Two days ago I installed a new battery. All went well and when I started the van I noticed there were several electronic items that now no longer work. The radio, back up camera and the rear a/c no longer work. I've installed two batteries in this van before and never experienced this problem.

I'm hoping someone can tell me what happened and maybe how to fix this. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.

 

Here we go again....
Although it sounds improbable, disconnecting the battery -ve for a few minutes may well sort it. I know it doesn't make sense, but do it anyway. Nothing to lose.

Leedsman.

 

You will probably need the Code for the radio for a start, not sure about the rest. Give more information about your car on here, as for all we know it could be another Manufacturer.

 

Thanks for the info. My van is a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country and up to this point has been a great vehicle for us. I'm simply stumped that changing a battery would have this type of effect on electronics.

 

I'll second a second disconnect. Microprocessor circuits drive most of the accessories on these vans, especially the latest generation 2008-2014s. They often get confused by voltage fluctuations. Disconnecting just the negative cable for a few minutes has a very good chance of fixing this.

 

Battery is the prime, the single biggest cause of BUS problems. low battery & arcing secondary ignition components particularly shorted electric motors often cause the PCI bus to react to the resulting electromagnetic interference sending the cars brains into a spin. In the 70's each individual sensor had to be 'hard wired' to a brain, by the late 70's the PCi BUS was invented and COMMS went over the PCi BUS. Then came the late 80's and computers began to be networked, cars were no different - auto gearbox's, anti-lock brakes and body controlled items such as lights entertainment and say-nav's were incorporated into the BUS protocol. The now old 2001 Cherokee still uses the antique CCD BUS, the 06 Jeep Liberty still uses the PCI BUS in tandem with the now internationally standard CAN BUS, most Chrysler's since 08 use PCi & CAN BUS protocols.

Suddenly two or more modules can talk electronic language to each other independently, for example the PCM shares ECT info with the EATC module. Here the [EATC] electronic automatic temperature control is informed by the [PCM] power control module of the [ECT] engine coolant temp and automatic temp control is adjusted without your human intervention. There are hundreds of the conversations per minute happening between two or more modules, each and every one of them has to find a seat on the BUS and be communicated to one or more of the brains. An example of this would be that if if all the PRNDL segments are illuminated it almost always suggests a COMMS issue between the instrument cluster and the TCM] transmission control module. All these simultaneous broadcast messages can bump into each other on the BUS so they are transmitted by order of ranked priority, those of low priority are left parked at the BUS stop until the [all happens in milliseconds] information highway is clear then they are allowed a seat on the BUS. Chrysler invented the ['98 bi-wire CCD] Chrysler collision detection system for just that purpose.

All this intelligence has to be broadcast without corruption, and it all depends on many things being simultaneously perfect, particularly battery power levels, no brain can function without life .. .. and life in this case is supported by clean power from a battery. Hence the reason why pulling the NEG for 15 minutes [CAP & BATT] can re-set life itself by re-setting the BUS protocols.

 

IT WORKED! I removed the neg battery cable for 20 minutes, reinstalled the neg cable then started the van and everything came to life. Thank you for your assistance! My wife is very happy which means I'll soon be very happy!

YOU DA MAN!

 

So glad it worked Sooner dean. This is a procedure to adopt with ALL microprocessor based cars. It costs nothing in time or money, and it should be done as a very first step.
Apart from anything else, one would feel such a fool if, after lots of money and time, it turned out to be so simple. However...

There may be a reason the micros are getting glitched up and need the hard reset disconnecting the battery provides. So keep an eye on it and report any electronic malfunctions rightaway. Thre is much to be understood about lead-acid starter batteries and their use for powering these micros.

Leedsman.