Chrysler: Caravan Electrical Ghost?

Dennis Busse wrote: 

There are several ground connections on the van that I would check first
given that multiple systems appear to be affected simultaneously. I
believe the service manual points these out in one schematic.


Matt

if you don't have a high quilty scantool you will be chasing your tail

Dennis Busse wrote:
 

My first thought is the ignition switch. If everything that requires the
ignition switch to be on goes off then perhaps that's the problem. My
neighbor had to replace his Honda Civic's ignition switch and was told it
was because of a key chain with loads and loads of keys putting stress on
it.

"Dennis Busse" <net> wrote in message
news:com... 

I have a 1996 Town & Country. Last year, the radio could suddenly shut
itself off for no reason. Then the ABS warning light would go off suddenly
and rendomly. I sent it back to the dealer. They could not find any thing
but reset the codes. The problem did not go away, but more bad things
happen, the battery seemed disappered for a fraction of a second while the
car was running. However, that gave me a hint that the problem might come
from the battery.
Finally, I decided to check the battery myself. That was it. The battery
terminals were very dirty. I cleaned them up and hooked them back TIGHT.
The problem was gone since.
Hope this may help.
Gary
"David Allen" <rr.com> ¦b¶l¥ó
news:WW5cb.1293$socal.rr.com ¤¤¼¶¼g... 

Over the last few days, people wrote in ten foot tall digital flames:

[snip responses]

1) Gonna try to check the ground connections this weekend. I haven't
had the car to check the manual or the connections yet, but that's the
first place I want to look.

2) I wish I had a scantool Anything that can't be fixed with basic
equipment is gonna have to be a shop deal.

3) Shouldn't be a problem with heavy keys killing the ignition switch
through the weight, but I'll put that doesn as something to check.

4) Checked the battery terminals for crud and they're fine. It's also
not likely the battery as it was replaced last year.

However, the progression of symptoms sounds similar - first the radio
began to have issues, and now the whole dash is basically cutting out.

Regarding re-occurance of the problem, it's been out two days,
including a trip to NY and so far no problems. We're pretty much at
this point just trying to figure out if this problem is happening in
response to a certain stimuli - ie, hitting a bump in the road,
primarily highway or city driving, gas tank at certain level, etc.

Another thing - it's not the factory radio in there - my father
installed a new audio package in the car. Personally I think it's
something my father has screwed up or a wire wore or something, but I
haven't told him that yet. (His handiwork isn't quite 100% perfect).
Is it possible for a short or dropped wire there to affect the dash in
such a manner (vs just blowing a fuse or shorting just the radio)?

my dad's 90 Imperial has a digital panel, and it goes blank occasionally,
and then comes back on. it's just the panel, the info center at the roof,
and the radio and everything work fine. probably a wire short somewhere.

it shows every light, because it thinks it just got turned on.

took it to the dealership about a year ago, they couldn't find anything
wrong. the outages used to run to 10 minutes or longer, now they usually
stay under 10 seconds.

not gonna spend a lot of time or money figuring out what's wrong with it,
since the passenger doors got crushed by some stupid woman in a new Cadilac.
thought the stop sign only applies to cars costing under 25 grand, I guess?
we'll get rid of the car in a few months. right now, it's used for a twice
a week 120 mile commute. racking up around 11k miles every 6 months.


--
Jerry at whatevah dot com
(spambait gov )

You need to look at the instrument cluster power , cluster grounds and
the data bus feeding the cluster for your problem. It might fix
itself if you reseat the cluster connectors.

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 02:25:31 GMT, Dennis Busse <net>
wrote:
 

The connections have all been taken care of; problem is still there.
Interestingly enough, the car also started having problems starting in
the last few days; the shop diagnosed a bad starter, but it seems a
little too unusual that this problem's popped up just a week or two
after the instrument cluster began acting up. Anyone got any ideas on
that?

Original problem: Analog and digital guages cut out apparently at
random; seatbelt, airbag, ABS, engine light all come on. At first it
looked like this was happening every 6 days, but it missed the last
cycle. Car continued to run normally until yesterday - no rough idle,
no hestitation/stalling.

New development: Car did not want to start, also apparently random
(wouldn't work first few times, would then work fine, run, stop, start
fine again, run, stop, not work). Shop claims bad starter (replaced @
$200 cost).

- D