Will not start after sliding into a curb damaging the rack and pinion

MARK D. MITCHELL

MEMBER
2002 DODGE CARAVAN
3.3L
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
197,000 MILES

I had minor sliding into the curb busted rack and pinion and the engine suit running. Now all I hear is a click in the engine bay what could this be?

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017 AT 6:00 PM

3 Replies

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

Do you mean when you are trying to start the engine? It takes a lot to damage a steering gear, so it is possible the starter also was damaged, but more likely the battery cable going to it is damaged. That assumes you are hearing a single, rather loud clunk each time you turn the ignition switch to "crank".

If you are hearing a fairly light, barely-audible click, that could be the starter relay, or another unrelated relay. That would suggest the smaller solenoid wire is knocked off the starter, or even something happened to the neutral safety switch/range sensor.

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Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017 AT 6:36 PM

MARK D. MITCHELL

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Sorry I took so long to reply.
It does not light up dash as best as I can remember, starter does not click or anything. There is however, a steady clicking noise on top left side of the motor when I connect the battery but still nothing. No engine turn over.
Yes, it took one heck of a wallop thinks to the new diverging diamond and ice a couple of years ago. I went too high and slid into the curb and as I was flying across the road hit the other side and jumped the curb again and came to a rest just before hitting the guardrail.
Busted the tie rod on drivers side and the gear box because it will just spin (steering wheel) however that is another problem and I have it all out except that darn roll pin.
I would be happy if I could just hear her run again though and not put money in a rack and still not be able to drive it.
At one time it had remote start and I took that out after the wreck and wonder if I did not get the wires placed together enough.
Oh, at the accident site I had to get out and direct traffic people was sliding all over the place and I thought it was running when I got out but it did quit and locked my freaking keys with it had to get a spare set to get me in while city police were checking their guardrail, LOL.
I was just wondering about that clicking I realize I could have done a number of things including wrecking the fuel pump.
Are there an itinerary switch on these things?

Thanks for your help.
Mark

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Wednesday, January 4th, 2017 AT 3:55 PM

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

There is no inertia switch for the fuel pump. That is a Ford thing. We will worry about that once we solve the starter problem. Unfortunately, the insane engineers have seen fit to involve the engine computer in the starter circuit. An inexpensive and reliable neutral safety switch used to work really well. Today we need that switch to turn a computer circuit on.

Since the dash lights also do not work, it is likely we have a less-complicated problem. Use a test light with the ground clip attached to the battery's negative cable clamp or a paint-free point on the engine or body. Probe the positive battery cable clamp, (not the post). If the test light is bright, we can move on.

Go to the under-hood fuse box, which is also a complicated computer module. Check for twelve volts where the two smaller positive battery wires bolt to it. If voltage is missing there on one wire, a fuse link in that wire is burned open. Open that fuse box, then check for voltage on both sides of fuse 24, a 20-amp yellow fuse. There will be two tiny holes on top for test points. That fuse might be labelled for the body computer or the instrument cluster.

Follow the battery's negative cables and be sure those are attached solidly. The largest one will bolt to the engine. The smaller one bolts to the body sheet metal.

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Wednesday, January 4th, 2017 AT 4:43 PM