I drive a 2006 dodge Grand Caravan, 3.3L, paid a fortune 1 year and half ago, 80,000kms.

I started van today, it did start, but one minute later just shut down. nothing worked. i took out iod fuse put back in, and it started. Just started yesterday, while i was driving the dash lights started flickering lightly. Then all the dash lights went on and off, all while i was still driving. Radio would start and stop also. The spedometer and other gauges where going crazy, but i was still able to drive, but kept hearing a clicking. i turned van off, and it wouldnt start. Nothing did, no lights no noise, no nothing. I opened the hood, shook the battery and van started again. Again this morning all the dash lights flickered and everything went all crazy again. I only have 80,000 kms so i dont know what the problem is. Its never stalled on me yet. Had boyfriend clean battery posts, says the fuses are all clean. I've read some posts on body control modules or the IOD fuses? I dont understand if its easy to replace a new bcm by myself and how can i reprogram it? Im scared i might not make it home one day, being 8 months pregnant and just spent a fortune on this van. Sounds like this is a regular problem for minivans? Theres no other problems with wipers, or heater, or locks. i bought this van used. i dont have an alarm in it, but i do have the van key with the remote car door opener. When model or product # would i need? Please help. I have 3 other kids, and need this van.


i dont know what is going to happen if i drive anywhere.Now im reading that it may be the front control module, or the central timer module or the dash cluster. im getting confused.

If i get this van scanned and nothing comes up, what the heck do i do, and where do i start? I think it may have something to do with the instrument cluster. Does it do all these symptons though? Please, Please, help me.

 

What yr, and what engine size?

 

Sorry, i updated and edited that post.

 

Sounds like alternator/battery connection issue to me...My 01 Caravan did the same thing, changed the battery and it stopped doing that

 

does sound more like Battery is dead. How old is the battery? Buy decent battery, don't use "Value" line battery.
for the FCM and PDC, you can lift the Fuse box up and see if there is any corosion.

 

This was a common problem (same symptoms) on Pacificas and was traced to a faulty ground wire from the PCM to the body. The fault was in the cable connector so not visible to the eye. Find the ground wire and put in a temporary jumper wire to make a bypass. If everything works ok after that, replace the ground wire.
Another issue is low battery voltage which will cause a shutdown but not necessarily the flickering lights on the panel. The battery at rest should be 12-12.5 volts. With the car running it should be 13-14 volts.

 

When all the dash lights flicker, and everything goes crazy, im still driving. The motor doesnt shut down. I hear a clicking and everything goes back to normal. Does this a few times.
Its just been getting to the point where everything just shuts down now. Motor is great, battery posts have been scrubbed. Fuses look fine.

 

Shorted/intermittent breaks in wire continuity of the sliding door wire harnesses is another one to add to the list. How can that be? Much of the electrical communications between the many computer modules takes place over the PCI data bus. The bus consists of a single wire and it's terminal module circuits. This wire is routed to all the modules including the sliding door modules mounted in the doors. The wire harness mounted at the bottom of each door moves in a channel everytime you move the door. It takes a lot of punishment. There have been increasing reports of damage to this wire harness causing any number of electrical faults including stalling and erratic instrument clusters. 2010(?) Chrysler Corp vans have been recalled for this harness creating fires. May be worth a look. Here's a video on how to access it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=705hcJqOf6U

If it's not this and the battery connections at the battery and IPM look good and the battery passes a load test, I'd look at the corrosion issue with the IPM as Steak59 stated. It's been an ongoing problem.

 

I'm still saying battery...have U had the battery tested to make sure it is still good/fully charged? I think that will be the cheapest and easiest way to start!

 

I used to have a 2005 Town & Country LX that did the same thing. Turned out to be a bad connection from the battery wire to the connectors that go on the battery terminals. The solution was the have the wires securely soldered to the connectors.

I just picked up a 2011 GC Crew, and last night driving back from California it started doing the same thing. Talked to the dealer today and he thinks soldering the cables will solve this problem too. We'll see.