Chrysler Repair: 1996 Town and Country Dash Lights and Wipers will not work, dash lights, voltage sources

Question
I have a 1996 Town and Country. The Dash Lights and Wipers will not work.  They stopped working on Friday driving home from work.  All the fuses look ok, (Both under the hood and under the dash on the drivers side.)  I have disconnected the battery to reset the computer but that did not work either.  Any ideas?  

Answer
Hi Marc,
The tail lights (and the front parking lights too) are powered by the parking lamp relay in the power distribution center. See if that clicks when a helper turns on the parking lamps. Probably it won't click. Fuse 22 which operates it is in the pdc and should be checked electrically for continuity. You could try exchanging the relay with one of the other relays in the pdc that has the same part number as a test of the relay proper. If that all is ok we are back to the body module/ground block as probabilities.  
The ground block is most likely hidden behind the trim panel that covers the area just in front of the driver's door opening. I believe it should be mounted just at the edge of the opening close to the floor. In any case there should be a harness of about a dozen black and black/various color wires that are connected to it so look for that harness if you can't find the block. The body module is behind and attached directly to the junction block (the fuse/relay/circuit breaker under the dash). It too has several plugs. Just verify that the plugs are in their sockets and that the two modules are solidly locked together. Did you actually verify that voltage is present on both sides of all the fuses that supply the body module? If not, do that, because the loss of one of those voltage sources could cause your problems. Because the only wirings that are common for all these failed systems are the body module and the ground block the problem has to be related to one or the other. Please let me know what you find. Thanks for the positive rating and nomination.
Roland






Hi Marc,
If both the dash lights and the wipers stopped at the same time then it has to either be a common ground or the body control module that is at fault because the power supply to the two systems are independent of one another. I would look at left cowl (the area just in front of the driver's door opening, near the floor) for a multi-wire ground module where about a dozen black wires come together to be attached to the body structure to see if the wires on pins 2,8,10 or 12 might be loose or the whole module loose or poorly attached to the body. Then check with a voltmeter that the following fuse are actually conducting: in the engine compartment 19,22,28 and under the dash 1,2,3,6. Those all are involved in powering the body module but the circuit diagrams don't identify which is related to the two failed circuits. Any fuse can look good but then have a subtle crack which you can overlook or cause an intermittent failure. Just measure for 12V compared to ground (the - post of the battery or any shiny metal body surface nearby) on both contacts of those fuses, with the ignition switch turned to the run position.
Please let me know what you learn or have other questions.
Roland