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Electrical Gremlins
2008 Dodge Grand Caravan (Page 1 of 2)
This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Dodge dealer.
8.4
pretty bad- Typical Repair Cost:
- $750
- Average Mileage:
- 85,350 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 33 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
- not sure (20 reports)
- replace TPIM (3 reports)
- replaced two wires (3 reports)
- had to have electrical system replaced (2 reports)
- replace tipm (2 reports)
- replace win module (2 reports)
electrical problem
Helpful websites
- No one has added a helpful site for this 2008 Grand Caravan problem yet. Be the first!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
READ THIS IF YOU HAVE AN INTERMITTENT TIPM PROBLEM!!!! IT MAY FIX YOUR PROBLEM
Hello to all. I have a grand caravan that has had an intermittent electrical issue for years, and it has never been fixed until now, though its been looked at by multiple mechanics. I fixed it myself in less than 1 hour for $500. I post this here now, as a way to thank all of those whose posts I've read, and who helped me to wind my way through to an eventual solution to our car woes.
So, we bought the car used and after about a year we noticed very infrequent dead ignition conditions. You would go start the car, and it was just completely dead. Each time, disconnecting the battery and "rebooting" the electronics solved the problem. It got more and more frequent to the point that I installed an actual battery switch to make it easier (no wrenches to disconnect the cable anymore). We had it looked at by my normal mechanic who said it was probably the TIPM, WIN or ECM module or some wiring in between. That's not very helpful. The dealer said it was the TIPM, but would not agree that if the TIPM replacement failed to fix it, it would be no cost to me, so I said no thanks.
As time went on, it went from being a monthly issue, to weekly, to sometimes multiple times in the same day. During this time, we had the Dodge recall done where they replaced the WIN and the keys (eliminating that as the problem), and had the wiring harness replaced in the drivers door (which was brought about by my noticing the dash would go haywire when the door was opened and shut - broken wires in a connector). None of these solved the original problem.
I knew about the TIPM and WIN defects that these cars are known for from research on the internet, but my symptoms never quite matched the common presentations of these problems - so I just kept thinking and looking. I even bought a high end scan tool to help figure it out. Now, I am an engineer, not electrical or automotive, but with the same type of training and a background in electronics and machines, so I bought a shop manual and started studying the schematics. Every intuition I had was this was a wiring problem. This was now a point of personal pride to solve this.
So this winter, the problem was getting worse. The horn died, the turn signals stopped working properly, and the remote start stopped working. Our mechanic couldn't figure it out, and he thought it would be a dealer only fix due to the electronics modules, so we took it to the dealer again and they said WIN module would be the first step, and if that didn't fix it, then the TIPM would be the next likely suspect. If that didn't work, then the ECM would be next. They wouldn't agree any of this would be the fix, so I told them to shove it. I can guess too!
Armed with my shop manual, scan tool, internet research and my giant brain, I decided to take the plunge and replace the TIPM myself. I removed the old unit, and inspected every connector and wire diligently, and put the new unit in, including the 12 second handshake routine. Success, sort of. It solved about half of the gremlins, so I went back to the internet and found a reference to a similar horn and light problem on a Pacifica of the same age. This led me to think it was the wiring again, but now the prime suspect was a ground. I went through the car chassis, checking every ground I could find (made possible by the very thorough shop manual).
Unbelievably to me, the problem is UNDER the TIPM. There is a chassis ground under there (identified by dodge as chassis ground G100), buried under all of the connectors and looms, that was the source of the problem. It is literally the personification of designed obsolescence, being that it's a poorly designed connector with one large ground conductor mechanically crimped to 6 very small gauge grounds. It had just corroded so far that the small leads had all rotted away. and of course, guess where they lead - the TIPM. I soldered new leads into the corroded ground wires, soldered on a new copper ground eye and bolted it all back down (after sealing everything up with silicone and heat shrink).
- Sean M., Toronto, ON, Canada