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05 Grand Caravan instrument panel flashes

4K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  Bernard Feltzer 
#1 · (Edited)
My wife and I were on a road trip in our 2005 Grand Caravan w/80K, and after about 3 hours on the road, suddenly all the dials on the instrument panel rotated completely clockwise. About 2 seconds later all the lights in the instrument panel lit up for about 3-4 seconds; then a tone (seat belt/door open tone) sounded once, and then everything returned to normal. No evidence of any change in performance when this happened. Over the next 20 miles, it did it again about 4 times. Exact same sequence. When we arrived at our destination, I disconnected the battery for about 5 minutes, in desperate hope of resetting a confused computer.
Had no problems driving locally after that and also on our trip home until we got 0.5 miles from home and then it did it again.
I called the dealer to see if they had heard of such, and they hadn't since about 98. I don't know if driving it 3 hours has anything to do with it, and I doubt that the dealer could reproduce the symptoms.
Wondered if anyone else out there has experienced something like this.
Paul
 
#2 ·
Sounds like a Body Control Module (BCM) on it's way out, bad solder joints on the instrument cluster circuit board, or the cluster itself. Next time you see it smack the dash and watch for a miraculous recovery. If it does, it's the solder joints. Course it still could be even if it doesn't recover.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the suggestion. Right now, it only lasts a few seconds so it may be hard to tell if the "smacking" does any good. I'll certainly give it a try. I assume the BCM is located under the dash somewhere. Any idea how I might locate it to possibly inspect some solder joints?
 
#4 ·
I think the clusters going bad were mostly a problem on the vans for 1997-1999, but I guess it's possible.

More likely, I would check for loose or corroded battery terminals or a bad ground connection.
 
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