1994 Dodge Caravan

WILFREDO BONILLA

MEMBER
1994 DODGE CARAVAN
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
136,000 MILES

The engine starts and run good, when you drive the car for about 3 to 4 miles with the temperature at normal the engine start to surge and hear popping noise from the engine and the car would not go over 5 mph. What I do is park the car and turn it off for ten minutes then start the car and it run again, but after driving for 3 miles the check engine light come on but the engine continue to run ok. When yuo turn off the engine, then restart the car the check engine light go off. What could it be causing this problem. Thank yuo for yuor tme

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,741 POSTS

Hi wilfredo bonilla. Welcome to the forum. This sounds typical of a failing crankshaft position sensor. Since the Check Engine light turned on, there is a diagnostic fault code memorized in the Engine Computer. You can retrieve the codes by cycling the ignition switch from off to run to off to run to off to run a third time, then wait for the Check Engine light to start flashing two-digit codes. You must turn the ignition switch to run three times within five seconds. If the engine cranks at all during that time, you have to turn the switch off, wait a few seconds and start over.

The light will flash once, there will be a short pause, then it will flash twice. That is code 12 and just means the ignition switch was turned off. After a longer pause, the first digit of the next code will flash two digits the same way. After all of the codes are flashed, the last one will be code 55 which just means it is done. If you think you may have miscounted, turn the ignition switch off and back to run one time and the sequence should start over.

If you can't figure out how to read the codes yourself, many auto parts stores will read them for you. It is important to not disconnect the battery before that is done because the codes and their valuable information will be lost. Let us know what those codes are.

Caradiodoc