Buzzing fuse box on 96

[EDCaravan96]

I have a 96 caravan and it has some wierd electrical problem. Below are the symptoms.

-It is intermittant

-If the problem appears while the car is running gauges and all electric functions blip (on and off or up and down for gauges.

-If the car is off and the problem appears when i open any door i get a buzzing noise coming from the fuse box under the left side dash (by the hood pop lever). turning the key from position to position will some times get the dash and clock to light up, but when the key is in the full run position all electric function fails and the buzz from the door being open goes away.

-As i said this problem is intermitant, right now the car wont start and all i can get is the buzz noise. I cant get it any where to read the codes from the electrical system.


I think maybe a relay (because of the buzzing noise).. or maybe a loose connection (i did check the battery connection it was good) i googled around but didnt find anything. Cany anyone lend any insight before i go pay to get a tow and the codes read (b/c i am a poor college student .. that would be a large percentage of my budget)

Thank you very much for your help.

[gas28man]

Your symptoms are identical to the problems I had with my 96 T&C last month. The problem wound up being a bad positive battery cable. The cable looked OK, just a little green where you could see the bare wires at the terminal, but when you cut it open, it was rotted right through. If you can believe this, my wife fixed it herself in the parking lot at Wal-Mart by cutting the cable down to where it was good, stripping the wire, and putting on a new terminal. New battery terminal: $1.97; Rick's time invested: 0; Wife who can fix her own van: priceless.

Rick

[67Cuda]

Your symptoms are identical to the problems I had with my 96 T&C last month. The problem wound up being a bad positive battery cable. The cable looked OK, just a little green where you could see the bare wires at the terminal, but when you cut it open, it was rotted right through. If you can believe this, my wife fixed it herself in the parking lot at Wal-Mart by cutting the cable down to where it was good, stripping the wire, and putting on a new terminal. New battery terminal: $1.97; Rick's time invested: 0; Wife who can fix her own van: priceless.

Rick

Holy mackerel. I think I have the same problem that just started tonight. Wife called needing help because the van wouldn't start. Open the door and you could hear the clicking as described above. Try jumping the van and it would act as if you were flipping a switch back and forth while trying to start it. Took the cables off and tried it directly to the cables samething. Can't wait to see if that's it.

[EDCaravan96]

GREAT!!! that was the problem. I popped the hood and i could actually hear the arcing inside the battery cable! As soon as i fixed it, the van start and runs without a problem.

Thank you so much for your reply, it saved me a ton of money and headache im sure.

[67Cuda]

Holy mackerel. I think I have the same problem that just started tonight. Wife called needing help because the van wouldn't start. Open the door and you could hear the clicking as described above. Try jumping the van and it would act as if you were flipping a switch back and forth while trying to start it. Took the cables off and tried it directly to the cables samething. Can't wait to see if that's it.

I replaced the battery at no cost to me and as I suspected that was the problem. Avoided another bullet on a repair. :)