So I bought the T&C from CarMax 2 years ago. I have had the TPM replaced twice and the Ambient Temp Sensor replaced myself and CarMax at least 6 times. The van does not want to start at random times. The CEL light goes on and the temp reads incorrectly all the time. I have had multiple arguments with CarMax and they even ran a two day diagnostic testing and found NOTHING wrong with the car. Fast forward 4 weeks later and the car refused to turn on again and has bad temp reading and CEL light is on again. I have to crank it 10-15 times to start when it does refuse to start.

I am convinced that the Ambient Temp Seńsor is cut and shorting out the system some how.

Has anyone else had this issue?
Does anyone have any documentation on where the Ambient Temp Sensor harness leads to and where I can track in down?

I looked and it buried and I don't know if I can replace just that harness or if its tied to any other components?

Thanks is advance.

 

Hi There, I hope this helps you. I own a 2011 Town and Country. I've had the crank / no start since I bought my van a couple years ago. I also took it to AutoZone to have the battery and alternator tested. They came out with clean tests. I took to a mechanic. He decided it was a starter, which he replaced. Next day, no start, no start, no start. While I was looking under the hood with the mechanic, I noticed something green on the floor where the engine sits. I asked him if that was a ground strap (because it looked like a woven flat cable). He said yes. I asked him if that could have something to do with it not starting. He said no. As he went to touch it, it basically disintegrated and fell apart as he touched it. Still, since I'm not a mechanic, I said OK, go ahead and put another starter in it. The next morning when it did not start, I decided to call my dealership and order a new ground strap. At this point, I was broke, so I couldn't afford to have a mechanic put it in. I'm a female and I live alone, so I've had to learn how to fix things around my house myself, including putting in a new vinyl plank floor in my entire house by myself. This lead me to think, "gee, perhaps this is not a big deal". I put in the $12.00 ground strap. It was very easy. Guess what..... I've had virtually no starting issues at all. I've started to notice every once in a while, I'll have to start it twice, but that really did help A LOT. I used to always just assume that I would have to start my car 12 times in order for it to start. It was intermittent, but I always prepared myself for the chance that it probably won't start at least the first few tries. Now, it usually starts. I put in the new strap a year ago. Today, I'm going out to my car to check the ground strap again to see how it looks. I also need to look into seeing how the other ground straps look (if there are any). Like I said, I'm not a mechanic, but it sure can mess up your life when you keep dumping money into something that just doesn't go away. I hope it helps.

Like I said, I'm not a mechanic, just a person who gets as frustrated as the next person.