2000 G. Caravan, 3.3L. The speedometer (and odometer) quit working. Acted erratic for a few minutes (was on cruise) and then it went dead. I checked for error codes in instrument cluster and there were none... and then the reset. I replaced both speed sensors and it did not fix. Van runs and shifts fine... but no speed display! Any other ideas before we look at replacing the instrument cluster? Thanks.
RickMN
09-07-2008, 07:59 PM
Do a search on instrument cluster problems. This is a HUGE problem with these vans. Usually turns out to be a bad circuit board in the cluster or a bad ground. There are tons of posts on this subject tho.
proturf
09-07-2008, 10:02 PM
Ok, thanks. Did the search and found all the info about touching up the soldering on the pins on the back of the cluster. Also found info to suggest cleaning up battery cable corrosion (and leaving disconnected for 30 minutes so that the reconnect can "flash"/reboot the BCM)...as to the possibility of causing alternator/charging problems which can cause other "ghost" electrical problems.
If I have to go in to the cluster..... I will check the 2 main pins for trouble as shown by several photos in the thread (being the 2 outer pins in the row of 7)... and I will also check the capacitors (if any on my model). I hope I got this all correct. The thread I read was.... dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103614&highlight=instrument+cluster+problem./
Let me know if I missed any critical info. Thanks again.
vipergg
09-09-2008, 07:02 PM
First thing would be to reset the bcm by pulling the IOD fuse under the hood in the fuse center. I have seen many times this fixing a dead speedo or tach and many othe electrical anomalies. Then work on other things if that fails.
proturf
09-15-2008, 08:12 AM
Ok, here is what I have done so far....
cleaned and reconnected battery posts and connectors
replaced both speed sensors
replaced plug end for input speed sensor wiring
pulled IOD fuse to reset BCM
pulled instrument cluster circuit board and resoldered many joints:
the main pin joints looked ok (reflowed them anyway) but there were several other solder joints which were broken on other parts of the circuit board. I resoldered all of those.
After putting it all together.... speed/odometer still does not work!
How do I check the ground for this? Is my next step to try replacing the BCM or the instrument cluster circuit board?
stratusfish
09-15-2008, 01:21 PM
my stratus had the instrument cluster go out when i was above idle...
turned out to be a bad alternator...
djdb27
09-15-2008, 03:40 PM
we were having the dead instrument cluster problem as well,pulled the cluster and all solder joints were good.checked to see what other circuits were on the bcm that controls the cluster and came up with the hvac control module (the panel that controls the heating ,cooling, and defrost ) removed the module from the dash and removed the connector that runs from the bcm to the back of the control module and found that the connector had over heated and melted the plastic so a few of the pins were not making any connections.cleaned out the melted plastic and reinserted the pin and have not had any problems since.if your heating and cooling buttons to not work this is probably your problem.
Smarties28
09-16-2008, 06:36 PM
I have a 1997 Dodge Caravan w/219k. On Friday I needed to get a jump start as the batter was low all of sudden. On Monday night I parked and started it up (it does not start up right away) my speedometer and odometer were not working. My odometer went into miles instead of kilos 136m.. Does anyone have any ideals what could be wrong?
