91 Dodge Caravan Engine sometimes runs a little rough & will not get any power

[dnr79065]

Originally Posted by CowboyMiller

hehe....i am so dredding dropping my tank AGAIN..just to clean out the in-tank filter..lol...i wonder if i could get away with not doing this if I fill my tank up like you do..haha..though that woudl suck to drain out a full tank then as oposed to a 1/4 tank now...I love my van...

222.060

1991

3.3L

I Bought it used have only owned it 1 year and 1 month I am female and I try hard to do repairs myself, if I can! most are normal maintenance. In the 1ST year have replaced Trans (used) , new fuel pump, new tires, new plugs new wires, new coil pack because the old one shorted out and melted all over the engine but don't know why, new PVC, new output speed sensor, new fuel filter, new air filter, Then the sliding door FELL OFF ! Just fell right off when I was closing it ... I had to put it back on, new oil and air filter, AC blowing hot shot the AC, radio shorted out so bought a new radio and installed it , Now it may need another new fuel pump???, when something goes out on this van it goes in four's last week the over head digital temp read out quit working but the lights work, my cruise control no longer works, Checked all the fuses and they are fine, horn only worked if you turn the wheel but fixed now, and the turn signals now shut off by them selves, these are just a FEW of the things that have been repaired or replaced on this van. all in one year. still have not figured out the cruise control and over head temp, but will eventually figure it out.LOL

The question with this van should be what am I NOT going to have to fix ?
Not getting away with anything though. I am wanting to fix it. it started out doing this quite often. then I added the B-12 Chem tool now it only does it as stated above.
I have been working on this for awhile... this thing is a pain in my @#% but, Yes I still love my van. I went from a 1975 Oldsmobile cutlass supreme,
to this van which is loaded...
to me it's luxury

[dnr79065]

Originally Posted by Bernard Feltzer

Since it acted up when it gets wet or humid, I would check spark plug wires where they plug into the coil pack. Look for green corrosion inside the terminals or near the rubber boots.

You have a camera, take some closeup photos of the engine and post them, maybe one of these old geezers will see an obvious problem.

Hey thanks for the reply
I check out all the wires where they plug into the DIS there was no green corrosion inside or near the boots, All looked good. But it has been raining for 2 days straight and the van has not done it again on start up.
I will get some pics and add them on here.

[CowboyMiller]

repair in 4's hu? hmmm...that means im 2 to go...repaired the oil pan and fuel pump...so..which two shall it be? lol...yea my cruies dont work either, its intermediate...sometimes it works sometimes it dont..its moody..lol

[jsinton]

You may very well be having the dreaded "clogged screen in the fuel tank" problem along with plenty of other people. Generally this occurs when people change their fuel pump, or in another case, the van was rear ended. But it's quite possible you are having this problem because you have sooooo many miles.

[dnr79065]

Originally Posted by jsinton

You may very well be having the dreaded "clogged screen in the fuel tank" problem along with plenty of other people. Generally this occurs when people change their fuel pump, or in another case, the van was rear ended. But it's quite possible you are having this problem because you have sooooo many miles.

Just checking in it's been raining then snowing here non stop since I last logged on. have not dropped the tank to clean it yet (no garage) but I have a system going and the van does not cause any problems. I wait until the tank gets just right above a 1/4 tank then I drop in 20 bucks in gas, Puts me just a little below full. doing it this way the van does not have problems. But if I let it get below 1/4 or I fill it to the max it will do it every time. Hoping the weather will be better and husband gets his vacation next month so we can do this together. And for the miles this 3.3L has on it it runs great. I am so surprised. But everything around the motor is needing to be fixed.

[bjaymo3]

As for the cruise control problem, look for two very small diameter rigid plastic tubes that transvese the top of the big black air intake. One of these is the cruise control vaccuum "hose". Most likely it is broken or at least cracked. While I have gotten a tone of useful info from AF, I actually found this one on my own while standing in the classic pose with one hand on the raised hood and the other scratching my head while looking around the engine. When I saw the broken hose, I remembered that I broke it while changing out the PVC. (You can't rest any part of your body on the hose or it WILL break.) So I bought heat-shrink tubing, slipped it over both ends at the break, held a lit cigarette lighter under the heat-shrink tubing for about two seconds while moving it back and forth along the length of the heat shrink splice. Solved my cruise-control problem immediately!

[bjaymo3]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that my Caravan is a 98 3.3. and there's actually only 1 rigid plastic tube, not 2.

[bjaymo3]

Have you had a diagnostic code reader hooked up yet? Maybe a friend has one. They are rather pricy. I've lost two bids on ebay so far trying to get an Actron CP9175 or even a CP9145.

[jsinton]

We're not saying you need a new fuel pump. In all likelihood, the fuel pump is good. It's a problem with whoever installed it. The recommend procedure is to CLEAN the tank when the new fuel pump is installed. Cleaning the tank involves dumping out the fuel, and using some sort of cleaner. It's a messy, difficult job, so nobody wants to do it. If you don't clean the tank, you run the risk of clogging up the little screen which covers the fuel pump inlet inside the tank. When you lower the tank to replace the fuel pump, the chances are that you dislodge all kinds of gunk in the tank. It seems to be a really common problem on this forum.