'97 Caravan -a few questions

Jan 25, 2006 7 Replies

OK, here we go.



First, my rear door does not have a power latch. Can I buy an after-market actuator to make my rear door able to be power-opened? I ask because I put a remote starter in and would like to be able to use the extra button.



Second, I'm having an intermittent problem with my delay wipers. Sometimes, they work normally. Usually though, even on the lowest setting, they will wipe about 5 or 6 consecutive times, delay, wipe a few more times, delay, instead of wipe once, delay, etc... Then, when I try to turn them off, they will wipe a few times, and then stick somewhere in the middle of a wipe, usually in the upright position. Is there a relay or a switch somewhere I need to replace, or the wiper motors, or something totally different?



Nothing extremely important, just REALLY annoying to look at.


1997 Dodge Caravan
3.3L V6
195,000 miles

With enough Money you can do all that to you car, but as far as Chrsyler goes no you can not add this to your van.

This could be anything from A multifuntion switch. Body control Module or a fautly park switch in the wiper motor. A scan tool that is able to read inputs and outputs of the BCM will be needed to diagnois that problem. If i had to guess I would say the wiper motor park switch is bad.

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

With enough Money you can do all that to you car, but as far as Chrysler goes no you can not add this to your van.

This could be anything from A multifunction switch. Body control Module or a faulty park switch in the wiper motor. A scan tool that is able to read inputs and outputs of the BCM will be needed to diagnose that problem. If I had to guess I would say the wiper motor park switch is bad.

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Our 96 has the "ghost in the machine" wiper problem occasionally as well, and has had it since new. This is a well-known problem, but I haven't heard of a similarly well-known fix. We had the stalk replaced at one point early on, but that didn't work.

Just wondering if you were bored...can you say 195,000 miles?

Could be a faulty relay switch located (3rd from the front) in the BLACK fuse box panel under the hood. This part looks like a 1"square block that just plugs in and is used for the wiper on/off, for 10 bucks, give it a shot.--J

I put it in at around 165,000, and yes, I'm ALWAYS bored. ;~}

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