Questions and Answers

Dynasty No Start Q. I have a 1990 Dodge Dynasty, 3.3 V-6 FI with 138,000 miles on it. The car has been maintained in every way. The engine doesn't overheat/run hot ect. Anyway I was driving along and the car seemed to cut off shuddered almost and then go like nothing was wrong.

I have recently (well sort of a year ago) recently replaced the fuel pump strainer filter and the main fuel filter. The car will not start now. All it will do is turn over. I pulled the codes and they are 11 and 42. I have checked the plugs, wires, fuel pressure, compression. I have replaced the coil, crank angle sensor and not the cam sensor for the fact it is behind the engine mount.

Is it normal when the ASD relay is triggered to show up as a code? Should I go ahead and replace the cam sensor or is the ASD the problem cure or just a trigger of one of the sensor being bad? The engine turns over freely and doesn't seem to have any abnormal noises to it. Just before it wouldn't start it was missing/stuttering.

Is the ECU prone to failure on this car? I had replaced the oil pan gasket(at my last oil change) and the timing chain seemed fine it wasn't loose or sagging. If it slipped or came off could it cause the sensor to not work and caused this to happen?

Thanks for your help,
Clark

A. Okay, the codes are:

11	IGN reference signal. No distributor reference signal detected during engine cranking.
42	ASD relay control circuit. An open or shorted condition detected in the auto shut down relay circuit.

The Auto Shut Down (ASD) Relay controls power to the ignition coil, fuel injectors, and electric fuel pump. Controlled by the Single Board Engine Controller (SBEC) the ASD supplies power to the ignition coil, fuel injectors, and electric fuel pump at all times when the ignition switch is in the START position. When the ignition switch is in the RUN position and the SBEC is receiving reference signals from the distributor, power will also be supplied. If there is no reference signal after two seconds the SBEC will de-energize the ASD and no power will be supplied to the ignition coil, fuel injectors, or electric fuel pump.

If the SBEC is not getting a reference signal from the cam and crank sensors, it will throw both codes.

Connect a voltmeter to the wiring harness coil connector at the B+ pin. Crank the engine for five seconds while monitoring the voltage at the B+ connector terminal. If the voltage remains near zero during the engine period of cranking, replace the ASD relay. If voltage is at "near-battery" voltage, and drops to zero after 1-2 seconds of cranking, then it is either a bad cam or crank sensors.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA