Dodge Grand Caravan 2006 Electrical Issues. Part 1.

We have been having issues for a few months with the van and I was able to reproduce the problem for a video. Hopefully I can get some opinions on what I can do to resolve this issue. It is believed to be the alternator. When I took this video I had both battery cables disconnected to see if I could get it to stall. As soon as I put the battery cables back on, it stabilized and seemed normal. I took the cables back off and it was insane again. I am very convinced this is an alt problem.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• dodge
• electrical
• issues
• van
• 2006
• gauges
• flicker
• stalls
• headlights
• lights
• cluster
• odometer
• cel
• idiot lights
• problem

[LilMissAriel1]

I have almost the same problem, I've already changed my alt &battery. my car shows no miles, the gauges don't work, none not even the gas or speed i have to guess, and the low fuel sound goes off, so i know when i'm low on gas. i'm guessing it's pretty expensive to fix, did your get fixed?

[TimLenhartTech]

@LilMissAriel1 there is a fuse that controls the instrument cluster lights/gauges. I'd check that first. If you're unsure of where it is you can swing by your local autozone they can help you find the fuse..... we ended up getting into a wreck because of the issues we were having and just finished rebuilding the transmission due to it being impaled by a driveshaft during said wreck, in doing so replaced BCM and it seems fine now, but keeping an eye on it. Still have body to repair

[1besheni1]

typical of todays car owners. the 5 year old car develops a problem for months and instead of getting it checked/repaired wait till causes further damage then blame the vehicle . My dodge grand caravan logged over 318000 miles with 1 trans repair.I sold it and it's still on the road. Currently driving a Grand prix with 266400 miles on odometer and still going strong.

[TimLenhartTech]

@1besheni1 It's not the fact that we haven't had the vehicle checked or repaired. Apparently shops are for some reason unable to reproduce the exact circumstances under which the issue occurs. It is completely intermittent, I have changed/replaced the battery/alternator both of which were performing under spec and even replaced the BCM/half of the wiring harness. We've spent almost 1,000.00 getting this unit repaired and I've spent almost 72 hours under the unit. This is a mfr defect.

[TimLenhartTech]

Check some of the videos in the sidebar. I'm not the only one, the vehicle has been doing this off/on since we bought it in '06... I've been fighting a battle with Chrysler which doesn't seem to be going anywhere. When I explained to them this actually caused a wreck they finally escalated it. Just like greedy corporates to lie to save their ass until they could be looking at a lawsuit.

[resonance411]

Having the same problem with the exact same vehicle... Did you get it fixed? What was the problem? Thanks in advance...

[TimLenhartTech]

@resonance411 Sorry for the late response, we haven't done the alternator yet, but I have a NIB one and just waiting on installation. Going to take it by someone to do it for me when I get the extra cash.

[Goofidity]

My van has the same problem, but the alternator was also making a loud grinding sound. So it was easy to figure out it was the alternator, although it was testing fine.

[TimLenhartTech]

We were able to determine the issue was the alternator, however unfortunately not before the transmission failed, rendering the van completely undrivable. Only 5 yrs old and ready for the junk heap, where as my 30 year old Mercedes Benz will probably last another 20 yrs... Chrysler really cut costs building these pieces of junk...