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Vans & Minivans Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan Caravan/Town & Country Electrical Problems
375 messages, Last post on Oct 30, 2009 at 2:53 PM
You are in the Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan Forum. Your Host is Karens
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Replying to: screwedbygm (Sep 15, 2009 4:46 pm) 1) You first have to remove the "leg" fascia under the steering wheel - there are at least two (2) screws keeping this in place at the lower end, and two (2) behind the park-brake release lever. Another screw is located on the driver door side - open the door to get access to it. Once all the screws are removed, the "leg" fascia clips out at the upper end on either side of the steering column. 2) Now you can access and undo the screws that are keeping the "dashboard trim" in place. There are a couple of screws at the lower part beside/on each side of the steering wheel/column. They become visible & accessible once the "leg" fascia is removed. There is also a screw behind the air-duct port that feeds the driver door. Open the door to see/access the port. Once you have removed the screws around the "park-brake release lever" - as explained above - you should be able to gently pry the port molding lose. With the port-molding removed, you should be able to access what I believe is the last screw. But double check to see if you can find any others - I am not looking at my car as I am typing this and am going from memory. 3) once ALL the screws have been removed, you can "gently pry" the trim lose from around the center vents - to the right of the steering wheel, above the radio and other gadget console. On my vehicle there are no screws in this area to remove. It is just kept in place with re-socket-able clips. Hope that helps. If not, go to any auto-parts store and get a repair manual for your vehicle - they are about $20 and very handy to have. Good luck. Dodge Nightmare |
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Replying to: wantanewcar2 (Sep 30, 2009 3:12 pm) From that guess, two scenarios come to mind in order of ease to fix: 1) The "plug" that connects the speedometer & tacometer cable to the transmission has jarred loose. On my vehicle the plastic "locking" clip has deteriorated causing the "plug" to jar loose when I was driving on an unpaved road. It took me a while to figure out why I was doing 120 MPH one second and 20 MPH - or even standing still the next - all while traveling at a constant velocity.  But once I figured it out, it was a simple matter of plugging it back in and avoiding unpaved roads.  The "plug" is located on the transmission body facing the front of the vehicle - at least on my Dodge GC it is - and should be accessible from around the left-front-wheel. You may need to jack the car up and secure it on some stands - or drive both front wheel onto some blocks on an even level surface so you can crawl underneath. Of course, do this when the engine is cool, or else you may cause yourself some major burns. I just "plugged" my plug back in and haven't had any challenges since, but I have also not been on any unpaved roads since, either. If "off-roading" is unavoidable for you, you can buy a new plug and "splice" it in, but only the dealers sell them and charge the monopoly price of about $51.00 just for the part - plastic plug with some wires attached. Installation is extra if you don't do it yourself. If you are a DIYer you may try a wrecking yard if you don't want to fork over $50+ . . . or you could get some "goop" or "glue" to keep it in place. 2) The instrument cluster circuit board has some broken solder points causing a bad connection or failed communication when ambient temperatures change, You will know if you have this problem because sometimes your car will start (when the instruments work) and sometimes it won't (when the instruments don't work). If you have an anti-theft system on your vehicle, you have probably also come across the "three starts and then dead" fiasco - when you turn the key the engine starts and then immediately dies. After three tries, NOTHING. The first three dies is the fuel-pump relay shutting down because the computer senses a "communication" malfunction. The DEAD part is the security system kicking in because it thinks there may be an attempt to steal/hot-wire the vehicle, so it shuts everything down. The fix for this is to remove the instrument cluster and examine every solder point on each of the TWO circuit boards - back and front - that control the instrument cluster. Any cracked - or questionable - solder points should be re-soldered. If your situation is similar to the one I experienced, this should do the trick. To do this yourself you will need the following: 1) a Philip Screw Driver 2) a small Soldering Iron 3) some Solder 4) possibly a Magnifying Glass 5) a Steady Hand 6) some faith in yourself : ) 7) or a kind friend or neighbor willing to help out Cost for all of these tools - if you don't already have them - is less than $10.00 at Harbor Freight. If you solicit your neighbor you may want to budget a little extra for the thank-you gift : ) And to get to the Instrument Cluster, scroll down a few posts to DodgeNightmare's response to "Screwed by GM's" post where I explain the procedure for removing the Dashboard Trim. And apparently the reason for the solder points cracking in the first place is a bad manufacturing batch. The solder points were soldered too cold, causing them to be weak and to crack over time. Ambient temperature changes cause the cracks to expand and contract, explaining the on-again off-again phenomenon. Car companies won't recall them because it is not a life threat, and therefore not an ominous legal issue. Hope this helps. Dodge Nightmare 
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I have a 1998 T&C and once the air bag lite came on it was down hill from there. Next that happened was my 4 little lites blink for the heat and a/c control. also noticed I have no cruse control to .I gotta tell ya I love this car. To this day it drives like a dream. I drove some of these new cars , and ah not so hot..I so I'm crossed from spending money on my old car I already know , or go into more dep with these crappy cars they build today.Can some one shed some lite on this .. Greatfuly yours kochese. P.S. If you need plumbing advice I can help you IM a master plumber /heat / and A/C..TtHANKS
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Replying to: kochese (Oct 29, 2009 6:09 am) Does your horn work? If not, the airbag light may be due to a bad clock spring, which is what maintains the electrical connection between your steering column and wheel. Master plumber/heat/AC huh? I need to install my boiler to the radiant heating system in my house.... including all the manifolds, etc. Do you know of any books that explain this process? I cannot seem to find any; or, it may be that I am using the wrong search terminology.... 
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Replying to: xwesx (Oct 29, 2009 9:59 am)
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Replying to: wantanewcar2 (Sep 30, 2009 3:12 pm) |
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Replying to: kochese (Oct 29, 2009 1:31 pm) The connector for the HVAC controls is located just behind the space where your lights are blinking. A few screws holds that portion of the console in place; remove them, pull the face plate forward, and you cannot miss the connector. But, it may simply be the clock spring that is causing your problems, since the controls for cruise are located on the wheel, too! The blinking console lights may indicate that you need to run the diagnostics on the HVAC (I listed those a couple months ago somewhere on this forum....  ). That process is pretty simple and will tell you if there is a problem. The good news is those blinking lights will not affect the driveability or operation of the van or its components. As for the boiler, no, this is a new installation. The only parts of the system that I have are the tubes in the concrete and the boiler itself (a condensing, oil-fired Monitor). I have to do all the installation including the zone control thermostats, valves, manifolds, etc. I usually find myself a good book and learn that way, but I cannot seem to find one for hydronic heating systems.
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Replying to: xwesx (Oct 29, 2009 2:07 pm)
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Replying to: kochese (Oct 29, 2009 2:41 pm)  Here in Alaska, we often do things a little differently than the civilized world. There is a Johnstone Supply in Anchorage, which is a mere 350 miles away. I will check them out this winter when I am next down that way.
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Replying to: xwesx (Oct 29, 2009 3:51 pm)
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