I have a 2000 Dodge Caravan, and one day when I was out driving, my instrument gauges stopped working, and the buttons that control the heating and a/c blower as well as the rear wiper and the rear defroster blower stopped working as well. When I called the dealer, I was informed that it was electrical and it would be at least $700 to replace. Could it possibly be a fuse instead? I checked all the fuses in the box under the steering wheel and they were good. Could it be one of the fuses in the control box under the hood, and which one should I check? I could use all suggestions before I go out and spend $700. By the way, the car still runs perfect and I can get heat and air and still defrost the windshield when I turn on the switches. Its just that the buttons don't work to blow them out. Tnanks :)
vipergg
12-26-2005, 12:04 PM
Don't let them tell you that before they even look at it , they are just setting you up to have to pay a big bill no matter what. A lot of times for things like this all that needs to be done is go under the hood in the power dist. center and find the fuse labeled "IOD" (usually near the top of the fusebox) and pull it for 60 seconds then reinsert , this cuts power to the BCM which controls all this stuff . The computers get confused sometimes and need to be reset , that being said you should also check the battery and the connections for any corrosion , this will be caused by either a weak battery or dirty battery connections. Let us know how you make out.
anissart2
12-26-2005, 01:29 PM
I tried pulling the IOD fuse, and I put it back in, and the situation hadn't changed, but I noticed when the sides of the fuse touched the slot, I would hear a clicking noise and my headlights would flash.
vipergg
12-26-2005, 07:46 PM
You can try running cluster diagnostics , ignition switch off , deprees trip and reset buttons , while holding these down turn ignition switch on , hold until word "code" appears in odometer window (5 seconds) . If a problem exists it will display trouble codes , if no trouble then code 999 will appear for end of test. If you get any codes you can post them and i'll see if I can find it in the manual .
After this you can try pulling one side of the battery off for a few minutes .
anissart2
12-27-2005, 08:25 AM
The gauges are working now. I guess it took some time for the memory to fix itself. I would say about an hour after I took out the fuse, I had pretty much given up on everything and said, "forget it". So I got in the car and started driving, the gauges came on and the blower for the heat and a/c started working. I just want to say thank you very much for the advice, you're a godsend vipergg!
