Recently my battery went dead in this 01 caravan but the headlights and windshield wipers randomly turned on after the battery was already dead.Does anyone have any ideas on what caused this and what the proper fix is?

 

It did that because the battery was going dead. Low battery voltage makes the controllers go nuts. Sometimes if you have a real dead battery and jump start the vehicle so it's basically running on the altenator, they get real goofy. As long as it acts normal after getting charged or replaced, you should be fine.

 

Welcome to DF
Tizzy is right, All T/C and Caravan's have this same problem when the battery is going dead, sometime the washer bottle will empty because of a low battery. replace the battery and you should be alright. Just as tizzy had writen.

 

One other thought.....If the battery posts are corroded the battery may be good but it just can't send power out due to a bad connection. Also the battery may not charge properly due to bad connections.