PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

hey guys, i've been forced to drive the "spare" vehicle until the bonne is fixed. the "spare" is a 99 dodge caravan with the 3.8l. it was running kinda rough as it doesn't see the road too often, so i figured i'd give it a basic tune up. plugs, wires, fix up bad vacuum lines, new pcv.. with all that done the van still runs like crap... starts fine, just doesn't seem to have any power at all under acceleration.. and if i push the gas too much it sounds like it coughs... or maybe a hicup.. i dunno, i'm not very good at making car noises.. but it sounds like it is blowing pressure back up through the intake? does that make sense? a mechanic friend of mine suggested the cat maybe blocked, causing too much back pressure, and exhaust gases maybe being forced back through the egr causing the "hic-up"... anyone wanna take stab at this one....

Too bad you don't have a 98, you can access the diagnostics yourself on those. 99 is OBD2, and you need a DRB box. Sounds like a COULD be a blocked cat, but I'd check the MAP sensor first. When those go bad, they cause all kinds of ODD things to happen. Another thing to check is the plug wires, you may have a loose one. Those rear bank ones are a PAIN to get any leverage on, and you may not have gotten it snapped in place all the way.

BTW www.allpar.com has a repair forum, with quite a few Mopar dealer techs.

thanks man, really appreciate the input, i hope to resolve this issue on the weekend. i'll post when/if i fix it..

I am half tempted to agree with the CAT from what you have described..