'99 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport Crazy Electrical Promblem!

[chrisdjohnson]

Last night, I drove my caravan to the store and when I came out to start it, it wouldn't start. All of the lights inside were dim and flashing rapidly. There was also a rapid clicking sound coming from under the dash. Even when I took my key out of the ignition, this continued. When I pressed the power lock to unlock the door, it sounded like the thing rapidly tried to unlock itself 3 times in a row! I got out and hooked a battery jumper up to the battery. This seemed to give it more juice because the inside lights that were rapidly flickering got brighter, but continued flickering. I got back in and it started. I was able to drive it home just fine but once I turned it off, the lights were dim again. (No rapid clicking sound though!) But when I unlocked the door, it again seemed to do 2 or 3 rapid unlocks in a row. Has anyone seen this before? Thank you so much for any help you may be able to offer!

Sincerely,

Chris Johnson
Edmond, OK

[lathomas]

Hello Chris,
I recently encountered your problem on my 98 Grand Caravan. Although I had(have) an electrical problem which was self induced (trying to install aftermarket stereo), my recent problem was simply due to a poorly connected battery cable. Clean your cable heads and posts and all should be fine.

[Mark3316]

Chris: I believe you gave a very good description of a Caravan without enough voltage to start the engine. I would like an update; did you ever pin the problem down?