1996 Grand Caravan es 3.8L

Dodge/Caravan newbie just bought this van yesterday. The left signal works intermittantly. What I mean is, as I am driving around town the left signal will not work for a number of turns. Then at the next turn the signal will work and continue to work as it should for the rest of the trip. At the times when the signal does not work the 4-way flashers will work if they are turned on. Therefore, I suspect the multiswitch has a dirty contact.

Is the multiswitch easy to remove and disassemble for cleaning. I did this on my old 96 Taurus and it worked great after. Can I do this on the Dodge or does anyone have a better suggestion?

 

Well the multiswitch does come out quite easily. Three screws from underneath hold the bezel on and two screws hold the switch onto the column. Three screws on the front of the switch allow you to get into the contacts. I cleaned the contacts and there is continuity through the switch, but the left signal still does not operate. So the problem must be something else. Tomorrow I will change the flasher to see if that helps.

 

I had this problem with my truck twice and it turned out to be a bad connection at the bulb. Replaced the bulb and made sure socket was clean and wire connections were good and had no more problems.

 

Thanks Jim. I'll check that before I replace the flasher.

 

Why would you replace the flasher for one side not working? The flasher operates both directions. So if one side works and the other doesn't seems that the Flasher wouldn't be the issue. BTW how did you completely dismantle the MF switch to really get in to clean all the contacts? Were you able to inspect the contacts for wear?

 

I removed and inspected the bulbs and the bulb sockets today. The bulbs were both good and sockets were both clean and seemed to be making good contact. After reassembly the left signal was still not operable.

I located the flasher in the upper right corner of the relay panel which is located under the driver's side dash. There I live (Ontario Canada) Daytime running lights are mandatory on all road vehicles. For some reason not know to me, Chrysler combined the signal flasher with the daytime running light module and labeled it "daytime running light module" (DRL). This DRL module physically appears to be an electronic flasher housed with another multi pinned black box inside a plastic shell. When I reinserted this module back into its sockets the left signal immediately became operable, but within 15 minutes again became intermittant. Appears to be a bad connection at the flasher socket. I will investigate further tomorrow.

 

In most cases I would agree with that, but the DRL/flasher combo appears to operate differently. The long and short is, I got another DRL/flasher from the wrecker today and that solved the problem.

Regarding the multi switch:
-The multi switch comes apart quite easily. The back panel of the switch is held on by three screws. If you take the back off you can access some of the mechanics of the switch.
-The front panel of the switch is actually a printed circuit board with all the switches electrical contacts on it. It is held onto the main body of the switch with three different screws and a small barbed tab. When the back is off, you can easily clean examine and regrease ALL the contacts. If the switch seems to be working well mechanically but you suspect poor electrical contacts, take off the front panel only or you may have to chase small plastic parts across the floor.

 

Update on the flasher issue. While driving home the other day, the flasher totally failed. No right, left, or 4-way flashers. When I got home I rapidly removed and reinserted the flasher from its socket several times. This fixed (at least temporarily) the problem. I am now convinced there is a loose connection in the flasher socket. Sigh, guess I'll have to remove the junction block to see what I can find inside. Or just spray the socket with contact cleaner first.