Any Dodge mechanics out there? (a little long)
I've had a couple odd issues lately with my '96 Dodge Grand Caravan LE (3.8L, fwd, 121K miles). The first was a slight electrical hiccup that left me without much of the instrument panel for a week. No speedo, and the digital gear indicator and digital odometer only showed the left half of their displays--even when the ignition was off. At the end of the week, I went to drive the van, and it started much slower than normal (new battery needed, thinks I), but the instrument panel somehow "reset" itself and has worked fine since, this was about a month ago, and the battery (3+ yr-old DieHard) has been fine since--back to the characteristic high-speed Dodge start, even in single digit temps.
The second issue was yesterday as I was about to leave for a meeting. I started the van and immediately noticed it was idling very rough and the rpms were fluctuating by about 50-100 rpms. I scraped the windows (was about 15 deg F), thinking maybe it was just cold or something and proceeded to drive away. Well, it died right after I crossed the RR tracks just 2 blocks away (made it over fine, though). It was able to be restarted, but I had to drive home with 2 feet to keep it running, and by this time it had warmed up some and the idle had dropped to about 550-600 rpms, normal is about 800 warm, I think. I finally got around to looking at it today, and it did not repeat the behavior in the least--drove it just fine. I then perform the engine code check through the ignition key, and no codes came up (other than the batt disconnect and end codes, 12 and 55, respectively). I am aware that there could be codes stored that are not displayed by this method, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this. Should I be concerned, should I get the free code-read from AutoZone, or should I just chalk it up to cold weather and not worry about it?
Not just a Chrysler disease
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Roehl
Hey, good call...I forgot about the random wiper passes. On the intermittent setting it will sometimes make 2-3 consecutive passes instead of just the single, rhythmic one. Occasionally, the wipers won't "return to home" when I shut them off, either. I guess I can't complain. My folks had it for 75k with no problems, and we've had it to the current 121k with no problems other than an oil filter that was put on too tight by my folks' last oil change dude and a break in a wire to the fan relay that caused the engine light to come on.
Random wiper swipes when in the intermittant mode are not just a Chrysler disease apparently. My 96 Explorer does the same thing. Sometimes it will do two or even three swipes before going back to the one at a time that it is supposed to do.
Jason, with regard to the other problems, I had a problem in a Toyota that a fuse had developed a crack due to high current loads. Whenever a heavy current draw occured, like when the heater fane was placed on high, the circuit would open and the car would die. As soon as it quit, you could restart it again, but as soon as you tried to go it would die again. I thought I had fuel line freeze up until THe fan died.
Just a couple of weeks ago my frined had problems with his truck. His headligts would dime and half his dash lights would go out in his Chevy truck. Turned out to be a bad ground strap.
I would suggest that you battery and engoine ground cables, it sounds like they are loose or badly corroded.
