ok I replaced the ac evaporator so the dash was out. set everything back in to find out it wont start. At times it will turn over but no fire. Has fuel pressure. So I took dash back out to make sure nothing was forgotten. Set steering column down and tried it and thing started, hooked dash all back up column up in place and same thing no start. checked wires going into switch ans main bulk head no loose wires. tried another ignition switch same thing but when I have mine in place one relay in engine compartment clicks constantly. With all wires on ignition switch hooked up there is no chime when keys in ignition. The shift indicator at times has all gears with the square around them and at times just the letters. Sometimes it will turn over then as soon as you let off the key and try again it wont. Let it sit then come back and it may or may not turn over. Any ideas?

anyone? To me at times when it wont start its like it is in gear where nuetral safety switch wont let it turn over.

i could be way off here, buddy of mine had a van doing about the same thing, the wire going outside to the power box had issue of broken wires and when it wasnt being pulled on it would start, when he put everything back it started up ran great, , having said that, loo out side to the power box for broken wires or pulled ground wire,
by the way they did have issues with the pcm that year
good luck

would pcm do this? And all of a sudden? there are 3 ground wires that I took off that I remember. 2 about on the left side of the radio and one on the right side between the radio and the passenger air bag. Plus the one on the radio too I guess. Just thinking out side the box the radio and the heater controls aren't plugged in but the top dash cover info center and the gauges are plugged in. I guess also the head light and mirror switches aren't either. The etx relay is the one that has been clicking btw.

was the dash out of this ??
as for relays clicking , do you have light flashing on the heater control panel??
if they are flashing there is a way to reset and calibrate , by putting it in cold position, and pushing in and holding in 2 buttons the power and rear wiper button hold until it stops flashin, , this is a diffrent deal than the no-start,
the start while colum is down is beacuase the wires either on the colum are relaxed when you put it in place there are wires that for some reason are being unconnected,
i take it this vehicle ran fine before dash removal??

If it has security on it after a few start attempts it will disable the starter, Can't remember if its 3 or 5. Not sure on the 2000 I had a 98 doing the same thing and it was the connector plug on the back of the instrument cluster. They had solder joint problems on the circuit board pins, cracks around the pins you can only see with a magnifying glass. If I smacked the top of the dash it would start. Wiggle the plug while trying to start it at the instrument cluster. With the battery hooked up you can also pull the IOD fuse under the hood in the main fuse block for a minute and reset the body control module. If you had the dash out I would be leaning to instrument panel connectors. If your remote keyless entry is not working make sure you plugged the RKE module back in and BCM connections.

yes dash was out completely. It ran fine before this too. Currently the only thing hooked up is the upper dash info center wire and the instruments. The radio,heater,headlights,mirror,dash speakers,passenger air bag,power output plug in,traction control are not plugged in. What fus should I unplug to reset body control module? As far as wires being tight everything seems to be nice and loose and back in original postition holes. Just a strange though but does all that stuff need tobe plugged in? I was thinking that before I install everything again I'd make sure it ran rather than install then chase things.


thanks guys!

yeah remote key fob works no problem. Sumetimes the chime works with in in and in off postition and sometimes it wont.

Anyone got an idea on the gear selector not showing what gear its in just showing all being in a square?

corey

You have a connector or pinched wire issue sounds like to me .Did you remove shroud from colomn and carefully disconnect all the switches? I would double check that and all other connectors at fuse / junction block.

You said you dropped the column down and it started right?
If it did it sure sounds like there is a wire or two that is broken and with the column down it makes the connection. Try and wiggle some the column wires around and see if it changes or starts.

yeah dropped colum and it started. I will have to check that instrument idea out. As far as wires being pinched thats the hard part cause all wires are free or seem to be. as far as the pulling the fuse to reset the body computer if battery is disconnected does that reset it?

corey

Why do you want to reset the body controller ? Unplugging the battery is the same as fuse .A lot of stuff you cant do without DRB .I dont think resetting BCM is going to do any good for your issue .PCM runs all starting and security anyhow .

one of the responses was to full the fuse to reset that so was just wondering as I have been disconnection the battery everytime I walk away from it but at times I wish the thing would short out and burn up but thats another story.

thanks

Sounds like the column is losing ground. I had a similar problem with my SRT. If I move the tilt up or down the horn would work intermittently. Does it have plastic washers where the column bolts to the dash frame? If so take out one of tthe washers and sandwich regular metal washers in it's place. If nothing else run a jumper wire from the column to the dash frame and see if it still acts up.

simple.....check volts at pin connector ecm/pcm . Sounds like ecm see's no battery volts to power itself.

well took it to dads dealership and had one of the mechanics look at it (dad hasn't gone to school for the "new cars" since the early 90"s). Hooked battery charger up to it then jason crawled and looked it all over ran tests. Found some wires by the junkion block that were he thought stretched. Moved them then found a diode that was bent and looked damaged. Straightened that out. He was going to test the wires with test light using power output on dash but remembered he seen a blown fuse for it in the fuse?relay center in the engine compartment. Replaced that then tried it before he checked the power output of the wires. It started. Shut it off 4 times and everytime it started. Figured that I'd then need the junkion block and that he was done. Unhooked battery charger put cover back on fu/relay center. He said well before I leave I want to try 1 more time. Guess what. Wont start! So back to checking the junkion block. Tapped on it a few times trying to start it. Nothing. Went out side and started tapping on relay center as I was holding key in start position. Nothing at 1st but once he started tapping on it a single hit each time it would turn over. Hit it as it was turning over and it would stop just like I released the key. Hit it again it would turn over. So he ran the test on the power out put on the wires by the junkion block they had power but then it lost power at the coil. So he said it goes from under dash to relay center which then goes to coil for spark of which it has none there. So I need a relay center. I asked him how much i owed him coming in on a day off when he had relatives in town and he says Nothing. I wasn't coming in here expecting to get paid. So with that we think we maybe get to start the van next wednesday when the part comes in!.


Thank you to those that replied with ideas. I tried them all!

corey