2000 Grand Caravan

I got in the car yesterday and had the following problems:

- Power door locks not working. No sound or movement made when using remote or door switch.
- Signal lights not working (emergency flashers are working)
- Air conditioning not working
- ABS light is on
- Airbag light is on

All other electrical seems to be working (power windows, radio, lights,...)

I looked at the diagnostic code (using the trip/odometer button trick) and it showed "999", which I believe is normal.

I removed the battery and left it disconnected overnight thinking that might help (I saw that advice somewhere for a different problem.) It did not fix my problem.

Does anyone know what could have caused these problems to suddenly appear and advice on how to correct it?

Thanks!
-- Bob

 

take it back?!?!?!? did yall check fuses, did yall hook up a scaner and look at bcm, abs and airbag codes/data? the odo thing aint gonna give bcm codes. did yall check the a/c pressure to see if thats good, did yall check the elect curcuit for the a/c pump and see if its all good. did yall check ground wires at the battry and body/motor/frame?

 

I have not checked all the fuses yet.

Other than fuses, I'm not equipped to perform the other diagnostics.

I just wasn't sure what could cause all those things to fail at once. I've read about those things failing individually, but never together.

I was hoping there was some single replaceable piece of equipment that the community knew of that could cause this type of problem.

 

The A/C has nothing really to do with the rest of your problems. Air bag, ABS, BCM PCM, TCM, use multiplexing (bus) communications to send signals to each system. however if the bus crashes then so does the instrument cluster. When you just got this van yesterday, everything worked and then out of the blue ALL these problems arose at the exact same time?

 

Just to clear up one piece of confusion first... I've had the van for 10 years

Yes, when I got in the van yesterday, these things just stopped working all of a sudden with no prior warning. Everything was working fine just hours before.

Is there anything you can think of that links these things together?

 

nope other than a simple wiring issue like a spice point or ground wire. and is it safe to assume you checked ALL fuses ...and verified continuity... If you connect a real scanner you'll have a lot better possible answer. it could be a bad BCM, it could be a problem on the communications bus line, it could be a problem with a main ground wire, it could be a lot of things. I don't think there'll be an instant magic answer.. Have you checked the wiring under the PDC? I had a 1999 t&c that had been working perfectly. I parked it for a week and the next time I went to drive it, all kinds of problems occured including no head lights or power windows or turn signals or radio and a bunch more. After about 10 min diagnostics, I found wires under the PDC chewed up by one of them bastard rodents.

 

This exact same thing just happened to my 96 Caravan today. I've driven it for 2 years and had it out today and then I went to drive it at 4pm and the airbag and abs lights were on and a lot of stuff didn't work. No blower/Heat, no brake lights, turn signals, rear wiper/defrost buttons, and dash lights. I have no idea what the issue is. I checked all the fuses, disconnected ground twice and I still have the problems. I actually had to disconnect the battery because the brake lights stay on permanently. If no one has any ideas, then she is headed to the scrap yard.

 

You need to have the van check for stored codes in the BCM and ck all the fuse's too. The brake lites when they were staying, may have been the brake lite switch. To ck fuse's you need a 12v test lamp or a DVOM. Just looking at them will show you they are bad.

 

All my fuses are good. I pulled all the fuses in the PDC and they are all intact. The weird part is that within a 3 hour span it went from perfect to screwed. There was no warning at all. Is there any way to pull the stored codes in the BCM without going to a shop and being charged an arm and a leg? I would rather save any money for a new vehicle than put anything more into this van. It's got 180k miles, rusted sliding doors and fenders, different colored door and fender, no a/c, broken sway bar, etc... It's not worth putting any money into unless it's a cheap easy fix. I will check the PDC for corrosion and frayed wires. I will also clean the ground connections and the battery. Someone on the other board said his van did the same thing and if he wiggled the key while it was running it fixed itself. Would that be a bad ignition or still a bad ground? I've also heard a bad alternator could cause this situation. I'm just lookign to see who else has had this problem and how did they resolve it. This would give me a better starting point. Thanks for all the help.

 

Ok, have you had any luck in diagnosing your problem. I replaced my ignition switch since all these items run on the same circuit from the ignition switch. All my fuses are good and nothing seems out of place. Any updates would be helpful. I can't afford to sink money into this van especially when it stills runs and drives.