1998 Dodge Caravan alarm locked

Randy,
You have probably solved the problem by now,
I just saw your message. But if you haven't,I had the exact problem.Trying the key in each door did not work. I tried disconnecting the Pos. Battery
connector & reconnecting after a few min. It worked & the car started, but once again after the car was turned off, it locked up again, I had to repeat the process. So it is only a temporary fix.
Still doing it, at least I get where I'm going
till thnigs get better & i can pay to have it fixed.
If you have had it fixed, please let me know what they did.
Young Mick








[quote:e1c90be85e="randy hall"]Electrical problem
1998 Dodge Caravan 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 118000 miles

my alarm has been activated and now the van will not start. i have asked a dealer and he told me to work the locks at each door with the key. did not work! I think it is an add on system. Can i disconnect it or reset in another way? please let me know. i cannot afford another car and cant pay a service charge to a dishonest dealer.i need an answer please. not a link to buy a book.cant afford that either.[/quote:e1c90be85e]

I have two things for you. First, these vans had a lot of trouble with broken solder connections on the instrument cluster. I've only been involved with one but I've read about this quite often. I'm sorry I can't remember how difficult it was to repair, but as best as I can recall, I did it in the owner's parking lot with not much more than my pencil soldering iron. From photos I've seen, the broken connections are usually on one of the corner pins on the connector with two rows of pins. The one I repaired was for an intermittent crank / no-start condition. He could hit the dash, then it would start and run. To my knowledge, the engine never stalled once it was running, but there were some things on the cluster that would stop working periodically. No more problems once the connector terminals were resoldered. His van had a factory-installed anti-theft system but that wasn't involved with the failure to start.

If you need to go further, you'll need to start a new question specific to your van. Unlike other sites where anyone can chime in to confuse the issue, here this became a private conversation between just two people. They were the only two to get automated emails directing them back here when there was a reply posted. As such, none of the other experts will see this conversation or have a chance to reply. That won't get you the help you need.

Also, the site owners categorize every question by model and by type of problem to make it easier for others researching this problem to find, like you did here. Due to the age of this question, others are likely to skip right over it or not even see it, or your addition and solution. I'll watch to see if you need to post a new question, and I'll pop in with advice if I have any of value.

Here's the link if you need to write a new question:

https://www.2carpros.com/questions/new

Please be sure to list the engine size and the mileage. We need that to look up the correct diagrams, and when making judgement calls as to best suspects.

I should add one more comment. I see you disconnected the battery. When you do that, once reconnected and you turn on the ignition switch, the Engine Computer will relearn sensor personalities right away, and when running, it will relearn fuel trim data without you even noticing. The one big exception is "minimum throttle". Until that is relearned, idle speed will be too low. The engine may not start unless you hold the accelerator pedal down 1/4". It won't give you the nice "idle flare-up" to 1500 rpm at startup, and it will tend to stall at stop signs.

To meet the conditions for that relearn to take place, drive at highway speed with the engine warmed up, then coast for at least seven seconds without touching the pedals.