94 dodge caravan ignition coil

Has anyone had problems with their ignition coil on their caravan. My
van has twice stopped as if you turned the key and shut the van off.
Not fun as you are going down the road. Both times I had the van
taken home by the tow truck and once home found there was no spark to
the plugs. No spark between the cap and coil. But both times, just as
I was about to test the power to the coil the van would fire right
up! Nothing worse than an intermittent problem. I live in lovely WET
Vancouver and both times the vehicle was left outside. My thoughts
are that it could be a moisture problem but not sure if it's at the
coil or somewhere up the line. Any help would be uber good!!

Ian

 

Intermitant problems are the worst. You may not want to throw parts at it
as that can get expensive. Your best way to diagnose the problem would be
with a scan tool that is capable of reading all sensor values. You didn't
mention what engine you have but you need to be able see if you have a
signal from the cam and crank sensors or distributor pickup to the ECU. You
also need to see if the ECU is firing the coil. You may also be able to
check all that with a meter and wring diagram but that would take a while.

 

It could very well be a moisture problem, I live on the CDN Wet Coast
too.
My suggestion is to clean and replug all exposed connectors under the
hood.
A blower canister for electronics circuits is good for the cleaning.
I've found that dirt collects on these connectors and leads to problems
in wet weather, such as today.

I am surprised you didn't get an engine check light. If you do the
sequence of ignition key "on, off, on, off, on" may give you a code.
They are two number sets, with "5 5" as the last one.

 

I had a similar problem on three different caravans from 1988, 1989, and
1990. What happened was that the wiring harness had an internal failure
at a fusible link, leaving the ASD relay unpowered. The wiring diagram
showed that this relay is supposed to be supplied with 12 volts directly
from the + battery terminal at all times. In all there cases, the wire
broke internally.

My chosen repair method was to permanently install a jumper wire between
the battery and this relay, which made the vehicle operate as it should.
I don't know if the 1994 model is wired the same way, but it's worth
looking at. What you want to do is wait for it to fail again, and then
check to see if the ASD relay has 12 volts on the terminal that is
connected directly to the battery. Now that I'm thinking about it, my
1989 had this problem intermittently.

 

Thanks everyone,
I tried the key on offf on off on thing and nothing. Wasn't sure if
it worked on my year of Caravan (94). Was thinking of getting my
hands on an OBDII and doing some testing myself. By the way the
engine has the 3.0 V6. I was wondering about the bank of fuses and
relays on the drivers side wheel arch. Is the ECU under this bunch?
I suppose with this engine it has a pickup unit within the distributor
and not on the flywheel.

I bought the van as a work truck for $1800 from a local school
teacher. He said it had just had the heads rebuilt and never gave him
any trouble. 24 hours after I bought it the head gaskets went and he
wasn't prepared to give any money back. I was hoping I could get the
shop he took the van to to warranty their work and I was told the the
auto teacher at his school had done the work. What a joke! Half of
the head bolts were at 40lb/ft instead of the recommended 80lb/ft.
The heads were warped more than 0.020" and were junk. The water pipe
in the valley had been redone using RTV sealant and many of the nuts,
bolts and clamps were only finger tight. My guess is that the
students did most of the work. I've since rebuilt the engine from the
bottom up as one of the centre pistons suffered hydraulic compression
and bent a rod!

 

It does.

Your van isn't OBD2 equipped, so that would be a waste of money.

Yes, left front corner of engine bay right next to the battery.

Two pick-ups in the distributor.
You may want to disconnect the battery for a few seconds,
reconnect it and then try starting the engine, then cycles the
key three times and check for a code 11.

So, was the intermittent stall/no start there before you rebuilt
the engine?

 

Hi,
thanks for the individual responses. I did all of the engine work
before Christmas and this problem of the engine just stopping has
happened twice in the last month. Under the hood all the wires look
pretty ratty but when you really take a look it's just the cloth wrap
that Chrysler used that's deteriorating. Also, with this van I have
replaced the tires, all brakes, front wheel bearings, inner/outer tie
rods, heater core flush, muffler and resonator, front struts, rear
shocks and replaced the front motor mount that was stick welded back
together after by the looks of it someone tried to jack the vehicle up
on the part! Ah well, I'm the dummy for not nit picking through the
vehicle before I bought it!
By the way, what is code 11?

Ian

 

Code 11, IIRC, is something like "Battery was disconnected".

Holy sheep dip Batman! You paid $1800 for this thing, and you did ALL
that to it??? I bet you spent double what you paid for it.

Sorry bud, I have never been a fan of the 3.0 Mitsubishi engine. If
the heads blew, I would have either dropped in a 3.3, or pushed it off
of the nearest cliff.

Don't get me wrong! I had a 1994 GC (with the 3.3) and I loved it. I
did plenty of repairs to it over a 5 year period. And if some 16 year
old punk with his "learners" license had not blown a top sign and
totalled it, we would still be driving it.

I guess hind sight is 20/20. All I can tell you for sure is - in the
event of an accident - do NOT expect to get one single dime for all
the money you sunk into it for repairs! You MIGHT get 10% over "book
value", but that is it. And our insurance company would not even
consider anything that had not been done in the last 2 years are
contribbuting to the vehicles value! So my head gasket repair and
trans rebuild "did not count"?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hope you find the problem.

 

On. �My

Pickup coil in the distributor.

Bob AZ

 

On. ?My

Pickup coil in the distributor.

Or crank sensor.

Ted

 

No crank sensor on 1994 3.0L Change distributor

Claude

 

Before you dive into a distributor replacement you ought to be sure
whether there is power to the circuit. You guys could be right, but if
it were my van I would wait for it to go out again and check to see if
the fuel pump has power.

 

"ian marsh"

Starter still work?

Intermittent electrical problems are going to be where connectors make
contact - and that's pretty much that. I've just never seen a wire break
somewhere in the middle. People love to blame things they can't see.
Sensor issues generally get flagged by the computer and will throw a code.
In one case, on a 1994 Caravan, the power, signal lines to the distributor
needed to be resoldered. I pulled the metal pins from the plastic connector
body, dripped in some flux and added some new solder. Hot solder. I could
never "see" the problem with a meter, etc, but I suspected the connectors.
The resoldering ended my problem. I'd tried different anti-corrosive
greases to no avail. That often works, though, but not this time. I've
heard a few stories of people ordering entire new engine wire harnesses on
these Caravans to correct intermittent problems. I'd say you don't know
what's going on and/or have given up if you order a new harness, but I've
heard a few stories. The factory manual or a $15 subscription to
alldatadiy.com will get you your wiring diagrams. As someone else
mentioned, the ASD is also something to check via the fuel pump operation -
ie, your starter works, you hear the fuel pump cycle, the engine cranks, but
no spark - your ignition ckt is probably to blame. If no fuel pump, I
believe, then ASD ckt is prime suspect. If no starter, then look at relays
ckts.

- D