Our Community is 940,000 Strong. Join Us.


No Start Situation


Betty1969
05-03-2005, 06:15 PM
Hi, I just bought a 1999 Sebring LXI with 51,000 miles on it. The car runs great, looks great and tested with no problems on the diagmostics. The problem is after about every 20 starts or so, it acts like It does not want to start, three to four tries later, it starts. It isnt the battery, nor the cables, not the starter, they can not find anything wrong with it! I am at a loss! Has anyone one else had this problem? What can be done?

theFREAKnasty82
05-04-2005, 12:00 AM
your fuel pump could be getting ready to let go

Betty1969
05-04-2005, 06:10 AM
wouldnt the diagnostics have picked this up? I am told everything was checked and until something just breaks and stops working completely I may not ever know what the problem is. How can this be? Seems just stupid! :eek7:

theFREAKnasty82
05-04-2005, 10:49 PM
it depends on how they diagnosed it, they might have left that out. It's been my experience that how you were describing your problem, I'm 95% sure it's your fuel pump.

fatfishjeff
06-11-2005, 12:47 PM
Betty 1969...I'm having the same problem...took the car to dealer last month...it took them about 30 tries to get it to Not start...they ran a diagnostic ( don't know what type) and said I needed a new starter...$400+ later it's still doing it but of course it won't do it at dealer.....Just got it back this morning with we're not going to charge you because we couln't get it to not start....I just hope it craps out and I'll have it towed to them; meanwhile I'm out $400+....I hate Chrysler! Did I tell you I hate Chrysler :D

Betty1969
06-11-2005, 11:50 PM
it depends on how they diagnosed it, they might have left that out. It's been my experience that how you were describing your problem, I'm 95% sure it's your fuel pump.


Well since I last posted the car has started each and everytime! Who knows what the hell is wrong with it if anything at all. I have driven it from Chicago to Virginia and back to Chicago with no problems. I am knocking on wood everytime I get in the car for fear it will not start again. This is no way to live! I was thinking maybe the last guy who looked at it unknowingly fixed the problem. He did say he unconnected a lot of things and reconnected them so maybe there was something loose or connected wrong. I dont know but for now it is running great.
Betty

Tim Hampson
06-20-2005, 10:18 AM
I had the same problem with my 1995 Sebring. Evertime I wouldn't start, I would tow it to the dealership and when it got there it would start. I would leave it there and it would work everytime they tried it. I would Get it back and within a week it wouldn't start again. This went on for several months. They finally found the problem. It was an intermittent fault in the ECM. they replaced the ECM and all has been good for the last 2 years.

joshodonn
06-20-2005, 06:03 PM
Have you noticed a trend as to when it will or won't start? I have a 97 Sebring and I had a problem with it starting as well. Mine would only start when the engine was cold. If the engine was hot and I shut it off, say to fill it with gas, it wouldn't start again until the engine had cooled. It ended up being the distributor. Apparently when hot the plastic housing of the distributor would expand and the parts within that maintain the spark would not maintain contact, thus not allowing the car to start. However when cold everythign would be contracted and things would fire fine. Replacing the distributor is an expensive proposition, I believe the part alone was $900 from the dealer. Thankfully my mechanic knew someone who could rebuild the existing distributor for about $350. So the moral of my story... If it starts when the engine is cold but not when hot, make sure they check the distributor.

stephane1
01-10-2006, 10:43 AM
I have the same problem with a Sebring 2000 Lxi.

Chrysler do not acknowledge the problem.

Usually switching the key on/off several times will get the car to start.
In our case we have to wait from a few minutes to a few days.

Maybe it is a mechanical problem since after the car is towed it always starts (we had to have the car towed to Chrysler a few times).

I read on some post that this issue could be linked to the control software of the car. Someone uses the following reset/reboot procedure to get the car to start again:
- Close all the windows.
- Get out of the car
- Close the doors
- Open the door with the key (manually)
- Start the engine... It works for some.

Oldengineer
01-11-2006, 10:15 PM
Hi, I just bought a 1999 Sebring LXI with 51,000 miles on it. The car runs great, looks great and tested with no problems on the diagmostics. The problem is after about every 20 starts or so, it acts like It does not want to start, three to four tries later, it starts. It isnt the battery, nor the cables, not the starter, they can not find anything wrong with it! I am at a loss! Has anyone one else had this problem? What can be done?
I had a 2001 Sebring Sedan with the same problem. After 4 trips to the dealer, one one could figure it out. Finally I called Chrysler's toll -free. They advised me that it was the compass module on the dash that probably was causing the intermittent no-starts. They called the dealer and advised him to replace the compass. After it was replaced, the problem never happened again. Basically, with the bad compass, everytime I turned the car off with its nose facing West, it wouldn't start until I ground the battery flat, and, had the car jump started.

Oldengineer

Add your comment to this topic!