2006 Town and Country Crap

[Crappytown&countr7]

My wife and I bought a T&C Touring model with only 10miles on it from Urban Chrysler in Foothill Ranch, CA; sales guy was great, the car had issues-

On the night we took it home, shut off to grab a drink, got back on the car and the electrical dash is dead ; no lights, no gages, nothing. Then, the next morning, the car turns on and everything seems ok, until another week - it happens again , took to the dealership and got some lip service of them not finding the problem ; I went to Disneyland the following weekend; same thing happening, cannot see gages or any electrical issue ;

I have posted a video for reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZfKCGwdv0k

[cardboardpimp420]

i wouldnt go as far as calling the town and country crap...this is a problem but not a common problem. i have been working for dodge for 2 years building dodge rams, caravans, and town & country's so i pretty much know how factory work works. While most vehicles come out perfect, you have to realize that these vehicles are built by people along with any other car company out there, and this leaves for human error. now that being said, one thing i would check is where the under hood fuse box is, in the factory that is closed by hand. if you look on the side of it there are hinges there, open that box up and check to see if there are any pinched wires. its very easy for them to get pinched when being closed, ive done it a couple times myself. or even better, if its under warrantee id have the dealer check that

[RIP]

Got to hand it to you. That video was a nice touch. I'll have to remember that next time I have a problem. Has the dealer seen it? Welcome to the forum.

cardboardpimp420 is obviously proud to work for Chrysler and of the products they produce, as he should be. I'd have to agree that "Crap" was a little harsh. We piss and moan over the headaches they sometimes create but, they are still among the best out there. One point of dissagreement. I guess you have to define common. I've been on this forum over two years and have seen numerous threads/posts about gauges dying at start up. Many complain that Chrysler is letting us live with this and doing nothing to fix it. That's partly our fault. Not enough people are filing complaints with the NHTSB and it's a shame because it's so very easy to do on their website. If they see enough complaints they will perform an investigation and either drop it or encourage or force Chrysler to issue a recall.

If you breeze through the threads or do a search you'll see a common fix for this is to remove the IOD fuse in the fuse box next to the battery for 2-3 minutes. This resets power to the Body Control Module better known as the BCM. This little gem controls just about all the electronic functions of the van including your gauges. IOD stands for ignition off draw. Chrysler removes this fuse before shipping to prevent the battery from draining. The dealer reinstalls the fuse. I have zero experience with the newer vans. The fuse may be called something else like "Memory". You'll accomplish the same thing by disconnecting the battery but, this also dumps the performance parameters stored in the Powertrain Control Module (PCM). It's the electronic brain for your engine. If you do this you may see decreased engine performance periodically for the next week or so until the computer "relearns".

Another fix is to just smack the top of the dash. Yup, smack it. They say it sometimes works. If this "fixes" it, the real fix is to repair bad solder joints on the instrument cluster circuit board or fix a bad connection on the cluster connector.

These as far as I know are the most common fixes. You may find more if you browse. One problem is many jump on this forum looking for advise, take it, and never come back to tell us the fix, therefore, my signature below.

Remember. The BCM effects nearly all the electronics on the van. If you start seeing chronic wiper, lights, power door lock, power window, sunroof, INSTRUMENT, power sliding door, etc problems, the BCM is a likely culprit. Cheers.

OBTW - My 96 GCs gauges will do the same thing 4-5 times a year. I just restart it and all is well. Did I file a complaint? You bet. Remember though - "this is not a common problem".

[Bernard Feltzer]

return the vehicle and revoke acceptance.
it is a lemon.

[pentabob]

if it is just the lights, next time they go off try adjusting the lights with the dimmer switch just to make sure its not just a dead spot in the rehostat, sorry, I couldnt tell if it is only the lights not working or the gauges are inop as well, if just the lights try the reho.

[Mrbizness1]

Originally Posted by cardboardpimp420

i wouldnt go as far as calling the town and country crap...this is a problem but not a common problem. if you look on the side of it there are hinges there, open that box up and check to see if there are any pinched wires. its very easy for them to get pinched when being closed, ive done it a couple times myself. or even better, if its under warrantee id have the dealer check that

My uncle recently bought a Subaru Outback. It broke down several times without warning and was towed to the dealer and they couldn't find anything wrong. The last time he asked the shop manager to drive it home, he lives 35 miles round trip from the shop. He broke down on the return trip a mile away from the shop. The problem was WIRES THAT GO TO THE MAIN UNDERHOOD TERMINAL HAD NO SLACK IN THEM AND WERE PULLING OUT OF THERE CONNECTIONS. He hasn't had any problems since.

[rube740]

I had the same problem. First I would do as the gentalman said and check if there are any wires being pinched on the relay box. Now here is how I fixed my problem. I checked the battery terminal and cleaned it. I also mad sure that the orange wire coming from the fuse box was cleaned also. Now that orange wire coming from the fuse box is probably where the problem is. Make sure that it is on the positive side of the battery nice and TIGHT. I hope this helps, GOOD LUCK!!!

[Dthane]

I personally love the kid crying on the video. I was cracking up. Let's see, I have a 97 Transport w/114K with about 5 electrical problems (locks, windows, radio,etc), and an 01 Caravan with 82K that got a new tranny at 58K, but it has been ok electronically. Now if we could only make one that was good on both...

Sounds like a pinch, ground, short or some glitchy problem but if I were Chrysler I would try to do everything I could to fix this, even if they have to start fresh and rewire the whole dash.

[Stretch58]

Originally Posted by Crappytown&countr7

My wife and I bought a T&C Touring model with only 10miles on it from Urban Chrysler in Foothill Ranch, CA; sales guy was great, the car had issues-

On the night we took it home, shut off to grab a drink, got back on the car and the electrical dash is dead ; no lights, no gages, nothing. Then, the next morning, the car turns on and everything seems ok, until another week - it happens again , took to the dealership and got some lip service of them not finding the problem ; I went to Disneyland the following weekend; same thing happening, cannot see gages or any electrical issue ;

I have posted a video for reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZfKCGwdv0k

At our dealership, you have the option of returning the new car if not satisfied for a short period. Like a week or 2. Have to pay a fee to make a swap.
Keep after the dealer and start talking lemon to them. In defense, intermittent problems are the toughest to fix. If it is a once a week thing, they will have to get creative to fix it. May be as simple as a connector someplace not fully seated. There does not to seem to be a Service Bulletin listed on the problem. Has it ever done it just going down the road? Or maybe after hitting a bump or is it only after turning the car off and on?

[Bernard Feltzer]

You should return van.
The entire dashboard has to be removed to change the printed circuit board on the dash.
usually a bad solder connection on pcb.

The other thing it may be is that the BCM needs to be reflashed with upgraded software, there is a TSB on that, but try finding it.

The 2006 BCM has to be flashed at a dealer because the VIN number is now in the software on later vans, no more junkyard swaps.

[Bernard Feltzer]

http://www.chryslerforum.com/m_6425/tm.htm

http://www.chryslerforum.com/m_1912/tm.htm

http://www.chryslerforum.com/m_6511/tm.htm