Dead Instrument Cluster

[cpb]

1994 Dodge Caravan, 3.0 V6, auto trans., cluster contains tachometer. Many months ago the gauges and speedometer would occasionally go dead for a second or two then come back to life as I drove. Over time this problem got worse (more frequent). I cleaned the body at every ground connection I could find, no help. Recently the entire cluster died for good. Only a red “check gauges” light. Although during start up the usual air bag, and other idiot lights do all light as expected. All fuses are good. So I bought another cluster at a junk yard. Still dead. All connectors look ok with no broken wires.

Any ideas?

[SteveF]

We’ve had this problem many times here. All Chrysler products of that era eventually fall victim to this ailment – soldering breaks – a result of the cheap cold soldering method that Chrysler used back then on its printed circuits.

The mechanic’s solution would be to replace with a new cluster. This is costly. But many owners choose to make their own repairs, which is not too difficult. Here’s a video of how it’s done:

[Nevada_545]

The instrument cluster gauges are driven by the body computer on the Caravan/Voyager. Try unplugging and reconnecting the body computer (to the left of the steering column), it may start working for a while. I have replaced about 20 body computers on AS bodys, never the instrument cluster.