1998 Dodge Caravan EGR, Catalyst, Oxygen sensors will not reset

Asked by janmaries Oct 09, 2013 at 11:01 AM about the 1998 Dodge Caravan

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Purchased a 1998 Dodge Caravan with 158,000 miles.  Car is in amazing shape but has never had to pass emissions in Georgia.  The EGR, Catalyst, and Oxygen sensors will not reset.  There are no error or fix it codes.  Emissions guy said "drive it",  and it will eventually reset.  That was three weeks and about 1,500 miles ago.  It has been run through emissions 10 times.  Still the same three sensors will not reset.

In that time, we have taken the car to five shops, including two Dodge dealers.  Total of ten mechanics have stood looking at this great van, scratching their heads.  They haven't even charged us for the diagnostics, because there is nothing wrong with the car.  They don't want us to leave the car with them, because they have no idea what to look for.  Answer from every mechanic has been "drive it".

One mechanic plugged a laptop into the car and drove it looking for "hidden" codes that might have caused the problem.  Still nothing.

We put in a new battery, and the current reset was over 500 miles ago.

Other items that are probably not related, but  at this point, who knows...  Electric windows and door locks do not consistently work.  I saw something online about the IOD fuse and emissions???  The car ran hot yesterday, but I think the fan did not kick in (maybe another fuse??).  It has been fine since.

I appreciate anybody's help.

1 Answer

1,075

In short none of these items reset, they have to be replaced with that many miles on them, they are old and slowing down because of age .

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