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Vans & Minivans Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan Caravan/Town & Country Electrical Problems
379 messages, Last post on Nov 19, 2009 at 6:13 PM
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1998 Dodge Grand Caravan SE AWD, 3.8L V6, 213,000 miles Mechanically, this van is perfect and it runs/drives with precision. Regrettably, it is suddenly inundated with electrical gremlins and I cannot figure out the source. Any suggestions welcome. Here is the thing: I have about a 50% chance of the van starting. If, when I turn the ignition to "on," I hear the fuel pump whir, the van starts perfectly. If, instead, I do not hear the fuel pump whir and then hear a relay "click" about 1-2 seconds after turning the ignition to "on," the van will crank and crank, but not start. In this situation, I have no spark, fuel injector activity, or fuel pump activity. So, the ASD circuit must not be powered. However, the information I read indicates this circuit is controlled by the operation of the camshaft and crankshaft sensors. I am getting power to the sensors, so I replaced them. No change. Where else might the problem be? My relays all seem to test fine, etc., but yet the problem persists. If it starts, it will keep running without fail. Once it is turned off, though, it is anyone's guess if it will start again. I will state that I have not yet had it fail to start shortly after shutting it off. Whether or not that is symptomatic or coincidence, I am not yet sure. I am at my wit's end with this van and am seriously thinking about scrapping it. I hate to do that, given the excellent condition of everything but the electrical, but there comes a point when I just have to decide that this is one stress I no longer need to have. Of course, that is complicated by the fact that when I do fix this issue, I am going to sell it, but I will not dupe a buyer and sell a vehicle I know is unreliable.
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Replying to: xwesx (Sep 18, 2009 9:46 am) Disconnect one of the fuel line hoses at the fuel filter (not sure exactly where this is on your vehicle). Try starting the car and see if you get fuel flow out of the line. Obviously, use something to catch the fuel. Do this maybe a dozen times and see if the fuel flow or lack thereof can be correlated to the "not hearing the fuel pump whir" symptom you mentioned. Be careful, and keep a fire extinguisher handy. There's always a danger when you're dealing with raw fuel like this.
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Replying to: srs_49 (Sep 18, 2009 12:36 pm) I appreciate the suggestion! |
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We have a 2005 Town and Country minivan. It has been having serious intermittent electrical problems which no mechanic seems to want to figure out. The analog dials will spin, lights on dash flicker, warning lights go on and off, radio crackles, dvd player crackles, HVAC will pulse air when it is in the off position, etc. These "episodes" last a few seconds to a few minutes. Occasionally the car will completely shut down if there is a lot of flashing and dial spinning going on. Has anyone ever had problems like these...and did someone actually figure out what the problem is?
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Replying to: wantanewcar2 (Sep 29, 2009 5:21 pm) I plan on trading it in ASAP and crossing my fingers that it doesn't act up when the dealer checks it out. I also had a problem where the headlights kept turning off while driving and sometimes they would stay on. It would take multiple turns of the switch to get them on or off. I replaced the switch and that solved the issue. |
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Replying to: wantanewcar2 (Sep 29, 2009 5:21 pm) i had got gas a few hours before and never checked the cap like i should have ...at swiftys gas station they pump the gas and never tightened my cap good it will cause the computer ( the brain ) of the vehicle to shut its self down after about 3 miles or when ever it decides to if its not tightened. these newer vehicles have built in self diagnostic computer control modules also called dccm's in some cases if it senses an error it will do everything in the world to cause its self to stop if it cant be corrected internally via electronics .....on the same note have your abs and airbag lights also been comming on ? email personally and I will help to correct the issues before you get rid of the van(s) and vehicles just put automotive problems as the subject truckinforjesus  windstream.net P.S the automotive industries say they put that on there to save you gas cause cars burn the vapors and a loose capp will leak the vapors however i think they are doing it just to get more repair bill and money from us their customers. |
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Replying to: wantanewcar2 (Sep 29, 2009 5:21 pm) |
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I have a 1999 T&C LXI with the overdrive transaxle, and a week ago it began downshifting hard after stopping. I hooked it to an Actron scantool to check for trouble codes, and it reported "transaxle control system fault" explanation ECM recieved a signal that the transaxle control module has a fault. It also reported "input speed sensor (ISS) 1 circuit" explanation The ECM has detected that the input speed signal changed suddenly. The simtum is if the car is driving in the upper gears, and you come to a full stop, the trans downshifts seconds later instead of while the car is slowing to a stop. It shifts hard into the low gear with a bump that feels like someone has tapped the rear of the car. Any thoughts as to if the sensor must be changed or if this needs to be handled by a transmission shop?
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My 99' van has the airbag warning light lit on dash and the horn can't be blown from the steering wheel but it blows when you set the door locks/alarm. The steering wheel radio adjustment buttons also stopped working along with the cruise control. The cruis control stopped first a month before the airbag light lit, so it may not be related. I'm tempted to remove the airbag and wheel just to se if it is a broken contact in the steering colume. When attaching the van to a Actron scantool, nothing is reported by the code tool about the horn or airbag. No fuses are blown.
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Replying to: jimi55lp (Sep 30, 2009 8:30 am) |
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