We’ve owned a 1997 Plymouth Voyager minivan for the last five years. It’s an ok van in it’s own way, but if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t have bought it. It’s got some persistent rust along the rocker panels, and some unknown damage to the undercarriage on the left side that makes it pull to the right, no matter what we do with front end alignment.
One of the things that has driven me nuts is that on occasion the instrument cluster goes dead. Speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, temperature gauge, odometer & transmission indicator are all non-functional. And of course, when it’s on the blink, no mileage registers on the odometer, so if it happens any time I try to determine gas mileage, back to the drawing board. It never lasts for long, and when it starts working again the Check Engine light is on. Strangely enough, if the cluster stays alive long enough the Check Engine light goes out on its own. I didn’t think they were supposed to do that, but this one does.
A few weeks back we had a different problem to go along with the dead instrument cluster; I forgot to roll the windows up the night before, and of course we got almost 2.5 inches of rain that night. The moisture apparently got into the headlight switch, causing it to act like the headlights were turned on constantly. So I dove in to see if I could disassemble the switch to dry it out & get it working again. I couldn’t figure out how to get the dash panels off, so I poked around online to find disassembly instructions, and in the process came across a website that not only showed how to get the dash panels off, also showed how to fix the instrument cluster! Cool! Unfortunately, I didn’t have the presence of mind to keep a link to the original page, but I did nab the copy and the photos he had up, so here is the fix, for anyone else interested. The words are his (Bob’s); I did things a little differently, but it worked out the same.
Many thanks to Bob & Tom, whoever you are and wherever you are!
| These are the trim pieces that have to be removed. | 
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| Emergency brake release cable; you dont have to cable block it, I just did it because i wasnt sure. | 
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| Shot of the right side. | 
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| Shot of the left side. | 
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| Cluster removed; putting this plug back on is the hardest part of the job. Long fingers help. | 
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| Cluster removed, on the bench, protective back plate. | 
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| Backside of this red plug connector in the middle is the culprit. | 
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| I resoldered both pins that had black wires going to them from the plug (I wish I would have marked them) but you can tell from the plug very easily. | 
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That was it. Basically, tear out the instrument cluster, resolder the pins on the backside of the red connector on the instrument cluster printed circuit board, and all is well. I performed this fix on August 4, and six weeks later it’s still working (knock on wood!)
Note that our van is a 1997 Plymouth Voyager, but I’m guessing that Dodge Caravans and Chrysler Town & Country minivans have the same malady, and the same fix should help them as well. From the Wikipedia article, it looks like the 1996 to 2000 model years were essentially the same.
1996 Plymouth Voyager dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1996 Dodge Caravan dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1996 Chrysler Town & Country dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1997 Plymouth Voyager dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1997 Dodge Caravan dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1997 Chrysler Town & Country dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1998 Plymouth Voyager dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1998 Dodge Caravan dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1998 Chrysler Town & Country dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1999 Plymouth Voyager dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1999 Dodge Caravan dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
1999 Chrysler Town & Country dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
2000 Plymouth Voyager dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
2000 Dodge Caravan dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
2000 Chrysler Town & Country dashboard instrument cluster speedometer tachometer odometer gauges gages
Just an update on this… In March we bought a different van (a 2005 Ford Freestar) and sold the Voyager. The dashboard worked flawlessly up to that point. I haven’t heard anything from the new owner, but I’m thinking it’s still working, and resoldering the connector really was the trick.
Thanks Man, I had the exact same problem, and my odometer would flash on and off consistently. When the dash died, I could push on the cluster and it woud reset, this ended up recalibrating my speedometer up 20mph. After reading your post, I decided enough was enough, I tried resoldiering the board where you indicated, didnt work, so I just got the iron really hot, and reseated all the pins, including the odometer pins on the main circuit board, and boom….it worked!! I hope this helps anyone with this MOPAR problem…I love my van and being a drummer I need it, but man…I dont understand why this isnt a recall?????
Thanks for your help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!