Farmall Cub

Rudi- I’m not a Chrysler Tech, but I worked on them at a Chevrolet dealer when a used car/truck sale returned for warranty work. A way to check fault codes without a scan tool on your van… Engine not running turn the switch off and on three times- key off, key on, key off, key on, key off, key on - the SES light (engine light) will blink five times- pause- blink five times to give you the number 55. This is the start of the system check sequence. After 55 is displayed the fault ECU and transmission code(s) will follow for example code 22 will be light blinking…blink-blink-pause-blink-blink. All codes will display until code 55 is displayed again which shows end of fault codes.

The 3.0 Liter engine you have in your van was manufactured by Mitsubishi.

As for as I know the method for getting fault codes like I stated is only for the ECU and transmission modules not air bag or body modules. The air bag will not function with the air bag light on. As a suggestion…. check your owner’s manual fuse section and make sure all fuses related to the air bag circuit are ok.

- Hope this helps

Rudi wrote:Jeff:

Why thank you kind sir.... I will have to tell the guys about that the next time the car goes in.......

so, now tell my how you knew that.

Did you try it and that's what it is? Very common failure on older vehicles or high mileage. Most people ask what the clock spring is. It's the electrical connection between the movable part of the steering wheel and the stationary column. It's behind the airbag in the steering wheel and is a flat ribbon cable type wire coiled in circles like an old wind up "clock spring", usually inside a plastic housing so you never actually see the spring. As you turn left and right it "winds up and winds down" over time like any metal bending back and forth it will eventually break. That's where you start loosing the air bag connection, cruise control, and any other electrical switches on the wheel, the simplest of which is the horn. Turning the wheel back and forth gets the broken ends to touch enough to sound the horn then open again going the other way. Had one replaced on my car a few months ago.

Scrivet wrote:Does your horn work? If not press the button and hold it in while turning the steering wheel back and forth a half revolution or so. Does the horn sound intermittently?

A word of caution: Don't try this while sitting behind a motorcycle gang at a red light.

Jeff:

We lost the horn a few months ago and it only works intermittently when I turn the S/W back and forth. Couldn't figure it out cause it made no sense to me. It is very intermittent but totally gone when the wheel is in it's normal positions when driving. Very much a PITB and I was worried about it. Don't like being without a secondary defensive driving instrument. I knew the problem for the horn was in the wheel .... all the fuses had been checked last week when it was in for servicing. None of us connected the horn/air bag links.

It is no longer our primary vehicle, it is a secondary. We bought a new 2012 Honda Odyssey Touring last spring. We also acquired a 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan with the Handicap Mod to it to move Sam around in her wheel chair. So, the 2000 will be around for awhile yet. I love it, it is a great van. Too bad the new DGC's are not in the same league. They have fallen a long way in quality in the last few years

Stan, sorry for hijacking the thread

I keep life as simple as i can i love having older equipment with points & condensor. If it dies i check the gas tank level first, then gas at the carb, then i check the spark. If it has no spark i clean the points and off i go again.

Nowadays the mechanic has a diagonstic tool that tells him whats wrong. What if he had an older car to work on?? Will he have enough experience to find out whats wrong with it?

I'm old school, very old school i was washing car parts for my dad at 6yo. I was weened on gear oil and grease.

I am told that Stihl chainsaws will be equipped with connectors to plug into diagnostic equipment. Still pondering that one.

Sometimes it goes the other way. about 4 years ago I had a new geo-thermal heat pump put in, and it required a pda with a IR function to program the computer. It was the first one of this type for the dealer, and they had to go to the manufacturer's site and download the required program in my Palm Pilot to set it up.

Scrivet wrote:

Does your horn work? If not press the button and hold it in while turning the steering wheel back and forth a half revolution or so. Does the horn sound intermittently?
A word of caution: Don't try this while sitting behind a motorcycle gang at a red light.

Well…in that case you need to add this option to your van's security system…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2Y3hqakfI4

Great! Now I'll spend the rest of the day looking at Trunk Monkey videos. Then I'll have to look at the Badger ones as well because those are good to and I haven't watched them in awhile.

Scrivet wrote:

Great! Now I'll spend the rest of the day looking at Trunk Monkey videos. Then I'll have to look at the Badger ones as well because those are good to and I haven't watched them in awhile.

And you said you have nothing to do….

Trunk Monkey 1 and 2 were great.... 3 was weird and 4 well not so much