Never heard of that. You might be seeing an aftermarket product. For example, you can buy an inertia switch for any vehicle that cuts off power to the fuel pump in the event of a crash or hard hit. For original equipment, those were a Ford thing that caused as much trouble as they prevented.
Chrysler Engine Computers turn on the automatic shutdown, (ASD) relay and the fuel pump relay for one second when the ignition switch is turned on, then again when it sees engine rotation. It knows the engine is rotating by the signal pulses it receives from the crankshaft position sensor and the camshaft position sensor. The ASD relay switches on the 12 volts to the ignition coil(s), injectors, oxygen sensor heaters, alternator field, and in some cases, the fuel pump relay. On other models it just switches the fuel pump relay directly at the same time it turns the ASD relay on.
For "intermittent" problems, you have to look at the symptoms and how they show up. GM fuel pumps commonly fail by slowing down or quitting while you're driving, leaving you sitting on the side of the road. Chrysler fuel pumps almost always fail the opposite way. They fail to start up, leaving you sitting in the driveway or parking lot. Banging on the bottom of the gas tank to jar them often gets them going. Once they start up, it is extremely rare for them to stop running during that drive cycle.
When a Chrysler fuel pump does stop running while you're driving, it is usually accompanied by the loss of spark and injector pulses at the same time, and that is due to the loss of the signal pulses from one of the position sensors. Those two sensors account for around 95 percent of crank / no-start problems. Loss of spark only or loss of fuel pressure only accounts for the other five percent of no-starts.
The fastest way to tell if one of the sensor signals is missing is to view live data on a scanner. When you don't have access to a scanner, another way to tell is to measure the voltage at any ignition coil, any injector, or either smaller terminal on the back of the alternator. At a coil or injector, look for the wire that is the same color at all those places. On most models that will be a dark green / orange wire, as shown in this diagram for your engine. The green arrow is pointing to the terminal to measure. This is best done with a test light. A digital voltmeter can work, but they respond too slowly.
You will see a bright test light / 12 volts for one second when you turn on the ignition switch. That proves the ASD relay circuit is working, and the computer has control of that relay. You may be able to hear the hum of the fuel pump at the same time. What is important is that 12 volts must come back when you start cranking the engine. If it does not, we have to look at the crankshaft position sensor circuit and the camshaft position sensor circuit. If the 12 volts does come back during cranking, we have to look at the fuel pump circuit or the ignition system.
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Sunday, August 8th, 2021 AT 4:09 PM