Printer Friendly Forum Posts - remote start, 03 grand caravan

Hi everyone,

After reading the threads on here for years I have finally decided to tackle my little project. That's installing a remotestart onto K9-Classic in my 03 Dodge Grand Caravan.

For a professional they usually do 6 or 7 cars a day, but it must be a back killer to kneel next to the cars and working under the dash. Do they have special boards or chairs that would allow them to sort of lie flat on the car, kind of like the creepers mechanics use to work under the car?

On a side note, I checked out the job done to our van from a professional place back in 2003. I ripped open the tape from the ignition harness and they use barrel connectors. I'm also suprise to see the factory wires on the ignition harness are I think 14 gauge. I plan on tapping from the battery. Is 10 gauge wire ok to power all the 4 relays for ignition, starters, and module power?

Thanks

The answer is when you get to my age, you pace yourself, frequent tea/cig breaks, the elbows, back and knees are shot and I wish I studied law!

Re your serious question, joints should have been soldered but it isn't a rquirement except here when installing a UK Cat I alarm,it's just better practice for joint integrity(less resistance at joint). Taking feeds from ignition switch or fusebox should be adequate. You really only need to equal the wire guages of the ign and starter cables (fused of course)

howie ll wrote:

The answer is when you get to my age, you pace yourself, frequent tea/cig breaks, the elbows, back and knees are shot and I wish I studied law!

Seriously, there is no space between the dash and the seat. What does everyone use ? Or do you unbolt the seat to make room?

No reason to unbolt the seat. Just get in there and find one wire at a time. As Howie said, take some breaks. That van is sort of a pain in the butt, but easily accomplished. I have a little plastic toolbox that i bought at K-mart that i usually sit on. It helps keep me at car level. I wouldn't use anything with wheels, because you'll just be sliding around.

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Just wondering the BCM is all the way in the back. How do you get to those wires? Do you unplug each plug? I also tried to unplug the socket from the ignition harness for easier work, but for the life of me, could not figure out how to do it.

To pull the plug at the ignition harness you pull back on the red tab, and push on the release button and pull, but If you trace the ignition harness from the steering column you can grab the wires up high in front of the bcm, but still accessible. Almost everything else you need is in plugs on the front of the bcm....door triggers,hatch, door locks. I don't unplug any harnesses, because, generally the wires will not test properly.There is no easy way to do this van, and the first one is always a pain. All i can say is stretch out before you start working. Ha

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The connector on the ignition harness is like this. Sorry I took this with my camera phone. Red connector on each side. How do I pull back the red tabs?

When you measure each connector at the BCM, which is about one feet from the metal brace, do you stick a paperclip in the plug and measure off that?

And just wanted to make sure I got the BCM on the second image it has large letters saying 78AE?

I will tackling this project tomorrow in my driveway at 90 degree weather posted_image

posted_image

The BCM (Body Control Module) is in the driver kick panel near the parking brake. It has 5 plugs in it, one 6 pin plug and four 34 pin plugs. Should be a large black box against the firewall. It will have the plugs on the front side, facing towards you. As for the ign. harness, the red tab should have one side that has a lip. I used to pull back on it with a hook tool....the red piece is just a lock to make sure the plug doesn't accidently come unplugged. As i mentioned above though, i no longer pull it. Now i just trace the harness back behind the steering column and make my connections there. Oh yeah, paper clips are for paper....haha. When you find the bcm, the wires are easily probed. If this is your first install, i can tell you that you picked one crappy vehicle to attempt.

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I found a picture here, but it doesn't look like my van. I was looking all around today and didn't notice a black box like you mentioned. Could it be because the junction block thing is blocking it? Do I have to remove anything other then the 2 front trim pieces?

If that beige box isn't the BCM, then what could it be?

Yea, I knew this is going to be a pain when I first found out it could be this difficult to change 3 the spark plugs in the back row of the van.

posted_image

Don't remove ANY plugs to probe them, ESPECIALLY with ign on!! FRIED ECU!! We have developed special ways and methods and test tools, hence the RSI to my hands. Yes on certain vehicles we remove the chairs but even then there can be airbag issues.

witxp] wrote:

I found a picture here, but it doesn't look like my van. I was looking all around today and didn't notice a black box like you mentioned. Could it be because the junction block thing is blocking it? Do I have to remove anything other then the 2 front trim pieces?
If that beige box isn't the BCM, then what could it be?
Yea, I knew this is going to be a pain when I first found out it could be this difficult to change 3 the spark plugs in the back row of the van.

That picture is for an older Caravan.

you know there's a second, negative start wire that needs 180ohm resister during crank right?.

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Shaughn Murley
Install Manager, Dealer Services
Visions Electronics
Red Deer, Alberta

extreme1 wrote:

That picture is for an older Caravan.
you know there's a second, negative start wire that needs 180ohm resister during crank right?.

Yes I do. Thanks. My only concern is finding the BCM right now before I start tackling it. I haven't tried looking today, but didn't notice there was one in that area yesterday. Does anyone have a picture of it? Is it in that same area?

bcm is in the same location, but it looks different. There are 5 square plugs going vertical on it. each with about 20-30 wires in it. You will need to tap into wires in 3 of them i believe. haven't done one in a while though.

vitrox wrote:

bcm is in the same location, but it looks different. There are 5 square plugs going vertical on it. each with about 20-30 wires in it. You will need to tap into wires in 3 of them i believe. haven't done one in a while though.

Thanks

I plan to tackle the project this weekend. Will post back once it's finished.

BCM is mounted against the firewall with the plugs facing right at you. VERY easy to get to and work with. There are locks on the plug, but they open easily.

Mark Mizenko wrote:

BCM is mounted against the firewall with the plugs facing right at you. VERY easy to get to and work with. There are locks on the plug, but they open easily.

Do you see it in this picture?

posted_image

Aw....much better picture than the first one you posted. Alot of you wires will be right there. Break out the dmm and test away. Almost looks like there is some aftermarket wiring in there already.

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mikvot wrote:

Aw....much better picture than the first one you posted. Alot of you wires will be right there. Break out the dmm and test away. Almost looks like there is some aftermarket wiring in there already.

So the bcm, is it shown with the plugs on the right side of the picture? Yes there are some aftermarket wiring. We had the K-9 classic installed already back in 03.