Hi, hope somebody out there can help.
We bought our Grand Voyager about 6 months ago. It is a 98 plate with the
3.3 litre petrol engine. We live in the UK.
About two months ago when we went to use it one night, it would not turn
over and there was nothing on the dash. Both the top row of warning
symbols and the main instruments were dead. Our local Chrysler dealer
eventually diagnosed the problem as being the body control module, which
was replaced with a new one, (£280 for the refurbished part which is
little more than a circuit board)
One week later we had exactly the same symptoms, with the exception that
this time we also had the alarm symbol flashing on the top cluster. As
luck would have it we had broken down half a mile from the dealers. They
were good enough to come and do a diagnostic, which they said indicated
the problem was now the immobiliser unit. They suggested I disconnect it
and leave it half an hour, "to sleep", as apparently this can remedy
them?! Anyhow this made no difference, so I towed the car home to await a
replacement immobiliser. The following week when it was due, the dealer
informed me they had ordered the wrong immobiliser, which was to have
beeen £96, and that the immobiliser I needed would be £360, (for a small
black plastic box)
However the dealer recommended we bring the car in for a proper
disagnostic check, as the one at the roadside had been done "on the fly",
and they were unsure as to it's accuracy.
Therefore I proceeded to prepare the car to be towed back to the dealer.I
was surprised when attempting to put on the lights, that the car started up
and ran fine. This with the immobiliserr unit on the passenger seat beside
me and connected to nothing!!
I drove the car to the dealer, who informed me the following day that
they did not understand how the car was running, as the immobiliser was
disconnected. They suggested that I run it like this, as they felt I would
be looking at a large bill to locate the mystery. They believe it may be a
loose wire which could be anywhere, or indeed that it would run fine like
this.
However over the next few weeks it has continued to break down for no
apparent reason, and also to then start for no apparent reason.
In addition while driving, the gauges are prone to failing and then
coming back to life, the alarm may or may not respond, and on starting up
the car shows symptoms of a low battery e.g clicking relays, sluggish
turnover, but on retrying it will then turn over with alacrity. On another
occasion the drivers side light dimmed, while the passenger side was fine,
with the main beam warning light appearing to be partiallty illuminated on
the dash.
I replaced the two grey metal boxes on  either side of the engine bay,
which appear to contain the vehicles "brains" one located adjacent to the
fuse / relay box, the other one fastened to the opposite bulkhead. I have
also tried a second hand immobiliser unit, which again made no difference,
allthough I presume this would need programming by the dealer.
Having read of some similar experiences on this site, I wondered if the
security switch on the door lock was faulty, as sometimes the courtesy
light on the drivers side fails to illuninate. However as far as I can
tell it appears O.K. in that it appears to operate if I manually set it
with a screwdiver, as I can hear the locks operating.
When I have a go at reading the codes on the dash I get 999, which I
understand means things should be O.K. as does the fact the message dims
down.
As you can see a rather strange mix of symptoms. I await your answers
with anticipation and trepidation, unless some kind soul out there can
tell me it's a dead cheap and easy fix for those in the know.
Cheers Mark