The airbag, horn, & cruise control failed. Took to dealer - told clock spring assembly failed. Will cost about $400 to fix. Was told this is a very common defect. Would like some assistance from chrysler. This is our family car for a family of six. Unsafe to drive in this condition.
1996 Dodge Grand Caravan electrical complaints
Page 6 of 8: complaints 131 to 160 of 197, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Air bag light stays on continuosly, the horn no longer works, cruise control no longer works, front interior lights no longer come on when the front doors are opened, cooling fans will not run even with A/C on, hood latch doesn't always release the hood.
Intermittently windshield wipers become inoperable and sometimes come on by themselves, obstructing view of driver. Vehicle at dealer's for repair. *ak o2 sensor, ignition switch, key cylinder, and A/C blower resistor and wiring kit all replaced.
In first incident, engine suddenly stopped running while van was stopped in traffic. Immediatly tried to restart engine but engine would not crank. After this attempt ,electrical power to all other components (lights, radio/ etc.) was lost. After app. 1/2 hour without power ,engine restarted when again attempted. In second incident, while traveling app. 50 MPH,again, engine suddenly stopped running.engine would not restart (no crank) . After 15-20 minutes, engine would restart. Taken to dealer, where they could not find the cause of this problem as van was now running ok. Dealer could not explain why engine would suddenly and completely lose power.euly
At 48,000 miles vehicle been experiencing ongoing / intermittent problem with engine stalling while driving or at a stop position. Been in dealer shop on five occasions, and dealer was unable to duplicate the problem.*ak
Complete transmission overhaul and TCM replacement, vehicle would not shift out of first gear.
Pe96-008; airbag light started to come on intermittently. After ward lost horn and cruise control function. At that point, consumer took vehicle to dealer, and was told that cause was a defective airbag clock.
Horn will not work at times, and air bag light will stay on. A spring came out from the inside of the steering column.
The tackometer and speedometer flatlined to 0 then returned to normal, the horn and cruise control, have stopped working and the airbag light stays on most of the time. The transmission had a total failure in the highway and had to be rebuilt. The wipers occasionally come on by themselves and cycle a couple of times and then stop and occasionally stop in the middle of the windshield (this has been tothe dealer in madison heights, va several times for repair under warranty, but not since the warranty expired. The left speakers on the sound suystem periodically go off and on while the system is on. The starter went out and had to be replaced the end of june, 2000.
Once van is started, the airbag light stays on plus the horn and cruise control will not work. I have not taken it to a dealer yet. I have posted this problem on the chrysler internet newsgroup website and it appears that many other minivan owners are having or had the same problem. The fix for the problem seems to be to replace the clock spring. Will the federal safety agency force chrysler to do a recall on this problem? Thanks
04/1997 - windshield wipers randomly turn on and off. Interior lights also go on and off randomly. Dealer said, "couldn't determine cause." 01/1999 - cruise control and horn stopped working. Air bag light constantly on. Mechanic said, "due to air bag problems"
Windshield wipers still engage by themselves originally repaired 05/99. Transmission went out at30904 miles. Airbag light came on and horn stopped working had to replace click spring. Car stall while driving said it needed tune-up. When using AC or driving in rain and making a turn steering gets stiff and cannot control. Interior lights flash dealer could not duplicate. Power door locks lock and unlock by themselves. Had to replace axle due to it being bent when new transmission was put in. Had to get new tires because axle threw off balance. Keep replacing batteries. Drove car for 10 minutes and fan came on and stayed on after car was turned off.
Electrical system malfunctioned, causing windshield wipers to activate while on "off" position/ tail lights to fail, and problems with air conditioner. Please provide further information.
Air bag disabled drivers side, horn disabled, cruise control disabled.
Vehicle experiencing a malfunction within clock spring. Also, air bag/ horn and criuse control failed to operate properly. Dealer /manufacture. Notified, and informed consumer that part was not covered under recall, and any repairs would be at consumer's expense.
Wiring system is suspect, airbag light seems to be symptom but not sure is car is safe.
Coolant gauge, tach,and speedometer all flatline at same time and return intermittently, air bag warning light stays on and horn and cruise control stopped working at same time. Drivers side sliding door lock works when it wants to. Windshield wipers work when they want to when it is cold outside. No fuel leaks until recall repair made then leak developed when tank filled ( dealer fixed). Radio does not switch from am to fm unless button pushed 3 or 4 times. Just one big electrical lemon.
Drivers air bag, horn and speed control shorted out and inoperable
Owner took vehicle to dealer after airbag light flashed on and the horn stopped working. Said that entire airbag system had to be replaced. Owner contacted chrysler but they provided no help in paying for repairs.
Please look into this problem. We have had this van only 7 months!!! We have a 1996 dodge grand caravan se that has 97,000 miles on the odometer. We took a trip in the last week to california to see our daughter when the engine check light came on. Even though we could not see or hear any problems, we took it to a dealer in reno, nevada - (3223 mill st, reno, nv 89502 -- #(775)-323-3106). They said that the spark plugs needed replacing. At a cost of 300 dollars, we agreed in hopes that the light problem would be cured even though nothing seemed wrong. After picking up the vehicle the next morning, we noticed that the van was running terribly and would die when stopped. Frustrated that "no" problem with our van progressed to worse we returned to the dealer and asked them to check it again. After testing it again, they said the camshaft had to be replaced. Since we had to return home for work, we could not wait to get it fix. On returning home we took it into our trusted mechanic immediately. He checked the vehicle and said that we will need a new engine. Our complaint is that our engine should not of failed only after only 97,000 miles - it is ludicrous.
Vehicle experiencing problem with air bag sensor light remaining on. Dealer notified, and informed consumer that problem was due to a clock spring which needed replacement. Also, horn failure was caused by air bag moving on to relay switch. Dealer informed that repairs would cost consumer $950.00. *ak
Windshield wipers continually malfunctioning, multi-function switch replaced however did not rectify problems.
Air bag light now stays on. Cruise control no longer works as does horn. Will need to replace the clock spring in the steering wheel.
Air bag module failed causing the air bag light to illuminate. Nlm
Air bag sensor light stayed on, causing horn and cruise control to become inoperable. Dealer suggested a defective clock spring inside the steering wheel column. Cost for repaired around $200, this is a safety hazard for the horn and passive restraint airbag. These components should be in working order at all the time. Since it's defective parts there should be some kind of goodwill toward the repairs of these items. It seems like everything gone wrong when the warrenty ran out. Should there should be a recall out for these defective parts? I've had noticed there are 3 complaints oid # already out for this van. Any support will be grateful!!
While driving airbag light stayed illuminated, resulting in loss of horn and speed control. Vehicle is being repaired by the dealer .
I have had several problems, the automatic door locks have had to be replaced, even though in the 3 year time framed I paid for the new ones, there is a knocking sound that the mechanic couldn't find anything wrong although he could hear the sound, and now the car won't start and after several days of trying they can't figure it out. I obviously want the car fixed, but I would also like to know if other owners are experiencing these problems.
This vehicle has been the worst vehicle I have ever owned because of continuous ongoing problems ,the biggest of which was the engine head failure which cost me about a $1,000.00 thats with dodge paying an additonal $800.00 for the parts. Now a year later, my transmission is failing and does not change gears. Please help I promise not to buy a chrysler product again, I swear. All the other problems have been nagging, but tolerable. But this is too much.
Went to start vehicle & the starter failed to connect. Managed to get vehicle to shop. Informed by mechanic started burned out. Also, shocks/struts were leaking fluid & needed to be changed. In addition, water pump was leaking due to corrosion.
Transmission switch also failed this year
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