Smoke appeared from under the hood, then burst into flames. This occurred while the vehicle was parked and turned off. The vehicle was totaled. *ak
1996 Dodge Grand Caravan electrical complaints
Page 2 of 8: complaints 11 to 40 of 197, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Had the 1696 dodge grand caravan for almost 3 years , electrical problems I think. The speedometer, odometer, gear selector, water coolant gauge, fuel gauge stops working while driving and when I shut car off the gear selector and odometer stays illuminated even with the car off and lights off , or on.. Also the tachometer freezes up on a certain RPM . Depending what the RPM was when everything stoped working right.. Windshield wipers turn on automatically but 99.9% of the time they wont shut off even if I select it to shut off , they keep going and going even on dry days and no rain .took it to mechanic and they cant find what is wrong with it and they charge me 60 to 90 dollars just to test it and they never come up with a solution unless they disconnect the battery and let it sit for a few minutes so the computer or something resets, but this happens about every 3 to 6 months and also before this happens the car runs rough at idle or sitting at a red light or at a stop . The driver seat buckle sometimes dont unlatch, I have to use extra force to unlatch them, sometimes I dont even wear a seat belt cause I am scared that if something happens and I need to get out of the car quickly that I wont be able to. The middle bench seat seems loose , everythime I come to a stop or I take off a clucking sound comes from the middle row seats, I checked it and it seemed like its all locked in but I dont trust it.. I would never purchase a chrysler product ever again even if it is given to me for free or even give it to my worst enemy.. Thank you .. Jz.
I have a 1996 dodge grand caravan and my airbag light stays on, horn and cruise control has gone out. I have 3 other friends with the same problem and I feel this should be a recall fix if so many other same year vehicles have the same exact problem. I even found a website with many others listed having the same problem. I have recently returned from kuwait in the middle east and when I began driving my van again this problem was identified. This is definitely a safety hazard. Please let me know if I can take to a dealer near me to have fixed free of charge?
Re:dodge grand caravan se, l996 continual problems with electrical system. Sudden lack of power when driving on freeway, narrowly avoiding serious accidents. In researching on various web sites, this seems to be a recurring problem for other owners as well. The dealer has kept the car twice so they could 'duplicate the problem', they replace one sensor or another. Last replacement seems to have worked but still don't trust the car and won't drive on freeway or far from home. Now have trouble starting the car, the dealer said it's probably the crank sensor. They say since I only have 33,000 miles on the car, it shouldn't be the starter. Also, I have history of the wipers turning on and off whenever they feel like it. They also establish their own rhythm when working. The wiper sensor has been replaced 3 times. The computer never shows an error code so obviously, it isn't working either. The speedometer will float and sometimes will show 0 miles an hour when I'm moving. They replaced the speedometer sensor twice and now it seems to be working. I have seen all of these complaints listed on various web sites. The dealer acts like I'm crazy and they have never heard of these problems before. My main concern is the sudden lack of power, the engine just turns off, no power steering either when this happens. I wonder how many accidents have been a result of this obvious defect... As soon as I can afford it, I will be replacing this van with a non-dodge vehicle.
Steering column electrical problems; turning the steering wheel causes various electrical inputs such as turning on windshield wipers, honking horn, causing the ABS failure light to come on and causing all electrical systems to short out including all gauges and even causing the engine to turn off.
Dodge '96 minivan stalling problem while in operation. Start up time 5-10 minutes later (very dangerous). Transmission slipped out of gear; problem escalated to full replacement. Not satisfied with replacement -"bumps" on second and third gears up and down. These have been costly repairs. Service engine soon light would not go out no matter what repairs were performed - full fuel and electrical systems. Rps raced to 15k. Replaced cam sensor, harness, hoses etc.
Consumer stated vehicle's horn is not working due to electrical problems. Dealer won't repair. Please provide additional information. Ts
Consumer states while driving the vehicle the vehicle caught on fire. Dealer notified. Ts
The following components do not work, horn, cruise control and the airbag light stays on all the time. Dt
Airbag light has illuminated on the dash and horn is no longer inoperative. Mr
Air bag light was on all the time. Cruise control and horn were not fuctioning correctly.dealer was contacted.
The clockspring in the steering column failed. This causes the horn, cruise control and airbag system to fail. There is no indication that the horn is out. Only the airbag light on the dash comes on. You don't know the horn is out until you need it! I had the same problem on my personal van and on my company van. They were bought from different dealers at different times. It is very hard to believe that a single driver can have the same problem on two different cars without there being an inherent design defect in this part. Please investigate this problem before lives are lost through the loss of the horn or airbags that don't work when needed. The conductors that feed the explosive charge to the airbag are open during this continuous fault and the airbag will not deploy in an accident.
The clockspring failed on the date indicated. The air-bag, horn and cruise control were non-functional during the failure. I replaced the unit with a new one. I investigated why the unit failed by disassembling it. The flat ribbon cable in the unit failed from inadequate strain relief at the point of connection. All 5 conductors were broken due to repeated hard bending without adequate support at the connection point.
Airbag indicator light came on and noted horn and cruise control were inoperable. Research indicates airbag clock spring failure located in steering wheel. Intend to report to dealer.
Horn, cruise control, windshield wipers stopped working same time air bag light illuminated.
The air bag light is on and the horn will no longer work. I understand that this is a common problem among caravan owners.
Horn will not work, airbag light is on and no electrical components on the steering column function. Dodge is aware of the problem but will not replace the clock.
Failure of the clockspring that controls three safety devices, the air bag.the horn and the speed control.
The consumer believes that the failure of turn signals, the coming on of wipers by themselves and shorting out the battery and the vehicle stalling were a fault of the electrical system which the dealer was unable to locate the problem.
Air bag light came on, and horn and cruise control failed simultaneously. Many other 1996 grand caravan owners have reported this same failure, and have been told the clock spring has failed. Given the number of identical complaints, this should be a recall item. I'm certain many more owners would report this if they were aware of so many others experiencing this problem, but give the modest cost of repair ($250 est.), most people have probably paid for this repair without reporting it since the potential safety problems are so serious (no horn or air bag!!) given the modest cost of repair and the serious injury that could result from not correcting this, dodge should pay for this repair before someone is injured or killed. Isn't this what the federal safety agency is for? Please help force dodge to be responsible. Similar models and other model years have had problems with the same part, as well. Please respond, and let me know what I can do to encourage dodge to correct this situation.
No horn, no cruise control, clicking in column. And air bag light is on.
Airbag light was on, horn and cruise control stopped working, as well. Dealer has not been contacted.
The three components have ceased to work, apparently due to the clockspring. From information on the internet this is a frequent problem with theses vehicles.
Ea 01007; airbag light illuminates and stays on. Horn and cruise control are not operating as well. Dealer was notified, and a apppoiontment was made. Please provide more information.
Airbag light is on, horn and cruise control stopped working.
Airbag light is on, horn stopped working, and cruise control works intermittently.
Intermittently when left turn signal is activated windshield wipers come on. Dealer has inspected and repaired vehicle, however problem has reoccurred. *ak the vehicle would not start due to battery failure. The sliding door does not shut properly. Passenger door does not lock due to door lock motor failure. Drivers window makes noise due to regulator failure.
Battery exploded at first start, original part.
At 57k miles, the light came on for the airbag. This caused failure of horn & airbag.the manufacturer said it wasn't their problem. Dealer said they have had multiple cases of this. But each refused to repair it at no cost and charged over $300 for the safety repair. I am deeply concerned that this safety issue is not covered. It can cause financial hardships for not only us, but others as well. This vehicle has never been wrecked and I am the original owner. It appears that chrysler has put a price on safety allowing those who cannot afford to repair their defective airbags to risk injury or death. Please let us know what can be done for the manufacturer to assume responsibility. Thanks, I appreciate your help.
Ea 01 007 air bag clockspring: consumer states the air bag light remains on while driving, also the horn and the cruise control works intermittently when turning to the right. The dealer notified. *jb dealer stated it could be a bad wire int he steering column or the clock spring, but could not determine problem unless steering wheel is taken apart.
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