I have a 2005 Dodge Caravan. When I turn the ignition on, the tach and speedometer go

W

Will

New member
full scale and then back? to zero. The transmission will not engage until the indicators are back at zero and the lights have come back on on the transmission indicator. At the same time, the car has started having trouble starting. Sometimes, the starter will turn over without an engine start; other times, the engine starts right away.
 
check with the dealer first for a firmware up date for the instrument cluster. If there is no information they have for it, it is likely you have a bad cluster and it needs to be replaced.
 
When electronic gauges came out in the '70s that was common. Turn on the ignition and all the gauges would sweep, and all the lights would blink. Some big trucks still do that, but that is not the case with your vehicle. There is a self test feature for Chrysler vehicles, but I don't know what year it started.
It is activated by holding down the odometer knob and turning on the ignition. After going through the sequences, it will display fault codes, if any on the odometer. There could be a fault with the odometer knob allowing this to happen. I would just call a local dealer and ask if this a common occurrence. But, watch out if the dealer says you will have to bring it in for service. You may well have to, but at this point you are just looking for the cause.
 
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