I have a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan that will run just fine, but at some point (hours thru months) will decide not to start. The problem has occured when you go to the mall for a few hours and then try to start, and even after sitting overnight at home and then try to start or even sitting at the airport 5 days, then it will not start. Usually, it will try to almost start 2 times, then you get nothing. When this happens, the Transmission indicator lights (PRND) do not display, but the horn, lights, remote control, etc works fine. After sitting for some period of time (varies from a few hours to a day) the van will start as if nothing was ever wrong. I've had it checked, but after starting there is nothing wrong.

The van is getting to be too risky to drive because you do not know if it will start to bring you back home.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what may be the cause?

Thanks,

i have the same exact problem...if any one know what the problem is please help. thanks

Does the engine crank with the starter or does the starter not engage? I think you may have a grounding issue. Check all the grounds on the vehicle to make sure they are making good contact. Since the light in the shift indicator does not come on you could have a bad ground on the transmission or dash. Electrical problems can be a nightmare to track down. If the engine is turning over with the starter, check the fuel pressure regulator. A bad regulator can cause intermittant starting. The only other thing I can think of is a bad ECM.

I had exacltly the same problem with my van. Would start sometimes and other times I had to turn it over for about 30 seconds. I replace the 'fuel filter' which is on top of the gas tank. It comes with hoses already and has quick connects to make it easy to change. When you buy it don't be alarmed cause the box is 3 feet long. That is because the filter has an added hose to it. All new hoses come with the filter and all is fine now. It had trouble getting gas through the filter but when it was started it would get gas fine from pressure. Worked for me and I had starting issues for about 3 months till I changed that and now not a problem one. This might or might not be your problem tho.

I had exacltly the same problem with my van. Would start sometimes and other times I had to turn it over for about 30 seconds. I replace the 'fuel filter' which is on top of the gas tank. It comes with hoses already and has quick connects to make it easy to change. When you buy it don't be alarmed cause the box is 3 feet long. That is because the filter has an added hose to it. All new hoses come with the filter and all is fine now. It had trouble getting gas through the filter but when it was started it would get gas fine from pressure. Worked for me and I had starting issues for about 3 months till I changed that and now not a problem one. This might or might not be your problem tho.

By the way, the filter was $24.95 at Auto Zone!

I had exacltly the same problem with my van. Would start sometimes and other times I had to turn it over for about 30 seconds. I replace the 'fuel filter' which is on top of the gas tank. It comes with hoses already and has quick connects to make it easy to change. When you buy it don't be alarmed cause the box is 3 feet long. That is because the filter has an added hose to it. All new hoses come with the filter and all is fine now. It had trouble getting gas through the filter but when it was started it would get gas fine from pressure. Worked for me and I had starting issues for about 3 months till I changed that and now not a problem one. This might or might not be your problem tho.


Did you also have this problem?
The Transmission indicator lights (PRND) do not display, but the horn, lights, remote control, etc works fine. After sitting for some period of time (varies from a few hours to a day) the van will start as if nothing was ever wrong. I've had it checked, but after starting there is nothing wrong.

Sometimes it will not try to start. The above lights will be out which is a sign that it will not start. Sometimes I can bang above the dash, and the lights will come on and the Van starts like nothing is wrong.

Darryl

Darryl,
I have the exact same problem with my 98 town and country. Shift indicator lights don't come on and tac doesn't register. Car starts for a second and then shuts off. After a few attempts car will not even turn over. Then I have to wait sometimes hours sometimes day and then it just starts fine like nothing happened. I will try the wrapping on teh dash, this also gives me a place to start looking. Any other info would be appreciated.

Randy

Hi you guys,
looks like this may be the same issue, check out this post from only a few days ago, many of us having (or had) the same problem. the post title was "That Stupid Gauge Problem!", from there you will find some other posts on this site and others that pretty much describe your problem to the letter, fixed mine over a year ago, no problems since, the important part to read from the older posts is about hitting the dash on both sides of the message center, may save you or your family from getting stranded, not the final fix but again may prevent getting stranded, also will confirm the problem area

the final fix is the resoldering of the main connector (instrument cluster) pins on the circuit board of the cluster (lower two outside pins to be exact), much more detail in the other posts

p. pettruzzi (spelling?) was the true finder of the problem and fortunetly passed the fix to the rest of us

with the number of people having this problem its a true wonder that DC hasnt heard of it eh.....

hope this helps,

best of luck,
bob
pentabob

Can anyone tell me where this board is located under the dash and what the best method of removing it would be? Also any hints that might make the job easier would be appreciated.

Thanks for all the Help,

Randy

randyleggs,
when i took mine apart i took some pictures, they are pretty big so i posted them on my wifes web site (with her permission of course) was working with a fellow named Tom so the text was for him. anyway the site is www.ingriddijkers.com enter the site and go to the links page, on the bottom right hand side you will see a link to "caravan pics", click that, those are the pictures i have, if you click on them they will enlarge so you can see more detail, you'll notice that the solder joints look fine, it's not until you put heat to them (at least with mine and many others) that you will find its more of a solder bubble rather than a solid solder connection, hope this helps, i really do recommend getting a subscription to alldata.com all the tech stuff you'll ever need

best of luck,
get back and let us know how it turns out,
pentabob
bob white
michigan

Pentabob,
Thanks for all of the great info. I haven't looked at your pics yet, as I have a few of my own now. I found the problem you described to a tee with my Town/Country. A cold solder joint at the connector on the backside of the instrument panel. Mine was the right most pin of the bottom row. I reflowed all of the connections to be sure. Also cleaned the pins coming out of all of the gauges, one of the pins for my tach had a little burn mark on it. Again thanks for all of the help, I will check out alldata as well.

Randy

Great News Randyleggs!,
glad to help,
thanks for getting back,
take care,
bob

My 98 Grand Caravan has the exact same symptoms - starts fine, runs for 3 seconds, shuts off (all while guages not coming on). Does this 3 or 4 times, then goes completely dead (will not even crank over). You wait an hour, then it fires up like nothing happened. If your lucky, you can hit the top of the dash and it starts up after that. I also have my guages going out while driving at times, and can get them back on by hitting the top of the dash, just above the speedometer. I followed the advice from this thread and removed my instrument cluster. It was actually quite simple. After I got it out, I took the board off (you need to unplug only one "ribbon wire" and take out a bunch of screws) and looked at the pin solder joints on the other side. Sure enough, the bottom right solder joint had a "crack circle" around the point where the pin joins to the solder (it was the only one that had this solder crack). It also looked different from the other joints - the solder wasn't as shiny and smooth as the others, and kind had a "burnt" look to it. Anyway, I carefully heated the joint up a bit and put a very small drop of solder over top. I put it back together and will keep my fingers crossed that this was the problem - only time will tell.

Good to hear grebill,
still astounds me that Daimler hasn't heard of this problem and the fix, thank goodness for these forums, you should be all set,
Good luck,
Bob

pentabob-

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Thank you for posting your Caravan pix on your wife's website and for your posts on this circuit board connector solder issue.

Thanks to you, I was able to save hundreds of dollar$ by fixing this problem myself on my '99 G.Caravan yesterday (fractured solder joint on one pin...I believe it was the one for the black wire). Although it has been less than 24 hours since I plugged everything back in---I am confident that the resoldering did the trick (so far, so good). Thanks again!!! Regina

Hi Regina,
Great news!
The true finder of the problem was p. pettruzzi and fortunetly he passed the fix to the rest of us, I just took some pictures.
You are most welcome for my part any way and I'm sure if Paul is monitoring this site he will say the same.
Glad everything worked out for you, have a super weekend!
And thank you for getting back to us all with your results that helps everyone as well.
Take care,
Bob White