I have a 2001 Dodge Caravan SE (3.3L) and am experiencing some weird electrical problems, they may or may not be related.

Series of Events:
Series of Events:
7 weeks ago: Radio/CD/Clock are intermittent dead/live
6 weeks ago: Radio/CD player go completely dead (Clock out, radio dead, CD player dead - CD still stuck inside). Haven't fixed yet but assumed the radio was shot.
6.5 weeks ago: Cleaned large amount of corrosion off "+" battery terminal. Radio/CD/Clock still not functioning.
3 weeks ago: Passenger side window functioning becomes intermittent then stops half-way down. Starts working again on it's own while in the shop, they didn't charge me as they had only just taken of the door panel and cleaned the track. The window works fine for a few days and then starts working intermittently again.
2.5 weeks ago: Cleaned more corrosion off "+" battery terminal. Cleaned it better this time.
1 week ago: Young daughter got into drivers seat while we were exiting the van and we didn't notice she had turned on the headlights. Next morning the battery was dead requiring jump start. Van ran fine for the remainder of the week.
Yesterday: My wife stopped for gas and the van started up very slowly (no new corrosion showing on the battery terminal). Now when running most of the warning light are turned on, including Engine, oil, gas, drivers/passengers doors, rear hatch, airbag, cruise indicator and ALL gear selector lights. Also all cluster gauges are dead (fuel, Speedometer, Tach, Temp) as well as wiper control and A/C (blowers do work) are dead.

Yesterday afternoon I tried to reset the gauges and cluster by holding down the Trip button but this didn't solve the problem.

I also recharged the battery yesterday for about 8 hours (didn't quite reach a full charge... about 3/4) and again reset the gauges/cluster using the trip reset button but this didn't solve the issues either.

Any ideas?

 

Well no one has answered but I will give an update anyway on the status.

After work today I disconnected the battery, completely cleaned the battery terminal and connector and let it sit unconnected for an hour. When I reconnected it the dash was acting normal. The radio/clock is now intermittently flickering which it hasn't done in over a month, as noted above until now it's been completely dead. Also you can hear a "pop" over the speakers when it flickers on/off.

So... I am thinking it is a battery or alternator issue. Thoughts.

 

cleaning the battey terminals is a good thought. how about checking the fuses and relays in the pdc? I read a lot of them are corroded.

 

How old is the battery? Also ck the battery cables them self.If there was a acid build-up, it could leak down into the cables. Causing bad contact. Its just a thought.

 

What Master Tech said.

I had similar ghost problems that got worse and worse. After a LOT of trial and error, it turned out that there was a lot of hidden corrosion deep down inside the negative battery cable. With as much corrosion as you mentioned on your battery terminals I would check that first.

I know it doesn't really make sense but these cars need a lot of current and even small fluctuations throw the system completely for a loop!

 

Hi I HAD CLUSTER PROBLEMS GAUGES GOING CRAZY & HEADLIGHTS GOING ON & OFF.ENDED UP BEING BCM FIXED THAT PROBLEM & HAD TO GET A PCM TO GET RID OF CHECK ENGINE LIGHT.EXPENSIVE FIX .

 

My 97 Caravan had very similar problems. The fix was a new headlight switch. Corrosion in the headlight switch was causing the BCM to reset. I went around the world before discovering this, including a new PCM and many hours of troubleshooting. Sounds very similar to your problems.

 

Flickering is usually a sign of a bad connection..
Mine was a severely corroded wire under the fuse block in engine compartment.
If you remove battery and then unlock the latch holding block to fenderwell, you can then tilt block toward engine and you will see all the electrical connections loaded with wires. If you don't find any corrosion, then you may wanna remove center dash cluster with HVAC controls and check the wiring for broken/near broken connections..

This sounds like an inexpensive fix..

Good Luck and Keep us Posted...

*****

 

Definitely battery. I guarantee if you load test it, it will come back bad. Even if you 3/4 of the way charged it, it may not have held that charge for long.

Once a battery is completely drained 3 times, it will not hold a charge. U can recharge it the first 2 times, but the 3rd time that the battery is COMPLETELY drained, you will not be able to keep a charge in the battery for very long at all. Load test your battery and I bet you will find your issue. Also, like master_tech said, check all wires leading to and from battery.

 

ZJWilly and TurboStixx. I guess you didn't notice the date of the last entry on this thread - 31 December 2010 by Dieselboot in post #7. Cwilms, the OP, last posted on 12 July 2010. Wonder if he fixed it over the past year and a half? Anyway, someone may use the info.