Ten problems related to battery have been reported for the 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Had the 1696 Dodge Grand Caravan for almost 3 years , electrical problems I think. The speedometer, odometer, gear selector, water coolant gauge, fuel gauge stops working while driving and when I shut car off the gear selector and odometer stays illuminated even with the car off and lights off , or on. . Also the tachometer freezes up on a certain rpm . Depending what the rpm was when everything stoped working right. . Windshield wipers turn on automatically but 99. 9% of the time they wont shut off even if I select it to shut off , they keep going and going even on dry days and no rain . Took it to mechanic and they cant find what is wrong with it and they charge me 60 to 90 dollars just to test it and they never come up with a solution unless they disconnect the battery and let it sit for a few minutes so the computer or something resets, but this happens about every 3 to 6 months and also before this happens the car runs rough at idle or sitting at a red light or at a stop . The driver seat buckle sometimes dont unlatch, I have to use extra force to unlatch them, sometimes I dont even wear a seat belt cause I am scared that if something happens and I need to get out of the car quickly that I wont be able to. The middle bench seat seems loose , everythime I come to a stop or I take off a clucking sound comes from the middle row seats, I checked it and it seemed like its all locked in but I dont trust it. . I would never purchase a Chrysler product ever again even if it is given to me for free or even give it to my worst enemy. . Thank you . . Jz.
Battery exploded at first start, original part.
The consumer believes that the failure of turn signals, the coming on of wipers by themselves and shorting out the battery and the vehicle stalling were a fault of the electrical system which the dealer was unable to locate the problem.
The battery exploded unexpectedly which caused acid to spray onto the engine and burned a hole. This could have a caused a fire. Common problem.
While turnning the key to start vehicle the battery exploded under the hood. Dealer has been contacted.
When the ignition was turned on the battery exploded. The dealer has replaced the battery.
The original equipment battery exploded when I turned on the ignition.
While starting the vehicle the battery exploded, causing fumes and acid all over the vehicle. Dealer said it was a defective battery. Cause unknown. Dealer replaced battery.
Fan relay continued to activate the fan after the ignition was turned off causing the need to replace 3 batteries stranding the family each time. Dealer assurred me that this diagnosis was hard to pin down due to the intermittent nature of the power drain. Numerous other electrical problems have occurred with this vehicle, including wiper motors and switches, automatic door lock soleniods and vent window motors.
Battery blew up, resulting in an accident. Also fuel tank leak.