I think you mean the 3.0L V-6, I hope. The 3.3L didn't come out until '89 and doesn't have a distributor. The 3.0L does have a distributor, but so does the 2.5L four cylinder. Both were available in your car in '88, that's why I asked. Their systems are quite different in the distributor, but the automatic shutdown (ASD) relay works the same.
I just solved the same problem on my '88 Grand Caravan with the 3.0L engine. I fought that intermittent problem for 11 months before it finally died permanently. I had the advantage of owning a Chrysler scanner and I was driving with it connected. After it would stall, by the time I got under the hood it had spark again, then would start up again. When it stalled, the scanner still showed that everything that the Engine Computer monitored was working.
Since you can catch it acting up, grab a test light or an inexpensive digital voltmeter and check for voltage on the small positive wire on the ignition coil, or on either small terminal on the back of the alternator. You should see 12 volts there for just one second after a helper turns on the ignition switch. What's important is that voltage must come back during engine cranking. If it does, that means the Engine Computer is turning on the ASD relay, and that means the distributor pickup coil is working. That just leaves the ignition coil which is what was wrong with my Caravan.
Caradiodoc
Saturday, February 5th, 2011 AT 5:39 AM
