Excellent show and tell video. We have a 2014 T&C and it has been nothing but wonderful. No major problems. 170000 km. and working well. No repairs done so far. (brakes excepted) Very pleased with this vehicle. It has been to the far reaches of North Ontario (Lake Superior) in winter. Regularly tow a lg. utility trailer with it. (3/4 ton). Never know the trailer's there. One thing to remember as with all vehicles. Cleaning and Maintenance is utmost. Ours still performs and looks like new and is always maintained properly. This is important.
I have a Town & Country - I have had two of the three problems - I changed the door actuator a few months ago but I don't remember having to take the lock mechanism out. One of my sliding doors doesn't open all the way - Your video really helped me - I am going to tackle that one tomorrow. Thanks!! The van has 226,000 miles on it and still runs great - it is the 3.8 liter V6 version - a great engine. Edit - Michael Clark suggested drilling a new access hole to get at that screw to release the actuator - I believe that is exactly what I did. I think I watched a video that suggested to do that.
I really like and appreciate the fact that you documented ALL of what you had to go through to get this project done. A lot of times people won’t show they’ve made a mistake, making it look like it was so easy. Thanks again for another clear cut tutorial.
Great video, very informative. One thing, though. Instead of removing the entire latch mechanism to get that one screw, drilling a new access hole would solve that issue. paint the bare metal when you're done and you're good to go.
Thanks Dave: On the sliding door tracks when one of the 2 heavy wires (which carry the 12 volts to the door motor) breaks, I solder in 18 gauge SPT-1 cable to replace both. When one breaks, the other will soon also. I go beyond where the track flexes at both ends and stagger the soldered and taped joints by a couple inches so there will not be a huge bundle in the track. On the door lock actuator, I found a little Chinese motor burned out inside the box which comes apart easily with 4 screws. I bought 3 on ebay for $10, the part # off by just one digit, the armature shaft was longer so I hacksawed it to proper length. Another Grand Caravan sliding door actuating box did not work due to no grease at the plastic pivot point of the motor's actuating rod. Just adding a good lubriplate type grease fixed it.
I recently bought a 2006 Town and Country with the same exact issues. The repairs were not hard, just tedious. I also had to replace the tailgate lifts and most recently the power steering reservoir to fix the infamous power steering whine. Thanks for sharing your work.
Great video I have a 2013 with 53,00 miles and none of the sliding doors open with the remote. Paid $58.00 for a actuator put it in and tested it with the remote nothing. Paid $160.00 for a new remote and reprograming because they said they could not reprogram the one I had because it has burned out but it would start the van. Now all is well got my money back for the actuator.
After watching this video I realized being a seasoned mechanic there's no reason I could not rebuild the actuator assembly. turns out the motors are just small and weak you can take the assembly apart oil the motor not grease it front and back remove the spring on the gear that controls the lock and unlock and also remove the spring that is in between the lock and unlock arms inside the one half of the case. By doing this I successfully revived mine into working! just now literally! I'm so happy. and be sure to oil the crap out of every moving part connected to that! 😃
My Map Light Bulb Bases were very burned, but all the major pieces were there. I purchased the #168 led bulbs which pull 1 watt of power vs. over 10 watts for the incandescent ones the van comes with (too much wattage, and heat for small area the bulbs operate in). I took a pocket knife (or you could use a very small file, emery board, or piece of sand paper) to clean up the carbon from both the lamp holder and the lamp base contacts while making sure there is no power on while you are doing your prep. The led bulbs have wire leads which must be lifted and straightened so that they can be bent over the original bulb wire contacts. Note: The new bulb leads were barely long enough to reach, but i was able to make them work with just a pair of needle nose pliers. Other people have actually soldered the LED bulb leads to the bulb contact tabs, which is probably a great idea, given how long the new bulbs will last. The new bulbs are Sylvania #168 (or 194, or 2825 which are all compatible). Mine are working great now. Good Luck. The bulbs cost approx $22 at Autozone, but i am sure they are available from most any auto parts store, or amazon if you prefer. They also make direct fit LED replacement bulbs for the rear cargo area too. They are part number #578, (or 6411). No modification was necessary, except for squeezing the original bulb holding base clips a little closer together for a tighter grip on the slightly smaller ends of the new bulbs.
It is sad to see so many people that are not pleased with their Chrysler vehicles. We have had a Plymouth Sundance, Plymouth Caravelle(Mitsubishi),Dodge Stratus, Chrysler Concorde and now a Town and Country. Every single one of these cars has been remarkable. Performed flawlessly over their lifetimes. Gave each one to Teen Challenge at their end and now they are back on the road. Again I have to say to everyone you get out of a car what you put into it. Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance when due and undercoat, undercoat and clean clean clean. You should not be disappointed.
Thx for posting this. I have a 2006 t&c that was having both door issues. Easy to fix and only spent 40 for the actuator. This DIY video saved me 300 to 400 bucks. Thx again.
Thanks. I had all three issues. BTW, in a youtube world where every body thinks they are a "star" and loves to hear the sound of their own voice, you did this very well - clear, concise and well edited (including that mistake).
Ill add a few more common areas: rear heater core (behind pass rear cargo panel),rear heater water pipes (rust out) water neck (develops pinholes, use antifreeze!) and cabin filter (under dash) it plugs up and no one knows its there. Most internal rust issues are a symptom of weak or no antifreeze, water pipes rust from salt on road. Also the power steering pump reservoir makes a buzzing noise, this was a TSB (almost a recall) and a new design return hose is all it needs.
Thank you. I have a 2006 and I've had all three problems..lol. My door lock is my current problem. After all you went thru I think I'll just unlock it manually. Just the thought of taking off the panel scares me. Thank you for the video.
You sir, are money in the bank. My bank to be specific. Without your guidance, the lock actuator replacement would have been an expensive shop repair. Thank you for taking the mystery out of the installation process!
Excellent video. I always appreciate those oh oh moments. I often get those, "oh great now what moments" and "why does this only happen to me", like I'm the only one on the planet that happens to. Sometimes those moments are the most rich in teaching, at least for me.
I think you are definitely right. Sometimes ours works, sometimes it makes this grinding / clicking noise and doesn't open. It sounds like the teeth on the 2 sprockets are grinding or something. Probably a job for when it's not -9 degrees outside.
RE: The door chain/wire fix. In my experience with "swinging harnesses", the next place it's going to break is right next to where you just soldered it. Because it makes a stiff spot in the wire and forces it to bend just past the stiff spot. If that makes any sense. Seen it many, many times in other machinery. Best to replace the whole length of wire whenever possible. Just my 2 cents. Great video still! Needed to fix my courtesy lights.
+Bruce Berube I agree. It could definitely happen again. So far mine's been holding up and hasn't broken again. Also i definitely like the heat shrink wrap to kind of spread the force over a bigger area.
I have this exact same problem on my 2007 T&C. I never worried about fixing it because I'm about to sell it now that I have an upgrade (2017 grand caravan). It was also easy to just reach around and unlock it manually. I also had another problem where lock/unlock on the fob sometimes only does the driver door, and you gotta keep pressing till it does all doors. My new van does that too, but I fixed it on that by holding lock for 4 seconds then with it still held down also hold down unlock for another 4 seconds. I haven't tested that trick on the T&C though, but I'm putting that tip out there in case someone wants to try it. I don't have an EVIC on either van, but I hear that makes it a lot easier to toggle features and such, rather than using button combos on the fob.
Two other common (and major) problems chryslers tend to have is radiators and water pumps. Chrysler vans are known to overheat and engines explode. I just replaced my water pump and radiator which cost about $600 altogether and now I have to replace the windshield and get the breaks done. I have a 2005 town and country. Also both sliding door sensors went out.
Our sliding door didn't open or unlock as well. We didn't have the extra money to replace the actuator at the time so I just unplugged it. Now it can be manually locked/unlocked. The actuator is only to be able to automatically lock/unlock (with key fob or lock switch)the sliding door. So just a temporarily fix tip for anyone that just doesnt have the extra cash at the time to fix it 100% but still can use the sliding door.It won't mess with it at all everything else as in automatic opening/closing the door or manually still works properly :)
In my 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan also ended up finding out it was the actuator, some wiring, and part of a harness. So sometimes there are multiple parts that cause it to not work.
Thanks. Great video and especially like that you didn't edit out your mistaken reassembly since that is part of any job. Our 2002 T&C has one electric lock not working on L sliding door. I now know to drill an access hole for that single screw if it doesn't have one. Haven't jumped on it since that actuator costs $75. I think 2007 is the same series as our 2002, so yours is likely the robust 3.3 or 3.8L V-6 (4 cyl discontinued). Ours has 274K miles on the original engine and transmission with still perfect compression (>200 psig), so you may enjoy 200K miles more from yours with no major issues.
@@jbodden6977 Fixed it a few months ago. I recall ~$30 for the part on ebay. It came with 2 levers, so the same part can work on left or right sides. My van had an access hole for the torx screw, but I ended up removing the whole lock assembly like in the video to better see how the actuator attached. I forgot about this youtube, which would have helped, since I recall making the same mistakes shown. I tore into the old lock actuator. Instead of a simple solenoid plunger that I expected, it uses a small DC motor and gear. The motor just presses in w/ 2 contacts instead of soldered wires. Perhaps corrosion in those contacts causes the lock to be erratic. Next time one fails, I'll try just cleaning the contacts and coating silicone grease. The driver's lock is becoming erratic now. Not working appears to correlate with hot days (>100 F where I live).
Very nicely done and excellent camera work which is so important and frustrating when not done properly. You're a great guy to take the time to show people things you've learned and to help folks save money and time. I am a car dealer in Southwest Florida and me and my men are always fixing things in every area of a vehicle and I fully understand "trial and error" so missing the pin on the actuator during install was easily missed and did cost you some time going back in to the job but because of this video you so graciously provided I will not make the same mistake. Thank you for this video.
Great video! Thanks for the tips on the Town and Country. I have a 2007 T&C with 102kmiles and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Only problem now is an EGR valve that needs changing. I purchased the part from Rock Auto and will try to install this week. My compliments to you for your patience demonstrated during the video. Great Job! Dave R. Greenwell Springs, LA
I took apart a 2007 Dodge grand caravan door lock actuator to find the Chinese motor inside had it's brushes burned up. Found the part #(off by a suffix letter) on motors sold on ebay 2 for $10. Had to hacksaw the armature shaft to correct length, that was the suffix letter difference. On a 2005 grand caravan, also had a bad actuator box which only needed grease at the plastic pivot point of the mechanism. The little Thailand motor was ok. As for the wiring harness, when one of the 2 heavy (16 gauge) wires of the harness opens up, you may as well solder in replacement wires for both. I usually use 18 gauge SPT-1 or SPT-2 wire as it is a bit more flexible than 16 gauge and fits better within the track.
Awesome video, Thanks!! I watched the A-1 Auto video first and thought it looked easy enough. I stumbled upon your video next and am so glad I did! I have a 2006 Touring and these were the 3 problems I have as well! I already fixed the dome lights but began my search to figure out if I could fix the driver side sliding door (broken wire) and passenger side door lock. I'm glad to be able to see where you corrected the installation problem and save myself the time and hassle of troubleshooting! Thanks again so much from a busy Mom of 3 with very little time to tinker around trying to figure out these problems!! Looking forward to having the power doors back up and running again!
Thank you very much, . . . lights did not work when we bought it, . . . I got bulbs, . . . they "went out" a week later, . . . turned out they were just loose. I figured just burned out again. Will also have to do the passenger side door lock, . . . not looking fwd to that, . . . but thank you for the tips on the aggravation I am facing.
Make sure it's the actuator before you buy one! You said you could take it back if it wasn't the problem but in my experience that's not true. At least find out first, because auto parts stores usually don't accept returns on electrical components. Also now that you know where that torx screw is to release the actuator, a measurement for us viewers would be nice so we could cut or drill an access hole to get to it.
Thank you for this video! I have a 2006 T&C. My rear passenger door has the same problem since we bought it 2 years ago. I didn't realize it could be such a "simple" fix. (a little work, but definitely do-able). I hate having to manually lock and unlock that door and hopefully by fixing the actuator, I'll no longer have to! Both my front dome lights are out also and hope to fix that as well!
Thank you. Mine has developed problems 1 & 3. The fix for 1 is a relief, 3 has me a bit nervous.. I'll never have problem 2 as we didn't get that option.
I did a write up on Fix-it on how to do this for like 2 bucks by replacing the motor inside the lock assembly. This piece he replaced was like 70 bucks at the time I did mine and you can get the drive motors off of eBay. You have to pull the latch assembly no matter what side your are working on...
I have a 2002 Town & Country. Recently, a vehicle brush against the headlight and broke the outer glass. It's not really glass, I think, but some kind of polycarbonate. Over the years it had become yellow and frosty. Anyway, I decided to look into how to replace the assembly and what it would ccost (it was a hit and run). I was surprised to find that the assembly was not expensive at about $30.00. Not only that, it was not difficult to replace. So I wound up ordering headlight assemblies for both sides. It took about an hour to do the work. The car looks kind of strange now. It's obviously old, but the headlights are brand new.
I love videos that are timeless. I just bought this same year and model van, and also have an actuator issue with the sliding door on the driver's side. Bookmarked this one for when I'm ready to tackle that job. :)
Wow!!! Your video helped me fix my drivers side map light!! It's been out for years and I thought only a dealer could fix it.. after watching your video I pried the lens off and turned the bulb a little (per your suggestion) and the light came on!! I may buy new bulbs just in case... but it's working great now! I owe you one! Cheers :)
Mine were very burned, but all the major pieces were there. I purchased the #168 led bulbs which pull 1 watt of power vs. over 10 watts for the incandescent ones the van comes with (too much wattage, and heat for small area the bulbs operate in). I took a pocket knife (or you could use a very small file, emery board, or piece of sand paper) to clean up the carbon from both the lamp holder and the lamp base contacts while making sure there is no power on while you are doing your prep. The led bulbs have wire leads which must be lifted and straightened so that they can be bent over the original bulb wire contacts. Note: The new bulb leads were barely long enough to reach, but i was able to make them work with just a pair of needle nose pliers. Other people have actually soldered the LED bulb leads to the bulb contact tabs, which is probably a great idea, given how long the new bulbs will last. The new bulbs are Sylvania #168 (or 194, or 2825 which are all compatible). Mine are working great now. Good Luck. The bulbs cost approx $22 at Autozone, but i am sure they are available from most any auto parts store, or amazon if you prefer. They also make direct fit LED replacement bulbs for the rear cargo area too. They are part number #578, (or 6411). No modification was necessary, except for squeezing the original bulb holding base clips a little closer together for a tighter grip on the slightly smaller ends of the new bulbs.
I have a 2005 Town & Country with 249,000 miles, not burning oil had the oil seals replaced six months ago, how much life does the vehicle have? The check engine light has been on since 150,000 plus miles
I have seen them in taxi service over 450,000 miles. Keep oil changed and replace transmission filter about every 30,000 miles. You will be great. Do not let anyone flush your transmission at this point unless you have had regular transmission service
I found LEDs that fit the sockets on my van. Nice and bright. Way better then stock and cheaper too. I know these were less then $5 each. But I did buy them in pairs. My point being it works great.
Thank you very kindly, I have all three problems with my 2004 Chrysler Town and Country. Now I know how to check out and hopefully fix each one of them. Thank you and Blessings!
Heater hose ‘y’ & ‘Y’ plastic connections bust easily. It’s best to replace then with metal ones. This is a crucial problem to fix. Once it breaks you van can overheat right away & you could blow the head gasket.
Thanks for the video. We just bought a 2007 Limited Town and Country and have the same issue with the left door not opening. I'm going to check the wire harness as suggested and see if that helps. Thanks again for the info. Keep it up!
Hi Dave I really appreciate your how to videos. So my 2005 driver window motor keeps quitting witch I have replaced twice & both sliders have quit working & Front dome quit so now that I have watched 2 of your videos I believe their not related? The window is the most frustrating wiring seems to be fine & I have checked fuses.
We had the problem with the dome light, but it "magically" corrected itself. I presume the bulb finally wiggled around enough while driving that it made contact again. Still good to know! Next... door. Ours work intermittently... so I'll have to address that soon. Thanks so much for sharing! Now... On to address the temperature sensor for the cooling fan.
hey my 2002 town n country takes a few tries in the morning to start, sometimes I find myself stomping down the pedal a few times for it to come on??? any tips on what could be
Amanda - (not sure why it won't let me reply to your comment but...) My door didn't do anything. Neither the button nor the remote would get the door to move. I did read that some people had a problem with it starting to move, or not closing completely. I think that was a problem with the sprocket??? But ya i had the same problem as you have, none of the 3 methods you mentioned would open/close the door. Check the wiring harness, it seems like the #1 culprit.
The door on my town and country works at times and at times, not, the dome lights don't work, and the door lock also does not work. Interesting. Thanks for being honest about screwing up with that pin. Now I know what to watch for.
Great video and easy to follow. I'm glad that you show the video with mistakes done, because that way you just showed one of the way to re-correct your work (troubleshooting) in case you wonder what went wrong. Well done. Question here: in your experience if all locks do not lock could it be a fuse or the actuators for all doors? Any answer will help here.
Not sure this will help now but may be it will for others.. You can take a drill and a large bit and drill a hold to line up with the screw. Just be careful and do it slowly and that will allow you to access that screw.
My 2000 town and country, when you turn on the switch the wipers come on without the wiper switch being on, they only operate twice back and forth then quits, the dome lights when door is open does not come on, the starter does not engage. However, my head lights work, and back up lights when in reverse.
Hi, thanks for putting these videos up. I have a 2004 Town & Country. I want the Automatic Locking to STOP and I Want to Decide when I lock the doors. It's OK to have it lock while I'm IN it, but Another thing entirely, that it does it in a few seconds when I'm still unloading stuff. I Don't leave the Door Hanging Open, which is the Only way to avoid locking my keys Inside, or Having to ALWAYS Hang onto them. Plus, it's Inconvenient. I live in the country, a walk to the house, then come back, gotta have a Pocket, so key is With me. I HATE that. I Just want my vehicle not to Lock Itself It needs to Wait until I unlock it. And I would rather not pay the dealer to fix what may be re-programming... Thank you
I need to replace the rear window wiper arm. How do you get the old one off. Took the nut off, but the rest of the arm won't come off, thanks for your help!
All I really had to do was take out the fuse. Wait 30 seconds and then it started working. Well after 30 min it worked. Idk if I still should change the actuator because I have a 2014 grand caravan.
Thanks for showing the mistakes. I have a repair channel too and try to show them too. If not show them give good warnings on how to prevent my mistakes. Good job!!
Dave Awesome video..we just bought a 2012 T&C Limited and found the same problem on the lock actuator. Certified dealer service want to charge $500 to fix and replace it?? Nuts..your instructions are spot on and we will give it a DIY fix..the second problem we have is the 2nd row right stow n Go seat will not fold or stow. Dealer service says cable is broken is serviced as a seat riser. Do you know or have you seen a video on how to fix that.. Dealer wants $1000 plus to repalce and fix? any help would be fantastic
I haven't seen that problem with the seats. I know on ours there's 3 cables labeled 1,2,3 that you have to pull. $1,000 seems like a lot. You could probably get brand new seats for less than that. It might be tight to get in there, but should be pretty obvious on what cable is broken (would be really loose when you pull it). Either buy a new cable and change it out, or buy one of those cable ties and re-connect the broken ends.
Any fix for the issue with the dash lights all coming on and flashing with the windshield wipers coming on and no radio power. This happens all at the same time. I've heard that tge tipm can cause it and also some cases of it being a lose wire behind the dash or radio.
Having problems with a 2015 town & country driver seat position sensor? Keep saying driver seat position sensor open Circuit! Replaced the sensor & same thing. Checked the wiring harness got good Continuity!
good to know on all these issues! i was gonna replace my 2 map/dome lights with led lights to keep the heat down. i try not to use the power door on my van lol no kids so it never needs to be opened
Must be VERY common. 2005 Chrysler Town and Country Touring Drivers side sliding door needs to be assisted with opening, then will slide with the button, same with closing. Passenger side doesn't work at all, won't unlock or anything, then suddenly, it will after like a month, then it won't for a month, then.... You get the point. Lift gate doesn't open automatic and won't hold open. And lastly, the dome lights above the rear view mirror don't work.
1:43 what were they thinking first tires on ours are half hard to find because they put fucked up sizes on em now these a hard to get as well huh thanks for letting me know.
Hi Dave. Thanks for sharing. For the sliding door. Did yours open/shut a little? Or was it not opening/closing completely? My van is not opening/closing at all with the remote, pushing the button on the side, or using the console. Thanks.
I have the same problems on my 2006 Town and Country. Same exact doors as well. How did you determine that the passenger side door lock was the actuator. Could a wire have been broken as well in the lower track? or had you already checked to see if the wires were good?
Question for you...since we have so many of the same problems....I ran out of wiper fluid and refilled and now even though the motor is running the fluid is not spraying out. Assuming it's a common problem and maybe the lines or misters are just clogged with salt (thank you Michigan winter) but if you happen to have had a similar issue i'd love to know so I can save myself some more valuable time. Thanks again!
No i haven't had that problem. I remember last year it got so cold that the cheaper fluid (red) was freezing in the lines and we had to buy the Blue antifreeze wiper fluid. It might also be that when you ran out of fluid, air somehow got inside the pump. Maybe you have to prime it buy pouring fluid down into where the pump is???
Thanks for the video. I learned a lot. Would you know why a 2003 town and country van transmission sometimes doesn't go into gear. It is inconsistent. Sometimes it does it and sometimes not. Thanks.
Hello how are you? I tell you , I have a chrysler town & country 2001 3.3 and the side doors are not going very well , besides the direction that gets very heavy you help me please?
You can actually replace the little electric motor in the door actuator. A new motor is like $3-$5 instead of the whole actuator which I think is close to $100.
I have a 2001 town and country van.The vac hose coming from transducer melted and melted the transducer.U replaced them now my van won't start .I need help please
Great video. One issue fixed! Any idea what to look at with a grinding noise when steering along with a slight whine in the power steering? No leaks. Grind seems to be coming from the front left wheel area. CV axle????
Same prob with dome lights, also fixed both sides of sliding doors but as time went on the passenger side does not open and all wires are fine in harness. I can hear the door trying to open but does not. Now what ?
Hi I have a town country 2008 I changed the starter and the battery and when I tried to start it the black wire it burned and the starter too what do you think the problem is?? Thank you have a nice day
Good to know. I appreciate the video. I try to do most of my non-technical repairs to my vehicles as well, like headlights, window replacements - if I can help it; as well as replace felt roofing. Currently having problems with rear window wiper blade. It does not wipe the complete area it is supposed to. From its off position to about a quarter of the way up when turned on, it does not touch the window. It is lifted off the glass in the off position. Maybe you have some knowledge on this issue? would appreciate some feedback. Thanks.
Great video...youre very good in details👌 A very simple question...on a 2006 grand caravan how do you remove the plastic cover (without breaking it) on the floor so you can unsrew the cable for the spare tire underneath? Stow n go seats.
If i remember correctly i think it just pops off. Maybe you have to use a screwdriver to lift the edge up. I don't remember mine being difficult to remove.
try fixing a leaky rocket cover. Because the engine is sideways and so compact ya need to take the engine out to fix that. most other cars open the bonnet and ya right to go. I know this video was 3 years ago but a big problem with these cars is the cheap plastic. You try to remove door interior to replace a power window motor, clips break. Try to pull out exterior lights to replace globes, clips break. Try to change fuses, clips break. so on so on so on. Don't bother with a Chrysler if its over 6 years old.
