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Dodge Caravan Instrument Panel

167 messages,  Last post on Dec 05, 2011 at 12:47 PM

You are in the Chrysler/Plymouth Voyager, Dodge Caravan Forum.

What is this discussion about? Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Voyager, Plymouth Voyager, Electrical, Van

Messages Page 16 of 18

#145 of 167 2002 Dodge Caravan 3 Zone Climate Control by kolbspa

Aug 10, 2010 (8:27 pm)

When we first purchased this vehicle this spring. The instrument and center console lights did not work. I did find the battery to be extremely corroded and cleaned with a baking soda water mix, removed the pos/neg cables, and cleaned posts. Doing so brough back lights to the dash and radio. However, the climate zone will not light up. Does anyone know how to remidy this issue? I have even gone so far as to pop off decorative facia and unhook the conncections to the module (hoping to find a fuse). This was not the case..It is very frustrating and quite difficult to see at night when driving. PLEASE HELP!!!!

#146 of 167 Re: 2002 Dodge Caravan - When I Use the Turn signal the dashboard power dies. [handyman49] by kcollier

Aug 25, 2010 (1:08 pm)

Replying to: handyman49 (Jun 14, 2009 2:57 pm)
My 2001 Caravan has had almost the exact same issue.
 
It started as follows:
I went shopping for about an hour or so. When I returned, the car would not start.
The battery was dead. I hadn't left anything on or running, and the battery was about a year old.
 
I replaced the battery, and the car started up without any problems. However, the instrument panel went dead for about 10 seconds and the turn signals would not work. After that, the panel lights were working, but as soon as I used my turn signal, the panel died again. When I turned off the signal, the panel lights came back on. Now this started happening every time.
 
At one point, however, I left the signal on, and after 10 seconds the panel lights came back on (even with the turn signal on).
 
Later, I disconnected the ground post on the battery, and when I touched it back to the ground post I didn't notice any sparks. I then turned on the turn signal and tried disconnecting, then reconnecting to the ground post on the battery. Now I noticed fairly substantial sparks. I thought that there was a short in the turn sign relay or something like that.
 
Resolution:
I tried disconnecting the battery and resetting the IOD, thinking it was the BCM.
That didn't seem to have any effect.
 
Ultimately I thank this forum and handyman49 for solving the problem. I showed my mechanic this link and he looked at the fuse box connector and found the corrosion.

#147 of 167 Dashboard light by decor42

Sep 14, 2010 (1:41 pm)

I have a 2003 Grand Caravan. I let my van run for about 5 minutes this morning before I planned to leave for work.
When I got in the van there was a light on just above or to the left of the washer fluid light.
Looks like an engine or transmission???
Needless to say I didn't dare drive the van.
I drove it several times yesterday through out the day and did not notice any problems with it. One trip was 50 miles each way.
What is it?
I no longer have the manual and have tried doing a search but no luck.
I have checked all of the fluids and their levels are fine.

#148 of 167 Re: 2002 Dodge Caravan Dash Lights [cbwilsha] by rammy121

Nov 25, 2010 (12:06 am)

Replying to: cbwilsha (Feb 17, 2009 9:34 am)
mate, great answer...it really worked. we're about to drive off from the netherlands to london. did the pre-checks last night and this happened. read your article...hey presto!! cheers!!

#149 of 167 Re: 2002 Dodge Caravan dash instrument panel dead by eclaypool

Nov 29, 2010 (8:17 pm)

Replying to: mrt123 (Apr 29, 2010 9:13 am)
  did you ever find out what caused the instrument panel to go out. We are having the same problem with ours and would like to try everything possible to fix it before we take it to a mechanic. We have no speedomter, or turn signals along with pretty much everything else on the panel. Any suggestions?

#150 of 167 Re: 2002 Dodge Caravan dash instrument panel dead [eclaypool] by johnbeck

Nov 30, 2010 (4:50 pm)

Replying to: eclaypool (Nov 29, 2010 8:17 pm)
My problem has definitely been fixed !!
Faults are all being caused by fractured soldering on the rear of the instrument cluster circuit board; mainly ground returns - that's why so many odd & erratic things happen.
It's not a big deal removing the instrument cluster and resolder the obviouse fractures in the solder joints....
My opinion is that when everyone jumped on the 'lead free' bandwagon, the electronics industry went to a high tin type content thereby making the solder less flexible and prone to movement stress fractures....
IF you can search the site further, you should come across a final posting from me outlining the disassembly and resoldering instructions on my Dodge '98 Grand Caravan.
Don't let the dealers get their hands on this problem... From the horror stories I've heard, some people have paid big bucks for the dealers to guess & unecessarily replace all sorts of modules...
IF you can get partial functioning of the display cluster by thumping hard on the top of the dash, that's a good indication it's bad display cluster soldering..
Let me know if this works for you ok?
Cheers
john

#151 of 167 Re: 2002 Dodge Caravan dash instrument panel dead [johnbeck] by all4gss

Nov 30, 2010 (9:05 pm)

Replying to: johnbeck (Nov 30, 2010 4:50 pm)
johnbeck,
 
No luck searching for your final post outlining the disassembly and resoldering instructions. Can you give us a link?

#152 of 167 Re: 2002 Dodge Caravan 3 Zone Climate Control [kolbspa] by pooner

Dec 19, 2010 (2:30 pm)

Replying to: kolbspa (Aug 10, 2010 8:27 pm)
The climate control lights have most likely burned out. I pulled mine apart and all 4 bulbs are toast. Now the question is, where do I find these bulbs as the dealer wants 500 bucks for the whole unit. Everything works well except these 4 blue bulbs. Anybody know where these bulbs can be bought?? How can all 4 burn out at once??

#153 of 167 Re: 2002 Dodge Caravan Dash Lights [cbwilsha] by mn4ethanol

May 20, 2011 (3:30 pm)

Replying to: cbwilsha (Feb 17, 2009 9:34 am)
Thank you so much. We had the same problem with our instrument lights not working. It made for difficult night driving. I pulled the IOD fuse which on my 3.8l 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan was a 15 amp fuse. Maybe the fuse should be a 10 amp. I will have to check it out. Well, it worked like a charm. My lights are back and I have you to thank! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!
 
MN4ethanol

#154 of 167 if you have 02 or 03 caravan by israelone

Jun 08, 2011 (12:05 pm)

you have a bad cluster check this post
http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4106224&posted=1#post4106224
 post #4 this might help diagnose your problem you can also post something and ill see what i can help you with

Messages Page 16 of 18

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