Horn Assembly problems of the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan - part 2

On multiple occasions beginning on December 12, 2014 my 08 Dodge Grand Caravan sxt would have random electrical malfunctions including synced, intermittent activation of horns, front wipers, rear wipers, front washer fluid spray, rear washer fluid spray, and door locks. These issues would generally come together in "episodes" that could last from about a minute to about 10 minutes. These episodes could occur in rapid succession, separated by only a few seconds, or they might have 5-10 minutes or sometimes days between happenings. This would cause sudden loss of visibility while driving, as the sprayers would cover the windshield with drops but the wipers would not complete a pass to remove the fluid. It was particularly dangerous at night, since the drops would refract light and make visibility almost zero. This also resulted in being locked out of the vehicle on multiple occasions, the remote "clicker" could not be used to unlock or open doors or lift-gate. The only way to enter the vehicle was to use the physical key and force the lock to turn against the pressure of the powered door lock motor repeatedly re-locking the doors other intermittent problems. Why doesn't Dodge recall and fix this problem?.

On December 11, 2014 I walked to the parking lot to find my van acting totally crazy (the “poltergeist”). The horn was honking, windshield wipers were going full speed, windshield washer fluid was spraying everywhere and the internal and external lights were flashing. I attempted to use my key fab to unlock the doors but it did not work. I manually entered the van in hopes that starting the van would stop the poltergeist. The van would not start. After about 20 minutes, all that remained was a soft horn constantly honking and the lights sporadically flashing. I hit the unlock button on the key fab – the horn honked loudly. I hit the lock button on the key fab – the washer fluid sprayed. I called a tow truck and they jump started the van. I drove it home with no additional problems. I had the battery replaced the next day assuming that they may be the issue. This occurred again as I was driving home, at night, I parked the van, turned “off” the van and pulled the key fab out of the ignition. The van remained running. Two days later, as I was driving, the abs light, emergency brake light, traction light and one other indicator light appeared on my dashboard (the “light indicators”). Then, my abs brakes slightly engaged without my foot on the brake pedal. These problems have continued to sporadically appear. No dealership can fix.

While driving on the highway the van stalled the horn started blaring, the windshield wipers started working and squirting water. I managed to get the vehicle off the road, but the doors begin to lock and unlock and the key was useless. You could not shut the horn off or unlock the door with the key. The only eay thus stopped was by didisconnecting the battery. This was the first instance. The second occasion was when we're sitting in the house and the horn just started blaring. Each time this lasts for more than 5 minutes, you can't stop it because it locks the doors, the key doesn't work, and you can't get to the battery. It's disturbing, dangerous, and embarrassing. Not to mention we are retired and this is our only vehicle and we didn't expect to have such an unsafe vehicle with a minivan. These instances have occurred on and off for the last month. We shouldn't have to disconnect our car battery to escape the faulty malfunctions. As owners we shouldn't be afraid to go into church because of the car horn and I shouldnt have to disconnect the battery just to enjoy the service.

My lights, wipers, horn and dash lights come on by themselves and stay on for several minutes. I turn off the key and the engine keeps running. I had to pull a relay out of the totally integrated power module to shut everything off. I tried getting a fault code but nothing comes up. I have read several articles about this and every one is the same. Apparently the problem resides in the totally integrated power module and Chrysler will not do anything about it. This is a big safety issue trying to drive at night. I have to pull over, stop the van and reset everything as I described before.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge caravan. The contact stated that while parked in a driveway, the horn, door locks, windshield wipers and fluid started operating independently. The contact mentioned that the battery had to be disconnected in order to stop the failure. The problem recurred several times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the tipm module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 95,900.

The vehicle, while driving, began to honk the horn, windshield wipers turned on, wiper fluid began spraying, lights flashed. This continued for approximately five straight minutes. Turning the car off did not stop the actions, neither did restarting the car. Eventually the malfunction stopped on it's own. I brought the vehicle for diagnostic testing through Dodge service and was told total integrated power module needed replacing but could not be ordered. They stated car was safe to drive. This continued to happen sporadically. At one point, the vehicle malfunctioned and in additional to previously listed problems, the vehicle lost all power steering and power brakes when it occurred while driving on the highway. When we were finally able to order the part, two months later, it was replaced. After three weeks with the new tipm, the vehicle once again, started to malfunction by horns honking, wipers turning off, fluid spraying, lights flashing and so on. I am told by Dodge that I will need to pay for another $100 diagnostic test to see what the problem is. They continue to state that the car is safe to drive despite intermittent and unexpected loss of power steering and brakes.

Van shuts off while driving loses all power, wipers come on horns starts going off. Now today van is in driveway parked ,I'm in the house and the alarm and wipers go off. Call dealer they have no clue. People could get killed do they want a general motors issue on their hands as from reading on line this seems to be a major issue with this make and model.

This is the third time this has happened and it is unbelievable that there has not been a recall on all of these systems. I own a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan and originally reported an issue over a year ago with the car losing control of all functions I. E. Windshield wiper running and spraying, horn blaring, locks locking and unlocking, lights flashing etc. It has since happened again twice in the past month. Does it take someone having to die to have this recall happen. It has been documented time and time again on thousands of vehicles.

Vehicle started honking horn, windshield wipers and sprayer on front and back we're going and doors would not unlock. It would not stop I had to drive down the road with this happening. At the same time the blower for the vent stopped working. Once home I had to disconnect the battery for it to stop.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. While driving approximately 55 mph, the instrument cluster burned out, the horn activated, and the windshield wipers activated without warning. The failure recurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed that the win module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred several times. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 99,000.

While my vehicle was parked at a campground, I click my key fob to unlock the door and the rear windshield wiper started going off. Tried to start the vehicle and it would not start, no lights nothing completely dead. The wiper eventually stopped. A few hours later, still parked with no keys in it, the windshield wiper fluid and wipers started after I clicked the unlock button on the key fob again. The fluid kept shooting until it ran out of fluid. Then a few hours later with again no keys in it or key fob use the horn began blaring. Then the lights and wipers went off as well. Finally I was able to get the battery disconnected and it stopped. I reconnected the battery two hours later only to roll up my windows and the horn immediately started going off. I had it towed to the dealership down the street and I am now waiting on the results. I'm glad my family was not with and/ or I was driving.

On multiple occasions beginning in June '14 my 08 Dodge Grand Caravan sxt would have random electrical malfunctions including synced, intermittent activation of horns, front wipers, rear wipers, front washer fluid spray, rear washer fluid spray, and door locks. These issues would generally come together in "episodes" that could last from about a minute to about 10 minutes. These episodes could occur in rapid succession, separated by only a few seconds, or they might have 5-10 minutes or sometimes days between happenings. This would cause sudden loss of visibility while driving, as the sprayers would cover the windshield with drops but the wipers would not complete a pass to remove the fluid. It was particularly dangerous at night, since the drops would refract light and make visibility almost zero. This also resulted in being locked out of the vehicle on multiple occasions, once with children trapped inside!! while the problems were happening, the remote "clicker" could not be used to unlock or open doors or lift-gate. The only way to enter the vehicle was to use the physical key and force the lock to turn against the pressure of the powered door lock motor repeatedly re-locking the doors other intermittent problems: transmission would not advance beyond 2nd gear, the check engine light would come on, the dashboard lights would flash and flicker, the back-up camera would flicker (the image is displayed on the radio's screen when the vehicle is in reverse), the dashboard displays would all be turned off or to zero (including tachometer even though the engine was running), and the engine would not shut off with the key switched to "off" and completely removed. Now, the wipers have stopped working completely, which is a perpetual safety issue, until the problems can be solved. Koons Dodge of tysons corner said the problem was the tpim (totally integrated power module).

Since I can't remember the dates of the other incidents I will start with yesterday June 25, 2014. I drove all morning running here and there and everything was fine. I stopped at the post office to mail a package and could not restart the vehicle. The van engine did not even turn over. The dash is blank except for the mileage. I called aaa for a tow and they found that the van was stuck in park and would not budge out of park. So it is still at the post office until we can figure out how to get it out of park. Other issues. A few months ago, in the winter of 2013, the van was in my garage and it would not start. I thought it was the battery and so I turned off the radio and heat and tried it again and it started. This happened every morning with me taking my child to school for about a week. It never did it for my husband. I think I told the dealer about it on my next oil change visit, but they said they can only check it when it is happening. Another time last summer (2013), the horn, and wipers and wiper fluid just started going off by themselves as I tried to start the van. I took the key out and pressed the door open and lock buttons to see if it would stop and it did. I tried to start the van again and it did it again. Repeated the same open and lock procedure and it stopped. I waited a few minutes to start the van and it did not do it again. The following day as I was driving on a busy road, highway 278, it did it again. I had to pull over and I turned off the van did the open and lock button on the key and it stopped. Of course it never repeated for my husband or ever again.

I was picking up my daughter and opened the door and the horn started blowing, the wipers were going, and the window washer fluid was spraying out. It finally stopped and was fine but has happened multiple times since one time even when I was driving down the rd and now I've had to disconnect the battery but now I can't connect it again because it won't stop going crazy like that.

I opened the driver side manual sliding door and then the horn started to blow constantly, the front and rear windshield wipers turned on, the hazard lights flashed, the reverse lights were on, the instrument panel had many warning lights on including a red dot on the bottom. I tried to hit my car alarm button to see if it would make it stop and it didn't. I closed the door as my son ran into the house and then all the doors locked. I had to use the valet key to open the door. I then pulled the hood release and opened the hood. The radiator fan was also on. I disconnected the battery so the horn would stop blowing. I waited about 20 minutes and went back outside and reconnected the battery and it did the same thing again. This time I tried starting the car and it started however it would not allow me to put it into gear. I tried to turn the engine off but it would not let me. I got out and then I removed the fuses to the horn so the noise would not disturb me or the neighbors. A few minutes later I got back into the car and it let me put it in reverse so I pulled the van out of our garage and into the driveway but the power steering did not work. I tried again to turn the engine off but it would not stop. I even moved the key to the off position and removed the key from the ignition and the engine continued to run. I disconnected the battery again but the engine continued to run as did the wipers and hazard lights. After about 10 minutes the engine finally shut off. This same type of incident happened before to us in 2012. . Read more...

Twice during 2013, I had an issue with my 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. With no warning and no apparent triggering mechanism, the van’s horn would begin a constant blaring and the front and rear windshield wipers would go back and forth. When this happened, the transmission would not downshift. The incidents lasted only a couple of minutes each time. Both times, I took the van to the local Chrysler service center and was told that they could not address the problem because they could not replicate the issue. On January 27, 2014, after remotely opening the sliding door but before starting the car (I was still in the house), the minivan’s horn began a constant blaring, and the front and back windshield wipers came on. After a few minutes when it became apparent it would not stop on its own this time, I disconnected the battery terminals, but nothing changed. After 30 minutes, I drove the van to the local Chrysler service center. During the 15 minute drive, the car would not downshift at all. When I arrived at the service center, the mechanic disconnected the fuse (or possibly the tipm) to stop the car’s horn and wipers. After a mechanic inspected the minivan, the service manager informed me that the tipm was bad and would have to be replaced. I paid the entire cost of $818. 00 ($610. 00 for the tipm and $208. 00 for labor).

The first time it happened was about November 2 and then again on November 23. One the first occurrence I went to open my door and the horn and wipers and wiper fluid started going off. I jump in my ride with the keys in my hand and the van locked me in I was unable to get out and fluid was going all over my garage. Finally the van let me out and we had to pull the battery to get it to stop. It had to sit all day before it would not do those things. Then yesterday I went to walmart and heard an announcement that a vehicle was going crazy in the parking lot. Of course it was mine, I once again had to pull the battery to get it to stop. After a few hours we just pulled all the fuses so that we could get it home. Also for many years now the traction control and brake lights come on in the winter and it starts very funny in the winter. I have read online that this is happening to many many people and it is happening as it is going down the road. I am at this point afraid to drive my van so I am not sure what to do I owe money on this thing. I have taken it to the dealer many times and there are no codes coming up so they said it would probably be like $1000 just for them to figure out what is wrong. There is pages upon pages of people complaining about this, why has Dodge not done a recall are they waiting for someone to get hurt?.

I was driving down the highway and my vehicle headlights turned off as well as the engine. The windshield wipers turned on high even though they were in the off position. The car horn was engaged and I had no control over the function of the systems. I was able to start the car but the light would not come on etc. Even with the key removed and the exiting the wipers, horn, hazard lights still were engaged. The car started to spray windshield wiper fluid as well. The locks would unlock and lock as well. Eventually approximately 10 minutes it stopped. I was able to stared the car and moved it to a safe location. I took video of the incident. I am highly concerned as this seems to be a recurring problem based on my research and there definitely could have be a fatality last night!.

Our van was parked outside our house (after being driven 6 miles & sitting for 10 minutes) & I started hearing the horn trying to make a honking sound, went outside & noticed the lights flickering, the wipers going at top speed w/washer fluid spraying, & the horn was trying to honk. I tried pushing the unlock button on my key fob & nothing happened. I was able to unlock the door with the key but entering & opening all the doors did nothing. I tried starting the van & it wouldn't stay on. The horn eventually went on at full force & a solid sound. We had to disconnect the battery for it to stop.

The horn blows, wipers start, doors lock, if the engine is running it will not shut off. You have to open the hood and hit the fuse box to make it stop. We have taken it in to be checked and they tell us their is nothing wrong. Apparently this is a problem with this van and Chrysler will not do anything about it.

The entire electrical system went haywire. Also note this was at night. Headlights and brights flashing/flickering. Horn blasting. Wipers on full speed (front and rear). Wiper washers spraying (front and rear) interior lights flashing, dash lights flashing. . . It was scary! please help us to fix.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while parked, the horn and the windshield wiper motor activated independently. As a result, the battery needed to be disconnected. In addition, the contact stated that the a/c failed to activate and the doors failed to latch. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the failure was unable to be replicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.

When my wife was driving on the highway at 70 mph, with my child. The car died. Wife rolled to side of the road and attempted to start it again. The car started and promptly died again but wipers were going at full speed along with the windshield washer fluid pumping out, and the horns and lights turning on and off, she removed the key and it continued. She had already called me and by the time I got there (approx 15 min) it had shut itself off. I tried to restart it with the same problems as mentioned before. I opened the hood and there was a lot of noise coming from the relay box ( tipm ), I unhooked the battery, and the problem "self resolved" fired up car and drove it the 15 miles home. After looking up problem on line, have found that this is a ongoing issue and that the repair part is back ordered nationally, tells me that this is an ongoing issue, Chrysler does know about but has not done anything about it. This is a major safety issue.

I was driving home last night going about 55mph. Suddenly my windshield wipers can on, the horn started blaring, & my gauges quit working. I was able to pull over to the side of the road, I turned the ignition off & took the key out but my van did not turn off. The wipers & horn blaring continued for 3-4 minutes before everything shut off. I was able to restart the van & continue my drive home without issue. This morning I called my local dealership & my van can not be looked at until next week. I've researched online & I am apparently 1 of hundreds who have had this issue with 08 Grand Caravans. Why is there not a recall?.

We went out to car to get in it, and all doors were locked and would not unlock. Horn started blaring. Windshield wipers went crazy with windshield wiper fluid spraying. Headlights were blinking on and off. Finally able to get in car, things finally calmed down after about 10 - 15 minutes. Next day, we took it to dealership. They tested it, and they said they did not find anything wrong with it. Similar episodes happened after that one which included taking the key out of the ignition, and the car was still running. We took it to a different dealership to have it checked, and they said they could not find anything wrong with it.

At random times the horn, flashers, and wipers will turn on. This has happened while driving the vehicle and has happened when the vehicle was turned off, without anyone inside the van. Disconnecting the battery has been the way to stop the problem. Dealer could not find anything wrong and guessed that it was the tipm. This has occurred on numerous occasions and does seam to be a safety issue when the vehicle is in operation. Obviously from the number of complaints that I have seen, NHTSA should investigate and Chrysler needs to do a recall.

I was sitting in a parking lot with the van idling. All of a sudden the horn started blaring, hazards started flashing, wipers (front & back) were going at full speed. This went on for roughly 3 minutes (felt like a half hour). I tried everything to stop it, but nothing worked. I took the key out of the ignition, but the engine kept running. This happened twice (same scenario) in a span of 10 minutes. This is absurd, and I have read many complaints on this issue.

The first incident occurred while care was sitting in the driveway, no key in it. Horn started going wipers and wiper fluid started going full speed, and lights started flashing, door locks engaged and could not be stopped by key fob. This continued for about 10 minutes. I had to pull the fuses and disconnect the battery to get it to stop. Took the car to dealership twice who stated there is nothing wrong with the van. The van continues to do this intermittently. Most recent incident driving down the highway 60 mph with children in the car when all the previous symptoms started to occur and gauges would drop to zero and then back up over and over again. All lights went out at this time and transmission began malfunctioning. I was barely able to pull the car off to the side of the road where it continued to do this for 15 minutes. The third time I took it in they reported it was my tipm and want over $1100 to replace it. I called doge customer service and explained the issue hoping they would fix it without cost to me or offer some solution. Their rep was very rude and told me to try what the dealership suggested. I expressed how it is a design/manufacturing flaw and got the reply, "well MA'am, there is no recall on this so there is nothing we can do". I informed him I would never buy another Dodge/Chrysler vehicle and received the reply "ok, have a good day". He then hung up on me. This is a serious safety issue and after reading many forums have realized I am not the only one experiencing this issue. . . Dodge needs to be held accountable!.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the horn, lights and windshield wipers would activate independently. Also, the contact mentioned that the power steering assist malfunctioned. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the portal integrated power module was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 75,000 and the current mileage was 80,000.

Upon entering vehicle pressing keyfob to unlock any door or hatch the horn would start to sound, the windshield wipers (front and rear) would start to go on its on including windshield wiper fluid as well, lights would start to flash as well. I would have to open up the hood and hit the fuse box located next to the battery on the drivers side firewall just to get it to stop. I have taken the vehicle to the dealership on several ocassions to no avail because they cannot duplicate the problem and now I am out a diagnostic fee of $94. 00 x2 and the cost of a rental car both times for my wife and three children because my 100% full warranty does not cover the cost of the rental because the problem could not be duplicated. After searching and reading about this problem that my wife and I are having with this cara van I think something should be done before someone is seriously hurt or killed by the caravan doing something that it was not asked to do!!!!.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that she attempted to unlock the vehicle with a new key fob however, the vehicle would not unlock. After the contact was able to enter the vehicle, the vehicle could not be started. The contact had to tap the fuse box to turn on the vehicle. The windshield wipers then engaged independently with wiper fluid gushing out. The failure recurred frequently as the horn sounded independently as well. The contact stopped and turned off vehicle but the failures persisted. The contact had to tap on the fuse box to have the windshield wipers and horn stop. The fuse box was located under the hood on the driver's side near the battery. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection or repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure however, no assistance was provided. The current and failure mileage was 93,496.

Went to turn my lights on and they turned on then off then on again and then off. And now they will not turn on. Everything else works, parking lights, dimmer etc. I had a diagnostic run and it showed the following trouble codes: b162f,b,c ; b1633, b1634, b1637. Which all points to the tipm control module. So I called the shop, they called to find the part and there is none available. There are on backorder, about 800 of them to be exact. So that means that I have no headlights until 800 other people get theres. Next thing to go is the wipers, horn and then the car to shut off as I'm driving. Obviously if 800 of these are on back order there is an issue with them.

Purchased this vehicle 6/30/2012 1st incident 8/2012 driving down highway at 65 mph at night in wooded area so it was pitch black and headlights shut off, wipers running and spraying fluid, horn started blaring, outside lights went crazy, gauges went nuts, and power steering went out. Pulled over when we were able (two lane road w/no shoulders) and after a few minutes went back to normal and ran just fine. The second time it happened was in 10/2012 basically same thing was returning from son's football game on a Friday night at midnight and headlights went out, wipers going crazy, and horn blaring, lights going off. Didn't do it again for awhile then since 3/2013 about every 2 to 3 weeks we have this same issue, van can be sitting in drive and still does it. I have had my children in the car on numerous occasions when this has happened and it scares us all to death. We have almost been hit from behind on more than one of these occasions when power steering went out while making a turn, (it slowed the vehicle down to manually turn it) which I could barely do, and almost received a ticket for faulty equipment due to the brake and reverse lights going off on their own (cop gave me a warning this time) after looking up the issue and talking to a mechanic it is a faulty tipm (totally integrated power module), which by the way has been on "backorder" for more than 18 months cause I've been calling on it since 10/2012. I have researched and apparently this is an ongoing issue with this vehicle, there are over 200 of the 420 complaints on this site about this very issue and thousands more online, yet there has not even been an investigation? I guess the NHTSA is not as concerned about safety as they claim to be! there needs to be a recall done for this model and the years affected for the faulty part that's going to end up with someone seriously injured or dead!.

One day after initial incident. . . . . Start car in parking lot, start backing up. The car stops, everyone is jerked forward, and the horn starts blaring/wipers go crazy, fluid spewing everywhere. At first we thought I had hit someone. . . But nope. Put the car into drive- no power steering- and pulled back into parking space. Tried to turn car off. It continued to run with key out of ignition. After 15 minutes of it going crazy some people came over and helped us disconnect the battery. After about a minute it finally died. I met a couple in the parking lot that asked if it was a 2008. It was, and they told me about their horror story with their van. And how they had a lawyer that filed lemon law on it. I was thrilled. After about 10 minutes we connected the battery and the van continued to go crazy. Finally we decided to just drive home. It was 9:30 at night. Drove home with horn blaring, wipers going crazy, no transmission shifting and fluid spewing. Just waiting for the power steering to go out and have very little control of vehicle. Got home and van continued going crazy until hubby disconnected battery again. Looked online and find out this is an ongoing problem with 2008 Dodge/Chrysler vans. The tipm goes bad and the car goes crazy. This is going to cause someone to get into a serious wreck and kill someone. Very unsafe!! there needs to be a recall, but Dodge is having problems getting the part. . . . Ridiculous! the dealership I took it to told me they had 2 2008 vans in the "back" waiting for this part. They have been sitting there for over 2 weeks and noone knows when they will get the part. So what happens? the people trade them in. Convenient. Maybe that's why these are the most "popular" van on the road? making sure they get repeat business. Well I'll never buy another Dodge/Chrysler again and im definitely not going to get bullied into being a repeat buyer!!.

This problem has been intermittent and getting worse. Sometimes it happens when we' driving and sometimes when it's parked with the engine off. The engine dies, horns blow, wipers go crazy and lights go on. All you can do is coast to a safe spot, wait for a while ,then restart the van. Today as my husband drove to work, the power brakes went out. He was able to stop but it was very hard and dangerous. I don't know if it's related but we have had a problem with the blower for the air conditioner/ heater going out since about 2010. Updated 07/03/14 MA updated 07/11/2014.