Help! 1998 Dodge Caravan electrical mystery.
#2492874
05/06/18 07:14 PM
05/06/18 07:14 PM
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 730 Nampa, ID
MadMatt
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I have a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport 3.3L that I've owned since new. It's been very good to me and has nearly 200K miles on it. My son has been driving it at college and it recently started having issues with starting and the radio cutting in and out. He brought it home to check out. I found the battery was fully charged and wouldn't put a draw on a battery charger. But the terminals were extremely corroded. I cleaned up the battery and terminals with water and baking soda, put a little dialectric grease on the terminals, and cinched it all down. It starts right up but all of a sudden I have no gauges, no park or headlights, and the electric locks don't work. The turn signals work and show on the dash, the parking brake light and other idiot lights work, but the tach, speedo, gas gauge and temp gauge all quit working, along with the lights and locks. I've checked all related fuses and they are fine. I can't even begin to imagine where these different functions would intersect. Can anybody offer any clues or advice?!?
Some see the glass as half empty, some see the glass as half full. I just drink straight out of the bottle.
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Re: Help! 1998 Dodge Caravan electrical mystery.
[Re: gtx6970]
#2492916
05/06/18 08:54 PM
05/06/18 08:54 PM
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Posts: 730 Nampa, ID
MadMatt
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Thanks for the suggestion. But I tried it and no luck.
Last edited by MadMatt; 05/06/18 08:55 PM.
Some see the glass as half empty, some see the glass as half full. I just drink straight out of the bottle.
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Re: Help! 1998 Dodge Caravan electrical mystery.
[Re: MadMatt]
#2492957
05/06/18 10:52 PM
05/06/18 10:52 PM
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Posts: 730 Nampa, ID
MadMatt
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If it's the BCM will the OBD port show error codes? I think O'Reilly auto parts does a free OBD error check.
Some see the glass as half empty, some see the glass as half full. I just drink straight out of the bottle.
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Re: Help! 1998 Dodge Caravan electrical mystery.
[Re: poorboy]
#2493031
05/07/18 01:25 AM
05/07/18 01:25 AM
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Posts: 730 Nampa, ID
MadMatt
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I would be looking for a bad, corroded, or missing ground between the battery and the body.
Did you remove the battery cables and cleaned the posts and terminals, or did you just chemically clean the posts? Chemically cleaning doesn't always get the job done, especially if they are really bad. I would also consider replacing the terminals on the cables or replacing the entire cable. A lot of problems on old stuff is fixed with good clean metal to metal battery connections, on both ends of the cables. Gene Thanks for the suggestions. I will try and check the grounds tomorrow. I checked for continuity, resistance, and voltage drop between the battery and the fuse/relay box under the hood and everything checked out fine. I physically cleaned the battery posts and terminals. I don't think the issue is at the battery, but a ground problem at the relay boxes sounds like a possibility.
Some see the glass as half empty, some see the glass as half full. I just drink straight out of the bottle.
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Re: Help! 1998 Dodge Caravan electrical mystery.
[Re: SALEM1912]
#2493032
05/07/18 01:26 AM
05/07/18 01:26 AM
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MadMatt
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Nope, they don't flash. I also found out the power mirrors don't work. But the power windows and the brake lights do work.
Some see the glass as half empty, some see the glass as half full. I just drink straight out of the bottle.
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Re: Help! 1998 Dodge Caravan electrical mystery.
[Re: gtsdude]
#2493147
05/07/18 12:19 PM
05/07/18 12:19 PM
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Posts: 730 Nampa, ID
MadMatt
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Try to unhook the battery again and turn the key on while its unhooked. I had the same thing happen with an 02 caravan, dash lights, speedo and tach quit, hooked battery back up, all was working again. So, reconnect the battery with the key in the ON position?
Some see the glass as half empty, some see the glass as half full. I just drink straight out of the bottle.
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Re: Help! 1998 Dodge Caravan electrical mystery.
[Re: MadMatt]
#2493632
05/08/18 02:08 PM
05/08/18 02:08 PM
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 902 S.E. Minnesota
gtsdude
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Try to unhook the battery again and turn the key on while its unhooked. I had the same thing happen with an 02 caravan, dash lights, speedo and tach quit, hooked battery back up, all was working again. So, reconnect the battery with the key in the ON position? No, turn key on with battery not hooked up, gets any battery voltage stored in the vehicle to 0.
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Re: Help! 1998 Dodge Caravan electrical mystery.
[Re: MadMatt]
#2493636
05/08/18 02:19 PM
05/08/18 02:19 PM
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cudaman1969
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Buddy's did the same, tried a lot of things. One mechanic said to pound the dash with his fist, he did and it would work again. That tells me bad ground connections around cluster. He did replace cluster and is working fine now but the disconnecting could have been helpful too. How many times in older cars just wiggling the fuse cured issues. Common practice on those 70s Dodge trucks with the fuse panel on top of the dash under the glove box door (spilled drink)
Last edited by cudaman1969; 05/08/18 02:22 PM.
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