started making a ticking noise. I took it to a big name shop, and they said it was a lifter and needed an oil change. So they changed it, and I went on the rest of my trip. The ticking was still evident on the way back, and when it stopped on me, I ended up towing it. I didn't take it back to the same shop though. I took it to a small shop, on a recommendation.

The shop there said that the engine had seized up and needed to be replaced. I was up there on my own and my husband was home here in Michigan. So we decided to get it replaced up in Ontario. I drove it around town before I came home, and it had stalled on me twice in a row. I took it back to the little shop and they cleaned out the throttle area.

Now we are having troubles with that engine. The engine wouldn't start, and it blew smoke. It barely made it to the shop here in town where they said that we needed another engine! We just don't have that kind of money, and I thought I could find some help here. The shop here didnt' want to do a diagnostic on it, (I don't know why) so my husband just drove it to Auto Zone, where they did a quick system check on it. It seemed to drive alright to AZ. The service engine light is on also.

My husband told me that the Auto Zone guy said cylinder 6 was misfiring. So my husband drove it home and he changed the spark plug for that. That hasn't solved the problem. I was wondering if anyone knew of any possible fixes for this. I did search the other threads, but thought I would just explain here.

Thanks for any help anyone could give us!

The ticking noise you heard originally was probably a malfunctioning valve lifter (stuck or gummy). What subsequently occurred I surmised was when you continued to drive your car, you must've damaged a valve or valve stem. That puts that cylinder out. The car must be running without the affected cylinder. Bottom line is it will need a major surgery. They may find something else wrong with the other cylinders because of mileage.

You had the engine changes in ontario....Did they give you any kind of warranty?

You had the engine changes in ontario....Did they give you any kind of warranty?


Yes, there was a warranty. The shop refunded us for the engine. It was not feasible to tow it back to Ontario.

There are other items that can cause a misfire besides a plug. The wire may also be the culprit or you could have a bad injector. Of course it has to be the hardest one to get to. If I were your husband I would do a compression test on the engine. This will tell you if any valves are stuck open or not and if there are any issues with the head gaskets. If the compression test comes out ok then I would replace the plug wire and the fuel injector to see what happens. What color was the smoke and is it still smoking?