1998 Intrepid gauges went blank, now wont start

Thanks "Max" and Bill. Odometer is reading last "known" mileage,
and fails to accrue anymore miles while driving. Wonder how long it
would take to diagnose. "Max", as far as the keys: I don’t THINK they
have chips in them, because I just had the dealer punch me out a new
one about 6 months ago, and it only cost me $15. As I recall from my
GM products, a "coded" key cost far more and I can see the chip
imbedded in the shaft of the key, are Chrysler products similar? I
don’t know if this is the original anti-theft system or not. It has a
little red flashing beacon on the top center of the dash and looks
"factory" but I suppose could have been added. About 2 years ago, I
took it to the dealer to have some "keyless entry" fobs made up, but
they said at the time that one of the body modules were bad and that
it would cost way more than the convenience to have it repaired. I
wish I took notes, but they didn’t mention anything then about an
"aftermarket" alarm system. They said that the module is not what
would cost, but GETTING to it would. Hmmm. Oh well. I’m probably not
going to take it in today as I have no ride back. Do you think
"advance auto" free "check engine" light diagnostics may be equipped
to pull codes from those modules? As mentioned before, my buddy’s
could not. Bill, that "thousands of dollars" sure is nasty sounding. I
must say clarify: this problem is NOT intermittent. It has not has
not been right since the wife drove it home that night when the dash
went out on her (and lit back up). It didn’t start for three days. Not
sure why it decided to start, but it di after buddy put it in neutral.
Now starts normally, bur all above symptoms persist. Even A/C is not
working!! Confusing. If Dodge can figure it out in an hour, it would
be well worth the money.

 

The saga continues: Well, all bets are off. It started this morning
and after two seconds, it died. Tried 3 more times and once again wont
even crank (sound familiar). Don't know if this all points to one
"sure fire" thing, but here I sit, back to needing a tow just to get
it to the dealer. Just for ha-has, I stayed in the car, locked it,
shut the door, then opened it from inside. The alarm (car horn)
started to sound. This is normal for this car since we've owned it,
dont know if thats how a "factory" alarm system is supposed to work. I
just tried that to see if that wouldnt work, maybe further pointing to
a faulty "skim" module. I await any further input or tests, from you
guys, but getting tired of "bothering" you about it as well. Perhaps
we've exhausted the possibilities of "long distance" troubleshooting.
Will keep you posted to the outcome of all this, even it's the
proverbial bullet to end it's misery. Thanks

 

That's how my wife's 2001 Sebring factory alarm works.
-Thief breaks window, reaches in and opens the door, alarm then goes off.

This Sebring has the chip in key, but a key copy without the chip can
open the door from the outside with no alarm sounding. When the non
chip key copy is used to start the car, it only runs for a few seconds.

 

This car is a 1998 Intrepid ES (2nd generation LH), so the "key
trick" (turn key from off to on 3 times in quick succession WITHOUT
starting engine) will not cause the check engine light to flash, as it
did for earlier vehicles. 1998+ LH cars have the key trick, but they
will display check engine codes in the odometer display.
Unfortunately, not all codes will be displayed, just major ones, and
certainly no codes from other modules. If there are no codes to
display, nothing will show up in the odometer display.

Also, the Sentry Key Immobilizer Module (SKIM) was a new feature for
LH cars for the 1999 model year, so a 1998 LH car should not have this
feature. The illuminated check engine light implies that it probably
wouldn't be a SKIM issue anyway.

Greg Houston

 

I don't think this car would have the SKIM (Sentry Key Immobilizer
Module) system, as it is a 1998 Intrepid. Chrysler added the SKIM
option for the 1999 model year, it was not previously available for LH
vehicles.

 

what month in 98 is on the door Vin tag?

 

Neither my '98 nor '99 Concordes have SKIM, a fact that I am very
thankful for.

From what I read on the LH car forums, SKIM is proof that technology
can be a blessing or a curse. It makes DIY'ers more reliant on the
dealer to do the simplest diagnostic and repair tasks at great expense,
and impedes or eliminates being able to swap very inexpensive modules
from salvage yards that otherwise would be perfectly interchangeable.

IMO, the benefits of things like SKIM are far outweighed by the costs
and troubles they cause. I would even submit that many cars go to the
junk yard early because people simply can't afford the greatly inflated
costs of troubleshooting and repair of systems that otherwise could be
fixed very inexpensively by the DIY'er.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

yeah technology is a fickle lady...sometimes its great, but it can really
bite you at times.

and its made a lot of guys lazy these days too. no real troubleshooting
skills from some guys I talk to!

 

from salvage yards that otherwise would be perfectly interchangeable.

Yeah, like a power steering cooler!