QuestionThe power locks, and driver door window on my 04/05 Caravan have several problems/symptoms. By the way, I say 04/05 because it is titled as 05, but my Mechanic says its made in 04. This has caused him trouble, like finding correct parts.
Constantly:
Driver window has quit completely. (thankfully quit in the UP position)
Driver door lock/unlock has quit completely, (used to make locks go up/down, but usually locks would return to unlock after a bounce to the lock position)
Usually:
Pressing the pass door lock/unlock button causes all door locks to go up and down, over and over, (like 20 to 30 times - they eventually stop but I can still hear a vibrating noise even after the actual lock plungers quit)
Pressing the Key FOB door lock/unlock causes the same as above.
I never press a door lock/unlock anymore. I always manually lock the vehicle and disconnect the battery when left overnight.
Occaisonally:
Lowering or raising the pass power window will cause all the locks to go up and down as mentioned above. (The pass window does go up and down as this is happening).
New development:
Starting 1 week ago, the driver door lock plunger stays pulled in the lock position. Pressing the lock/unlock button from any source, (key FOB or pass door) does not raise it. Even when all the door locks are going up and down, like described above, the driver door plunger is fixed in the down location.
I thought this was going to keep me out of the vehicle. I am able to insert the key in the driver door lock, and turn it with mild force, and the plunger will rise, but its like it is spring loaded. I have to open the driver door while holding the key turned, keeping the plunger lifted. When I release the key, the plunger drops, etc. Even from inside the car, when I pull the door lever, I can open the door, but I can "FEEL" the resistance against it, and it snaps back to locked.
Pulling the battery DOES NOT release the driver door plunger. It remains pulled down.
Sometimes:
When driving down the road, all the locks start going up and down, (except the driver door, but it used to go up and down too). To stop this from happening, I have to open the driver door and shut it while driving.
Also sometimes, when the vehicle is sitting, locked, turned off in the driveway. (But the battery is connected). The door locks start going up and down multiple times. Then, even as I open the driver door, it does NOT stop. I have to put the key in the ignition. Sometimes I have to start the car, and then open the door.
I had my Mechanic try to flash the BCM. He said he could not. All he said was, "there was nothing there. no data". He told me to buy a replacement junkyard BCM, said it MUST have exact same part number.
I dont know what to do. Where I live, there are no good dealers. Of the 3 Chrysler dealers in my town, I have been mistreated at each. I do not dare hand it over to them, and end up with a problem that cant be fixed without thousands of dollars. Or the car is disabled from their "troubleshooting".
I would rather buy a bidirectional J2534 patch thru device like DrewTech and try my hand at laptop based SW like ProScan or other.
Reading your answers, I can tell you understand the logic of these systems. I need a place to start, and some understanding of what to do.
God Bless,
Neil R. Sherman
AnswerHi Neil,
I appreciate the detailed history.
The model year is shown in the 10th position of the VIN, and if that is a 4 it would be 2004, a 5 would be 2005. Let me know which it is.
I would start by moving the door latch striker in the driver door frame in-board a fraction of an inch such that the door will be more securely fastened in the frame. The lock cycling you experience when driving is due to the door ajar switch in the frame falsely thinking that the door is open/loose so the bcm does this cycling in an attempt to lock the doors. Similarly, verify that the passenger door is closing tightly with its frame.
As to the door lock plunger being stiff, if that is the mechanical plunger then I would try to lubricate that 'action'. Perhaps spraying some WD-40 into the mechanism without having to remove the door panel and actually seeing/removing the mechanism will free it up. Try squirting around the up-down knob's base to get the WD-40 to slide down the rod into the mechanism. If that doesn't work, then I can tell you how to remove the interior door panel to gain access to the mechanism.
I expect you will need to remove that panel to determine why the driver window motor isn't working. If the driver window switch does operate other windows that the power to do that is getting to the master switch in the door, so it either has to be the motor in the door for that window or the window switch for that window that at fault.
The passenger window/door lock interactions will be in interesting trouble shoot.
Sorting out the passenger window-lock/driver window situations can follow after you get these first steps accomplished and you tell me what behaviors specifically continue.
Please read the PS below and respond to it.
Thanks,
Roland
