Dodge Grand Caravan electric-seat fuse blows periodically? Looking for wiring diagram.

360

Asked by umans Dec 28, 2013 at 07:54 PM about the 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan Crew FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

The fuse for the electric driver's seat in my 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan blows periodically for no apparent reason.  The dealer service department could not find the problem.  Has anyone had a similar problem?  How can I find a wiring diagram so that I can diagnose the problem?   Tnx!

29 Answers

360

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell when it blows. The electric seat adjustment works for a while (perhaps weeks) and then we find it simply no longer works (i.e. you can't adjust the position any more). Replacing the fuse gets it to work for a while but then for some reason the fuse has blown and it needs to be replaced. I am looking for a wiring diagram so that I can see if I can figure out what the problem is.

12 people found this helpful.
80

HI, I just started to have the same problem with mine... Did you find anything?

8 people found this helpful.
110

I have the same problem. It is my wife's car but it has blown twice after I drove it. My theory. I adjust both the backward and down lever at the same time. That requires / of the 3 motors to operate. That draws excess amps and blows the fuse. If not 2 motors I could accidentally have bumped the third motor switch (backrest) making all three work. Since I have carefully operated only one at a time no fuse has blown. Try it

11 people found this helpful.
360

Keith. It turns out that my problem was that a bit of insulation had gotten scraped off of the cable that supplied power to the seat motor. Periodically, and somewhat randomly, when the seat was moved, the uninsulated wire would short to the frame and blow the fuse. Re-insulating the wire and re-positioning it under the seat fixed the problem.

19 people found this helpful.
50

May 2013 Dodge Caravan electric seat is not working dealer doesn't know why.

5 people found this helpful.
70

no answer here, just trying to see if any one has answer for the seat not going forward all the way? i can't put the stow and go seat (drivers rear) because i can't get the front seat to go all the way forward. nothing is blocking the seats path.

7 people found this helpful.
30,935

Go to Auto-Zones site ... they have free wiring diagrams

10 people found this helpful.
50

Umans: I have the same issue with power seat fuse blowing. There are several motors that operate to re-position the seat. I wonder if you might be able to more precisely identify which wiring harness feeding which motor was the culprit. At a glance under the seat, I didn't notice any issues, but knowing where exactly (by location or motor) you found your issue would be helpful.

3 people found this helpful.
360

It turned out that the insulation in one of the wires in the harness to the motors was scraped away a bit and periodically when the seat was moved the conductor of that wire would short to the metal frame of the seat which then blew the fuze. Fixing the insulation fixed the problem.

5 people found this helpful.
130

I had the same problem and it turns out the seat was not designed for a gentleman of my..."heft" we shall say. The insulation on all 4 wires (black, orange, blue and pink/white) that lead to the forward/back switch for the drivers seat had been scraped away when my big but got in the van and flexed the plastic holding the switches and would short out when they hit the frame of the seat. Not a great design but now I know to be more careful! Carefully remove the the plastic panel holding the seat switches and check the wiring for rubbing and it might be your solution too!

13 people found this helpful.
30

Our motor actually shorted out today and caught fire in our 2011 caravan We've never had any issues before. We just bought ours used this past July. We bought the extended warranty, but they said that depending on their investigation it might not be covered....

1 people found this helpful.
30

Thanks. I did contact them because the dealer wasn't able to provide us with a loaner.

1 people found this helpful.
20

I am having the same issue with mine...the dealer replaced it once and it worked for about a week...what should I do..I got it used and my warranty is already up...

2 people found this helpful.
90

Had a similar fuse issue on my 2011 Caravan. The wire from the drivers power lumbar switch was rubbing on the front pivot point. I took the plastic side off to inspect. Insulation rubbed through and blew fuse. Easy tape fix when you know where to look.

9 people found this helpful.
60

At least the fuse is the only thing wrong with your seat. The motor runs in mine but nothing happens trying to go up or down. Since it will go back and forth and the height is acceptable for both my wife and me, I can't see spending $1K+ to fix it.

3 people found this helpful.
20

I have the same problem in my 2014 but we have finally found that ours every time we roll down the drivers window it blows. Even though they are on two completely different circuits. I have an appointment on Monday with the dealer hope he finds the problem wile it's still under warranty!!!

2 people found this helpful.
20

The are two forty amp fuses that provide electricity the power seat. See you fuse diagrams in you manual. I am working on the problem right now. Since no wiring is exposed under the car, I agree that there is a 90% chance that my porky buttocks have caused the problem. There's a lot of wiring with connections with moving parts in confined space.. I too believe that a wire has been abraded. Thanks for the input .

2 people found this helpful.
20

Mine has done this twice in one week.. I find that the only time the fuse blows is when my wife drives. She needs the seat all of the way forward to drive. I've put another fuse in it to get the seat back into a position that I am able to drive it.. no problem, but as soon as she pulls all of the way forward it blows another fuse.. She's not that tall, but she's a cutie.. :) Are there different types of 40 amp fuses? Like different sizes of square ones?

2 people found this helpful.
10

I have a 2014 grand caravan that also keeps blowing a fuse and it affects both the driver and passenger seats. The issue is it keeps blowing the fuss even without us moving the seats. Took it to the dealership and they were not able to ID the problem thanks for all the different opinions on here I will take it back with a few suggestions.

1 people found this helpful.
20

As a couple of people have mentioned in this thread, I have seen that many people have found wires chaffing on the seat rails causing a short which will blow the fuse. you shouldn't have to pull the seat to find it but you may have to remove some of the plastic covering the wires to see that it has rubbed through. I have a 2010 grand caravan and my mother has a 2014 . Both of ours started blowing the fuse about a month ago and both seemed to blow while the seats were not being operated . Both had chaffed wires on the outside (door side) of the drivers seat. Hope this helped

2 people found this helpful.
20

Does the radio go out when the electric seat fuse blows out? A repair site told me that the radio and seat are on the same circuit but the radio plays fine.

2 people found this helpful.
50

My radio works fine with the power seat fuse blown or removed. I still have the problem, never looked exhaustively visually for the chaffed wiring harness problem. Took a casual look underneath with a flashlight, nothing was obviously wrong. Will revisit it this weekend. Left the seat in a position that works for all our drivers, with short leggers just adjusting the pedals location to nearer to the seat.

2 people found this helpful.
20

Thank you for all your posts. We were looking for a used Caravan with electric seats, but now we will have to give that a little more thought!

2 people found this helpful.
30

Just fixed same issue on my inlaws van... we had replaced the fuse under the hood in relay box several times... this time the new fuse snap crackle popped immediately.... further inspection proved the problem for us was insulation had been damaged on the 4 wires leading to the lumbar adjustment rocker switch.... 3 of the wires were actually fused together.... for now I disconnected and removed switch until a replacement can be obtained... noticed slight wear on seat adjustment wiring harness.... so I wrapped it with several layers of electrical tape to protect against a similar fate.... popped in a new fuse and all is well minus lumbar adjustment for now

3 people found this helpful.
85

I took my 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan to Pep Boys; when the drivers side seat is moved forward or backward, up or down, the full amount; this happens. The insulation on the wire is rubbed away and the wires short out. I had to get a new plastic side cover as this unit retain the harness in position. Don't move the seat to the full extent forward or backward or up and down. The harnesses are too short. It is a design flaw. I will have Pep Boys make adjustments for the rubbing effect.

6 people found this helpful.
85

It turns out when the power seat is moved full travel to the front; the power lumbar seat switch harness is stretched causing the insulation to rub and expose the bare wires. This is a design flaw or an adjustment on the part of the travel of the power seat. I would not travel the power seat forward to put the secondary seat down. I also replaced the plastic housing cover to the seat switches.

2 people found this helpful.
40

I have a 2013 caravan. The driver's seat will not move forward nor backwards, it does go up and down. I am unable to put up the seat behind the drivers seat without the seat moved forward. I can hear the motor running when I push the button, so not the fuse. Unable to see any exposed wires under the seat. Recent widow of all of 2 weeks, no more brilliant husband to ask / fix. Ideas pleas!

4 people found this helpful.
20

I have a 2010 dodge caravan that will not slid forward or backward, it will do all other functions but that. Hopefully someone has a thought.

2 people found this helpful.
10

My 2012 Grand Caravan is having a similar issue. The only difference is that my seat will move forward on its own while parked overnight and the fuse will be blown in the morning. I removed the fuse to prevent a fire and only install it when I need to move the seat forward to stow the rear seat. I will check all the wiring. Thanks for the info.

1 people found this helpful.

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