2003 CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY OBD2 CODE P1297

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tobycatt95
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Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 6:20 pm

Re: 2003 CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY OBD2 CODE P1297

Unread post by tobycatt95 » Fri Jun 12, 2015 7:35 pm

I have tried to do a little research on the wiring of it all... I do believe that if the brown/tan wire stays lit, then we still have a short to ground?! Is that right? We will pull the harness out, which might take a day. That bugger looks like it makes a million turns down in there, between the pcm & the connector for the fuel injector harness. And we will check the wires out good! Fix anything that looks bad (should be done anyway I suppose) But if anyone thinks it is something different, let us know, will ya? We won't be starting on that until Saturday afternoon. Quick rundown again... we have a code p0204. We have tested the injector itself & actually replaced the injector. We have tested the spark plugs & actually put a new one in the #4 plug. We tested with noid lights & get no light at all - no flashing or no costant light - at the #4 injection harness, it just stays dark. We tested the 2 wires leading to the #4 injector harness... the brown/white wire stays lit while running, the brown/tan wire also stays lit while running, but should be pulsing/flashing. We tested the resistance between ground and the brown/tan wire at fuel injector #4 harness connector and it was less than 100 olms. So,,, with all that testing, we are figuring it is still a short to ground. Sure am hoping it isn't the pcm! Thanks again to all the helpers on here! You guys are fantastic! I can't say it enough!!

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carriedi
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Re: 2003 CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY OBD2 CODE P1297

Unread post by carriedi » Sat Jun 13, 2015 10:55 am

Unplug the #4 injector from the wire harness. Unplug all the connectors at the computer. check for ground on the brown/tan wire. the brown/tan wire should only go to the computer. so there should be no connection to ground with the computer disconnected. If you have a connection to ground then you have a short. You can either trace the wire and try to find the short or cut the wire at both ends and solder in a new separate wire. If all the other circuits are working normally then you should be okay with that. If there is no ground then you may have a shorted injector driver.

The place where a lot of these wire harness' get worn is by the harness connector by the valve cover mount that secures the harness. They can get oil contaminated and then the insulation will deteriorate. Bare wires will short out against each other.

If the test light stays on for injector #4 that means that the injector will stay open and dump fuel when the engine is running. It would be better to run the engine with that injector NOT plugged in. You engine will run rough but you won't damage the cat or possibly the engine because of excess fuel. Running the engine with the injector plugged in would dump fuel in the cat and make the cat overheat. If the fuel gets dumped into the cylinder it could also cause the cylinder to lock up because of too much fuel in the cylinder and it causes a hydrostatic lock. (depending on how much fuel is dumped into the cylinder on it's compression stroke)
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tobycatt95
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 6:20 pm

Re: 2003 CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY OBD2 CODE P1297

Unread post by tobycatt95 » Sun Jun 14, 2015 11:01 am

Ok, we have just run a new wire to replace the ground (brown/tan) wire that goes from the injector harness to the pcm. We hooked everything back up. We cleared the codes from computer & started the engine. No change. Still missing. And now we are getting a p0204 open injector & a p0206 open injector code. 2 codes instead of 1 code like before. We had previously done the noid light test... the #2 & #6 both blinked/flashed. It was only the #4 that didn't have any light at all. We had previously checked the injectors themselves with the olms meter. In fact, we put a new injector in #4 anyway, just cause. But now we are getting 2 codes & feel like we are right back at square 1. My hubby is outside (swearing a little) and is testing the resistance now between the ground wires from both #4 & #6. Weird! Because before it was just the #4 error code. Why do you think we have a new code now? Wiring sucks...lol! Could it be that we fried the computer when all those wires were touching, initially, when we first found that melted section on the fuel injector harness? I hate to buy a new computer & install it, only to have it screwed up again -- if we are having wiring issues! My hubby thinks maybe it is the computer, giving false directions... but I just don't want to spend the money on the computer IF it is wiring. How do we tell? Which tests should we be running again? And how could the #6 injector be giving a code now?! That has to be a clue... an indication of what could be wrong.

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carriedi
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Re: 2003 CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY OBD2 CODE P1297

Unread post by carriedi » Mon Jun 15, 2015 3:36 am

without actually being there to see what is going on it is tough. I use special equipment that isn't available to most people to check for problems. rather than a test light I use an inductive amp clamp on a lab scope to see what the current is doing in a circuit. With that equipment I can see the current complete the circuit, see the injector open and close similar to the figure from diycardoctor where you can see the voltage and the current as they go through each injector circuit.

The wires that were possibly touching could burn out the computer circuits. When you get battery voltage that goes through a circuit it reduces the end voltage at the ground connection. that's why if you touch a fuse to power and to ground it blows right away. But, if you put a test light, or a light bulb, in the circuit that same fuse won't blow now. The same thing can happen to the injector driver. It's grounding the circuit through the injector. So, the injector resistance reduces the end voltage. If the wires touch and battery power is directly sent to the computer it could damage the driver circuit.

you might want to make sure each wire is connected correctly and not shorted to any other wire. Check to make sure the connector at the engine harness connector is good. You may need to take it to a shop to verify the work you have already done. But it might save you money if you don't have to replace parts that you may not need. I wish I could be more help
Attachments
injector wave form.jpg
Fuel injector voltage and current waveform.
injector wave form.jpg (96.28 KiB) Viewed 3674 times
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tobycatt95
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 6:20 pm

Re: 2003 CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY OBD2 CODE P1297

Unread post by tobycatt95 » Sat Jun 27, 2015 7:35 am

Well folks, we did a bunch of testing. And rewiring..lol. Tested all the injectors & plugs & wires. We decided that since we were getting that solid light (on the test light) from the ground wire coming out of pcm to injector 4 that maybe the pcm got fried from all of those open exposed wires touching. That wire was supposed to make our test light blink... not stay solid on! So we ordered a new pcm (got ours on ebay) It was called a plug & play. The folks that sell them set them up with your vin & mileage & info, so when it arrives, it should just "plug in" and work. And the price was right! Only $170 bucks, shipped! The pcm just got here last night. Hubby hooked it up & whaalaa! The van is running right as rain! No chugging! No sputtering! Purring like a kitten! In fact, the van hasn't run this good in a long while. No motor shaking! It is wonderful! We are going to do a 20 mile trip today with her. Make sure that everything is working just like it should be... but so far, just putzing around town, the van is running beautifully! I just wanted to say thanks to all of you that helped us figure this out! It saved us so much money!! And wanted to post our results, in case someone else is having this trouble! Anyway, a HUGE thank you to you all that took the time to help us! It was so nice to have step by step help!! Saved us a ton a money! We are forever grateful!

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