2007

Van is a Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3 L SXT, I wanted to leave the fix here for someone else if needed. I thought issue could be: 1: Bad Gas : Possible condensation in tank due to cold weather as tank was only quarter full the day prior and had subzero weather prior to issue occurring. Put another quarter tank of high Octane gas plus bottle of Gas treatment in tank to see if it would run better, it may have been slightly better but still occurring. 2: Spark Plugs and wires, Took to Commercial shop. Had new spark plug wires put on, as spark plugs were never removed since i bought it...shop did not want to try to remove the spark plugs in fear one might break off and stated they were not equipped to do that kind of repair if one did break off and could cost more than the vehicle was worth if head was needed to be removed. Also said they put the analyzer on it and no obvious codes. (They didn't want to deal with it) They practically said take it somewhere else. Issue sill occurred with new spark plug wires installed. I read a review of nearby garages and someone said this guy was a genius. I called , he was willing to look at it. 3: He said wires and plugs are first if no air leaks in hoses, etc. Told him guys at other garage said they did not see anything showing specifically on analyzer. He said there a re ways to tell or read the codes to tell if the spark plugs w ere firing properly without removing the plugs, but probably they didn't h ave a senior tech who could read them properly. ( I doubt they read them at all). He put his analyzer on...and it came up with a cam code, he cleared it. This meant that the Camshaft sensor/electrical sensor or computer might be an issue. Start at the Cam shaft sensor. It was replaced (said only one he could get was $100). Voila, Van started Immediately when turned on, hesitation when accelerating was fixed. Other options if not fixed was the electrical harness/van computer. As this was fixed with the new cam sensor..that was as far as I wanted to go. Another thing that could be checked was the fuel filter. I was told a pressure test could be done on the gas lines at the first place I was to, again..they didn't have the equipment They said there was a fitting somewhere along the fuel line on some models, but again didn't have the equipment and to change the fuel filter was to remove the gas tank as the fuel filter was inside. I still did not have my spark plugs changed. As i did not tempt fate I would prefer to drive it the way it was then cost me a thousand to try and remove broken plugs. The Second guy ( Jerry) Pal's garage, Kudo's to him. He said he could try and remove the plugs if there was no issues after driving it for a week or so. It cost me for his time, the cam sensor, work at getting to the sensor just over $300 including tax CDN. It was well worth the effort of having an experienced tech look at it and put the work into it without flipping it to another garage. I will go back to him again in the future. I will give him a good review, first garage..not so much.