Car issue question

[Rick]

We are having issues w my wife's car, problem is turning out hard to find. I am trying to find answers online now, but thought i would post here also. If you have any thoughts or know of a good car forum, i would appreciate it

It is a 2014 Grand Caravan, almost 200K miles on it, has been a reliable car. Now it intermittently dies when driving, has only just started and has only done it 3-4 times, but it is very random. I was in the car once when it happened, we were driving down road about 40 mph in town and it just died, no flashing lights or noises. pulled off to the side of the road, put in park, turn off ignition, waited about 15 seconds, it started right back up. Has done this each time it died.

Some recent history, was in the shop a few days ago, had a lifter ticking and they fixed, had never died before this was done. After that it started happening, put it in shop for them to look at it, they could not find anything, I know intermittent problems are hard as heck to find. BTW, we bought a life time warranty when we bought this vehicle, so all these trips to shop don't cost anything.

Now my question. It is in shop again, and they just called. They said it was 2 quarts low on oil and that could be why it is dying. But I do not think that car has a low oil kill switch, and there was no low oil light on. It has never used oil before, and surely when they fixed the lifter 5 days ago they would have checked the oil. All this is being done at the dealer. I feel they have been straightforward in past dealings with them, but this is sounding a bit fishy to me.

[Puggy625]

That many miles, I would almost bet on a fuel pump going out.

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[forced-2-work]

buddies 2008 chevy Z71 did the exact same thing. then a friends ford excursion (gas) did the same thing the other day. Would die while driving or randomly would not turn on..... then after a short wait it started right up. Problem was the battery cables. They looked good from what we could see but there was a short somewhere hidden. Put new battery cables on both vehicles and the problem is gone. Hope that is the same thing with yours. best of luck

[Looney Tatonka]

buddies 2008 chevy Z71 did the exact same thing. then a friends ford excursion (gas) did the same thing the other day. Would die while driving or randomly would not turn on..... then after a short wait it started right up. Problem was the battery cables. They looked good from what we could see but there was a short somewhere hidden. Put new battery cables on both vehicles and the problem is gone. Hope that is the same thing with yours. best of luck

This. If it is electrical dying, you have a short somewhere.

[BrianL]

That many miles, I would almost bet on a fuel pump going out.

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x2

[Rick]

That many miles, I would almost bet on a fuel pump going out.

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but would that not throw some sort of code if it burped enough to kill it? I don't know what causes codes, but i would have thought a random shut down would result in some sort of code

oh and it is just gettng broken in good when they sold me a lifetime warranty, they did not realize how long i keep vehicles

[Jon B]

buddies 2008 chevy Z71 did the exact same thing. then a friends ford excursion (gas) did the same thing the other day. Would die while driving or randomly would not turn on..... then after a short wait it started right up. Problem was the battery cables. They looked good from what we could see but there was a short somewhere hidden. Put new battery cables on both vehicles and the problem is gone. Hope that is the same thing with yours. best of luck

I have a 2007 Silverado 4X4. Same issues as above. It was the Fuel Pump Control Module.

[Fargus]

I had a 2001 Ford with the 7.3 power stroke that would do the same thing. It was the cam shaft position sensor.

[pervis]

Battery cables are a good chance! A way to check em is start the vehicle and yank your cables around and see if you can replicate it turning off. Sometimes they break internally in the housing and do not get a good contact. Ive had this happen on 2 boats!

[pervis]

Fuel pump going out is a good guess too

[Stuck]

Let’s throw one more in idea at you. Mines easy, keep in mind this is coming from a guy that changes his oil every 50k miles wether it needs it or not.

Had a truck do that a couple of times years ago, air filter was so clogged up the engine was not getting enough oxygen.

[BTLowry]

Battery cables then fuel pump would be what I would check

But I would think a reputable shop would be able to figure it out

[Big Lee]

You may think this is a dumb question. But, (BTW multiple line Master Cert Tech and ASE master) how does it die? Stumble shutter off. Off like you hit the key? Off like slowly reduces speed then off?

[RifleBowPistol]

I would like to know for sure, that the engine was really 2 quarts low on oil, if I were you. Then how long, since the oil was last changed and last checked. Any engine with 200,000 miles is going to be prone to using oil. Yes, the dealer should have checked and really should have changed the oil, when they replaced the lifter. I hear Dodge has all types of lifter problems.

Something I keep running into with the newer engines, with the fly by wire throttle bodies. The computers don't know when the throttlebody is getting gummed up. It will do so after time, more so when the engine gets past 100,000 miles, 200,000 mile it will happen even more often. The more oil the engine consumes, the more gunk you will have in the throttle body. The computer closes off the throttle blade to a point, where it thinks it is just open enough to have enough air flow to idle at whatever load is on the engine. But when the throttle body is gunked up, it will restrict air flow, when the throttle body is closed to the point, where it should be idling. I have seen many either die or not start at all because of gunked up throttle bodies. Dealers, typically want to replace the throttle body, once they realize the problem is related to the throttle body, the fly by wire throttle bodies are expensive or much more so than a older EFI throttle body. Cleaning the throttle body out should be done at least every 20,000 miles, once it get over 100,000 miles, if not sooner, really depends on how much oil the engine is consuming, so how fast the throttle body gets gunked up. Remove the air hose to the throttle body, open the blade with your fingers, and spray some carb or throttle body cleaner in the throttle body. Also wipe the throttle bade down with a towel or rag, soaked with carb cleaner and wipe the bore down, till you get all of the gunk on both sides of the throttle blade and the whole throttle bore. Taking the throttle body off, will allow you to clean it better.

This is something cheap and easy to do, that should be done on any EFI engine, but is very important on the fly by wire engines, once the mileage gets up there. It's not a bad idea to do so, at 50,000 miles and then at 100,000 miles.

I am not saying this is definitely your problem, but it could be going by the symptoms. I see many that don't set off a code and or set a incorrect code, that will send those code loving guys down the wrong road.

Going by the symptoms, it does not sound like a old fuel pump, when a fuel pump starts dying, causing the engine to die. It will usually start loosing power, if you give it more throttle to get back up to speed, it may pop in the intake. That indicates the engine is very lean. Then if the pump does completely stop pumping or the volume is very low, so the fuel pressure is way below where it should be, the engine will typically die. Once the engine has died, it usually takes a while before it will start back up. The pump will usually have to cool off, which can take any where from 30 minutes to a few hours, before it will start working good enough for the engine to make normal power. That's if the pump comes back to life, often they are done once the pump shuts off. If you have a fuel problem where it looses pressure to the engine causing it to die, then you are able to restart it within a minute a few minutes. You probably have something more like a plugged fuel filter and or something like a over heating fuel pump relay, or a wiring issue.

If the engine dies and restarts quickly, if the engine rpm was near idle or at idle, when it died and the engine is a fly by wire engine. I would say gummed throttle body. If the engine rpm was up to 1500 rpm or greater when it died, it's not a gunked up throttle body. The throttle body would be too far open for a gunked up throttle body to cause the engine to die at those rpms, more so with a smaller engine. If it died at 1500 rpm or above and then quickly restarted. I would expect something ignition related, bad connection in wiring harness, or shorted wire. Or some sensor such as a cam or crank sensor dying, which would be back to ignition related problem.

[manwitaplan]

I had a 2014 duramax that had the exact same thing. Just die. It took 3 weeks to diagnose a small vacuum leak.


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