2003 Caravan Woes

Ok, I have a 2003 Dodge Caravan that has been acting up as of lately, here’s what it’s been doing:

For the past few weeks, the radio and fan will lose power intermittently, sometimes they will just blink on and off over and over again. The strange thing is that when they lose power, if I push another preset button on the radio while it’s off, it is on that station when the power comes back on, if that makes sense. In other words, its like the power is there, but the display and output isn’t. Anyhow, this is a very intermittent problem, and it comes and goes. I’ve checked all fuses, and they seem good.

Now today, it really started acting weird. The radio and fan are working fine, but the speedometer is not working (this has happened several times randomly during the last year), but also the transmission gear position indicator doesn’t have a box around the gear I am in, but rather around every single gear, no matter which gear I put it in, and I also have the error LED lit that indicates a vehicle error. Most importantly however, its acting like it’s stuck in 1st or 2nd gear when I put it in Drive, and it never shifts out of the gear that it’s in.

Does anybody have any ideas what might be going on here? I’m assuming I should get it in to be serviced, but money is tight at the moment and any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! :banghead:

It appears most of your woes could be Body Control Module (BCM) related. The BCM controls all the electrical except engine/transmission and airbag related functions. If you read through this forum you'll read plenty about it. Type "caravan BCM" or spell out BCM in the search function.

The easiest fix for this is to pull the IOD fuse in the fuse panel under the hood. Pull it out for 2 minutes then put it back. This will reset the BCM. Sometimes the BCM gets confused and shows you how evil it can be. If this doesn't fix it you may have to replace it. They can cost as much as $400 at the dealer but they can be had cheaper at various websites or from a junkyard. Before you do that look at the connection and wiring.

Your transmission appears to have gone into what is called the "Limp Mode". The Power Control Module (PCM) has detected a fault and is preventing full use of the transmission and is letting you know by lighting the error LED - (Check Engine LED?). Take the van to the any Autozone or the like and where they will connect a scanner for free and tell you the error code being generated. The code will tell you what area is at fault. Could be a sensor going bad or something more severe. Using the wrong ATF fluid or not getting it changed regularly could be the cause. You should be using ATF-4 fluid and nothing else. If you've used dexron fluid, get the tranny flushed and have ATF-4 put in. Keep in touch.

It appears most of your woes could be Body Control Module (BCM) related. The BCM controls all the electrical except engine/transmission and airbag related functions. If you read through this forum you'll read plenty about it. Type "caravan BCM" in the search function.

The easiest fix for this is to pull the IOD fuse in the fuse panel under the hood. Pull it out for 2 minutes then put it back. This will reset the BCM. Sometimes the BCM gets confused and shows you how evil it can be. If this doesn't fix it you may have to replace it. They can cost as much as $400 at the dealer but they can be had cheaper at various websites or from a junkyard. Before you do that look at the connection and wiring.

Your transmission appears to have gone into what is called the "Limp Mode". The Power Control Module (PCM) has detected a fault and is preventing full use of the transmission and is letting you know by lighting the error LED - (Check Engine LED?). Take the van to the any Autozone or the like and where they will connect a scanner and tell you the error code being generated for free. The code will tell you what area is at fault. Could be a sensor going bad or something more severe. Thsi could also be caused by using the wrong ATF fluid or not getting it changed regularly. You should be using ATF-4 fluid and nothing else. If you've used dexron fluid, get the tranny flushed and have ATF-4 put in. Keep in touch.


Thanks for taking the time to reply, I don't have an Autozone around here, the closest thing we have is an AutoZone; I'll check and see if they offer scanning. Hopefully it won't be anything major, I'll post results when I find out what it is.

So I stopped by Advanced Auto on the way home and they scanned it as well. Here is what their printout provided:

DTC Codes

P1698
Manufacurer Contrl.
Auxiliary Inputs
Auxiliary Outputs

P0700
Trans Control Sys
Malfunction



DTC Pending (Codes)

P0500
Veh Speed Sensor A
Malfunction

P1698
Manufacurer Contrl.
Auxiliary Inputs
Auxiliary Outputs



Anyhow, not sure what exactly these mean, I guess I'll need to google them a bit, although the 500 code makes sense, as my speedomoter is not currently working.

Could this code have anything to do with the speedometer not working, or the fact that I see some pretty hefty corosion around my battery terminals?

The transmission problem is probably an output speed sensor gone south which would be why you have no gears or speedometer , seems to be a common problem on these vans . The pcm put them in limp mode (2nd gear only) when it detects a problem . Not sure about the radio try pulling the IOD fuse and see if it clears anything..

There is so much on these vehicles that is controlled by electricity. If you are not getting a good flow of electricity because of corroded terminals, I imagine that could certainly cause problems. Thoroughly clean your terminals and reset the fuse as mentioned above and see if that helps.. If nothing else it is a cheap attempt to see if anything improves. Good Luck!

There is so much on these vehicles that is controlled by electricity. If you are not getting a good flow of electricity because of corroded terminals, I imagine that could certainly cause problems. Thoroughly clean your terminals and reset the fuse as mentioned above and see if that helps.. If nothing else it is a cheap attempt to see if anything improves. Good Luck!

I agree.

Usually, any flashing and intermittant failure of gauges is a sign of low voltage. This may be caused by bad battery connections, especially while the vehicle is idling and the alternator isn't putting out enough juice to override battery voltage.
Clean those corroded terminals up, and by taking them off the battery, you just may reset the computer while your at it.

The transmission problem is probably an output speed sensor gone south which would be why you have no gears or speedometer , seems to be a common problem on these vans . The pcm put them in limp mode (2nd gear only) when it detects a problem . Not sure about the radio try pulling the IOD fuse and see if it clears anything..

OK, finally got a chance to work on my van a bit. I called the local dealer, and they said if the speedometer isn't working and its in limp mode, its almost certainly the speed output sensor. I'm going to order one from the local auto parts store, but in the meantime, I dumped the battery, cleared the codes, and now I only have the P1684 (battery has been disconnected) code, but one other problem started during the last few days before I pulled the battery. The van is hard to start - it cranks and cranks and usually I just let off, turn the key back over and it fires right up then. - Any ideas here? Should I start with dry gas?? - It doesn't seem to have any problems with getting fuel, as it will idle and drive fine once it starts.

Oh, and btw, does anybody know exactly where the speed output sensor is located on an 03 caravan ?