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Jim Grant's Tech Tips
92
Dodge Caravan, Dash Display Failure
Q: I have a '92 Dodge Caravan. At certain times,
while I'm operating the vehicle, the Engine Check Gauge light comes on.
When this light comes on nothing inside the vehicle works, no interior
lighting, speedometer, odometer and none of the power locks operate. After
a while the light will go off and everything works fine. What can I do
to solve this problem? ..William
A: You
are describing Body Controller problems. What's a Body Controller? It's
a computer that is responsible for controlling the operation of the components
you described as well as several others you may not have noticed. ALLDATA
Information Systems shows Technical Service Bulletin #08-14-92 that addresses
the following symptoms or conditions: Instrument cluster gauges will not
operate. In addition, the chime, intermittent wipers, power door locks,
illuminated entry, instrument panel illumination, and warning lamps may
not function correctly.
These symptoms
may be caused by three different conditions: (1) mechanical cluster warning
lamp lock up (2) body controller lock up caused by the relays or (3) body
controller lock up due to electrostatic discharge.
The TSB also
notes that there are updated relays for the body controller. Updated,
meaning the other relays were suspect, didn't work right. Your technician
needs to know that the part number on the suspect relays is PN 4728987.
These relays should be replaced with PN 4671001. The replacement relays
have been the fix more than once in our shop. As for solving the problem
yourself, that could be difficult. Proper diagnosis requires specialized
equipment, diagnostic information and a skilled technician.
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