Help!!!
My wifes 98 Grand Caravan had a dead battery today. I guess 4 years is not too bad for an OEM battery. After I replaced it , it started up fine but the little lights on the A/c, air flow, rear wiper and intermitent rear wiper are all blinking. Does anyone know how to shut these stupid things off?? I really don't want to take it to the dealer if possible.
McClane
10-11-2002, 04:25 PM
Only thing I can think of is disconnect the battery, then reconnect it again.
Make sure that before you reconnect the battery again, turn all accessories off.
ga.ram
10-11-2002, 08:31 PM
I tried that.. All accessories off disconected "new" battery then reconnected, still have the blinking lights. I really hate to think I'm gonna have to take it to the dealer pay $50-100 to have them push or flip a switch.
McClane
10-15-2002, 11:42 AM
What about any fuses ? Have you checked the fuses ?
ga.ram
10-15-2002, 07:10 PM
Yeah, Checked the fuses etc. A friend of mine said his wifes did the same thing, only way to get them off is by dealer. Something about the OBDII scanner reader thingy.
Thanks anyway.
DGERAM
10-15-2002, 08:28 PM
Did you try turning the key in the ignition to "start" for 15 seconds while the battery is disconnected? That is how you reset the computer in the Rams.
carguy2
10-15-2002, 08:32 PM
dgeram is sort of correct. When you disconnected the battery, you "killed" your computer. It has to relearn itself, then the lights should go off.
DGERAM
10-15-2002, 08:57 PM
Just curious - if just disconnecting the battery "kills" the computer, then wouldn't the lights not come back on until it detect a problem, not the other way around? In the Rams (and Dakotas, Durangos, etc.) to reset the PCM and make it forget everything it learned from the sensors, you have to disconnect the battery and turn the key in the ignition for 10-15 seconds. Just disconnecting the battery will not clear any warning lights like the check engine or whatever.
McClane
10-16-2002, 03:15 PM
I don't know if that "disconnect the battery, then turn ignition on for 15 second" trick works for the Caravans.
When I shorted a fuse in my mom's Caravan, I did the the same thing and I didn't notice any difference.
DGERAM
10-16-2002, 03:24 PM
Oh - OK, I though it would be worth a try since it works for other vehicles of the same make. In that case, I would say that you should take it to the dealer. :(
ga.ram
10-16-2002, 04:41 PM
Thanks guys I was afraid of that.
Thanks anyway
ga.ram
10-28-2002, 05:06 PM
Finally got it to the dealer, $30.00 to reset the A/C memory when battery went dead.
Thanks to all who tried to help...
Chris
blackram40
10-28-2002, 06:15 PM
you shoulda e-mailed me, i coulda told ya how to reset (actually go through control head function test)....
keep it in mind next time....
Ruprect
10-28-2002, 07:17 PM
blackram40
tell us how
tell us please...........
pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee e
McClane
11-05-2002, 03:51 PM
Originally posted by DGERAM
Oh - OK, I though it would be worth a try since it works for other vehicles of the same make. In that case, I would say that you should take it to the dealer. :(
That was the first thing I thought of when I blew the fuse in my mom's Caravan. I thought to myself "if it works for Daks/Rams, it should work for Caravans". I guess Chrysler must design Caravans differently.
yamamike
03-10-2005, 11:21 PM
Hi ,just wondering if you could share with me, how to fix the blinking light problem he's talking about ?
I to am experiencing it and would like to not take it in !!
thanks, Mike
gas28man
03-11-2005, 10:26 AM
Start the engine, setting temp control to cold, with fan on high, and pushing the rear wash and rear wiper buttons at the same time until a bunch of the lights on the head unit start to flash.
It'll run the calibration/diagnostic test (2 lights flashing) then the cooldown test (2 other lights flashing). If all passes the rear wiper switch will flash alone. Push it to exit tests, and you're done.
Rick
progress
05-17-2005, 02:54 PM
...and I found the answer to what I was looking for all ready!!! Now that was cool! Thanks for posting that control head function test gas28man. We just got my 97 Grand Caravan Sport back up and running after 6 months of it sitting around. Changed the battery and all of a sudden these lights start flashing and wouldn't stop! Glad I found this site! Now I've got all my Honda CRX sites and this site to look through while I'm at work! Thanks!
yamamike
05-17-2005, 10:06 PM
That worked great, Thanks, very much !!!!!!
progress
05-18-2005, 08:11 AM
Ok, so I tried out this little diagnostic test thing and after doing it several times, I get the A/C and recirc lights simultaneously blinking three times followed by one blink of the rear wiper LED. Is it safe to assume I have a problem with my A/C and/or recirc? I'm gonna go try it again...
Ok, tried it again but waited longer before I shut the van off. How long are you supposed to wait, or better yet, how long should this test take? I read somewhere that the recirc needs to be on prior to doing this test but if the damn lights are blinking, how do I know if it's on or off? I also read there may be a second test that needs to be done as well. Is this true? What needs to be done to get these two remaining blinking lights to stop? Or do I need to make the dreaded trip to the dealer to have them fix something? Thanks again!
gas28man
05-18-2005, 01:15 PM
The test takes about 2 minutes to run through its full cycle. If you put your hand near the vents, you'll notice it switches from high to low, floor to dash, cool to hot, etc., etc. It basically runs through everything once.
As I understand it, if everything is OK, once the test has completed the wiper LED will flash continuously until you push it to exit the test. At that point you can shut the vehicle off anytime you want. From what you describe, it sounds like it's trying to tell you something is wrong. I can't say what because mine's always come up OK.
Maybe someone else on the board can help here?
Rick
SmithAaron
05-25-2005, 03:58 PM
Hi just wanted to say thanks to you and the forum here. I did what you said and it went through the tests. All I had to do was turn off the blinking rear wiper light and it's fixed. Thanks. I've been driving it blinking for about a year now. I'm glad I stumbled onto this site.... Thanks again.
HL2005
08-11-2005, 01:45 AM
Thanks again, Rick. The annoying blinking lights have haunted me for months. It's fixed after reading your solution.
HL
HL2005
08-11-2005, 01:52 AM
Hello progress,
The 1st time I tried the method from gas28man, the AC, recirc, and rear wiper lights blinked like you have described. I turned off and restarted the engine and tried again, and the test went well after 1 - 2 min. Thanks.
