97 T & C Insturment cluster dead

[slo]

have a 97 T&C AWD 3.8 with 157k miles. The instrument panel just died this morning, the idiot lights come on and go off after engine start but the speedo and tach and fuel ect ect all dead. I have looked at some othe posts her but all seem to have engine start probs which is not the case here. the motor starts and runs fine. Any ideas???

[ggratecc]

I have the same problem with my 98 Voyager , 3.3L!
It's intermittant right now.
In the past, I've had my clockspring replaced, and
I suspect a bad clockspring may be causing our symptoms.
I believe there was a recall for this item and I was reimbursed.
Greg

[ggratecc]

Replying to my own post...
I have spent the last hour reviewing previous posts on this problem.
Since my problem is an instrument cluster going dead intermittantly,
I will try cleaning the battery posts and clamps.
My battery is probably about 3 years old so I suspect it.

SLO, I hope this helps you out. I'll let you know after I work
on the battery connections.
Greg (ggratecc)

[wightj]

Originally Posted by slo

have a 97 T&C AWD 3.8 with 157k miles. The instrument panel just died this morning, the idiot lights come on and go off after engine start but the speedo and tach and fuel ect ect all dead. I have looked at some othe posts her but all seem to have engine start probs which is not the case here. the motor starts and runs fine. Any ideas???

I had the same problem. It was the Red power lead from the battery to the fuse box was corrided. I replaced the battery terminal and it fixed the problem. Cost less than $5.

[wightj]

Originally Posted by slo

have a 97 T&C AWD 3.8 with 157k miles. The instrument panel just died this morning, the idiot lights come on and go off after engine start but the speedo and tach and fuel ect ect all dead. I have looked at some othe posts her but all seem to have engine start probs which is not the case here. the motor starts and runs fine. Any ideas???

Another Note: The lead going from the fuse box to the battery may look ok, but look close because they tend to corrode right where it connects to the terminal clamp. I had to cut off the old clamp and trim back the wires until I got clean wire to work with. If the copper wire looks tarnished you will not get a good connection. You either need to clean off the wire or trim it back until you get good clean wire.

[ggratecc]

wightj,
thanks for the replies.
My battery was 4 years old and very weak, so I replaced it.
Actually, I added dimineralized water because one cell had
plates uncovered, well that ruined the battery.
With the new battery, the instrument cluster problem has
not re-occured.
I'll keep an eye on the battery terminal in the future. thanks. Greg

Originally Posted by wightj

Another Note: The lead going from the fuse box to the battery may look ok, but look close because they tend to corrode right where it connects to the terminal clamp. I had to cut off the old clamp and trim back the wires until I got clean wire to work with. If the copper wire looks tarnished you will not get a good connection. You either need to clean off the wire or trim it back until you get good clean wire.

[vipergg]

Originally Posted by slo

have a 97 T&C AWD 3.8 with 157k miles. The instrument panel just died this morning, the idiot lights come on and go off after engine start but the speedo and tach and fuel ect ect all dead. I have looked at some othe posts her but all seem to have engine start probs which is not the case here. the motor starts and runs fine. Any ideas???

If it just died , go under the hood in the power distribution center (fuse box) , pull the fuse labeled IOD for about 20 seconds and reinsert , this happend to our 96 Voyager too . This resets the cluster by killing the power to the bcm I believe , these occasionally get hung up and they need to be reset , don't know what initially causes it .

[trebacz]

Our 1997 town and country has also had a similar problem with the dash. The spedometer will freeze at 10 mph, tach will freeze at some number of rpm, fuel shows empty, the gear selector indicator, and odometer don't work at all. The rest of the dash works fine and the car runs completely fine.

In the past I've disassembled the dash -and reseated the connector back into the instrument cluster. It takes about an hour. This was the 4th time we had this problem (1st time was fixed by the dealer under warranty). It happened twice this winter so I came here looking for alternatives. Pulled the "IOD" fuse from under the hood -waited 20 seconds -and presto it worked. I would highly recomend this procedure to reset the instrument cluster.

Thanks!

[mjkoz]

The cluster on my 97 T&C went dead on a trip!!! What a pain... no speedometer, fuel gage, temp gage, etc. It was Thanksgiving eve and the dealership was closing early. Had to travel on Thanksgiving day. Turns out the dealer disconnected the battery for about 10 minutes. Reconnected and it was good as new!!! Dealer said that sometimes the cluster gets a memory 'bubble'. Whatever that is! Just glad I didn't have to replace the whole cluster!

[JStin]

Pulling the fuse in the "Fuse & Relay Center" (next to the battery) marked "memory (I.O.D)" for 20 seconds fixed my dead instrument cluster in my 2000 Grand Sport Caravan.
Thanks guys/gals!!

[B33p3r]

Do yourselves a favor and disconnect your battery and clean the posts thoroughly. It may prevent you from having future failures.

[msliz2000]

I had the a similar problem. The instruments were dead. The "service engine soon" and ABS light would come on but no tach, speedometer fuel or temp gauges. Every now and again the isntruments would fire up and then freeze. A friend suggested it was probably the grounding strap for the radio that was installed a week before the panel went out. Took the car back to the radio installers. They wrapped the grounding wire with tape and everything is back to normal.
Hope this helps.

[mjkoz]

Thanks for your input. It's amazing how much a little electrical problem can cause! Mine was fine just after disconnecting the battery for a short period of time and cleaning the terminals!

[khp]

Our 97 Caravan had this problem.
Instrument panel was completely dead
ABS light was on
P1698 code - No CCD message from TCM

I found this forum and read the posts about related problems with the instrument panel.

I worked on this problem for a day and a half. I was ready to give up. I fact I did give up and called the local Dodge dealership to schedule an appointment to have them troubleshoot this problem. They couldn't get me into the shop for another 3 days so I went back into the garage to troubleshoot the problem some more.

I cleaned the battery posts.
Checked the IOD fuse.
Checked all grounds I could find but the grounds checked out ok at all the modules.
I suspected a problem with the CCD + and CCD- bus wiring to all the different modules so I traced those all out and found no open or shorts in those wires. I did find the CCD+ wire was supposed have about 2.5 volts but it had about 9.25 volts.

I had read either here or at another forum that someone found a pin on the instrument panel looked like the solder had loosed up on the back side of the circuit board. I disassembled my instrument panel ( I had this darn thing out about 4 times already anyway) and I found the number 7 pin on the main connector socket of the circuit board looking like it had loosed from the solder a bit. There still was continuity from the pin to the solder point at the rear of the board but in probed around the solder and called it good.
I put the instrument panel back into the van and low and behold everything worked!! I removed it again and resoldered the number 7 pin to be sure. I assembled everything and the instrument panel worked, ABS light went out and the P1698 code went away.

I posted this in case it could help someone else that runs across this problem.

One small note: The only manual I had was a Chilton manual which has limited troubleshooting for this type of problem. I found a website which has service manuals online and I bought a 1 year subcription for $25.00 for one vehicle and printed out about a half ream of paper of wiring diagrams and connection prints but it was worth it considering the cost of bringing the van into the shop. This problem would have been impossible to solve without a good manual or schematics. Here's the url if anyone wants it.
http://www.alldatadiy.com/

There.... now I can hang the Christmas lights and figure out why half of those don't work. <Grin>

[cw4rick]

You might also check the female plug that plugs into the back of the instrument panel. I had you're exact symptoms for over a year, spent a bundle at the D?!# Dodge dealership with no results. I used the post that KHP suggests above. I used the link he provided to learn how to get at the cluster assembly without tearing my dashboard up (thanks KHP).
I had the cluster out and the key in the on position and as I wiggled the wire bundle going into the back of the instrument cluster the gauges and lights came on then went off with just a slight move of the WIRES. I figured the female plug at the end of the wire bundle has some connection problems. I solder pretty good, but after some bad experiences soldering on some circuit boards for an old computer a few years back, I figured I didn't want to ruin the panel itself.
Anyway, I spread the wires (they're factory twisted right up to the plug) so they were all flat going into the plug housing, took some electrical tape and taped them flat right behind the plug housing. Then I overlapped some tape over the taped wires and the very back of the plastic plug housing and I mean I wrapped it tight and multiple loops. I eliminated any movement between the wires and female housing that plugs into the cluster. I turned the key back on after plugging it in and it worked.
Now I've been dissappointed with other suggestions for this problem I've tried on this site so I'll never have full confidence in this vehicle again, but to put my fix to the test I took it on a 700 mile trip with a mix of highway and city driving and have stopped and started it multiple times the last 3 weeks and it has not done it again. This versus the panel being off more than on the past few weeks. I have to conclude that, at least in my case, the instrument gauge nightmare is over and I can now sell it with a clear conscience.
The shame is that it has been a great driving and dependable vehicle. I bought it second owner in 98 and have logged over 75,000 miles on it with no problems til this piddly electrical problem. I feel the dealership let me down. Unless the American Auto manufacturers wake up and see that quality and service mean as much if not more than looks and profit margins, I fear we'll see more of a great American industry going the way that Ford did this week.
Well, I know this got a little long, but give it a try. If it works for you too it'll be a WHOLE LOT cheaper than taking it to your "friendly and reliable" Dodge dealership.