Starter Solenoid Problems of Dodge Grand Caravan

1st occurrence: while driving on freeway on a hot day the car stalled without warning. On attempted restarts car would fire for a couple of seconds and quit. Tried other key: no help. After about 7 or 8 attempts the car would not crank and solenoid clicked. Towed home. Car set codes p0339 and p0344(intermittent crank and cam sensor). Charged battery . Replaced both sensors car initially would not start, then mysteriously fired up and ran fine. Ok for about a month. Battery tested ok charging voltage good when running. Not related to having just (over)filled gas tank. (much on internet about this: bad valve in tank allows evap to flood) 2nd occurrence. Once again driving on highway hot day. Once again stalled without warning. Same symptoms on attempted restart. After waiting about 15 minutes, car restarted, ran about 4 miles and stalled again. Attempted four or five restarts, then battery appeared to run down. Headlights would dim on start attempt. After a while the car started again but ran roughly on acceleration. Once again set same codes. At this point I noticed some electrical anomalies. Upon key on, the temp, fuel, and tach gauges would peg high and then fall back to normal. The power windows began to operate without the key on. Tow truck arrived and got it home. Car restarted in garage. Replaced both sensors again and battery (suspected intermittent open). 3rd occurrence on test drive got about 5 miles and onto highway. Once again stalled. This time restarted, turned around and got about 2 miles then quit again. This time no restart( same 2-3 seconds). This time set code p0344 only(cam sensor intermittent). Car restarted later back in shop. Research on the internet has got me thinking about the tipm (totally integrated power module).

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Van would intermittently not start. Would turn key and van would click once like solenoid was activating but starter would not turn on. Turn key a second time and van might start. On one occasion, van would not start on several attempts. Jump starting would not work. Battery tested ok. Replaced starter, after couple days van again would not start. Took to dealer, dealer replaced starter. After a couple of months, van is again intermittently not starting. We have discovered if shift lever is moved into neutral, van will start. This evening (9/25/12), my wife went to turn on the high-beams and the windshield wipers came on and would not cut off. The low-beams remained on, but high-beams and the turn signals would not turn on. I disconnected the battery for ten minutes and everything seemed to work fine when I reconnected it.

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2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. Passenger side front and rear doors power unlock problem. I have a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan stx. It has power windows and locks and power sliding doors. 3. 8l engine. The passenger front door lock, right passenger sliding door lock will lock when the button is pressed, but will not unlock when the button is pressed. This happens no matter which door unlock button you press (driver, passenger or key fob). I have traced the wiring no power when 'unlock' is pressed, but there is power when the 'lock' button is pressed. Also, I tested the passenger sliding door, again same result. I took off the passenger front door panel and unplugged the door lock connector at the solenoid and tested it. Again, no power when 'unlock' is pressed on any of the wires. The black wire on the connector is getting good ground. I traced the wires from the lock solenoid connector under the seats and to the drivers kick panel where they go through a grommet and into the fuse box under the hood. I probed the wires again by the kick panel and got no power when 'unlock' was pressed. I hear a relay clicking in the fuse box when I press 'unlock', but I can't find it. It is coming from within the fuse box under all the fuses and relays. Those relays are located in the fuse boxes inner part, and probably low quality, so they are gone in just few years of usage. Unfortunately, relays can't be replaced by owners due to location and connections.

When key is inserted into the ignition and turned, the vehicle does not start. The starter makes a click sound but does not turn over. Several attempts turning the key are needed to start the vehicle. Sometimes after trying 5-10 tries with no start, pulling the key out and reinserting or opening the driver door with the key removed will start the vehicle. Eventually, the car will start normally. First it seemed to happen on after the engine was hot or hot outside 85 or hotter, but it got worse. I took it to the dealer, I told them I checked the starter solenoid and it wasn't reading 12 volts when van wouldn't start only reading under 5 volts, when the van would start it would read about 10 volts. The first trip to the dealer they replaced a starter motor, with in two days it happened again, they replaced the starter motor again with moper brand starter motor. This still did not fix the problem. I switch the battery with my other car to confirm not battery. Still van has starting problems. I was able to leave van with dealer for a week, they couldn't reproduce the problem, but when I got in the van all the electronics were turned off, radio, ac. . That was not an accurate test. The van still has intermittent starting problems. When winter came the starting problems stopped. But this spring and summer is almost here the starting problem has occurred again. We don't if the van will start or leave us stranded.

I went out to start my car (1999 Dodge Grand Caravan se) and it initially wouldn't start. There was just a clicking noise from the starter but it wouldn't turn over. I tried it a couple more times and it finally started. But there was an unusual rattling noise. I turned the ignition key off and the engine stopped but some part on the car kept running. I had my fiance look at it - he couldn't figure out what was going on either. It drove ok around the block but it sounded horrible. He couldn't get it to turn off completely either. After a few minutes, smoke started coming out from the front end of the car. My fiance could see it was in the area of the starter. Initially, if the car was left idling, the smoke lessened but if the ignition was shut off the smoke got worse. So we left it idling while we looked for possible ways to shut it off completely. After a few more minutes, the smoke began again and there were flames under the hood around the starter. I called 911 to get the fire department here while my fiance used a fire extinguisher to try to put out the fire. The fire department arrived after we were able to put out the fire with the extinguisher and they helped us disconnect the battery cable in a safe manner so that everything shut off. The fireman suggested we check for possible problems with other vans like ours and to file a complaint regarding our experience. They took down my information and filed a report for their response to the fire. We replaced the starter and checked all the connections for fire damage. The old starter was taken by the auto parts store so it is not available anymore. The mechanic at the store said it sounded like the solenoid on the starter was stuck in the "on" mode and that was what caused the odd noise and subsequent fire. Since then, everything seems to be running just fine.

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Starter solenoid failed, stuck in "on" position. Would not shut off when engine was shut off. Clouds of acrid smoke poured out from under vehicle. I removed battery cable and towed car to mechanic. Dealer replaced starter. 67,000 miles similar to complaint #10138490.

On 6/11/03 vehicle was making power steering noises & auto dr locks wouldn't lock at 15 mph. Replaced power hose, hose clamp & oil trans. Informed I needed new brakes (22, 153 miles & didn't req that they do this when I arrived at shop). 7/2/03 took van in 'cause left rear (driver side) speaker caught on fire while at a gas pump. While at gas pump w/2 of our 4 kids in the car. Brakes that were just replaced prev month were squeaking as well as the steering again. (dealer-brakes squeak 'cause they are metal & there is air in the steering line). 9/23/03 van battery blew up when started. Replaced battery. 12/3/03 steering making noise during turns. Replaced both sway bars links. 12/29/03 steering is very tight & shuddering again & auto lock button on key chain won't work. Ordered new power steering rack & resevoir. Then on 1/6/04 tach spiked at 4k, vehicle lost power & engine light came on while on expressway w/my baby in the car. Determination was the transmission solenoid assy failure & replaced the same. This cost me $107 (would have cost more if I wasn't given an extended warranty for fire I had). 1/19/04 van was giving a burn smell from under the hood along with smoke. They found a/c compressor clutch shorting in coil. A/c compressor replaced & recharged. 2/5/04 vehicle taken for the last time for loud popping sound under the dr's ft area when turning left. All suspension parts tightened. Next visit is req'd by the FL lemon law to give them 1 more chance before paperwork can be filed. Done on 3/8/04 for steering noise when stopped & just turning wheel. Replaced pt that was replaced before: power steering pump resevoir. Paperwork filed for florida lemon law on 4/5/04,unsave vehicle & fear for safety of family.

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