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'97 Engine Fires, Gasoline Won't Ignite


arichards80
04-24-2007, 04:17 PM
Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated...Here's the situation...before replacing the water pump on my '97 dodge caravan, it ran fine, just the water pump leaked. After replacing the water pump, the van started, drove around the block, but rather than idle it stalled. After each stall, it restarted, but once back at the garage and turned off (rather than stalling), it refuses to start. Everything seems to be fine, it even fires okay, but it just will not ignite the gas. The spark plugs are wet with gas, so it seems to be getting gas okay. Any ideas??

imamacanac
04-24-2007, 04:36 PM
Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated...Here's the situation...before replacing the water pump on my '97 dodge caravan, it ran fine, just the water pump leaked. After replacing the water pump, the van started, drove around the block, but rather than idle it stalled. After each stall, it restarted, but once back at the garage and turned off (rather than stalling), it refuses to start. Everything seems to be fine, it even fires okay, but it just will not ignite the gas. The spark plugs are wet with gas, so it seems to be getting gas okay. Any ideas??

You didn't mention which engine you have! If it's the 3.0 Mitsibishi it could be the timing belt has jumped some teeth. If it's the 3.3 or the 3.8 it could be your crankshaft or camshaft sensor. You would think that if it's the 3.0 your mechanic would have mentioned replacing the timing belt. Also you didn't mention weither you changed the waterpump yourself? The timing belt could be out of alignment. Good Luck.

arichards80
04-24-2007, 08:21 PM
It's the 2.4 engine. The water pump was a home job. My dad, husband, and brother did it together. They have already checked the camshaft sensor, the timing belt, timing...oh and by the way, they also replaced the timing belt, water pump, and thermostat all at the same time.

sneakybert
04-29-2007, 01:43 PM
Sounds like the whole job will have to be redone . Most likely the timing belt and or belt tensioner was improperly installed . Did they remove either camshaft sprocket ? They could have broke a camshaft dowel .

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