Hello fellow Caravan owners.
I have questions about two issues I am having with my '08 Grand Caravan. They might be related, not sure.

1. Power mirrors don't work at all. When I press the "L" or "R", the LED light underneath them comes on, but the mirror don't move when I press the controller. There is not sound or clicking at all, they just don't move.

2. The driver-side front door lock does not work. The original actuator is dead, but I purchased a used actuator. The actuator works when I connect it directly to 12v. When I connect the 1st brown wire (left, see attached picture) to +12v and the second brown wire to -12v the actuator unlocks, when I invert the polarity, it locks. I have a second wire with connector and got at the wrecker that I use for testing. But when I connect it to the van's wiring harness, and press the lock/unlock buttons, the actuator does not work. This is what happens:

• When I manually put the actuator in lock, it unlocks as I connect it to the wiring harness, without pressing the buttons. It sounds like the motor inside keep pulling to unlock, even if it's unlocked already. When it press the lock button, it seams like the motor turns off momentarily, but does not actually lock. When I press unlock, nothing happens because it's already unlocked. So pressing lock/unlock doesn't do anything, it just stays unlocked. (The rest of the door locks all work as intended when I press the buttons on the driver-side door).
• Logically, the 1st (left) wire should get +12v and the second -12v when I press unlock, but the 1st (left) one has always +12v. The 2nd one has -12v when I press unlock and +12v when I press lock, but the 1st never changes. I looked at the module on the inner door panel, but the module only has one relay in it and it's for the window motor. Is there a relay somewhere that controls the lock actuator?
• I also tested a different (used) module, but had the same result with both the door lock and the power mirrors.
• I also suspect the battery gets drained when I don't run the van for a couple of days. It could because the 1st wire always has power (not sure though).

Any ideas on where the problem might be?



2008 Dodge Grand Caravan door lock actuator.

 

Disconnect the master power window switch from the circuit then see if you can lock and unlock the door from the passenger side. Mine went bad couldn't lock or unlock the doors from the drivers side but everything else worked power window and mirrors on master switch. According to the dealer it's fairly common for the master switch to go bad I've replaced mine everything works again.

 

Thanks for the suggestion Mopar340. I just tried that, disconnected the master switch but the issue is still there. Using the passenger side switch unlocked and locked all doors except the driver side door. I also tried connecting and disconnecting the working actuator while the master power switch was disconnected, and there is still constant power in the connector to unlock, because if I manually lock the actuator and then connect it, it immediately unlocks, without me touching the unlock button.

There must be a module or relay somewhere that gives power and inverts power and ground as the lock/unlock buttons get pressed, but I don't where it would be located. The wires from the actuator go strait from the door into the dashboard.
I haven't been able to find the power lock wiring diagrams anywhere online to trace the problem.

 

Thanks for the suggestion Mopar340. I just tried that, disconnected the master switch but the issue is still there. Using the passenger side switch unlocked and locked all doors except the driver side door. I also tried connecting and disconnecting the working actuator while the master power switch was disconnected, and there is still constant power in the connector to unlock, because if I manually lock the actuator and then connect it, it immediately unlocks, without me touching the unlock button.

There must be a module or relay somewhere that gives power and inverts power and ground as the lock/unlock buttons get pressed, but I don't where it would be located. The wires from the actuator go strait from the door into the dashboard.
I haven't been able to find the power lock wiring diagrams anywhere online to trace the problem.