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If you aren't having any other problems with the vehicle (e.g., weird noises or high engine temperature), then at least wait til you've refilled your gas tank to worry. It still might not be anything serious.
kirstie_h
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kirstie_h
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Host, Future Vehicles & Smart Shopper discussions
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I replaced the battery, cleaned the terminals, and checked the hazard flasher fuse (it was fine). I reassembled the light switch, instrument panel, and other dash parts. The problem persists, though.
I will next see if I can find the Instrument Control Ground location and clean it.
I see from another recent post that yet another person has this problem!
I'll post as I get any more information.
shadetree_bill
Best regards,
Dusty
Reply
I just replaced the battery on my 1999 Town & Country and had the same problem you described. Four lights blinked on and off together. My resourceful wife was speaking to a Chrysler customer support person about an unrelated issue and happened to ask about the flashing lights. Somehow this person knew what to do:
1) Start the vehicle and let it idle
2) Turn the AC blower switch to its highest setting (all the way to the right)
3) Turn the AC mode switch to the 'panel' setting (all the way to the left)
4) Set the temperature level to cold for both the driver and passenger sides
5) Depress the Rear Washer and Rear Wiper buttons at the same time and hold for 5 seconds
6) The Rear Wiper, Rear Intermittent Wiper, A/C, and Recirculation buttons will now flash alternately (not in unison as before). Let the van continue to idle. One by one, the lights will stop blinking until only the Rear Wiper light blinks. When this happens, press the Rear Wiper button to end the sequence.
My wife actually performed this voodoo ritual and it worked. So I don't get to take credit for my incredible knowledge of cars or for fixing the problem. But I do get to pass the information on. Good luck.
Found this--Hope it helps! ----alr
The clock spring in this case has nothing to do with a clock but is a spring which can fail in the steering column and cause problems like you are having.
Our 1996 Caravan had a recall to replace the clock spring, though we had not been having problems.
1. Remove lower right instrument panel.
2. Remove blower housing mounting screws.
3. Allow assembly to drop and remove from vehicle.
4. Reverse procedure to install.
Good luck!
Anyone attempted this chore? Any tips or lessons leaned to pass on?
Since we purchased it, sometimes the windshield wipers will turn on when using the turning signal.
About 2 years ago, we had a transmission seal replaced after we noticed small amount of puddling on the garage floor. I added trans fluid before we got it fixed to make sure it did not go dry.
The transmission works fine now except when it has been cold out (below 32 degrees) and the vehicle has not run for a couple days. After we back it out of the garage under those conditions, we put it in drive and the transmission will not engage. It acts like it is in neutral. We gun the engine a couple times and finally it will go into gear. It may happen one more time if we have to stop within a short distance but will operate fine after that for the drive and the day.
Two times after the above issue occurred, the transmission will not shift out of a low gear. We stop the vehicle, turn it off and back on. The transmission will then shift OK. I saw others had this problem on the message board.
I suspect there may be a computer problem since the vehicle has a history of computer issues (wipers/turning signals). Can anyone provide in site or similar experiences?
Paul
We have two Grand Caravans, both with the 3.8 liter mill, the first is a 1998 GC Sport, and the second is a 2003 GC ES. We have about 90K miles on the 1998, and each time as the van has approached each 30K interval a hot spot seems to have developed on at least one of the two front brake rotors. Said spot manifests itself as a pulsing when the brake is pressed, with the pulse getting worse with both speed and urgency of deceleration. Since 30K miles isn't too bad on a set of FWD disk brakes, I've never really worried too much about this, however, I still find it annoying to be throwing pads and rotors in the trash every couple of years that clearly have an easy 10K miles left on them.
The plot thickens...
As it turns out, our 2003 (which has over 40K miles on the clock) is nearing the end of the pad life on the OEM pads, so during my last trip to NAPA, I bought front pads and rotors for both vans. This morning as I was swapping the brakes on the 1998, I pulled the rotors out of the box for the 2003 and compared them to the new rotors for the 1998, and guess what, they are nearly identical (ie. same diameter, same bolt pattern). Okay, so what's the difference? Answer: the rotors for the 2003 are thicker by maybe as much as 5mm (ie. more meat in the swept area where the pads make contact with the rotor). Could that be the reason why the 2003 never developed a hot spot?
On a whim I mounted the 2003 rotors on the 1998 and was able to get the caliper to clear the rotor, even with the new pads in place. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to actually test the setup, plus I assume that the engineers who designed this system made the rotors the thickness they are for a reason, I just wanted to see if I could get the thicker rotors to fit. Having said that, I'm thinking that if I still have the 1998 when it's ready for the 120K brake job, I might very well give the 2003 rotors a try, just for kicks.
Anybody else tried this?
Best Regards,
Shipo
Best Regards,
Shipo
PS I am working this weekend, otherwise I'd drive over to your house for a cool one while you changed the brakes!
VCheng, I'm shocked that you would think that I of all people would imbibe whilst slaving away on a car under the hot sun. Then again, "Maybe this once."
Regarding the pics, I'll get a shot of them and post them in my Yahoo! gallery (I'll post the link after I post the pictures.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I'm about to do a tune up on it for the first time. Spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor, pvc, fuel filter. Any tips on which brand I should get for those parts and from where? Also, tips on how to perform it would be helpful. Thanks!
Our 1996 Caravan didn't have any brake work required until we were well past 70K miles. It did have a tiny bit of warped rotor vibration probably for the last 10-15K, but since I knew what it was and it was at fairly low levels, we lived with it. When we had a front brake job done and replaced the rotors as well, as corrosion was taking its toll on the rotors at that point. Rear drums are still original and we have about 81K on the van now.
Well sort of. The thing is that this is the first time that I've bought NAPA rotors, meaning that the set that I just took off the 1998 and the set that is still on the 2003 are OEM rotors. FWIW, the NAPA rotors appear to be an exact replacement for the OEM rotors. Having said that, I do find it interesting that for our 2003, NAPA only carries one rotor (UBP-880049 @ $27.45), however, for the 1998 they carry two rotors (UTS-4886646 @ $24.99 and UBP-86646 @ $56.99). I bought the more expensive UBP-86646 rotors for the 1998 hoping that they would resist the heat better than the OEM rotors.
FWIW (again), I used to work for a NAPA jobber back when I was in college nearly 30 years ago, the "United Brake Parts" (which is what the "UBP" probably stands for) aftermarket rotors were always exact replacement parts for the OEM parts, at least from a dimensional perspective that is. What I don't know is if they have somehow improved the metallurgy of the rotors, hence their higher cost (higher than even buying OEM rotors directly from Dodge).
Best Regards,
Shipo
Also, in most cases regardless of where or who's name is on the box a replacement rotor comes in, the rotor will be a factory ( OEM ) blank. The casting numbers may be different, but on Chrysler's especially you will often find the Chrysler part number on them. In some cases there might be an aftermarket manufacturers number or identification, but in all likelihood the blank was cast by the OEM.
Regards,
Dusty
Hmmm, "Hard Spots", we might be saying the same thing here, I believe I called them "Hot Spots", which is the term that the old gray beards that I learned to turn a wrench from used to use (of course that was something like 30 years ago). According to what I remember, the description of a hot spot is where a rotor was heated up enough to re-temper some of the metal so that it was either harder or softer than the surrounding metal. As such when the rotor surface with the hot/hard spot area slides past the pads, it has a different amount of friction in that one spot, hence the pulsing.
Regarding the "Scuz Build-up", I don't think that's too likely as I use semi-metallic pads.
Regarding being out of radial roundness or warping, while I admittedly have not mic-ed the rotors, I've seen no evidence of such a situation.
"Also, in most cases regardless of where or who's name is on the box a replacement rotor comes in, the rotor will be a factory ( OEM ) blank. The casting numbers may be different, but on Chrysler's especially you will often find the Chrysler part number on them. In some cases there might be an aftermarket manufacturers number or identification, but in all likelihood the blank was cast by the OEM."
Fair enough, however, the rotors that I took off of the 1998 were clearly stamped with the ChryCo pentagon, while the NAPA rotors that I replaced them with came from NAPA's United Brake Parts affiliate/subsidiary, and while my information is once again about 30 years old, back then at least, UBP was making their own replacement parts. Also, unlike the 2003, for which NAPA only lists one part number for the front rotors, they carry a "Tru-Stop" brand, which if I'm not mistaken is made in China. Additionally, if the OEM was casting rotors for other non-ChryCo distribution channels, would they really cast in different part numbers on the back of the hat? I ask because while I didn't check the rotors that I put on the other day, I did just check the set for our 2003, and there are clearly non-ChryCo identifiers cast into the back of the hat. It will be interesting to see if said casted identifiers match up with the rotors that I take off this weekend.
Best Regards,
Shipo
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm
Best Regards,
Shipo
Good luck..
http://photos.yahoo.com/shipo
The first four shots titled "RotorDetail01-RotorDetail04" show various angles of the new 1998 rotor mounted with the new 2003 rotor resting on the ground leaning on the 1998. The last two shots titled "RotorDetail05-RotorDetail06" show two slightly different angles of the new 2003 rotor laying flush with a used 1998 rotor.
One thing that I didn't notice until looking at these pictures is the difference in the hat height. That alone would preclude using the 2003 rotors on an older van because the calipers wouldn't be properly centered, and might possibly rub on the inside of the wheel.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Best Regards,
Shipo