what could be wrong w/my car?

Question

My car was fine nothing major.Last Fri.my checkengine light went off. I dont know anything about cars, but thought it was my oil.I put 4 quarts oil in car. It was real low. Car drove fine. Today I am driving & was at a redlight (traffic backed up) & all sudden felt my car shaking like it was gonna die & yup it did. I turned car off than back on in drive. My car felt like I was driving 2 miles hour & was very hard to steer. I got it to gas station.Filled it up & tried starting car up.Car started up, but didnt drive. Few mins. later I was driveing fine. Like nothing ever happened. I was low on gas.I had about 1/8 tank. I have driven plenty times on below gas line.Im thinking I may need spark plugs? Any ideas on what could happened to my car? I have a 2000 dodge caravan. My check engine light is still on

Answer 1

Boy, this could be a lot of different problems. The biggest question is why was the oil low in the Van? And did it need 4 Qts. at the time you added the 4 Qts.? If so, is the Van a 4 Cyl. or a V-6? You might already have some internal damage in the motor running it that low on oil. You might want to check the dipstick and make sure you didn't over fill the motor, this can cause power problems, and you can risk blowing an oil seal.

Running your tank almost on empty will cause all the impurities in the gas tank to clog your fuel filter. Which will cause your vehicle to slow, acting like you don't have enough power to move.

Only other problem I can think of at this time, is you didn't mention the condition of the exhaust. You could have a clogged muffler or catylitic converter. With the year of the Van, when was the timing checked last? When was the last time you checked or changed those plugs?

You can take you Van to a shop to have them see what codes your ECM (computer) has stored, but that just gives them a starting point to start checking for the problem. You might have to break down and take it to a shop to have them look further into it.

Answer 2

Take it to a repair shop and don't bother with the free code reading at AZ. You get what you pay for, all they will do is read the code, and sell you a part. They will not diagnose the problem, it says so right on the back of the printout they give you. Believe me I know, and I have no reason to lie to you. It isn't like I'm expecting you to show up at my shop. I own a $9000 modis scanner and pay $700 for annual updates. It has a built in component tester, 4 channel lab scope, ignition scope, and has a huge troubleshooter database. Even with all that, I always have to use my brain, expertise, and college degree in auto tech, to diagnose the problem. The computer does not just "tell me what's wrong". So if someone can explain to me how some clod at the parts store can hand out free diagnosis with his $50 code reader in five minutes. Give me a break.

Answer 3

you do not have to take it anywhere to find out what the check engine light is on for. Chrysler has an auto diagnostic built into the car.
what you need to do is:
cycle the key "on" "off" 3 times (dont start it, just 'on' 'off'), where the odometer is, it will give you a diagnostic code starting with "p". Do that then tell us what the numbers are.

**EDIT**
By just going off what you gave us, there could be at least 35 different problems that would cause that... the only way for us to help would be to tell us the codes.

Answer 4

The check engine light does not come on due to oil. It's generally electrical, fuel or oxygen sensor. Best thing would be to go to a dealer, but if you're on the cheap, go to an independent garage.

Answer 5

if you're burning that much oil and not taking care of the poor van, then you need a dose of REALITY. TAKE it to a repair shop and don't be surprised if the bill is MORE than the van is actually worth. Spark plugs are the LEAST of your worries..

Answer 6

There is a thing called periodic maintenance that would have saved you a lot of headaches. Try it on your car sometime. Don't just keep driving until it quits, and THEN start thinking about taking care of it.

Answer 7

take it to Autozone and tell them you want your Check Eng light tested and they will come out to your car and test it and tell u what it needs all for Free and they will tell you how much $ the parts are going to be to fix it


www.autozone.com