the head lights and day running lights won't come on but brights work

Asked by 4damien Jul 06, 2013 at 01:19 PM about the 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan Special Edition FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

13 Answers

199,785

Found you two possible solutions on another site of owners having the same issue. -- here's the first one -- 2005 Caravan I had the same problem with my van gauges bouncing, headlights not coming on when the switch was turned on. I took a day and downloaded a wiring diagram from dodge and studied it. GROUND PROBLEM dodge have several ground connections to the body then there is one MAIN BODY GROUND. This is most likely your problem it is easy for any back yard mechanic to fix. This main body ground is located under your battery box. You will have to remove the battery and then the battery box be careful of the battery sensor that is mounted in the bottom of the box. Also there is a hose that you will have to disconnect but don’t try to remove it from the box remove it from above the box. After you get the battery and box out you will see a threaded stud with a black wire connected to it this will be rusted because of no antioxidant grease applyed. You will have to remove the nut and wire connector clean both and the stud with wire brush or sandpaper. Put antioxidant grease or if nothing else some Vaseline to keep it from corroding again. Put back together and see if this doesn’t fix your problem. It has been six weeks for me now. Good luck.dont forget that neg battery terminal is the first one to disconnect and the last to reconnect.

30 people found this helpful.
199,785

--here's the second one -- Ok, I couldn’t wait for the weekend to fix the car as my wife needs to drives it, so reading some of the forums it confirmed my theory, the issue is with the switch, so I took it a part this morning and I found out that the internal nub was set to -1 “within the switch there is white nub that turns to 4 positions I would call them -1 , 0, 1, 2” and the nub should always be set to position 0, mine for some reason was set to -1, I’m not a mechanic so excuse the terms that I’m using here “hence -1, 0, 1, 2”. Position definition -1 Park lights on 0 No lights on at all 1 Park Lights on 2 All lights on, including the headlight’s So, set it to 0, then put the other side of the switch back on, and put it back together and that should be it. That worked perfect for me, if that doesn’t work for you then you need to get a new switch. This shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes max.

16 people found this helpful.
90

well, I have to say that for the last month my lights have been giving me trouble. I have taken my car to 3 mechanics. I even went to the Chrysler but they couldn't take care of me because it was Saturday. I did what you said on the first explanation the ground under the battery. it worked!! finally! hopefully will stay working. this has really been a challenge bc I changed the headlight bulbs and replace the front panel switch and still had the problem. thank you for your post.

9 people found this helpful.
90

THANK YOU!!! I have a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan, and my headlight went out on me last night driving home (only worked on high beam, had to hold them on the whole trip home...ugh). Changed the bulbs, nothing, came in searched and found this answer from dandyoun. Turns out it was the main ground wire, took me all of 45 minutes to an hour start to finish, and now my lights work again. Stellar information dandyoun!!!

10 people found this helpful.
110

I have the same problem . No running lights no head lights they cut off and later on thay come back on and then they cut off. Tryed every thing and still the same problem. Dodge need to fix the problem these vehicles have had this problem for years.

11 people found this helpful.
170

Is there a diagram of this? Trying to fix this on my own but I'm not sure what to look for. Took the battery out and the box Is there anything on YouTube maybe that can help.

17 people found this helpful.
50

I have a 2000 Dodge care van when I bought it all my headlight and speed ammeter work know I have no head light or wipers or speed ammeter only head light I can use is the bright but I have to hold it the down and it not safe to drive it like that if someone can help me thanks

5 people found this helpful.
80

The head light an my Dodge 2010 caravan not working, an the bulbs an fuse or fine.

8 people found this helpful.
20

Thank you for the post Dandyoun! I had a problem with my headlights/taillights and wiper washer motor on my 2004 Caravan and had tried everything i knew about the relay box with fuses,relays and hardwire inputs.apparently it was the ground line you mentioned and when i cleaned it with a wire brush and a piece of emery cloth,the circuit grounded again and the lights and washer motor started working again.thank You very much,i actually posted how to replace the climate control module needing one in my van and then a quick reset or code erasure with an obd II module,Thx.

2 people found this helpful.

had no headlights or washer motor power....turned ou to be the front power control module on my 04 caravan....took it off, and cleaned the points.....worked good for about 1 year....time for a new module now I think

20

Hi everybody....same thing happened to me ....simple solution ...bought 2 H13 pigtail and a on/off switch....with 10 feet of wire and some terminals...unplugged the vans wires to my lights and plugged both lights direct to my new on/off switch...problem solved for less than 20 bucks....in your face Chrysler for making a faulty product and not making it a recall.

2 people found this helpful.

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