Just as title states.

Battery is good. No crank even with a 200a booster. Starter relay clicks with the key. Pull relay, and jump the terminals, and van will crank. But will not start. I swapped relays around thinking the relay was bad, but same thing.

It had been stalling a couple times. But it would fire right up. This last time it stalled while driving down the highway, it chugged for a second, caught, ran for a few miles more, then shut off. Pulled it to my house, and been tearing my hair out trying to figure this out.

I hate being a parts cannon. Unfortunately, my diagnostic tools are still in California and I am in Indiana right now. I am limited to a probe light, and a harbor freight multimeter that doesn’t read the same twice.

I already replaced the ignition switch but no go.

If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say the tipm is not sending signal to the pcm. But is the tipm getting the signal to even send a signal to the pcm?

I guess my question is, what are the very common issues that would cause this? The van is a 2003 but has just over 100k miles. It runs flawless when it runs. The stalling is only a recent thing, within the past week.

Thanks in advance for any and all hints/tips/tricks/advice.

The pcm provides the ground to the starter relay , it looks for the neutral safety switch first..did you try to start it in neutral?

Yes. Tried to start in neutral and we get the same click from the relay.

Also forgot, there are no CEL codes.

Sounds like its not seeing park or neutral position on the PRNDL switch ( in the trans )
BUT without hooking it up to a scanner to verify that ,,,,, anything I or anyone else tells you is a guess

Does the cluster show gear range position?

Been to long but I don't remember any common issues causing your problem

If you get the click from the relay, its seeing everything it needs or it wouldn't "click". When the relay clicks, it is completing the circuit and should be supplying the power to the starter solenoid. I assume when your "jumping across the terminals" you are going from the battery to the starter solenoid post to get it to crank.

If that is what you have, I would suspect a bad wire or a bad connection on either end of the wire going from the relay to the starter solenoid. Any corrosion on any terminal on the relay is enough to cause you a no crank situation.

On one of my Dakotas I had a no crank situation with the solenoid clicking, but if you jumped across the terminals in the relay, the starter would crank. What I found was the mechanical end of the keyed ignition switch had a broken loop that was suppose to pull the rod on the starter switch to the crank position. With the loop broken, it pulled far enough to activate the relay, but not far enough to pull the starter switch all the way to the crank position. A new mechanical end for the keyed ignition switch solved the problem, but to get it I had to replace the entire ignition key switch. Gene

This was my no crank...I see you jumped the relay..but did you check for ignition power when you turn the key and did you check for a ground...
https://youtu.be/3pDPniHMGFY

I had a 2001 caravan do that and the fix, I think, was tbe ground under the battery. The ground stud is welded to the frame, then painted, and relies on paint cutters on the terminal to make ground. I cleaned that, and added another to the block and it never did it again. It threw no codes, relays all good, would just quit while driving and not restart, but would after it sat.

Agree with other post, check your grounds. Clicking would indicate low voltage. Poor ground or power supply.

Could be a crank sensor. Failed CS will not produce any codes by itself.

also check wiring and ALL connections around the battery and UNDER the main fusebox by the battery.
i have repaired countless connections in that area due to corrosion from the battery outgassing.
look very close at the wires at the connections for "green death". when the connections appear clean, where the wire is terminated can sometimes have the corrosion eat into the wire where the insulation starts, or has a cut.
also, at the relay plug in, the FSM has a flow chart that will allow a guy to probe the cavity[s] with a multimeter, telling what you should see at each cavity. if not seeing the spec, then the flow chart will have you check the next step in line.
i normally would offer to send you this chart from my FSM, but i'm recuperating from surgery, and i am not allowed to lift anything.
please accept my apologies.
perhaps another member could point you to a link fo this chart ? if so, thank you in advance.

Sorry for the late response. Been super busy.

Van recognizes the range switch, as it indicates the correct gear selected.

All grounds are clean, even under the battery. In the wire harness under the battery is a wire rubbed through, but no corrosion and it shows continuity.

Wiring under the tipm is clean. No corrosion.

Ground signal from PCM is non existent.

Girlfriend wants to take it to a mechanic before shelling out $$$ for a computer. I kinda agree with her. While I’m sure I’ve found the problem, I’m kinda glad I can shove this problem off to someone else. It’s going to be a headache with the limited tools I have, and I’m all for dropping it off to someone who is in a better position to diagnose properly.

Ok ANOTHER update.

The van was apart for a couple days. No battery installed. I removed the computer to get the part number from it.

I put it all together today so the other mechanic can have a complete vehicle to diagnose.

So I put it together, and now it has ground from the PCM but no crank signal from the key to crank it over.

Checked all the wiring at the PCM and everything still “looks” good.

When I replaced the ignition switch, the end that goes into the switch from the keyed portion, looked great. Not broken or rounded/worn.

I’m still at a loss, and super frustrated I cannot figure this out!!!!

Ok another nother update.

Pushing it out of the garage, I left the key on so the steering wheel would be unlocked and turnable.

Got about 10’ out of the garage, and the fan which was blowing super hard, went super low. For giggles, I tried the key, and sho ‘nuff, she fired up.

Red security light was illuminated.

Drove around my property, and ran great.

Shut her off, and she restarted without incident.

Went for a short spin, and she stalled about 1/4 mike out of my driveway. Put her into neutral, and she fired right up, and drove a couple more miles. Headed back to the house, and I parked her next to the garage. She shut off and fired back up without incident.

So again. What the actual FRANK!!!!!

Make sure the battery terminals are clean and tight too. My fathers van would sit a lot, and he would pull the battery out. Often times, he would just place the battery in place and not tighten the terminals, just push them on "snug". His has a pigtail under the nut on the NEG terminal which I believe is logic ground an it would do all sorts of strange things. I believe that sometimes the wire also corrodes back under the insulation by the terminals and may look like a solid connection, but isn't.

Well, this morning, it decided to not crank again.

Yesterday, it was cranking and running GREAT.

So, I loaded it up into the trailer, and dropped it off at a mechanic who knows these vans.

I hated doing it, but I am just not set up to deal with electrical issues at the moment, and the girlfriend doesn’t have the luxury of time to where I can make another trip to California to get the rest of my tools.

Thank you guys for the hints and tips, but I think there is more going on than the tipm or PCM. We will know by the end of the week or beginning of next week...

please report back with what it ends up being.

I'm a little late on this thread. Check the ignition control module. Sometimes the contacts, especially if it's an old module spread out or expand and don't make contact with the harness wiring.
Had the same issue with a 1997 Buick Regal LS ; engine cranking and not starting. No spark was going to the coil packs. Trouble shooting the wiring at the module, pushing the harness into the connector
and was able to get the engine to fire up. Put a new module on. That original module was 22 years old.
Also could be the on board computer too. Is the fuel pump running continuosly? If so, computer is going bad.