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All gauges in dashboard shooting up/down like crazy and all indicator lights turn on!

90K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  RIP 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi everybody,

Yesterday my wife complained that the gauges on the dashboard are suddenly shooting up and down like crazy, and also all the indicator lights, abs, coolant, door indicators, etc. light up when this happens. I have seen this happen too but just like three times since we bought the van in Feb. of 2010(last year). But now, my wife said that this is the second time, since yesterday, that she sees this happening.

Can anyone tell me what could the problem be? Could it be a bad alternator? Or what could be the problem? Has anybody experienced this before?

Any tips or advice would help!

Thanks,

Rudy M.
 
#5 ·
JMO; Cluster problem!
 
#6 · (Edited)
If the battery voltages are good, connections are clean and tight, and it passes a load test then look towards the instrument cluster. gain access to the back side and do a shake test on the harness looking for any change on the cluster instruments. Remove the cluster and check the contacts on the connector for any damage. Small chance you have cracked solder joints at the points the circuit board connector is soldered to the board. Retouch them with a soldering iron even if you can't see cracks. They can be tiny. One way to detect them is to smack the dash above the cluster next time they go crazy. If they straighten up then get the soldering iron out. Here's a slideshow about how to get at and repair the cluster. Just click "slideshow" at upper right/ It's on a 98 T&C but should be close: http://www.flickr.com/photos/landar/sets/72157617315319764/

The Body Control Module (BCM) is another unit on the hit list. It conditions the inputs from various senders then sends the data on the data bus to the cluster. Might try checking for codes with a scanner. Autozone will read them for free. I'm drawing a blank on the location on a 2001. Someone will jump in here and fill in that blank.
 
#7 ·
I think somebody else posted something like this a few months back.

What you are seeing is the instrument cluster self test. You can MAKE it do this, by holding down the odometer reset button with the car turned off, until the self-test starts. The needles will move, and all lights and LEDs will light up. It takes about 20 seconds.

Seems to me that I saw that someone else ran the self test and the problem went away.

Could be just the connection at the end of the odometer reset button is dirty and the cluster is responding as though the button was pushed.
 
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#8 ·
Thank you for the advice,
As for trying to know what the cause be for the sudden irregular movements of the needles and lighting of the speedometer-cluster, I did that cluster self-test this morning while pressing the odometer reset button and something in particular besides being the lights turning on and off, and needles moving all over the place caught my attention. I saw some sort of messages like "E of 3.3", "E 100.1, and "E 207.3". What could this mean?
 
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