Re: 1998 Intrepid gauges went blank, now wont startNorm II wrote:
> Wife called me frantically while on the road to say "all went dark,
> except check engine light came on". After couple of minutes, gauges
> came back and all seemed normal..until next time we tried to start.
> Car fired up but died immediately three times, then stopped cranking
> also. Battery voltage is good, and when it cranked, it did so with
> authority. All dash lights working now, just not cranking. 1998
> Intrepid LS 3.2 Thanks for any help.
The two most likely causes:
(1) Bad connection at the battery. The positive battery posts are very
prone to severe corrosion on the 2nd gen. LH cars. Remove the cable
clamp from the battery and clean all corrosion off with baking soda and
water solution - use Coca-Cola full strength if it's hard and stubborn.
Then inspect the clamp and cable, including the green fusible link, to
make sure that there's still enough metal left to do the job. Repair or
replace those items as needed.
(2) Check the tightness of the positive jump post connections (next to
the air filter box). Those connections can get loose. With the
exception of the hot cable between the battery and the alternator (thru
that green fusible link), *ALL* electrical power of the vehicle go thru
that jump post - one cable in from battery, one cable out to starter,
third cable out to everything else. When this connection gets loose, it
is often intermittent - which is what you're seeing.
Also check the tightness of the connection at the neg. jump post (on the
passenger side strut tower - single cable and nut. That is the main
ground for the entire vehicle.
It is also possible for a battery to have an intermittent internal
short. If your battery is 5 or more years old, you might ought to
replace it anyway. Even if that's not causing this problem, it's due
anyway.
Might be ignition switch, but I'd go thru everything else first and
eliminate those as the possibility - unless you can narrow it down with
a multimeter if you know how to troubleshoot with that (to see where
you're loosing voltage when cranking).
Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')