1996 Dodge Stratus Car Will start the will shut off

Hi elgastador. Welcome to the forum. Has the Check Engine light turned on when the engine stalls? If so, there is a diagnostic fault code stored in the Engine Computer. That code will lead you to the circuit or system with the problem, not necessarily the defective part.

A common cause of your symptom is a failing camshaft position sensor. They often become heat-sensitive. A possible clue is the tachometer, (if your car has one), will quit as soon as the engine dies. Other than diesel truck engines, you will never solve a running problem on a Chrysler product by replacing the fuel filter. They actually pass the largest volume of fuel when coasting.

Caradiodoc

Yup, the crankshaft position sensor is just as important, but it will normally set a fault code. Another approach would be to find someone with a scanner with a record / playback function. I use the Chrysler DRB3. You drive the car with the scanner attached and viewing sensor data. When the problem occurs, you press the "record" button. Since the information passes through the scanner's memory, the recording actually starts a few seconds before you press the button. Later, you can play the information back frame by frame while watching for a glitch or dropout.

Many aftermarket scanners don't have the record feature but you can still view the sensor and switch information while you're trying to restart the stalled engine. The main thing to look at is the automatic shutdown (ASD) relay. It sends power to the coil(s), injectors, alternator field, oxygen sensor heaters, and fuel pump or pump relay. The Engine Computer turns it on when it gets the pulses from the cam and crank sensors. If the scanners shows "off" for the ASD relay during cranking, suspect those two sensors. If it shows "on" during cranking, you'll have to troubleshoot the individual spark. Injector, or fuel supply systems. Fuel pumps rarely quit while running, (except on GM products), and there isn't much that will cause all of the injectors to quit at once. That leaves loss of spark as the most common cause of engine stalling after the sensors.

Caradiodoc

First determine if the ASD relay is turning on during cranking. If it is, the sensors are working and there's no need to look at them. That's when you have to determine if it's spark or fuel that's missing. You mentioned earlier that fuel pressure wasn't dropping much so that would leave spark. Coil packs do fail intermittently but it is also possible to have a corroded splice or other break in the wire feeding the coil and injectors.

There could be a failure in the computer too, either the high-current driver circuits for the coil or injectors but Chrysler has relatively little computer trouble, especially compared to GM. The computer could be failing to turn on the ASD relay, but that driver circuit switches very low current so failure isn't likely.

Caradiodoc

The missing thermostat shouldn't cause engine shutdown due to sensor readings / computer programming, but it could indirectly be related if a cam or crank sensor is beginning to fail due to becoming heat-sensitive. Those failures will often allow the engine to restart after it has cooled down for an hour or so.

There's two easy ways to check the ASD relay operation. One is to pop its cover off and watch the movable contact while a helper cranks the engine. If you have a digital voltmeter or a test light, you can prop it up by the windshield so you can see it from inside the car during engine cranking, and back-probe a connector for the coil pack, injector harness, or my favorite, connect the probe with a clip lead to either of the small terminals on the back of the alternator if you can reach them. All of those points should have 12 volts for the first one second after turning on the ignition switch, and again during engine rotation, (cranking or running). If voltage is present for that first second, that verifies the Engine Computer has control over the ASD relay and the relay is switching the voltage to that circuit.

The wire is dark green with an orange stripe. It is also used for the power feed to the distributor on the six cylinder engines.

If you have voltage during cranking at the alternator or injectors, but you still don't have spark at the plug wires, double-check for voltage at the coil too. If it's missing there, there has to be a break in the wire because all of those items are spliced together. A couple of people have found that splice to be corroded causing an intermittent connection to just the coil. This isn't so serious for an intermittent stalling, but if you're working on a no-start condition that has involved a lot of cranking, keep in mind the injectors have been firing a lot of raw fuel into the engine. Once the engine is running again, the oil should be changed to drain that fuel out that has diluted it.

Caradiodoc

The original crankshaft position sensor was installed with a thick paper spacer on the end to set the air gap. Replacements from the dealer usually also use the paper spacer and is either included with it and may be already glued in place. It will slide off as soon as the engine is started. After removing that sensor, a new paper spacer must be stuck on when reinstalling it.

Most aftermarket replacement sensors have a thin plastic rib molded into the end to set the gap. That rib will wear away as the engine runs. Once removed, to reinstall that style, the remaining part of the rib must be cut off, then a paper spacer is used.

The relearn procedure you mentioned is pretty much automatic. Once the engine is running, the computer will memorize the relationship between the pulses from both sensors.

The code you have can also be caused by a jumped timing belt. When the belt jumps one tooth, it will be detected by the change in relationship in the signals from the two sensors, and engine performance will be down. At two teeth off, the computer will shut the engine down to protect it. At three teeth off, the coasting pistons will hit and bend any open valves. I doubt the timing belt is your problem because it won't cause an intermittent problem.

I'm surprised the code isn't more specific. It does refer mostly to the crankshaft position sensor but the reference to the camshaft position sensor could be because the computer needs both signals so it can compare them to each other. The camshaft position sensor has a higher failure rate on the four cylinder engines, but there is a different, very specific code, P0340, for that sensor. The most accurate description of the code you have can be found by reading it again with a Chrysler DRB3 scanner. The P01391 and P0340 are called "generic scan tool codes". That is how they are displayed on aftermarket test equipment. While the P0340 has only one description, the P01391 has two. That code will be displayed as one of two possible "hex" codes on the Chrysler scanner. Code 9D is "intermittent loss of signal from camshaft or crankshaft position sensors. Code 28 is "no reference signal from crankshaft position sensor during engine cranking". It seems likely the crankshaft position sensor is most suspect, but reading the code with the Chrysler scanner will tell for sure.

Caradiodoc