I know this is a pretty common problem with Caravans, but I've tried every solution I've found on these boards with no success. I'm hoping somebody has another suggestion.

The instrument cluster on my 2000 Caravan started working only intermittently a couple of months ago. Sometimes all the gauges go to zero, like it's lost power except the back lights on the gauges remain lit. Other times the gauges will just stick - I'll be stopped and my speedometer will still say 30 mph.

So far I've tried the following:

1. I re-soldered the connector on the instrument cluster and cleaned all the contacts on the male and female connectors. This didn't help anything.

2. I checked the connection on the back of the fuse box for corrosion. It was clean.

3. I replaced the BCM. This didn't help anything either.

4. I replaced the instrument cluster. I'm still having the same issue.

I'm at a loss at this point. If anybody has any other suggestions, I'd really appreciate hearing them. Thanks.

 

Nothing else is acting up, just the cluster?

 

Yeah, it seems to only be the instrument cluster. I had thought the BCM might be the problem because a couple of times the dome lights came on and the power locks unlocked and re-locked on their own, but it turns out that's only happened when the sliding door wasn't shut very firmly. When all the doors have been shut firmly, it's never been a problem. The cluster, though, acts up no matter what I do.

I appreciate any ideas you can offer. Thanks.

 

I had the exact same problem on a 96 Grand Caravan for several years now. Every week or so, no wipers, air circulation, heat, turn signals or gauges. What I did was turn the vehicle off for a minute and then back on - everything then comes back on.

A concurrent problem I had was the rear wiper controls would constantly flash. After doing the following, I haven't had a instrument cluster crash for several months now. Was this just a coincidence or fluke????? It's worth a try. It's a quick and easy check. Let us know if it works for you.

Air conditioning calibration:

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/jo...1235_arvan.pdf

 

Still no luck, unfortunately. I just got back from trying the A/C panel test you suggested, but there were no errors and the instrument cluster continues behaving erratically. I appreciate your suggestion, though. At least now I know one more thing that isn't causing the problem.

Any other suggestions, anyone?

 

When the gauges go down I've found that the DLC connector is also dead. Because this problem kills everything in the vehicle, I was tending towards looking at the CCD bus integrity. Everything shares this bus. Unfortunately (fortunately) the problem has gone away and I have ceased looking at it for now.

CCD Bus.jpg

Here's a link that discusses this possibility.

http://forum.chryslerminivan.net/sho...avan-Sport-3.8

 

I realized last night that I had never reported back on this issue from over 4 years ago (yeah, I'm awful), so I'm rectifying that now in hopes that it might help someone else.

After everything I tried (re-soldering the instrument cluster connector, cleaning the instrument cluster connectors, checking the connection on the back of the fuse box for corrosion, replacing the BCM, replacing the instrument cluster, taking the van to a shop where they told me I needed a new BCM, and sending my BCM in for repair -- twice), I was about ready to give up.

It's been long enough ago now (over 4 years) since I fixed this that I don't remember where I found the answer, so I can't credit the source (probably someone on this forum). But after all that, the source of the problem turned out to be... A bad ground.

There is a small ground wire attached to the negative battery clamp. Over time, the connection between the battery clamp and the ground wire gets corroded, oxidized, etc. It doesn't take much, just enough to introduce a bit of extra resistance to the circuit. The same is true of the connector underneath the battery holder, which bonds a ground wire to the body of the van.

I cleaned these connections with some sandpaper, smeared a little bit of battery terminal grease on the surfaces, and put it all back together. No more problems... for several months.

This issue seems to resurface about every year or two, but cleaning up these grounding connections has fixed it every time.

Hopefully this will help somebody else to not spend as much time, money, and frustration as I did.