Issues I am having with the van: absolutely no gauges/dash, no cruise, no rear defrost, heater stays on warm even when shut off and its put on cold. Any idea's of where to start looking?

 

Is the service engine soon light on? Have you checked for codes? Fuses good? Flashers and turn signals work?

You might have been hit by the solder joint bug. 3rd generation vans have been plagued by your symptoms and more caused by cracked solder joints on the instrument cluster circuit board. Specifically the solder joints connecting the connector to the circuit board. Sometimes, but not always, this can be diagnosed by smacking the dash above the instrument cluster. If the gauges come back to life, the chances are excellent the solder joints need to be retouched with a soldering iron. Could be the case even if they don't. Lots of work. Practically no cost to fix. If you want to investigate I can link a video on how to get at the cluster and make the repair.

Since you are having heater panel problems along with the dead cluster another cause for the same symptoms is the heater panel connector melting making some contacts on the connector loose contact opening the circuit. How can this be related to the dead cluster? In short, the CCD data bus connects nearly all electronic components in the van.

The cruise control may not be related. How's the horn and airbag light? All three circuits go through a ribbon wire coiled in a unit behind the horn pad called the clockspring. This could be the culprit in any case but more likely if two or more of these circuits are having problems. The good news? The clockspring has a special lifetime warranty on your van. Could be another free fix.

 

Any help you can give would be awesome! I am thinking I am going to have to find the problem myself. Yes, po500 and p1695 codes are popping up. ABS and service engine soon light are on. Flashers and turn signals both work. Fuses were good when I checked when this all started. Will check horn at lunch to see if it works, if not guess I am going to see a dodge dealer

 

P1650 - No CCD data bus message from BCM > This is an indication of a data bus fault and is likely the solder joint issue described above. I would start at the easiest access point. The heater panel.

P0500 - No vehicle speed sensor signal > This can effect your speedo and/or transmission shifting only.

ABS light - Indicates the Anti-lock Brake system is disabled. You'll have to connect a specialised scanner capable of reading ABS codes to determine where the fault is.

Flashers and turn sigs work - Indicates the fuse for the instrument cluster is good.

Do you have a 3 speed or 4 speed transmission? Gear indication on a 4 speed will read PRNDL3. Just for grins, disconnect and isolate the negative battery cable for 2-3 minutes. This will reset all the electronics on the van including the codes. See if anything changes. If you insist on taking it to a dealer don't disconnect the battery.

This has the potential for a hefty bill at a dealership. If they discover the solder joints are cracked, they won't resolder them. They will replace the instrument cluster to the tune of $300 and up, parts and labor. Impossible to say what it will cost to fix the rest. A wild guess? At least another $500. All depends on how long it takes to troubleshoot it and parts costs. Recommend if you're not inclined to tackle this find someone who has some aptitude for it.

 

I think its a 4 speed transmission but seeing I don't have any of those lit up I am going by memory. I will take off the negative battery cable when I get home tonite. I am trying to find someone that is willing and maybe has dealt with this problem but so far no luck.