Just bought a '12 GC from the local Chrysler dealer. Very low miles, excellent shape, like new condition and a pretty good price, too. Very happy with it all the way around but I found a switch in the upper glove box and I have no idea what it does. Tried the chat option at the dealer site 12 hours ago and got nowhere - the promised follow-up by a "Grand Caravan Expert" never happened.

There's nothing in the manual which addresses this switch by location or function, nor have I been able to find any similar examples of it at this site or elsewhere online. If anyone can tell me what the heck it is, I'd sure like to know. It's a latching switch, if that helps,and here's a picture of it:



Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

could be a kill switch. either valet. if door front locks. (allow the vehicle to drive so much miles/km. could be a alarm reset. or could just be a warning button set of in emergeny but seems something could hit it if people put stuf in there. to be honest im not sure myself. have you tried pushing it? oh another thing could be radio code reset.

 

It's an aftermarket switch for sure, probably Radio Shack. As mentioned above, probably a kill switch. Why not try it out?

 

Might be a switch connected to ground to fool an aftermarket touchscreen radio into thinking the parking brake is on so you can watch movies while driving.

 

Try to determine what has been installed on the vehicle which was not original equipment. The button is likely for that. If nothing is obvious, you would need to follow the wires to see what it is connected to.

 

I'm not acquainted with the radio code reset thing but I would think something like that would be a momentary switch, rather than latching. Then again, what the heck do I know?

Trying to get a copy of the original sticker for it to see what was OEM but that's going to take a few days. There's a trailer hitch on it but I can't see any evidence that the receiver has ever seen anything other than the light of day. Everything else appears to be OEM and nothing sticks out as a likely suspect. I was thinking maybe a SRS lockout for the r.f. passenger but haven't found anything to support that.

 

As far as a kill switch, it didn't stop the ignition from being used when actuated. I didn't test for mileage but it allowed me to start it and put it in gear. If by "radio code reset" you mean for the fobs, it doesn't appear to affect them, either.

 

I tried it out to the extent mentioned in other replies, with no discernible results. If the NSA knocks on the door later, I'll have a better idea what it's doing in there, at least. :-0

 

Hmm... If that's what it is, I'll never know. No sign anything like that was ever installed in there and having spent a few years installing two-way radios and emergency equipment in about everything but an Atlas missile, I'd probably recognize something like that. That's actually one of the main reasons I bought it - the thing looks brand new, with no signs of tinkering or abuse whatsoever...just that funky little switch.

 

About the only possible (well, visible, at least) suspect would be the frame hitch, but the receiver looks like it's never been used. Same high gloss baked paint in the receiver back as far as I can see with a light and not one scratch anywhere on the inside. I haven't even found any wiring/connectors for trailer lights. I'm hoping to find a copy of the original dealer sticker - maybe whomever sold it the first time might know something.

As far as following the wires, I'll leave that to the Service Department the next time it's in. That sidewall on the upper glove box is way up out of the way - nothing visible from the floor. The thing has what I'd call an intermediate accessory package - power locks/windows, cruise, F/R HVAC controls and just a basic AM/FM/single CD player. I've seen a few switches like that in emergency vehicles as ABS defeat switches (and that was WAY back when, before departments had their people trained to drive with ABS) or power window lockouts but neither of those uses seem to be likely suspects.