98 Caravan SE with Electrial Problems

[gmoney23]

I have lost my instrument guages but the panel is lit from behind (all needles will not move) ABS and Service Engine light stays on. On my control panel my A/C will not go on niether will my rear winshield. the temp control will not change and is stuck on hot plus to top it all of I cannotgo from defrost to floor vents or anything of the nature. Engine, radio, and clock work everytime. Any help, advice or tip to help me get started would be apprecited.

[t_arnold]

I ran into a similar problem with my wife's 98 Grand Caravan. Somewhere on this post, there is an article on the circuit board on the back of the instrumant cluster with a bad solder joint that can cause the problem. That wasn't the problem with mine, though. Mine was the plug under the steering column. I unpluged it, cleaned it, put some di-electric grease on it, & plugged it back in, & no problems. With yours, though, I would check the circuit board first, then the plug on the back of the instrument cluster. If neither one of those issues are the problem, Check the ground wire on the PCM. That may be the problem. Chrysler has a problem with insulating the wiring harnesses on their Vehicles. They are not taped properly, letting corrosion into the harnesses.

[angelsvampman]

look up my story on "dead dash" see if the symptoms are the same. It may be that simple. hope so. been there. It did die again the other day, gave it a rap above the ac and it came back on. i did take it apart and clean the dust, animal hair, ect and it hasn't died yet....

[RIP]

He made the post in January. I'd bet it's fixed by now.