I have a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT with 66,000 miles. Here is the story. Last week Thursday I had to call for roadside assistance to jump my van which was in my driveway because it would to start after a cold stretch (-25 degrees F) and not being driven for 4 days. When I went to see if it would start all the electrical components and gauges worked and power doors, but it didn't have enough juice to fire. Anyways, so they came out and jumped it, I let it run for 20 minutes and turned it off and didn't drive it again until Saturday morning and it started right up, but nothing electrical worked. Power windows, power doors, entertainment system, radio, all the gauges in the dash, blinkers, power locks... Like I said nothing electrical. I took it to the local dodge dealership and they said it was the Total Integrated Power Module (TIPM). Replaced that and it still threw out dozens of error codes. They are now telling me that I also need to replace the power door module doubling my fee to a total of around $2000. Do you think that this happened because of the jump. I have filed a claim against the company, but won't here back for over a week. Just looking to see if anyone had a related issue or have ever heard of something like this happening after jumping a vehicle. Thanks for any information. -Lori

 

First, I'm not a tech who works on these vans everyday. My experience has come from maintaining electrical systems on military aircraft for a few decades, cruising automotive forums and trade mags nearly everyday for many years and maintaining my and others vehicles over the last 35+ years.

Did the jump cause it? "I let it run for 20 minutes and turned it off" If you can add "but everything was working" to that statement then it's unlikely. If nothing was working and you showed it to the guy who performed the jump, then you may have a leg to stand on. Sad thing is, even then you can jump a car per the correct procedure and things can still go wrong. The modern electronics used on today's autos are very sensitive to erratic power. Add fridged temps and the chances of something going wrong can only increase.

The TIPM makes good sense. It controls most of the electronics in the van and it has a sour history especially on early 5th gen vans - yours. Since they are going after the door module I can only assume they are chasing the error codes and have found a problem on the CAN data bus. The data bus is the communications conduit for all the electrical accessories on the van. The $2000? I would have to guess and say that must include several hours of troubleshooting time. The door module should cost around $100-$150 based on Rockauto's $56 cost. Add an hours labor and it spikes it to $250-300.

There are techs on here, even a couple of Chrysler techs who can give you more detailed info. Hopefully they will jump in here.

 

They are telling me $893.00 for the door module and I was charged 926.00 for the TIPM. I have not yet authorized the door module. I also have about $300 in diagnostics. Doesn't it seem unlikely to have two modules fail at the same time if it wasn't the jump?

 

I'll put it another way. Can the employee who jumped the van say the van was working fine when he left? If the answer is yes then it's going to be very tough to prove the jump caused the problems. Could the jump be a factor? Sure. Trouble is you have to prove it. Showing a judge inputs from a forum isn't going to do it. Should you drop this? No. Worse they can say is no, we didn't cause it.

Tizzy1 is a tech and I believe a Chrysler tech on this forum. There may be others but I don't recall there titles. Steak59 may be another Send him a private message if he doesn't jump in here. He would have much better insight especially concerning what your dealer is charging. To me those numbers are very high but considering it's a dealership I'm not totally surprised. I have no doubt costs elsewhere would be lower.

"Replaced that and it still threw out dozens of error codes." That vaguely implies at least that your accessories are working now. Is that correct? In other words the TIPM did fix something right? Now they are chasing the codes they saw and came up with the door module correct?

 

i would pull the codes. I would then try to eliminate the main issue having a vehicle. then I think the door modules I not 100% sure if need to be programmed but I think you could install or get a local cheaper to install.

 

Cougar41, thanks for your help. You are exactly right in the fact that I was being drastically over charged on the power door module. After contacting another Dodge Service center and finding a service manager that was very willing to help me not get screwed over I found out that the dodge dealership my van is at was trying to charge me for 5 hours of labor when the job can be done in less that an hour. After catching them in a lie and making them admit their "mistake" that are replacing the door module with no labor cost and I only have to pay for the part. They tried telling me that they thought it was another module in the door that is much harder to access and told me they would have to remove the window and door locking mechanism to get to it. Do you know how many modules are in the drivers side sliding door of a 2008 Caravan? I took a lot of satisfaction in catching the dealers in a lie. Thanks again. Saved $600.