Starting problems

[Baander]

Our 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan has some serious problems. We has less than 75,000 miles on it and have had it in the shop numerous times for expensive work. Now, sometimes we the car will start and other times it won't. When you turn it over it clicks, but I can hear some kind of movement in the dash board underneath the glove compartment. Sort of like something opening and closing, very difficult to describe. Other times I turn it over and it starts just fine. It's not the battery, we just replaced it. Does anyon have any ideas what this could be? I doubt it is the starter, because at times the engine starts up without a problem... although I could be wrong. Does anyone else have similar problems?

[Tercel GTS]

go to a starter rebuilder in your area and get the contacts replaced, if you take the starter off and carry it to the shop it should only cost like $25

[jipkiss]

I own a 1992 Dodge Caravan and I have had similar problems myself. I replaced the starter in May. The day I replaced it, I took my parents out to eat. When I cranked it, the engine didn't turn over. So off I went on an electrical short hunt. I would have saved myself a lot of time had I simply taken voltage drop readings across the starter wires right away. The car has a Nippondenso starter. I checked on the Internet about these starters and noticed that it is very common for the wire running from the starter solenoid terminal back to the positive battery cable to go bad, especially in hot weather or when the engine is running hot.
When I ran a check of the voltage across the wire, it registered .001 volts. The continuity check on the same wire indicated infinite resistance. So even if the battery is giving the starter adequate voltage, the solenoid isn't returning it. These starting problems also happened with the old starter in the vehicle. For the curious, on a 3L V6 engine, the starter is underneath the car at the center of the bumper. Just look for the hood ornament, then find the transmission bellhousing underneath the minivan. The starter is opposite the bellhousing. Cleaning the wires could help, and so would checking the tightness of the nuts that hold the solenoid and battery connectors to their posts. A Hanes manual definitely helped me. I hope this helps.

[Baander]

Well, we took the car in and here is what happened. Evidentally, a gasket went bad and leaked oil on the starter shorting it out. The starter was completely gone. We replaced the gasket and replaced the starter, all for about $260 including labor. We have decided to sell the caravan and buy a honda odyssey. Our other car is a honda civic with 175,000 miles on it and (Praise God) we have not had any major expenses on it at all. We are just now putting money into it (not much) which is to be expected for a car this old. The original clutch is still working. Thanks to everyone for their advice and help.

[WOW!]

BAANDER you might want to check this web site before you buy your Honda Odyssey

http://www.carsurvey.org/review_18581.html

[adbaker]

Originally Posted by Baander

Our 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan has some serious problems. We has less than 75,000 miles on it and have had it in the shop numerous times for expensive work. Now, sometimes we the car will start and other times it won't. When you turn it over it clicks, but I can hear some kind of movement in the dash board underneath the glove compartment. Sort of like something opening and closing, very difficult to describe. Other times I turn it over and it starts just fine. It's not the battery, we just replaced it. Does anyon have any ideas what this could be? I doubt it is the starter, because at times the engine starts up without a problem... although I could be wrong. Does anyone else have similar problems?

I had this problem on a 1996 Caravan and (finally) made an easy fix. Would get the "click", but starter wouldn't kick in. Could usually get it started after many repeated attempts at turning the key. Checked that battery connections were clean and tight first, still didn't work. Then I checked the starter connections. This is easy to do as the starter is in the front of the engine behind the radiator and easy to inspect.

The ground is a metal strap bolted to the starter. Made sure that was clean and tight, (it was). The positive connection to the starter is a snap on metal clip. Removed that and noticed that the female connector was likely more open than it should have been. I used a standard screwdriver to bend it as to make a tigher connection when snapped back onto the starter. Before reconnecting it, I sprayed it with WD-40 to clean and then filled the female connector with grease. It has been over a month now with no more starting problems!!