Instrument panel

[mcsd]

I have a 98 caravan with a dead instrument panel. From other messages it looks like I have a bad bcm. Once I get it fixed I'll post the results, maybe it will help someone else.

[johnc9999]

Our 99 caravan's instruments just died. Did you solve the problem with yours?

[mcsd]

No, I have not solved my problem yet. It's intermittent. However, If I hit the dashboard just above and to the left of the radio, the panel comes on

[mike2004tct]

Originally Posted by mcsd

No, I have not solved my problem yet. It's intermittent. However, If I hit the dashboard just above and to the left of the radio, the panel comes on

You're joking, right?

If not, pull the cluster out and look for a loose connector to the back of it. You only have to remove the lower plastic tray in front of the cluster, plus the two screws that attach it to the top .

[johnc9999]

Just to complete this story... The day after I posted this question, the car did not start. Our friend gave us a jump, and the cluster came back to life. We had the battery terminals cleaned and we've had no more problems. I suspect that the system just wasn't getting enough juice to work properly.

[jmcadams68]

My wife's cluster went out last week on a 96 Caravan. After reading some of the replies, I cleaned the battery terminals and the cluster started working again. Thanks.

[vipergg]

Originally Posted by johnc9999

Just to complete this story... The day after I posted this question, the car did not start. Our friend gave us a jump, and the cluster came back to life. We had the battery terminals cleaned and we've had no more problems. I suspect that the system just wasn't getting enough juice to work properly.

The clusters get hung up for some reason , like a computer getting frozen and you have to reboot as an analogy . The fix in a lot cases is to just pull the IOD fuse for about 10 seconds and then reinsert and this will fix it in a lot of cases .

[sixseas]

It may be possible if there is a voltage drop large enough a diode in the cluster may shut down if it happens again measure voltage to the cluster an insturment cluster would run on the few amps in 8 AA batteries so any shutdown would likely be voltage driven.

If I may ask a question, does anyone have suggestions in an intermitant cutout of digital cluster. It goes blank or blinks but dash light circuit stays on. Dealer did expensive traced with no luck. Have double check connectors wiring voltages etc. without success. Wanted to switch out the cluster with another I can get to isolate problem but the dealer warned insturment cluster and ECM must be switched in pairs or will rewrite the new mileage. I have 75k miles and replacement has 160k they wants $325 to reprogram must be done before they wont do if mileage is lost. Any suggestions?