The history of my repairs to the van is as follows.
1. It first started acting up over a year ago and I had it towed twice
into my local service station. They could not find anything wrong with
it and kept sending it back with minimum effort and costs. At that
point I was under the impression that the problem was with the fuel
pump?/ supply? And I was running the unit on a minimum amount of fuel
knowing that a repair job would be simplified with little fuel in the
tank.
2. I arranged to bring the vehicle out to a local mechanic and on my
way outall, the van stopped after about two miles. I got it going the
next day by simply trying to start it and then started out for the
place again. It got less that a mile down the road. It stopped again
and I had it towed to the garage.
3. The garage put $50.00 worth of gas in it and did their thing. The
mechanic drove it around for almost a week and replaced the ignition
pickup and did some general service work. I drove it home. Shortly
thereafter I started out on a trip to Washington and Oregon and got 40
miles down the road when it started bucking and surging down the
highway. I nursed it along about 5 K into town where it quit again
completely. After I called BCAA and waited 45 minutes for their
arrival, I suggested to the tow truck driver that I would try to start
it and follow him to the nearest Dodge dealer. It did and I did.
4. Four hours later after a diagnostic charge , the replacement of the
ICM ?blulx101 module? and the ?bluru4 resistor? he sent me on my
way. As I was going through customs and knew that I was low on fuel, I
put $20.00 worth of gas in it and started down the road.
5. As I approached Bellingham, the car started bucking and surging and
I nursed it along (always under very reduced power) to the Dodge
dealership in Bellingham. Their suggestion was typical?.they would
shove a computer probe up it?s ? and tell me what was wrong with the
unit. I explained that the process that they were suggesting had been
standard procedure but they insisted that that was their process.
Three days later they had done extensive testing and could not locate
anything wrong and sent me on my way with a bill for the testing only.
The advised me that they had tested the pressure on the fuel line
after it had left the tank and that the pressure was ?normal?
6. I left the Bellingham dealership and promptly filled the tank and
decided that I would restrict my holiday to the area close to the
border knowing that it had not been fixed. I experienced no problem in
the week that I spent in Washington State but then again I drove less
than 100 miles in the State.
7. On my return to Victoria the unit operated well and I have been
driving it for the last month. I have been driving it sparingly but I
have also been driving it on the top quarter of the gas tank. I am not
sure that there is a relationship with it operating well and the
fullness of the tank.
8. Bellingham tested the pressure of the fuel pump, the pressure on
the fuel line, and a bunch of other stuff without noticing any
problems. I have talked to the Tech department at Chrysler Canada and
they have no comment.
9. I do not know where to go from here?.I am tired of ?experiments?.
To me it appears to be the fuel supply?if it was dirty fuel, the
filters would show it or an analysis of the fuel would show something.
Installing a new fuel pump is a costly process. Simply removing the
tank and cleaning it could be costs blown if that is not the problem.
10. I am reluctant to keep throwing $ at it and before I do so I would
like someone to think about what the problem could be. Do you have any
thoughts or suggestions? I am not trying to be picky but please try to
understand my frustrations.
D J FRASER |
