Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (front, side and curtain air bags, sensors and inflators).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 1998 Dodge Caravan owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Tl* the contact owned a 1998 Dodge Caravan. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the contact's vehicle crashed into a second vehicle. The front end was severely damaged. The driver's side air bag did not deploy. The passenger side air bag deployed although no passenger was present in the vehicle. The vehicle was destroyed and towed. The driver sustained a head laceration above the right eye, a concussion, a bruised heart and lung, left knee laceration, and chest bruises from the seat belts. Also, both wrists and elbows were injured. A police report was filed. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 135,000.
The vehicle was involved in a frontal collision while driving at 60 MPH. The vehicle hydro-planed,struck the medium, went over 5 lanes and crashed into the guard rail. The frontal air bags failed to deploy upon impact. The driver sustained minor injuries including a sore neck and buries. The consumer's son was operating the vehicle at the time of the accident. The light on the dash always indicated that the air bags were enabled.
While driving between 35-45 MPH, going around a curb, the back of the van skidded. This resulted in the vehicle going over a hill, and impacting a tree head on. Upon impact, only passenger's air bag deployed. Also, the seat belt failed to retract. Driver sustained I facial injuries. Vehicle was totaled.
Vehicle was involved in a frontal collision at 45-50 MPH impact with a tracker trailer and driver's side air bag failed to deploy. Driver received facial and body bruises. Driver did not go to the local hospital until a week or two later. Dealer was not notified.
Tl* the contact owns a 1998 Dodge Caravan. While driving approximately 25 MPH, the driver and passenger side air bags deployed independently. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 55,000.
My 98 Dodge Caravan had a failed clockspring, which caused the airbag, horn, and cruise control to not function. Chrysler has a recall on a failed clockspring for 96-98 Dodge caravans, and clearly states on its website it will reimburse customers for repairs to the clockspring. However, when I brought mine in for repair, and on subsequent phone calls and letters written to Chrysler, they indicate that my build date was not included in the recall. They need to expand the build date to later months in 1998, and consequently increase the amount of cars covered in the recall, because there is obviously a problem with the clockspring during my build date. This will cause people to have non-functioning airbags, cruise control, and horns, and unfortunately, May cause lives to be lost. …
Dt: the contact owns a 1998 Dodge Caravan. The vehicle was involved in a frontal accident at 55 MPH. Upon impact, the air bags did not deploy, and the seat belt did not restrain. The contact's husband was driving the vehicle and he hit the steering wheel, and his coworker was the passenger, and he went into the windshield. Both occupants where wearing their seat belts and where properly restrained. The air bag warning light was on before recall repairs had been done in July 2005, and horn would not work. After the recall repairs were completed the light did not come back on. There was pre-impact braking to both occupants. This caused injuries to both occupants. The dealership and the manufacturer have been contacted, and they told her they would send her file off to special investigations, and she May hear from back from them, and she May not. This accident occurred on October 11, 2005. …
Consumer pressed the horn there was no sound. Airbag light was on while driving. Took vehicle to the dealer for analysis, and mechanic noticed that the clockspring needed to be replaced due to a worn part. The consumer noticed that the air bag light flickered off and on intermittently then eventually remained on whenever the vehicle was operated. At the same time the horn also failed. The consumer contacted the dealer. The dealer was sure that the problem was with the clockspring but the technician was going to charge the consumer to run the test. The clockspring was recall for the 1996-2000 minivans but not the 1998's. The consumer has not had the vehicle repaired because she believes it should be recall and because she cannot afford the repair.
Dt: contact stated on 3-20-05 another van veered into contact's vehicle lane and hit it and ran it into a cement pole. Vehicle was totaled. Upon impact, driver's side air bag did not deploy, but passenger's side air bag deployed. There was one injury. Contact not yet talked to dealer or manufacturer. Contact received a recall letter on 8-8-05 regarding the clock spring in the air bag. She did not think the air bag light illuminated on the dashboard before the accident. Contact owned the car for 14 days prior to the accident.
I was slowing down toward a traffic light and about 35-MPH the ABS light came on. The car brakes went almost to the floor could not stop. Consequently I could not avoid a collision. The dealer said that the air bag did not open because the vehicle impact was inches just above the left side of the bumper, to my surprise. I thought I was buying a safe vehicle for my family. Since the vehicle was new the light came on one time or another, the deler could not find the problem but it was there and nothing was fix.
Related recalls
Air bags
On certain minivans, the driver's air bag May become disabled due to a failure of the clockspring, which is located in the hub of the steering wheel.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the clockspring assembly on all covered vehicles with 70,000 miles or less. For those vehicles with more than 70,000 miles, daimlerchrysler will offer an extended lifetime warranty under which it…
Air bags › Frontal
On certain Mini vans, the clockspring assembly May have been wound incorrectly during the vehicle assembly process.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the clockspring assembly on all vehicles with 70,000 miles or less. An extended lifetime warranty will also be placed on this component for all affected vehicles, regardless of mileage.
NHTSA investigations
Driver air bag clockspring failure
Complaints report air bag warning light illuminates, and this May be accompanied with a non-functioning horn and/or cruise control (if equipped).this is indicative of an open-circuit clockspring failure (results in non-functioning driver's air bag), similar to the failure condition that was the subject of daimlerchrysler's recall of model year 1996-1998.5 minivans (recall no.
Driver air bag clockspring failure
The driver air bag clockspring can develop an open-circuit condition resulting in nonfunctional driver-side frontal air bag, horn, cruise control (if equipped), and/or steering wheel radio control (if equipped).in its October 5, 2004 letter to NHTSA, daimlerchrysler stated that it will conduct a safety recall and replace the clockspring assembly on all my 1998.5-2000 daimlerchrysler minivans, built between March…
Airbag complaints in other Caravan years
Frequently asked questions
How common are airbag problems on the 1998 Dodge Caravan?
NHTSA has 99 complaints about the air bags of the 1998 Dodge Caravan, 16% of the model year's 629 complaints. The component named most often is frontal (32 mentions).
Is there a recall for 1998 Dodge Caravan airbag problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 04V-480 (air bags, Oct 6, 2004); NHTSA recall 02V-293 (frontal, Nov 7, 2002). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 1998 Dodge Caravan airbag problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 85,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 23 crashes, 0 fires and 24 injuries and 1 death to air bags problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.