Thank you! the solder on my pin was bad also. I did the work myself solder and all and it works great. I am very glad I read your post! Thanks again: Scott

 

The ground has been the most common fix, however, I had this problem and found it to be a loose connection on the back of the instrument cluster. The connector on the back of the IC was beginning to come loose from the circuit board. I just replaced the IC and all problems were gone.

 

Hello thats funny I have had my van to the dealer twice and I specifically told them of the faulty cluster and the van not cranking. The first trip cost 479 dollars the second over a 100 and they still did not find the problem. In fact they tried to tell me was the fuel pump. We have been smacking the dash on and off to get van to crank and it finally getting to that not even working. My husband unplugged the cluster and the van runs and cranks fine.

 

Welcome to DF
Thats correct. The cluster will take the buss system down and cause the car or van not to start, and if you unplug the cluster and the van starts and run.Then its the cluster that is the fault not the feul pump.

 

A friend of mine has a 98 voyager that has this same problem, ABS light comes on then the whole cluster goes bad. She replaced the bcm but the problem still occurs. I plan on pulling the cluster and checking the solder points.

I had another question about the wiring. the plug that connects to the heater controls is melting when plugged in and when the cluster goes out she usually grabs that harness and moves it around and the cluster comes back on. Is the heater control wiring a seperate issue or is it all tied together as a bad ground? I would like to get these issues resolved before winter hits.

 

I have the intermittent instrument cluster problem that comes and goes-smacking the dash or instrument cluster usually resolves for a while. Got the dash torn apart and main connector removed but there is a another connector which goes to shift lever. Does anyone have a solution or best method of removing this so I can get cluster out and install the used one I picked up.

 

Your problem is most likely the solder connection for the ground. It is located on the cluster PCB. Both '97 and '98 Caravans suffer from this problem. In my case, I was able to see the crack very plainly after removing the PCB from the cluster.

If you can remove the PCB to which the cluster is attached, look for the ground solder connection. I fixed it by simply reflowing the solder with a iron, and adding a little more solder. It worked fine for over 4 years.

 

ok. so I did the resolder fix back 3 months ago, worked great till a couple days ago. New problem is almost the entire cluster goes dead, with the exception of the fuel gauge. The fuel gauge will hover just above the empty line until you turn on the lights, then it falls.

I have noticed the lower illuminated portion has been out, once an adjustment of the dash brightness had effect on this portion of the cluster.

Also it has no effect on the van running.. unlike the pre-resolder of the connections start/run seems uneffected.

I cannot get the light controls headlight/parkin/brightness to have any effect alltho im sure they are a connected problem this has me baffeled.

Have tried checking the obvious, wiggled connectors, unplugged the headlight control assembly, reconnected it. checked most things i can think of.
Any opinions much appreciated.

 

Sound like the problem is with the circuit board,it maybe time to replace it.

 

Did you have the clockspring replaced? It was a recall issue for this model. If you did, the replacement has a lifetime warranty, and you should be able to get it checked out and replaced for nothing. My 97 Gran Caravan is on it's secong\d clockspring.