Car having trouble starting

Dodge Caravan does not have a reset button.

That would be a good place to start. Ther is 1 under the hood and one on the fuel pump in the tank. Do the 1 in the engine bay 1st as the 1 on the fuel pump doesnt normally give much trouble as its a screen not a filter. And located in the fuel tank

Has the fuel filter been changed? It sounds like a fuel starvation problem. Not familiar with the Mercedes diesel I had a Dodge Cummins 24 valve diesel and had the same trouble when the fuel filter had gotten to dirty. Another issue could be the fuel pump itself is starting to go, not a usual problem but would cause the engine to cutout if it is not providing enough fuel. Which in turn would make it hard to to start after since there is not enough fuel in the system. Also check if there is a filter in the fuel tank could be plugged. Check the fuel also, see if it has started growing algae in the tank if this happens it will plug filters quickly. Good luck

Hi Sue, White smoke is a sign of air in the diesel system. It seems as if the fuel line is sucking in air. The most likely place is the fuel filter seal. The best way of sorting out the problem is to replace the filter with a good quality replacement fuel filter. Regards John

I am not familiar with that model, but it dosen't sound like a fuel filter to me .
If it runs good after you get it started,the filter is probably ok,i don't know where it is located on that model,but it sounds like you have already found the problem (low fuel pressure) check for leaks,make sure the lines are on the right places on tank .Whatever is causing low fuel pressure is probably the solution.
hope this helps!

this might well be the air flow valve it is located in the intake duct work. this works to control the air flow to your motor to optimize volumetric efficiency. when these stick its chiking out the motor this is a good place to start

When you have an engine that is hard to start or the engine takes longer than normal to start, with a fuel injected engine it will normally be caused by a fuel problem. Another problem would be slow cranking of the engine because of a low battery, I would check all of the fuel related problems if the engine seems to crank normally. There are a few things to check. First pull the fuel filter off and wipe it off so you don't get gas in your mouth and try to blow through one of the fuel connections on the filter. If you can't blow through it the filter is pluged and needs to be replaced. A plugged fuel filter can cause hard starting and can also damage your fuel pump. The next thing to do when everything is put back on the car is to check the fuel system for bleed down. You need to locate the fuel pressure test connection on the engine. Connect a fuel pressure gauge to the connection and start the engine, then turn the ignition off. With the engine off the pressure should read and stay between 30psi and 40psi, to be sure of the pressure you will have get the spec's on the engine you have. The main thing you will be looking for is to make sure the pressure doesn't start bleeding down in to direction of zero after a few minutes or maybe even immediately. If you see the pressure start to bleed down you have a problem. There are two problems that normally cause the pressure to bleed down. One is a bad check valve in the fuel pump, the other is a bad fuel pressure regulator. The main thing that happens with a fuel pressure regulator is the diaphram inside starts leaking. When that happens sometimes it will leak fuel into the intake manifold through the vaccuum hose connection to the intake manifold. To check for a fuel leak through the vacuum hose connection, locate the vacuum hose on the fuel pressure regulator and pull the hose from either the manifold connection or from the connection at the fuel reguator. If you see any gas at all the fuel regulator is leaking and must be replaced. If it is a slow leak from the regulator you might have to start the engine with the vacuum hose disconnected and look for a leak from the hose. If you don't find anything wrong with the regulator the next problem area would be fuel pressure bleeding back into the gas tank because of a bad check valve in the fuel pump. If this is the problem the fuel pump would have to be replaced. My first guess as to what is causing your problem would be the fuel pressure regualtor although I would definately want to make sure the fuel filter is not plugged. (Please Note) The fuel pressure regulator is located in the intake manifold area of the engine. The fuel pump is located in the gas tank. The fuel filter is located usually somewhere under the car.

could be several things, like dirty air filter, fouled spark plugs, bad gas, bad fuel pump, clogged fuel filter (probably located on the pump which is most likely located inside the fuel tank.) bad EGR valve, a vacuum leak... the list goes on and on. but most of these would cause a trouble code or service engine soon light to illuminate. if that light is on then you might want to get a parts store to read the codes for you and then repost with the results. good luckl

For issues like this it is a fuel system related problem.

Have a look at the fuel pump (located in the fuel-tank). Check for the pressure and see the fuel filter too.

Good luck dear. And don't forget to rate this solution.

fuel filter most likely will not fix your problem.- the best thing would be to see what the check engine trouble code is and then go from there. there are way to many things that could be wrong to just throw parts at it, but if thats how you want to go at it i would probably say the fuel pump is a more likely cause than the filter.- i have never replaced a fuel filter on a ford for a no-start.