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Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler Minivan Problems & Solutions

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Comments

  • miata94miata94 Member Posts: 17
    I just put a deposit down an '02 Caravan Sport (used with 25K miles), so I'm hoping that the '01 redesign has quelled a lot of the transmission problems. One thing I always keep in mind is that as expensive as a new transmission is, it's only a few hundred dollars more than the SALES TAX ALONE on a new car.
  • lxpatellxpatel Member Posts: 34
    I have 96 T&C, i had about four sets of rotors replaced in 100K, roughly every ten to fifteen thousand miles. i have had the brakes done at the dealer every time, who resurfaces all the time, which expedites warpage. Within few thousand miles of teh brake job, the steering wheel wobbles to indicate the rotors have warped. The dealer always insists on using factory rotors and not after market. i live in San Francisco where hills do put strain on the brakes. Is there a solution to this problem.


    i have talked to a local firestone, who said they will put on cross drilled rotors with creamic pad. The ceramic pads might even scorch the rotors faster but will run cooler and hopefully not as much warpage and might not last as long as factory pads. i think he said Auto Specialty was suppose to be pretty good.


    I also want to get rid of the spongy brake feel of the Chrysler.


    Is there anyone else having similar problems and isthere another solution to this ?

  • royallenroyallen Member Posts: 227
    I had this problem on an Olds Cutlass that quit when a bad steering center link was replaced. I would have a front end specialist examine your van. Roy
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
    I have learned over the years that it is critical to slowly break-in new brakes (just like you would a new engine). For the first 100-150 miles use them very gently and gradually. This molds the new pad to the rotor surface maximizing pad to rotor contact. Remember that slowing a vehicle with your brakes is converting kinetic energy into heat. The better the heat transfer to the rotor, the better you will stop. Since it is heat that warps rotors, the better the heat is dispersed, the less chance of warping the rotor. So, in a very tough braking environment like S.F., aftermarket brake components are a great idea and will definitely help. Larger, ventilated rotors, quad piston calipers etc., typical racing applications. For sponginess in the pedal, that's usually air in the lines, and given the amount of work you've had done, I would bet that is the culprit. Have a knowledgeable brake specialist (not your dealer) bleed the brakes. If that doesn't cure it, racing applications typically use braided steel lines that eliminate any expansion of the typical rubber OEM lines. This is a bit extreme for the street and expensive. Finally, I am currently running ceramic Raybestos pads on my 300M with all other parts OEM (rotors turned once) and getting good wear, but I'm a flatlander so my use doesn't compare to the extreme conditions in S.F.
  • mfahey1mfahey1 Member Posts: 419
    Plus, and this may not apply to Mr. Patel but certainly does to my wife, where possible, let the engine do some of the work. Anticipate slowing down such as a traffic light or stop sign and coast a bit. My wife's movement from the throttle to the brake is one motion and then she can't understand why our brakes don't last. I've given up trying to explain after 33 years of marriage.
  • vincer2vincer2 Member Posts: 97
    A major reason for rotors to warp is related to mechanics who use air guns to tighten lug nuts but do not bother to use "Torx Sticks". Use of the proper Torx Stick ensures that the air gun will not overly tighten the lugs. In addition it will also ensure that the lug nuts are evenly tightened.

    Over torquing and uneven torquing can warp rotors in a few hundred miles. Typical torque range for most cars is in the 70 to 80 ft lb range. I bought a Craftsman torque wrench for about $65. Even though I always have reminders on the work order for proper torquing as soon as I return home with the car I go over the lugs on the wheels that were removed. Despite the reminders some lug nuts will be torqued up to 150 ft lbs while others are around 80. Factory reco on my car is 72.

    My problems with warped rotors stopped after I began to properly torque the lug nuts myself.

    Good luck,
    Vince
  • olizerolizer Member Posts: 38
    In post 1576 above you advised you had to replace the rear bearing assemblies on your 96. What were the symptoms you noticed that caused you to replace them?
  • goin420goin420 Member Posts: 1
    My voyager hesitates / stumbles / coughs about ten seconds before it stalls while at driving speed, in park, waiting for a stop light, or turning and almost always starts right back up. To date the following items have been replaced: plugs, plug wires, rotor, distributor cap, fuel filter, and the fuel pump / sending unit and the intake has been cleaned inside and out. From what I have read the Hall Effects sensor would be the next obvious choice. Can anyone help?
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
    I do all my wheel/tire/brake work at a local, family owned Big O Tire franchise. Their SOP is to lightly tighten lugs with pnemo-wrenches, then hand tighten with torque wrenches. They do this on every single wheel they replace. Simply observing a business in this day and age exerting that kind of care with every customer's car they touch won me for life. I have my tires rotated and balanced every 6,000 miles at this store. The rotors finally needed turning at 90,000 miles.
  • mfahey1mfahey1 Member Posts: 419
    I too have had even the dealer run the lug nuts up to at least 150 ft.lbs if not more. I often thought that it would be fitting if the wife of a mechanic who doesn't bother to use a torque wrench would need to change a tire out on a busy highway only to find out that there would be no earthly way in the world for her to get it off because some lazy .... grossly overtightened her wheels and she doesn't have the strength to remove them. And I thought I was the only one crosschecking what the mechanics do if I know they have had the tires off.
  • vincer2vincer2 Member Posts: 97
    Indydriver,

    Sounds like a great place to do business. Mechanics that treat customer cars as their own are extremely hard to find.

    Vince
  • lxpatellxpatel Member Posts: 34
    I have had the same problem before on my 96 T&C, initially the dealer flashed new programing in for the computer, the problem was cured.

    Then,

    almost year and half later, same problem came back, i took it to another dealer because i moved and the dealer insisted that it was a common problem and can be cured by installing new idle speed regulator, which they did for about $400. Problem was still there, so they said let us look at it further. THEY FOUND THAT WIRE GOING TO 4 THE CYLINDER WAS GETTING LOOSE AND NEEDED REPLACING. Which they did for just $20 bucks. It has been about year and no problem relating to hesitation and dying out, Yet.
  • larryintnlarryintn Member Posts: 103
    We're looking for a 2002 Grand Caravan and was wondering how important it is to find one that not been in the northern states where salt is used in the winter.

    Would spending it's first year in a northern state significant increase the chances of rust in later years?
  • leebealeebea Member Posts: 25
    I wouldn't worry about a car that has been in the north for one winter, especially one as mild as last winter. I've lived in New England most of my life and haven't had any of my newer cars rust at all. I keep my cars for 7 or 8 years. The metal preps they use on cars now is better than they used years ago. If I liked everything else about the car, I wouldn't let the rust question even enter my mind.
    Good luck in finding a good car.
    Lee B.
  • larryintnlarryintn Member Posts: 103
    Thanks, that's good to know.
  • mfahey1mfahey1 Member Posts: 419
    I agree about most cars being so much better from a corrosion standpoint. In addition to our 2001GC, we also have an 88GC that has spent its whole life near Chicago and it still doesn't have any rust on it.
  • spycatchaspycatcha Member Posts: 1
    On June 30, 1999 I walked into a Dodge dealeship and purchased a new GC sports, with all whistles and bells with bumper to bumper warranty for 75K miles or 6 yrs. So far so good.

    On July 3, 1999 the car died. They towed it and replaced the computer chip/brain, they said.

    The steering lock seized in yr 2, leaving us stranded in a shopping mall. Tow truck driver came and used a hammer to whack ignition key into lock, to get it started. Dealer fixed problem, but it started acting up again.

    In yr 3, idle started sputtering. Sent it to dealer 3 times, they claim there's nothing wrong with it. What happens is that when you come to a stop, while trans is in D, you feel an unevenness in the idling of engine, very noticeable to us but unnoticeable to dealer, so we live with that now.

    On July 3, 2002 the transmission just went, without any warning. My wife was stopped in traffic, got the green light and van started revving. Put gear in park, and tranny just slid back and forth like a wet noodle. Original warranty expired (by 3 days) so that cost me fifty bucks deductible on extended warranty. They replaced trans and left front axle. Don't know why, my wife who drives it hadn't hit or run over anything. Trans is leaking fluid as I write...can't find the time to take it back.

    Van has 35K on it now, no long hard trips, just easy driving. Oil change is every 5K and never been overloaded before.

    I'm offloading this thing as soon as warranty is over. What a joke!
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    Good thing you had the extended warranty! I have a '99 GCS also, with the 3.8L, and it has been pretty reliable but had a failed sensor and battery in its first 3 years. It also has an uneven idle while sitting, which I've mentioned to the dealer but have chosen to live with it, as the van runs fine when underway and still gets good mpg. My van's extended warranty will expire right about when the lease is up in May 2004, at 50,000 miles, and I will probably get a new van then because of horror stories I have heard about DC minivan transmissions going out around 60,000 miles or before. I like the ride and handling of the GCS and may get another DC van, maybe a Caravan SXT, if they still have the big rebates and the 7/70 warranty in 2004.
  • pluto5pluto5 Member Posts: 618
    Since you don't get anything on a trade-in I'm starting a list of uses for them, besides a planter:

    1) put your teen on them for ins. purposes for lowest premium
    2)use it as a station car, assuming you don't live too far from the train station
    3)keep it parked in your driveway when you're on vacation to discourage [non-permissible content removed] burglars--also advertises your apparent poverty
    4)sell advertising on it
    5)loan it out as a drivers ed car
    6)use it to store out-of-season items
  • bfrankballbfrankball Member Posts: 1
    I'm trying to find out if there may have been any type of recalls on my 1995 Plymouth Voyager.
  • pluto5pluto5 Member Posts: 618
    Best way is to give DC dealer your VIN and let him run it on his computer--will show all recalls. Good bets are the liftgate latch mechanism and support fasteners for the liftgate.
  • darrenb3darrenb3 Member Posts: 1
    Have a 96 Grand Caravan - 135k miles. Recently, the brake lights come on whenever I turn on the headlights. The brake lights work fine when headlights are off. Haven't had any work done recently or accident damage. Any suggestions on what to check?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    The Edmunds Maintenance Guide lists recalls (as does alldata.com and I think the NTHSB goes back pretty far).


    I always wanted to take an old VW van, put a tow bar on the front, gut the interior and install a wood stove and cedar planking. Have someone ski back an hour early to get the fire cooking and you'd have a nice sauna waiting for you when you got back to the trailhead!


    Steve, Host

  • pnh21pnh21 Member Posts: 10
    Here is the number to call for recalls on any D-C vehicles (Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Jeep). Just give them your VIN and you can ask if there is still an outstanding recall that needs to be done and what recalls have been done.

    1-800-853-1403
  • mfahey1mfahey1 Member Posts: 419
    Our 88 GC has 194,000 miles on it and after our daughter graduated from college two years ago, it had had 7 years of hauling all kinds of stuff to and from college for the two kids plus the prior 5 years of being our vacation hauler. We then retired it to our summer place in Maine where it is used as a pickup truck. I leave the seats out of it for the most part and haul more stuff with it than it ever did during the college years. Who cares if the interior gets dirty or scratched?
  • pluto5pluto5 Member Posts: 618
    However, payload is less than a pickup so would be easy to overload it if not careful.
  • fefffeff Member Posts: 1
    I am looking at purchasing a 1996 Grand Voyager. The concern I have is with the front coil spring suspension towers under the hood. The tops of the towers are rusty and cracked in a circular pattern about the size of the coils. I have never owned a van of this type and have been unable to find anyone who has experienced the same problem. I live in the Canadian prairies and suspect the vehicle originated in eastern Canada. Is the a recall item on these vehicles? Is it something to be concerned with? Is it an expensive repair? Any info on the above would be greatly appreciated
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
    My 2000 Grand Caravan Sport started leaking motor oil a few weeks ago, and now I have a 3" diameter spot on the garage floor. I just change the oil and filter this week and the leak is definitely not eminating from the filter, drain plug, block etc. Perhaps a line or fitting external to the engine? If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate hearing from you.
  • hayneldanhayneldan Member Posts: 657
    Are you sure it's oil? Put a paper towel on the leak area of the garage floor ans see what color it is.
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
  • adamjrcadamjrc Member Posts: 1
    We purchased a used 95 Caravan two years ago and have always kept it in good shape. On Christmas day while delivering presents our van broke two rods. At least thats what I have been told by the dealer were we purchased it. I was told the price to fix it would be around $4,000. Is this a normal thing, or just bad luck? Would anyone suggest fixing it or just junking it? Thanks. Please post or email me at adamjrc@aol.com
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
    If you're talking connecting rods, it would be very unusual for two to break at the same time. I haven't priced a rebuilt engine, but $4K seems like a lot. I recently had a trans replaced with a rebuilt at a Chrysler dealer for $2K. If I was faced with spending $4,000 to get my engine running again, I'd look around for a Mopar performance shop to investigate a high performance, aftermarket rebuild. Either way, major down time. Sorry to hear about your problem. I have an all Chryco garage, two minivans and a 300M and I like to keep them for a long time. Hate to hear about major reliability issues like C-rods.
  • mfahey1mfahey1 Member Posts: 419
    To actually break them would be a one in a million or more occurence. It sounds more like it wiped two rod bearings, indicating a major oiling problem which would require a total rebuild or replacement. For an 8 year old vehicle, I would seriously look at having a used engine installed, one that you have some idea what its history has been. At the very least, $4000 is ridiculous.
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
    Actually, given the number of Chrysler minivans sold with an average of 5.5 cylinders each, one in a million would only be one vehicle per year. Its probably more rare than that.
  • uga91uga91 Member Posts: 1,065
    My 2001 Voyager started performing its own little light show for me last night. The lights would be their normal brightness then get real bright, then back to normal. Sometimes it would go back and forth a few times, sometimes they would not change for a few minutes. Anyone else had this?
  • uga91uga91 Member Posts: 1,065
    One other thing. My Voyager (3.3l V6) also has started making a "humming" sound when at a stop. The slight hum seems to come from the bottom of the center section of the dash (down around where the coin holder is). It does not hum when in motion; and, you can not hear the hum from outside the van. I wonder what is causing that?
  • strokeoluckstrokeoluck Member Posts: 99
    Guys,

    I just changed my air filter on my '96 Plymouth Grand Voyager and noticed a tiny (TINY!) amount of oil. It was around the fairly rigid tube that leads from the hard plastic piece (above the air filter) into the ?valve cover? (where the "3.3 Liter" emblem is). I'm guessing this is the PVC tube? But why would oil be collecting around the valve cover/pvc tube? It's just a minor amount, hardly enough to produce a drip...but wondering if there's something I should do to stop this?

    Miscellaneous comments:
    1) Steve buddy, what's up w/Edmunds new look? I don't mind it until you try and find this board - it's fairly confusing whereas the previous format was very intuitive. You could always find what you were looking for whether you'd been here two days ago or two years ago.

    2) Why did Chrysler have to make it SO difficult to get at the air filter in this '96 G.V.??? In my Ford I can change the air filter in about 30 seconds. In the Plymouth it takes about 15 minutes!

    3) Why is it 45 degrees in Michigan on 12/30/02???

    Later,
    Rob
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I'm not sure which look you mean :-). It's now easier to search the discussions by model if you don't use the subscriptions, but there's also a new look coming that's now in beta. The navigation won't change but the visuals will.

    Remember, change is good....

    Steve, Host
  • bdaddybdaddy Member Posts: 171
    Dash lights can dim when you encounter a strong electromagnetic field. An object that would produce such an electromagnetic field would be the propulsion unit on one of any number of UFOs.

    Humming in your Voyager? Hope the kids weren't along.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    I think someone has seen one too many episodes of "Taken"...
  • scottandkimrscottandkimr Member Posts: 3
    I have a '97 Grand Caravan with 58k miles on it. I am trying to decide when to replace it. I am trying to assess the risk that I will be in for a lot of repairs. Is there a particular mileage when serious or frequent problems start happening?

    Thanks
  • strokeoluckstrokeoluck Member Posts: 99
    1) Steve, I feel like I'm in the twilight zone! Last night when I posted my message I SWEAR there was a whole new look/format to Edmunds.com. Now this morning it's back to "normal". Perhaps I was in there when they had the Beta version up? Anyway, I know I'm not imagining things (I think!...my alcohol-induced hallucinating days are over). So if the edmunds folks are moving ahead with a muted blue/grey format (and the buttons and everything HAD changed) tell them you've already heard one 'no' vote.

    2) To "scottandkimr", I don't think you have many major things to look forward to if you're at 58,000 miles. At about that mileage - with our '96 - we had a few minor electrical problems and a head gasket. Total cost of both was maybe $1200. On top of that expect the little stuff: sway bar links, tune-up, brakes, tires, etc. Some on this board will convince you that your transmission is about to tank (this IS the "problem" board after all) but if it's running well at 58k and hasn't given you any problems you'll probably be ok. Our van just hit 97k and our only trans. problem is a minor leak that I'm having looked at this Friday...think it's just a bad pan gasket as the trans. still runs fine. Are there some lemons out there? Yes. But given the vast number of Chrysler minivans on the road I'd say if you're treating it right and it's not giving you any bad signs you should ride it into the sunset.

    Happy New Year,
    Rob
  • arnejarnej Member Posts: 9
    i'm not an expert with mechanical problems, so any help is appreciated.

    our '94 GC with 3.8 engine emits a high-pitched whine. I don't really hear it when driving, but when it's parked it I can hear it outside the vehicle. it doesn't really sound like it's coming from the engine compartment-it sounds more like it's coming from the middle or rear of the vehicle. it doesn't seem that serious because it's been doing it for awhile, but it just bugs me!

    thanks
  • gtahobegtahobe Member Posts: 42
    I have a 93 DGC w/150K that was making a loud whining too. I wouldn't hear it at highway speeds, but usually just when in the parking lot. Turned out to be a squeaky belt. A cheap bottle of belt dressing fixed it right up. You might want to double check and rule this out first.
  • tphultztphultz Member Posts: 1
    arnej

    It is most likely your fuel pump.
  • doobiedoobie Member Posts: 5
    I recently purchased a NEW 2002 T&C LXI. I notices a distinct fan/humming sound coming from the right rear climate control section. Blower motor area. Is this a normal sound? Is the fan in the rear of the vehicle always audible?

    Thanks!
  • fdrekfdrek Member Posts: 7
    i have 85,000 miles nad did that done this, new trans, new hinges on all the doors, cooling system replaced............ so now i am buying a 2000 voyager or 2000 venture, my wifes emotions like the voyager, WHY because inertia. anyone with any suggestions
  • fdrekfdrek Member Posts: 7
    how many miles on the sucker
  • royallenroyallen Member Posts: 227
    Fred, Consumer Reports reviewed these in the Jan 2001 issue - might give you some helpful info. Also the April '03 Car issue will have useful reliability data from their April '02 survey - if you can wait that long. Another good web site is www.intellichoice.com
  • budingerbudinger Member Posts: 1
    Help me out here. Bought used '99 Caravan. Love it so far. However, when it is raining, or I take it to a car wash, the overwhelming smell of musty mildew overcomes me. Is there some product I can buy to fix this, or is there some sort of interior air filter I don't know about? This happens with the heat or vents on. Any suggestions?
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