2008 grand caravan, Dash warning lights: Brake, ABS, esp bas and the traction control icon are all activated.

Asked by jbenner Oct 23, 2012 at 01:03 PM about the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

When I start the van the lights are off but they will come on soon after the van starts moving

30 Answers

750

I have the same issue. I hope someone can comment with some answers.

75 people found this helpful.
930

This just happened to me. My mechanic said that it is due to unreliable wheel speed information. It can be caused by having different diameter tires on the van, but more likely due to a bad wheel bearing or a wheel bearing starting to go bad. He was able to get a fault code to identify which wheel sensor was the problem. Since the wheel speed information is bad, the ABS and traction control are disabled, hence the warning lights.

93 people found this helpful.
530

This just happened to me. I reset the computer by taking the neg. battery cable off the battery for about 3 or 4 minutes and put it back on the battery. That fixed the problem for me.

53 people found this helpful.
170

thx1138 might be correct, since my warning lights were accompanied by occasional wheel shimmy.

17 people found this helpful.
500

I have the same issue except the ABS turns on my breaks making the car slow way down, I was driving 30 mph when it happened. What would cause this. I was not on any Ice or slick road. I can not drive it like it is, I will have to change the break pads as well.

50 people found this helpful.
250

My car started to break on its own as well...I knew it was the brake caliper going bad..changed it and fixed that problem then had to change the sensor which is easy and reset my codes. I knew it was the calipers because the rear ones had to be replaced last year.

16 people found this helpful.
250

My car started to brake on its own as well...I knew it was the brake caliper going bad..changed it and fixed that problem then had to change the sensor which is easy and reset my codes. I knew it was the calipers because the rear ones had to be replaced last year.

9 people found this helpful.
285

I just put a wheel bearing in my van but the lights still come on

28 people found this helpful.
670

2008 dodge grand caravan, same 3 lights... have an important trip tomorrow! HELP . Taking it to auto zone at lunch to run diagnostic

67 people found this helpful.
270

@GuruJKLB what did the mechanic say? I just gave mine suddenly on yesterday. Don't have any problem driving though. It's also been snowing and very cold (around -10 and lower all week), I wonder if that somehow contribute.

27 people found this helpful.
400

Had same problem all ABS, BRAKE, ESP BAS AND Traction lights, Bad Hub overheated the ABS sensor wire and melted the sheathing. Replaced both hubs fixed problem, didn't need to do both but I prefer to replace suspsion and Drive train components in pairs, like Bearings, Ball joints, struts etc... If you don't know what your doing be very careful with this repair it's not very difficult but requires some force and finesse and you don't want to break an ear off your hub housing or damage the harness side of the wiring. Also don't beat the new hub in use the mounting bolts to pull it in making sure to alternate back and forth so you don't bind it up, and don't over tighten the axel nut. Pay attention to the routing of the sensor wire also so it has the proper slack. Finally there is a RED locking clip on the harness side of the connector be careful to pull it away before you try to release the latch on the connector

40 people found this helpful.
560

The same thing is happening to my 2010 grand caravan. I recently had new brakes & wheel bearings replaced on all the wheels. The lights starting coming on after I had the work done, not before! I don’t know what the heck is wrong with this van!

56 people found this helpful.
140

When I start the van the lights are off but they will come on soon after the van starts moving thx1138 I tried riding the brakes to apply equal pressure to all wheels,no lights came on,tried riding the emergency brake only, all four dash lights came on,that tells me my problem is in the front.I recently had new brakes installed,I'm thinking the calipers are not applying equal pressure to properly read the speed of each wheel. I also get occasional wheel shimmy

14 people found this helpful.
150

2008 G. Caravan. Same general Problem, warning lights on. Code C2200 with ABS reader and reset. Lights come on at around 12 mph. Changed Front wheel hubs about 2 months ago w/ new speed sensors. today I changed speed sensors again and check Omh and voltage from ABS module plus condition of the hubs, they seem to be good, clear codes with ABS code reader I keep getting C2200 at 12 mph. going crazy now. Are there similar sensors in the back? I haven't found access to a better computer like the Snapon Solus which will help a lot. Thank guys.

11 people found this helpful.
90

I took it to a mechanic and they told me that the ABS Control Module was bad and needed replaced.... $800 for parts and service. It's a 2008 Town and Country

9 people found this helpful.
240

I took my 2009 Grand Caravan to a mechanic due to the ABS, ESP BAS, Traction Control and Brake lights coming on shortly after engine start and engaging drive. Spent 1500 replacing the ABS Control module, a front driver side ball joint, air conditioning blower motor and an oil change. Now the check engine light comes on along with the ESP BAS light and the Traction Control light, and there's a shimmying in the steering wheel when braking from highway speeds. This is getting very frustrating.

24 people found this helpful.
130

Deloria I’m having this same problems with my 2010 dodge grand car van what did you do to fix it

13 people found this helpful.
90

i have the 4 same lights on after i was putting a can of gas in the van and my wife started the van not nowing shut it off right away but when i started to drive thats when the 4 lights came on tried battery thing checked with meter no codes showing but still on so this is totally different did calipers brakes bearings seniors 7 months ago no problems til this

9 people found this helpful.
100

Same problem with 2010 dodge caravan, changed all 4 brakes (they were due for change) but lights still stays on. Auto Zone used the code reader to try and reset but even though the lights are on it says no known errors so thy can't reset it. Since so many are having this same problem I hope someone can figure it out. I'm dreading going to a mechanic.

10 people found this helpful.
170

10 says "Bad wheel speed sensor". Just replaced all four. ABS/ESP still on.

6 people found this helpful.
170

Just bought my own OBD scanner. Came up with codes C1000 & P0571 which point to the brake light switch.

4 people found this helpful.
170

Replaced brake light switch yesterday. So far, no lights - problem seems to be resolved.

7 people found this helpful.
120

I had this problem every time I would put my foot on the brake pedal the brake lights all came on so did check the engine light. I found out it was the computer malfunctioning after months of the dealer's mechanic kept jerking me around. I took it to my cousin and he checked it all over told me the computer was very rusty somehow got wet was malfunctioning so all my sensor lights would pop on and off at all different times hopefully the issue is fixed because it was a $500 fix. My tire pressure sensor light kept popping on too hard to know if u had flat fire or just a malfunction and if u had brake problems when they were all replaced. Before my cousin found the problem I was told maybe wheel bearing maybe brake issue.

6 people found this helpful.
120

To all that is having the same problem as I did, did any of ur mechanics check the computer? If it is rusty and old or got wet it will malfunction and cause all the sensor lights to pop on and off and make ur vehicle run like shit including have brake issues vehicle drive with little power too and ur steering wheel to feel weird. It can cause all kinds of weird issues.

6 people found this helpful.
40

It was the speed sensor. I've had the same issue 6 times now. If you brake too hard, and the rotors heat up too much, the heat transfers to the wheel bearing assembly. Thus the sensor burns out internally.

4 people found this helpful.
50

All good answers. Wheel speed sensors, bad alignment, mismatched tires, malfunctioning/worn brakes, or wet/damaged ecu. I love this body style of van and have seen everything lol. The brake assist system is a brake wear nanny, and applies breaking pressure to keep the van going "straight" with the wheel at top dead center. It works with the abs module and ecu calculating wheelspeed in order to apply brake pressure to a. keep the van in a "lane" and b. to act as traction control. If all the components arent perfect (tires, brakes, calipers, speed sensors, module, ecu, brake low voltage lighting, tire pressure) the system attempts to constantly correct itself. Because the system can be manually disabled via the button on the center dash, it cant register codes, otherwise it would through the engine light everytime you pushed it.

5 people found this helpful.

Had a dodge grand caravan (4 actually) And a problem I had was the fuse box positive lead from the battery was corroded and it was giving me all kinds of different lights and a couple times the just up and quit at highway speed..that was hair-raising pulled the nut off and cleaned it up, was very rusty on the contact zone reattached and soaked it in wd40 to keep the moisture away

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