I have a 1996 Dodge Caravan that is great but it has a few little mechanical things wrong with it. One is the wipers, but I know what that it. What i can't figure out is what is wrong with the headlights and it's driving me nuts! If anyone can help or has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. What happend is:

My husband was tring to see why the wipers weren't working so he took the steering column apart (BAD move to let him do that!) finally we realized that we just needed a new wiper motor but by then it was too late, the headlights wouldn't work. After a while of driving it only during the day my husband decided that he would check out the fuses with a tester. When he finally ended up finding th headlight relay he replaced it, nothing happend. But when he took the cap off of the relay and tried to check it with the tester he found that if he put something in there to force the relay to connect then the headlights came on. So for the last year I have been putting a piece of cardboard in there at night to keep the headlights on. Here's the thing though, when we put a new battery in it the headlights worked from the switch in the van without having to put anything in the relay. That only worked for a short time and I'm back to the stupid cardboard. Does anyone have any idea of what could be going on with my van?!?! I have had suggestions from people who know a little bit about cars, but I'm reluctant to spend money on all of these things without knowing for sure. Some of the suggestions I have had is that it needs a new battery cable (I can slip one of them on and off without loosening the nut, I'm not sure which one it is, but it IS the one that goes straight to the fuse box), and another was that it's the alternator not charging up the battery enough, and also I was told by 1 guy that to fix it I would probably need a new fuse box. Please help!! I'm at my wits end, I love my van and don't want to get rid of it because of 1 annoying little problem! Thanks

 

If the cable is that loose you should replace it. I assume you have tried tightening the clamp to the battery post and the bolt/nut is stripped. Sounds like the positive feed to the system. This probably won't allow the alternator to fully charge the system.

When you replaced the battery you rebooted the computers and that is probably why everything worked for awhile. Fixing the loose cable may fix the problem.

I don't understand how putting cardboard in the relay was helping. Perhaps the socket the relay goes into needs replacing.

I am guessing you have multiple problems and you will have to deal with them one at a time. Fix the loose cable and come back and tell us what is going on then.

 

Thanks :-) I had a feeling that the battery cable might be causing the problem. The nut on the cable is tight, actually to the point where I can't get it off but it's the metall thing that goes on the battery that is messed up, it looks like someone might have gouged it with something and the top of it is kindof scraped off. It almost looks as if someone couldn't get the nut off so they pryed the metal part off. Hopefully that's what is wrong with it, I will try to change the cable today and let you know. I'm not sure what is going on with the relay, all I know is that I put the cardboard in there to force a little metal piece to touch another metal piece and voila, they come on. It's weird lol. I do know that relay is shot now, when we replaced the battery we had to put a different relay in that hadn't been opened in order for it to work. But anyway, I will let you know. Thanks for your help :-)

 

After you replace the cable, put a battery charger in trickle mode on over night. The battery may be down and the alternator can sometimes have a problem recharging a worn down battery. Just to rule that out of the equation and it's cheap insurance. Battery cable problems can be tough to figure out and they affect many other systems. When you get the new cable, get a battery terminal brush and clean the negative terminal too. I also find those red/green anti-corrosive felt rings are helpful in keeping the terminals clean.
As always, good luck with your project!

 

I'm wondering if that relay needs enough current to close? Maybe a bad connection on the battery didn't give it what it needed and that's why the cardboard helped? Just a thought. Regardless, the battery cable needs attention.

 

The wipers and headlights are both controlled by the body control module. It sends a signal to the headlight relay to close the contacts ane send power to the headlights. When you put cardboard in the relay it is manualy holding the contacts closed and turning the headlights on. The body control module is located under the dash by the drivers feet. It is mounted to the back of the fuse block. Do not confuse it with the powertrain control module located on the inner fender well by the battery. I have seen people replace the wrong computer module before.