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99 Chrysler Town & Country serious problem SOS!!

iortiziortiz Member Posts: 1
edited May 2010 in Chrysler
The problem with the van is that while I am driving all of my gauges go out as well as the odometer and shift lights. In the top display for the lights it will light up ABS,ALARM SET, SERVICE ENGINE SOON. The van drives fine as this happens but once i shut it off it will not start back up for a while. Usually if I wait 1hr it will then turn on. Ive been to our locale dealer they stated it must be the BCM. So i purchased a new BCM from them and installed it however it is still doing the same. So I take it back only this time they tell me They thinks its the PCM but they cant guarantee it. Anyone have any ideas. Please Help thanks
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Comments

  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,780
    Typically the failure of the instrument cluster is due to cracked solder on the cluster's main electrical connector. The fix is to remove the cluster and re-solder the connection.

    However, the symptoms (in addition to the cluster failing as you mentioned) that accompany this event can vary case by case, so it is difficult to say whether the failure to start is directly caused by this or not. I would start with re-soldering the unit. I have to do that on my van (a '98 DGC AWD) as well.

    Good luck!
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • vanman55vanman55 Member Posts: 1
    My van is doing something similar. It's a '99 3.8l minivan’s battery light came on and the van shut down after a few minutes. Was able to restart. Got the alternator changed and about a week later the same thing happened. My mechanic could not find any problems. Took it to another shop and they changed the connector in the cable harness to the alternator. Ok for a couple of weeks. Then yesterday the battery light came on as well as the ABS light, dashboard indicators flickered and there was nterference coming out of the rear speakers without the volume turned up. Seemed to re-set after turning the engine off and starting again. No one seems to know what's causing the problem.
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,780
    I think yours is a fundamentally different problem. I definitely would have considered the alternator harness as a likely culprit regarding the battery light, but a bad/intermittent ground could also be to blame here. Have you noticed any pattern in weather when this occurs, such as precipitation, relative humidity, etc?
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • willit_startwillit_start Member Posts: 1
    My van has a very similar problem. It is a 1998 Town & Country LXI (~180,000 miles) and has had the intermittent problem for approximately 4-5 years with increasing frequency. The problem does not appear to be weather related (both 90°+ and -10°). There appear to be two distinct but potentially related issues. On occasion, the dashboard display shuts off while driving. No speedometer, tachometer or odometer but the clock and radio work fine. The engine appears unaffected and sometimes it corrects after a bit and sometimes it needs to be turned off for a while. The second issue is similar to yours with no help from the dealer. When attempting to start, the engine revs way up and immediately shuts down. After two or three attempts, the engine fails to turn over any more. It feels like the security system thinks its the van is being stolen. The top row of display works fine (ABS, Check Engine, etc. but the main dash does not display at all. After various periods of time, the van starts just fine. Sometimes we have it towed and everytime it works when it is dropped at the dealer. We have not yet been able to recreate the problem upon demand...
  • pamla777pamla777 Member Posts: 2
    I was driving my town/country van and with no warning I had no brakes at all. My van only has 40,000 miles on it and looks new. I was almost killed. I work night shift as a Pulmonary specialist and was coming home at 4am so there was not alot of traffic. If this would have happened on the way to work at 3pm I would have been severely injured or killed. Has anyone else has problems? I read that this happens because Chrysler welded two types of metal in the brake lines that causes them to corode and burst. Does anyone know who to report safety issues to? Thank You....
  • tsu670tsu670 Member Posts: 293
    We also had brake lines burst on our '96 T&C. Corrosion about 3/4 the way back towards the rear. I filed a report with NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Someone called and I sent the busted lines to their Washington, D.C. office. I called weeks later and was told there weren't enough complaints to warrant an investigation. If you also report the issue, it might make a difference.
  • sheilainmnsheilainmn Member Posts: 1
    My 98 town and country does all of the same but I have discovered that when dashboard shuts down if you bang on the dashboard display it will return and also works when car starts and immediately shuts down which leads me to believe its a short somewhere behind the dash...cant afford to get it checked now...if you do, let me know
  • daniels11daniels11 Member Posts: 1
    i have a town & country 1998 lsi awd with exactly the same problem than willit start , now the van is at home and doesn't start at all ,disconnect battery few times and reconnect and nothing (this procedure works ok before) any solution yet ??
    thanks !!
  • joepeterson56joepeterson56 Member Posts: 95
    Read the posts here,
    link title
    from #330 to the end.
    Your problems are probably from the same source, which is a very common problem on these mini vans. I have owned many of them & this was usually the source of all these problems.
  • petrie2petrie2 Member Posts: 1
    edited November 2011
    has anyone found the solution to this problem? I have the same problem, i believe this is a generalized problem with Chrysler town and country
  • joepeterson56joepeterson56 Member Posts: 95
    Your problems are a very common problem on these mini vans, from the late 80's up through at least 2000.

    I have owned 5 of these minis, Chryslers, Dodges & Plymouths, and have had this problem in everything from the base models throught the top of the line models, because they all use the same parts and had the problem with them from the 87 to the 2000 model year range.

    The instrument panel circuit board connectors inside the dashboard was usually the source of all these problems, and range from lights acting crazy, to no start, to start & die, to door locks going crazy.

    It has been a problem for many years & Chrysler tends to blow it off & from what I gather most of the dealers just seem to throw parts at them trying to correct them. There are many posts here in this forum about this same problem.

    You need to take apart the instrument cluster, clean the solder connections on the circuit board behind the plastic connectors, then reheat each pin-solder point to reflow the solder, or replace the cluster board. These boards get very warm and very brittle, & flex and then the solder joints crack giving all kinds of crazy behavior to the vehicle as it flexes.
  • aadamaadam Member Posts: 2
    there is a vaccum housing located under neath your battery which attaxhs to an electrical part hooked to the air intake dont know what the name of the apart is but if the vaccum housing beaneath the battery is clogged or has bad vapor the part is connected to an automatic shut down looks something like a top or a dradel with a thick black cable attached to the thottle body two iar vaccum lines one to the bat hoiusing the other to the left front side of the air intake manifold just behind the 4 inch air cleaner line the electric plug attachs on the right side of intake a bad sebn there or bad vapor in housing will cause intermetent shutdowns but allow the van to run normally sometimes
  • aadamaadam Member Posts: 2
    air vaccum lines are attached to electrical parts of the t/c 99 limited they will cause dash problems shutdown problems high rev start and stall even a crack in one of the air vaccum lines can cause these problems or if not connected properly i am the proad owner of a 00 t/c with a 4 speed tranny that only goes 1 and 2 nd gear lacking the funding to buy a rebuilt working or new tranny i went to pick and pull now have to rebuilf because pick and pull takes most all working trannies and motors for use in the vehicles they restore and sell or ship them to their dismatler warehouse be warned i now have to rebuild a tranny am having problems with vaccum line shut down so know exactly what you are saying and hope you realize its most prolly NOT an electrical part
  • jofalltradesjofalltrades Member Posts: 1
    I too have had all these problemsmy hi beam relay was the culprit
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