'99 Grand Caravan starting problems

[SoCal]

My Grand Caravan's engine has been running good, at low & high speeds, but during the last month it has started to give me trouble with the first start of the day. It feels like it's going to start but it doesn't, it just dye off. I wait a few minutes then it start OK and wouldn't act up until the next morning. It would seem like there is a problem when it gets completely cool overnight.

Today the problem became worse. It wouldn't start and I end up running the battery down. After cranking it with a jump, really fast and hard, it finally started like nothing was wrong. Now I'm scare of using the car. Could this problem be tune up related? All inputs are welcome... Thanks!

[carriedi]

i would look at your fuel pressure first thing in the morning. If you take it to a shop you will probably need to drop it off the day before so they could check it in the morning the next day. They should have a scanner hooked up and ready before they turn on the key. Also have a fuel pressure gauge hooked up too. They will need to check what happens when they first turn the key to the run position. Is everything turning on as it should. The fuel pressure should jump up to 34 to 49 psi. (may take more than one key cycle) Coolant and air temp should be very close to the same degrees. then crank the engine and see what happens.

They might want to check for codes the day you drop it off too just in case there are codes that make be stored in memory.

[medinagemini]

Car will start fine when cold. When it reaches normal tempature, it stalls out. It turns over fine the first couple of attempts but then the autoshutdown relay starts clicking, along with the fuel pump relay and the fuel pump. With those pieces clicking, the starter wont fully engage and sounds awful. The relays will continue to click even when the vehicle is turned off. Unplugging the cam sensor doesnt make it stop. I need to disconnect the battery for the ASRelay to quit clicking. I cant evem check computer codes while its clicking. (Checking by flipping ignition on/off 3x's) . When i am able to check codes, none are coming up except the battery code.

[carriedi]

you should get a volt meter and check the voltages at the relays. It sounds like you may have a voltage problem. You might not have enough voltage/amps to hold the relays down. Could be a battery problem. Could be a connection problem. Could be a shorting problem. But it sounds like a problem with the power to the relays.

[medinagemini]

New battery and why would relays continue to click after car is off and key removed?

[carriedi]

new battery doesn't mean you have good voltage through out the system. that's why you check voltages at the relay to see what the relay is doing. Is the voltage turning on and off, is the voltage too low or is the ground turning the relays on and off. Something is turning the relays on and off. You have to check to see what it is. Check at the asd relay.

what is the year, make, model and engine of the vehicle you are dealing with?