Ok, so about a week or two ago our 2001 dodge caravan sport decided to start acting up.
Symptoms:
(when running)
-Radio not working
-A/C not running (you can hear it but no air flow)
-windows not working
(when on ACC)
-Everything works fine

Now what is going on?
We talked to a machanic and told us that it was the ignition switch, we replaced that and no difference. Waist of $30...

Anyway does anyone have any ideas what could be going on.
THANKS IN ADVANCED

 

these vans are notorious for having corrosion problems in the fuse block under the hood.

 

How would you check that? does the fuse block lift up?
(the fuse block is the block holding the fuses right?)

 

IDK it's just that I've read people have had a lot of corrosion problems with the fuses in thier fuse block on 01 an newer vans. corrosion is like rust. I suppose you could see corrosion with a visual inspection like what sometimes shows up on batteries. I would think that the fuse block would be where you would find fuses but I'm no expert on that. sorry

 

But this is the weird thing, after you drive around for 10 minutes everyting starts working. (The only problem then is that you can only have either the radio or the A/C on...)

 

exorcism?

 

Anyone know what might be going on?

 

you have an intermittant electrical problem. this is the hardest thing to diagnose in person and nearly impossible via the internet.

 

We are having the same issue. No diagnostic codes are showing up, when the vehicle is examined.

What's happening:

1. The dash lights for PRNDL all light up, and you can not tell what gear you are in. If you try to roll down the windows, or lock the doors there is some current going to the switches, but not enough. The windows will come down maybe 1 inch. The a/c fan will not come on, but it sounds like there is some air moving.
2. We can get the issue cleared if we attempt a number of restarts. So the problem is intermittent.

What we have observed and done so far:
There was some corrosion in two places. One where the wires go into the ECM box. Another spot under the fuse box next to the battery. These areas have been cleaned and taped. The mechanic also used some electrically conductive goo of some sort on the contact areas.

Results:
Well, after all that this did not solve the issue. We've had a number of guesses as to what maybe wrong.

Guesses:
Ignition switch maybe shorting out. Mechanic thinks that the computer can not read issues with the ignition.

ECM maybe the problem.

Any ideas? Really don't want to have to spend a fortune guessing at the issue. We've already spent $50 just to have the wires cleaned, taped, and some goo put on the plugs.

The vehicle otherwise is in excellent shape.

Frustrated, and really don't want to pay a dealer $90/hr to fart around more on this issue.

 

I had a similar problem with my 88 Lebaron. It turned out after taking the dash guages plate off. The liittle clips used to screw the screws onto the dash, well one fell out and was created a short on the guage panel. This gave me the problem of the guage lights going out!