Ok, so this morning I get in my car to go to work and about 5 miles into my trip I come to a stop at a light and the car just died. Tried to start it and it wouldn't, battery was ok. I immediately checked my coilpack because I was having problems with it and thought I must have not connected something back. I checked over all the wires and everything was fine. I started to check all fuses and wires and I noticed the 30A engine fuse was blown so I replaced it with the one for the power window. I started the car and let it idle for a good 10 mins reving the motor sporadically. I then decided that it was JUST a blown fuse and then I drove off and proceeded to work and the ####ing car died again, not even half a mile up the street.

I went to the autostore and bought some replacement fuses, checked the entire engine wire harness/sensors/plugs etc. for shorts but couldn't find any. I replaced the fuse again and drove the car about 5 miles (drove perfect) and it died again so I just had it towed home and Im clueless. I need all the help from you guys.

Also I've been having problems with my tranny (it's in limp mode, stuck in 2nd gear) and right after I replaced the fuse for the 2nd time it shifted perfectly through all gears as if there were no problems with it. I also noticed that when it died the 3rd time the transmission was shifting from 1st to 2nd gear and the car just died. Could it be the speed sensors/solenoid pack? I just bought them but haven't replaced them yet.

My question for you is: Did the engine fuse blow again after you replaced it? or did the car just die again and the fuse was fine?

If the fuse is continuing to blow (like the title states) then there is obviously a short or your grounding out somewhere.

If the fuses are fine now and the car is just starting and continously dying then i would say replace the crank sensor first. I had a problem with my car driving 5 minutes and then just dying over and over and over. The engine would always fire right up after it died, but then die like 1 minute later, after replacing every part on the car ; I finally realized it was my crank sensor.

The fuse blew INITIALLY when the car died and I replaced it twice. The 2nd time it blew after driving not even half mile and then the third time the car drove fine (transmission shifting perfectly like it's never done before in a while because of being in limp mode) for about 2 miles and it died again.

Now, I waited until the rain let up and went to look at it again. I replaced the fuse for a FOURTH time and made sure that I checked over all the wire harness that I could see along with visible sensors and the fuse BLEW before I could fire it up. I'm so clueless. Wondering if I should address the tranny problem first and see if that helps even though I doubt it will.

I would go with 4uh8ers on this and say you'd have exposed wires somewhere, intermittently shorting. Look inside looms and underneath electrical tape.

And I am unsure of where the TCU gets its power from, but you may want to inspect the wiring to that as well, as it may get power from the engine fuse.

Use an ammeter and check where the fused circuit branches into other circuits and find where the draw is, and test that circuit at various points until you find the problem area. Electrical issues can be extremely time consuming to find.

Good luck with that.

Ok, jacked up the car and decided to mess with the alternator connections as advised to do by Paul. At first I tried starting it again and it still would blow the fuse immediately before the car could fire up. I noticed that the connection was "stiff' with little play so I played with it a little and then tried to start the car and it FIRED UP. I figured the alternator had a short too and wasn't charging the battery so I removed the battery with the car running and the car died within 1 min. I'm going to have the alternator tested later to see if I need to replace it which I think I'll just do anyways. At least a little luck, hope everything works out later after spending $20 in fuses.

Hey, sounds like your making some progress. Thats nice to hear.

Hey Ricky, see if you can get a longer connection for the alternator when you replace it and dont overtighten your belt because it can damage the alternator. Let me know if everything goes well.

P.S.
Make sure you replace the speed sensors and the solenoid this weekend and flush the tranny with ATF+3. I think there's a thread on 2gnt that you can read to learn how to do "the poor man's flush" or whatever they call it.

Loosened up all the wire looms and removed the tape from everything (wiring mess). Found a melted wire right next to the part of the EGR tube that goes to IM. Still replaced the alternator too because it somehow failed during all of this. Hope nothing else goes wrong.

That is a common problem, wire insulators melting near the EGR tube.

So is the vehicle running now, or do you still have issues? Hope that was it.

Very common around here it seems. One of the reasons I went ahead and did the EGR block-off on my car. Here in arkansas we dont have any emissions tests or anything though, not everyone has that luxury.

The vehicle is running now for the most part. We don't have emissions here in FL either but I'll let it stay though. Didn't even find the real problem until after I replaced the alternator which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Now I just need to address my tranny issues because I've been slacking a little bit. Thanks for all the tips guys.

RWKustoms said:

Hey Ricky, see if you can get a longer connection for the alternator when you replace it and dont overtighten your belt because it can damage the alternator. Let me know if everything goes well.

P.S.
Make sure you replace the speed sensors and the solenoid this weekend and flush the tranny with ATF+3. I think there's a thread on 2gnt that you can read to learn how to do "the poor man's flush" or whatever they call it.

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What's up man? I can't seem to get ATF+3 anywhere, it seems like everybody is only selling ATF+4 which I heard that if you switch to it you can't go back to ATF+3. My last resort is Satan and they want like $5 a quart.

At one point I believe Walmart was selling Mopar ATF+3 if I'm not mistaken, give them a try especially since you live right across the street from them. If not then you should be able to get regular ATF+3 tranny fluid from any Advance. Glad to see you found the problem, sorry I'm not there to lend a hand. Did you put new wire loom insulation on the wires in that area of the bay? And yeah, if you switch to ATF+4 then you can't go back to ATF+3. ATF+4 is considered a better fluid or an upgrade over ATF+3 as they put it. However, it is referred to as a "fill for life" fluid. It is more expensive and I have heard it referred to as being synthetic. The lifespan of this fluid is, according to chrysler, supposed to last the life of the vehicle. Please note they are also the same clowns that say you can go 5,000 miles on an oil change per schedule A. No one falls in to the schedule A category. Likewise, this "fill for life" fluid still needs replacing as does the transmission filter.