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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / June 2006Dodge Caravan intermittent dash problem
1998 Dodge Grand Caravan SE with 3.3L engine. Dashboard instrumentation occasionally goes dead (all gauges go to zero or depowered position). This happened again a couple of days ago, and when the dash came back alive (within a few seconds) the "Service Engine Soon" light was on. Retrieved OBD code "P1698" Is this enough info to identify a likely cause? Your help would be much appreciated. > 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan SE with 3.3L engine. > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Is this enough info to identify a likely cause? Your help would be > much appreciated. Our 99 with a 3.8 does the exact same thing, except for the CE light. A while ago on another mopar minivan forum I read one fellow actually got to the bottom of the whole mess- there's a bad connection in a connector going to the dash. On our 99 when it happens, I slap my hand down on the top of the dash and it starts working again. I do *not* look forwards to ever pulling the dash to find the bad connection. If you clear the code and the code comes back when the dash shuts down again, you may have a more central problem (bad fuse connection, loose wire elsewhere). You might check to see if the transmission control module is on the same fuse as the dash. Dave I have a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan-same exact problem, only my ABS light also comes on-I beleive that the Body Control Module is the problem, since the guage cluster gets it's signal from the BCM and ABS system light come on for 2 reasons-the ABS module turns it on, or it fails to get a signal from the BCM. Mine is also intermittent. My 98 Grand Caravan had this same intermittent problem for several months, until the guage display never come up last weekend. I took the instrument cluster off today. There is one DIP connector(REFDES: J1) on the cluster PCB. I can see without magnifying glass that the solder on one pin has a circular crack. It's the ground pin as I read the PCB. After I resolder this pin, the gauge display goes back to normal. I have an explanation for this failure: There are big current flowing along this pin, so much so that the solder could melt. When it cools down after the car is not running, the solder tend to shrink to create the crack.It is the culprit of the intermittent problem. I have seen too many failures caused by this in CRT TV/monitors. There is still one myth for me to figure out: When I put back the negtive battery cable, the turning lights and instrument illumination lights keep flashing even without key in the ignition switch. Turning on the parking light can stop the flashing. How do I reset this? > I have a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan-same exact problem, only my ABS light > also comes on-I beleive that the Body Control Module is the problem, > since the guage cluster gets it's signal from the BCM and ABS system > light come on for 2 reasons-the ABS module turns it on, or it fails to > get a signal from the BCM. Mine is also intermittent. > My 98 Grand Caravan had this same intermittent problem for several > months, until the guage display never come up last weekend. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > pin as I read the PCB. After I resolder this pin, the gauge display > goes back to normal. Hey, good find. I'm squirreling this tidbit away in case percussive maintenance fails. I've fixed a few bad solder joints in my time (most recently, honeywell furnace controller relay. Just the part is $300 over the counter, easy job but still would be a fair bit of a labor charge, 9pm, cold winter night...) If I have to go in to fix this, I'll beef up that track with a ground wire. Dave > 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan SE with 3.3L engine. > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Is this enough info to identify a likely cause? Your help would be > much appreciated I had the problem you describe on a 2001 Grand Caravan, though I don't recall the check engine light being on. The jumping speedometer was quite comical for about 2 minutes, then it got old. I scoured the internet and found lots of references to the problem and no solutions. I tried disconnecting the battery overnight to let things reset. I removed the cluster and reinstalled it. Nothing helped. I finally went to the dealer. Their $300 diagnosis was "bad instrument cluster". A new instrument cluster cost $500. It has been 15 months now and the problem has not returned. In hindsight, I wish I would have just replaced the cluster myself and saved the $300 diagnosis. I don't necessarily mean that you should just buy a new cluster, I am only relating my solution. Good luck. Bill |
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