1999 Dodge Caravan Won't start after water pump replaced

Hi jsearls. Welcome to the forum. Was the distributor removed? If not, all you need to do is set the cams properly. If it was out, the rotor has nothing to do with pointing to number one cylinder. That was a coincidental characteristic of the V-8 engines of the past.

If you're trying to line up the distributor, it is important to understand that when cylinder number one is at top dead center, the rotor must be under the contact for spark plug wire number one, but that terminal is under tha cap. The spark plug wire is not directly over the contact underneath. They are off by 90 degrees. You can follow the circuit under the cap between the plug wire socket and the contact.

Caradiodoc

Do you have spark from the coil wire? If not, check for 12 volts at the coil positive wire or one of the small wires on the back of the alternator. It should be there for one second after the ignition switch is turned on, and again during cranking. If it does not show up during cranking, the Automatic Shutdown (ASD) relay is not turning on.

Caradiodoc

The 3.0L is not an interference engine so no valves to worry about.

What are you checking with a voltmeter? For spark, just hold a plug wire near the engine while a helper cranks the engine. If you have spark, the fuel pump should be running too during cranking.

Caradiodoc

Yup, sounds like the timing belt is correct. To check for spark, leave the ignition switch in the "run" position, then you can remove the cover from the starter relay and squeeze the contact, or, remove the relay and jump the two terminals for the contacts, or, use a jumper wire or remote starter switch to connect the two terminals on the starter. That will allow you to stand by the engine and watch for spark.

Caradiodoc

You're right about the Automatic Shutdown (ASD) relay. You wouldn't have spark if it wasn't turning on. That means the distributor is working. Since it won't run on starting fluid, there must either be a problem with the timing belt, (unlikely that both are wrong so it should try to run on three cylinders), the spark plugs are fouled with raw fuel, or, (and I'll never admit I did this once), you had the rotor out of the distributor and forgot to put it back in! It wouldn't hurt to verify there is spark at the plug wires if you only checked from the coil wire. The GM HEI system had a lot of trouble with "punch through". That's where when a plug wire was removed and held so far away from ground, the spark couldn't jump the gap, but the voltage was so high, the spark insisted on getting to ground somehow, and that was through the rotor. Once that happened, it left a carbon track behind and from then on, all the spark current went through that short. The cure was to replace the rotor. I never heard of that happening to a Chrysler rotor, but double-check just the same.

Caradiodoc

Yes, I missed the comment about getting it running. Sorry. It sounds like the cams are off a tooth or two. The notches in the covers behind the sprockets are real tiny. Is it possible you saw some other notch or scratch and used that as a timing mark?

Caradiodoc

Happy day! Sorry you have to go through the work, but happy you found something. In your next reply, I want to read that it's running.

Caradiodoc