Need advice...The Dealership says its the battery...hmmm

[loeps]

Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.

My 96 Dodge Caravan check engine light came on a couple of days ago, and between the time of the light coming on and taking it to the dealership the van would not start one evening after the wife had taken it to the mall. No power, nothing. Just a wierd buzzing coming from the engine compartment.While waiting for me to show up, the interior lights suddenly came on, so she tried to start it. Low and behold, it started, and of course, the check engine light disappeared. The dealership could find nothing wrong, of course. This morning it was dead again, and I noticed the strange buzzing was from the fusebox. Battery was in bad shape, it had little or no power. Now, would a bad battey cause a buzzing sound to come from the engine compartment fusebox? When I pooped the hood by the way, the buzing stopped. Resumed when I slammed the hood down. Sounds like a bad fuse/relay/connection to me. I agree the battery needs replacing, but I am not sure that is the full problem.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[Denny]

Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.

My 96 Dodge Caravan check engine light came on a couple of days ago, and between the time of the light coming on and taking it to the dealership the van would not start one evening after the wife had taken it to the mall. No power, nothing. Just a wierd buzzing coming from the engine compartment.While waiting for me to show up, the interior lights suddenly came on, so she tried to start it. Low and behold, it started, and of course, the check engine light disappeared. The dealership could find nothing wrong, of course. This morning it was dead again, and I noticed the strange buzzing was from the fusebox. Battery was in bad shape, it had little or no power. Now, would a bad battey cause a buzzing sound to come from the engine compartment fusebox? When I pooped the hood by the way, the buzing stopped. Resumed when I slammed the hood down. Sounds like a bad fuse/relay/connection to me. I agree the battery needs replacing, but I am not sure that is the full problem.
Thanks for any advice.

It's very possible the buzzing is caused by the battery. Low battery voltage can cause the relays in the power dist. center under the hood to buzz like a bumble bee.

Denny

 

[Bill Putney]

Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.

...When I pooped the hood by the way...

No matter how mad you get at your car, you should avoid the tempation to poop the hood! 8^)

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my adddress with the letter 'x')

 

[kmatheson]

Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.

My 96 Dodge Caravan check engine light came on a couple of days ago, and between the time of the light coming on and taking it to the dealership the van would not start one evening after the wife had taken it to the mall. No power, nothing. Just a wierd buzzing coming from the engine compartment.While waiting for me to show up, the interior lights suddenly came on, so she tried to start it. Low and behold, it started, and of course, the check engine light disappeared. The dealership could find nothing wrong, of course. This morning it was dead again, and I noticed the strange buzzing was from the fusebox. Battery was in bad shape, it had little or no power. Now, would a bad battey cause a buzzing sound to come from the engine compartment fusebox? When I pooped the hood by the way, the buzing stopped. Resumed when I slammed the hood down. Sounds like a bad fuse/relay/connection to me. I agree the battery needs replacing, but I am not sure that is the full problem.
Thanks for any advice.

I would suggest trying to charge the battery, and then doing a load test on it. You may find that it either will not hold a charge, or will drain quickly when put under load. Since your van is a 1996, I would imagine that the battery had been replaced at least once. If the battery is original, then you have got your money's worth from it.

Once you know that the battery is good, then you can check connections as needed.

-Kirk Matheson

 

[Dan Larsen]

No matter how mad you get at your car, you should avoid the tempation to poop the hood! 8^)

Yes, . . . . . as Mr. Bill says, "it's 100% better NOT to poop the hood in anger."

God Bless,
Dan'L

("If I'm going to reach out to the the Democrats then I need a third hand.There's no way I'm letting go of my wallet or my gun while they're around.")

 

[maxpower]

Yes a battery could very well cause that, so can a loose connection at the battery, keep in mind that when the technician got the car, all the information may have been erased by the bad batetry/connection therefore he would see no fault codes, have a load test done on it and check the cables Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

 

[indago]

041216 0608 - Bill Putney posted:

No matter how mad you get at your car, you should avoid the tempation to poop the hood! 8^)

Yeah, I seen a hood pooped one time and it didn't look good to me...

 

[RPhillips47]

Yeah, I seen a hood pooped one time and it didn't look good to me...

It is even worse watching it happen.......................

 

[indago]

041217 1224 - RPhillips47 posted:

It is even worse watching it happen.......................

Well, I never seen that and I don't even want to think about it...