Need car electronics expert help

[ultravox]

Here's the deal ...I have a '96 Town and Country van that appears to have an intermittent problem with the anti-theft device kicking in randomly even when the van's parked over night and unlocked. This is also compounded by the driver's door solenoid for unlocking the door as being flakey. Sometimes it unlocks but locks again right away or doesn't unlock all the doors.
What happens is I go to start the van ..it starts then cuts out after 3-4 seconds. It will do this 3 times then the computer cuts off everything for about an hour. It appears to have gooten worse now because even after waiting an hour, the computer still locks down everything and a "factory reset" by the Chrysler garage is the only way to start the motor.
The dealer replace the door solenoid last time it happened but the van still didn't start however I don't think they "reset" the computer before so I had them put back my old solenoid.
Now I have 2 options: replace the door solenoid and hope for the best or replace the computer at around $600 installed.

I'm hoping to get an educated opinion from some of the car experts here.

Moved from Off Topic
moderator allisolm

 

[BabaBooey]

The garage is where this needs to go.

 

[iamwiz82]

Hmm.. Chrysler did not unveil Sentry Key until 1998. Are you sure it's a security feature that is causing it?

 

[ultravox]

Wiz I was told by 2 mechanics familiar with Chrysler that the reason the engine cuts off after start is because although the ignition is armed the doors are supposedly still locked and the computers cuts the juice. I just don't want to spend the money getting the door thing replaced and it turns out to be the computer. I'm open to suggestions about what else could cause the engine to cut out after a few seconds.
bababoey ...thank you for playing. Your comment was invaluable.

 

[ultravox]

Mod thanks for moving this to the correct venue. I didn't realize there was a "garage" earea at AT.

bababoey I owe you an apology. I thought your comment was about bringing my van to a real garage for repairs I didn't know there was a garage forum. My apologies once again.