Hello everyone.

Just new here and had a look to see if my problem was already posted but I did not see anything.

It all started when driving about a week ago and the dash light up with everything like a christmas tree. Then the speedometer stopped working briefly, but is working now.

I have a major issue and not sure if it is ECM or BCM related or something else.

After a week or so, I noticed that the lights would not go out after a period of time when a neighbour came over and said my rear lights were still on after 2 hours. Also, when parked and the vehicle shut off the horn started going off non stop until I popped the hood and removed the cables from the battery. Now, when I park, I purposely remove the cable every time so the lights don't kill the battery and the horn doesn't sound off if I am at the rink or in a store or something.

Then, when driving, I lost my wipers, power windows, heater blower and rear hatch latch. I also noticed a headlight lamp out and replaced the bulb but still doesn't work. I checked all fuses under the hood by the battery. All seem to be fine. When I removed the iod 20 amp fuse, the horn went off again until I put the fuse back in place then it stopped.

Not sure if there is another fuse panel or not like most vehicles under the steering wheel side.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. I am mechanically inclined and can usually fix anything, but electrical is not my forte. Because of a money crunch, I need to fix this myself so if it is a part I need, I must by used from a junkyard.

Thanks for any help

Jay

 

Not overly common but I have read of these before. The cause is usually associated corrosion problems with the IPM/FCM. Give it and it's connections a shake/tap test to see if you can induce problems. Flip it over (disconnect bat first) and look for corrosion on the bottom connections. We've seen some ugly pictures of pretty bad corrosion in that area on this and other forums. Sometimes to the point it severed wires. The corrosiuon can be internal to the IPM. Signs of corroded fuse contacts are indicative of internal corrosion.

IPM - Integrated Power Module (fuse box)
FCM - Front Control Module (silver box bolted to the IPM)

 

Thanks a bunch. Its a start. I will try that and get back to you.

 

Hey. Just to follow up, I did what you suggested and wiggled the wires. Nothing worked so i flipped up the fuse panel and removed a few of the wiring harnesses to find out the whole circuit board for the fuse panel was fried. Now I am not one to mess with electrical but followed a youtube video. I got a used panel for $40 bucks at a scrap yard a few hours ago, then removed the panel, which was much easier than I thought. Took less than 5 minutes to get it out just by disconnecting the wiring. Put the new one back in even faster because its easier to push in connectors than take them out. Maybe 3 minutes tops. Put the battery back in and started it up. Guess what? It all works fine now.

Thanks for your help. You got the ball rolling.

cheers,

Jay

 

Thanks for posting the fix!! Someone else will benefit from your experience.

 

Great news. Glad it worked out for you and thanks again for posting your fix.

 

I have begun having bizarre electrical problems the last month or so as well very similar to the OP. Battery tested fine. Haven't check the ICM/PCM as suggested as it is currently at the dealer. They are telling me there is a short in the driver side sliding door (which I am aware of b/c it isn't working, I fixed it once, and am fine with it being manual) that is the culprit.

Is this possible? Could a faulty wiring harness on the sliding door cause erratic electrical behavior in the rest of the vehicle?

When I asked the dealer if they could just disconnect or bypass the sliding door short in the harness I was told that would not fix the problem 'for continuity reasons'. I'm skeptical.

Any ideas? I am looking for a more economical solution than their $645 to replace the harness. IF it really could be the harness I will just fix it myself again or replace the harness. I don't feel like either of those options though if it isn't possible that is the problem to begin with.

Thanks.

 

Yes, it's possible. Much of the electronics in the van is controlled via a data bus consisting of modules mounted all over the van and wiring that connects them. A bus problem in one area can manifest itself in another leaving you scratching your head. Your power doors have a power door module mounted in the door. I can't say for sure they have nailed it but what they are saying could very well be true. Might try asking them to wiggle the harness and duplicate the problem with you standing and watching. Data bus wiring is white/violet. Take a closer look.

Read of an instrument cluster going erratic and at the same time the van stalled. It had a mind of it's own. Guess what the fix was.

 

Our Dodge 2008 Caravan has the same bizarre issues which occur sometimes while driving and other times while the engine is off and the keys no where near the ignition. Here is the history of our "possessed" vehicle.
- We bought it new in Fall of 2007.
- Power sliding doors on both driver and passenger side have always been tempermental. They would sometimes close properly but many times would close to about 4 inches and then re-open. Would end up having to close door manually if 2nd try didn't work.
- Rear automatic gate always worked properly for opening and closing until March 2013 after having an oil change and tires replaced, the back gate would no longer stay open. (Not sure if this was a coincidence, or if something happened at the garage...) Bought a replacement hinge thing and back door worked properly again.
- Then in May 2013, a couple of times we noticed the front fan would not work for ac or air flow, but the rear fan still worked. Stopping and restarting van would eventually get the fan in front to work again.
- The real "fun" started in June 2013 when for no apparent reason the horn would start blowing, the wipers both front and rear would go on, the windshield washer would spray constantly, and the door locks would constantly lock. It would happen sometimes just by unlocking the door OR opening the door OR sometimes while driving along. It would eventually stop but sometimes restart with the engine on or off. We brought it in to the Dodge dealer/service and they said they had never seen the problem and could not duplicate it.
- Finally after the horn blew constantly a few more times while driving, we took out the horn fuses so at least when the craziness occurs, we do not disturb all the neighbors or everyone else driving along the highway.
- We had it occur intermittently over the summer (all same symptoms as above except no noise from the horn since fuses out). We brought it to a mechanic who thought it was due to a faulty battery so we replaced it. The issues stopped for awhile ... but not forever
- Now we still get the problem and have resorted to leaving the washer fluid empty because if we fill it, then it just gets emptied the next time the wipers go crazy.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sad to say, Chrysler carried on the trend of consolidating electronics boxes on the new 5th generation vans (08- present) making a bad situation worse. They got rid of the Body Control Module and Front Control Module of the 4th gen vans and put most of their functions in the IPM renaming it the Totally Integrated Power Module (TIPM). It's your fuse box but it is that and more. It now contains a half dozen or more circuit boards controlling nearly all of the electronics on the van. It is gaining an ever increasing negative history. So much so that a year or more ago I was reading several posts complaining of months long back orders at dealerships. I'll suggest the same actions in my previous posts.