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In case anyone is following my minor transmission leak problem...it's been repaired. And you won't believe this. A small local shop fixed this problem (they had to tighten some bolts on the pan and did something with a trans./radiator hose) AND recharged the a/c...the total charge?...$87. When the Chrysler mechanic just glances at our van I think he charges us $87!!!
- Rob
mfahey1 Sep 3, 2002 2:18pm
And take that mechanic some doughnuts :-)
Steve, Host
Well, lately our weather finally turned cold and now it seems to kill at stop signs and run rough sporadically. Other times it runs smooth...? It cruises fine, but when I come to stop signs it MAY kill at times. I've checked the pcv, air cleaner, spark plug wires, etc. Any ideas? Is this a computer or electronic switch deal? I plan on selling the old buggy in a month or so. So money IS an object. It has a newer tranny in it and I've had new axel shafts put in to eliminate vibration I was having.
Thanks, TCC
We've only owned two Dodge van products. A '94 Voyager for about 9 months and then in '98 we upgraded to a used '96 Grand Voyager. We've owned the G.V. for about four years now and we're very close to 100,000 miles (don't know how to do that fancy-shmancy KM conversion...but it's a lot of miles). Generally speaking we've been very happy with it. Over the course of those four years we've spent about $1500 in general "unaccounted for" repairs, i.e. NOT brakes, rotors, etc. But if you consider that we paid $15,000 for a 2 year old van (at the time in '98) with only 28,000 miles on it, then the $1500 in repairs amounts to a 10% repair premium. So then I have to ask myself if I could have purchased a "higher quality" 2 year old van - a Toyota or Honda presumably - with 28k miles for just $16,500 (the original cost of $15k + $1500). In the area of Southeast Michigan I can guarantee you that the answer is NO. Most "slightly used" import vans are going for low to mid $20's here, and you can STILL get a nice used D.C. minivan (full size) for $15-$16k.
I do believe the imports may have a slight (VERY slight) leg up on D.C. - but I base that on anecdotal stories - not hard facts. And you also have to consider the repair costs of each brand. Our friends down the street - proud owners of a '99 Odyssey - spent >$1000 fixing their radio/center console after their 4 year old dumped sand in the cd player. Would a comparable D.C. repair have cost as much? And their Odyssey, in my humble opinion, lacks comfortable seats, rides like an '88 GMC truck (I should know, I used to own one) and is the same color as 80% of the other Odyssey's I see on the road. But it does have those cool automatic sliding doors, is very reliable (when they remember to turn off the interior lights which drains their battery overnight...something our van never does) and has a little more get-up-and-go than our van does. But then again they paid a 30-40% premium for that van.
Good luck,
Rob
Warranty covered problems:
1)upon delivery-inside rear door panel rubbed exterior approx 3-4" when opened
2)approx 5k miles-trans leak, replaced seals
3)approx 15k-sensor in trans went out, would not shift out of 2nd gear
4)36k! (just made it under warranty)-misfire in one the cylinders due to faulty seat in one of the ports, engine had to be pulled and affected part (head?) sent to machine shop for regrinding. Glad I didn't pay that bill!
Most Recent annoyances: (not under warranty)
1) 49K, Check engine light on, cruise works most of the time, trans leak again. Oxygen sensor #1 found to be the culprit for engine light and possible affect to cruise. Refered to independent shop who charges $200(a little steep I think) to replace sensor and traces cruise wiring to say it appears to be ok and tighten bolts on trans. Seems to be all fixed. Engine light did come on briefly for a day or two following repair. Have sched follow up to put back on computer to see if any codes show up.
Guess I should count myself lucky, have only spent $200 besides routine maint. But the transmission thing worries me given the history of DC trannys.
Any suggestions where to shop for an ext warranty?
I have a 95 Caravan 3.3 which has 170K mileage on it. It's starting to kill at intersections (SOMETIMES)...cruises just fine. Been told its the THROTTLE BODY needs to be cleaned. Imagine this means injectors too..? Seems worse with the recent cold weather.
Also the wobble; relates to shafts. Had both of mine replaced for a tune of $600 at my friendly Dodge dealer. What the heck, they've been going for 170K miles! Rides smoother now...but still has a slight pulse at 70+MPH. Maybe it's just old age...feels like a wheel balance problem, but took it to Tires + several times and they say things are fine. Tires have 6K miles on them. Any OTHER ideas on why I feel the pulse at high speed?
As far as the wobble at 70+ mph I don't feel safe driving mine over 65!
Does anyone have any thoughts as to what would be causing an extremely wet floor by the passenger door (RH 1st bench seat) and in the rear area of a '94 Grand Voyager. It only happens when it rains, so it is coming from somewhere, I just don't know where! Any thoughts on, or experiences with this problem would be greatly appreciated!
171K miles now and still looking good.
I had my tranny replaced at 99K under my EXTENDED WARRANTY. Geez, that tranny is getting a few miles on it now (72K). Time to sell her.
Even in the below zero crap in MN., she's a firing off each morning.
Thanks!
Steve, Host
DOES ANY ONE KNOW IF THE ANTENNA ON A 1999 DODGE CARAVAN CAN BE REMOVED. I WANT TO KNOW BECAUSE WITH MY LAST CAR I WENT TO THE CAR WASH AND THE ANTENNA BROKE.
ANY THOUGHTS WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.
In our '96 Plymouth G.V. we had a leak in the front passenger floor area. Turns out the exterior plastic molding around the windshield had come loose on that side. The D.C. mechanic said he'd seen that a lot w/the vans, told me to just slop some caulk in there. Silicone caulk has held up well for the last 18 months or so...no more leaks.
- Rob
after my wife took the old DC 3.3 up to Girl Scout camp (About 40 miles from home) over this past cold weekend the old puppy died not far from home on the way back...thankfully! She said it ran just fine and started great this a.m. when it was about 12 below...but for some reason it died after she exited the freeway onto a local street about 2 miles from home. I had to meet her with our Camry and load junk from the van to the car...two trips mind you. I tried starting it and it just turned with no spark. Had it towed to our local friendly Chrys. dealer...of course it's Sunday, so it is just sitting there for the day. I went back tonight to check on it and just try to start it and it took right off...but sounds terrible! Like something grinding in the engine. I shut it down fast and will wait to hear the bad news from the shop tomorrow. I didn't notice any smoke...but I have noticed some drops of oil on my garage floor. I have changed my oil every 3k miles forever.
I'm afraid I'm in for some tough $$$'s news tomorrow. 171K miles are calling it to van heaven I'm afraid. Anyone want to take a guess as to what it is? I thought at first it may be a module-electrical gone bad, etc. But after hearing it finally run tonight over at the dealer lot, I'm bracing for news of a main bearing gone or timing belt maybe? On top of that, I can't open the hood because the inside latch release broke. I probably could have jimmied it open, but didn't want to fret around with it in the dark and cold tonight. All this happening now within two weeks of getting a new van! The old DC Sport still looks like a cherry, but it's starting to show it's mechanical DC age. Ca-ching news will be coming in the a.m. I'm sure. Again, my wife said it ran fine until it died.
Don't worry, I'm not going to wait for that to break too. I've already gone to the junk yard and for $10 was able to pull the whole mechanism from a junker. I'd love to wait until it's warmer out to replace it, but I've better do it before my next oil change.
Man, that's a big job too; they need to lift the gas tank out I guess to do it.
Thanks
Thanks for your input.
We found a great Mechanic-Jim's Auto near Elkart Lake, WI.
To fix the hesitating/surging he cleaned the throttle body and for the starting/stalling he replaced the fuel pump.
Now it's a high-performance machine. It runs's better than when we bought it!
thanks, all of you, for your help!
Please - give me your opinions. Will we be making a big mistake getting this van? We only plan to keep it for 3-4 yrs (we will put on apprx 15,000 miles a year).
So . . . what do ya think? I'm going to carfax right now to check into this car further.
And ask your salesperson to do the Carfax for you - they usually have a subscription service at the dealers.
Steve, Host
I just got worried when I started reading all the negative posts about this minivan. I guess it seems to be more specifically the 1990 models that had a lot of problems??? - is that correct?
Anyone else have opinions of a 2000 DGC with 27,000 miles on it with a 8 yr/80,000 mile warranty? $13,500 out the door - good price? Reliable car? Anything else I should know?
I can't keep track of all the options, especially with the DC vans (I had an '89 and about gave up trying to figure out the different models and packages while buying a new van in '99 ). Anyway, what engine does it have and does it have enough oomph for you?
Remember too that people tend to post more about their gripes -- it's not all that often that someone takes the time to report they've driven 38,000 miles and only had the usual maintenance.
You may also want to look around the Minivan Shopping discussion. Good luck!
Steve, Host
The DGC has a 3.0 V6. Had plenty of ooomph for me - it'll be used as an around town/kid hauler/soccer mom vehicle.
Thanks for all your help Steve.
I have noticed @ 35-45 MPH under moderate acceleration, a vibration and harmonic noise that you feel in the seat, steering wheel and, you can hear it and feel it like a deep bass note from a sub-woofer! Other speeds and at idle the car is very quiet. It is not loud, but you are definitley aware of it.
The noise is still present if you lift off the gas,reduced, but still there. Brand new tires did not fix the problem. Is this a normal characteristic of the car? My 1998 AWD did not exhibit this behavior.
Any ideas b4 calling the dealer for an appointment?
FYI, just had our 3 1/2 year old Die-Hard battery replaced at Sears. It had a 72 month warranty on it so I replaced it with the same style (it now has an 84 MONTH warranty) for only $45! I thought that was a heck of a deal and better than spending time hauling a battery around and dropping it in myself.
To the gentleman considering a 2000 GCS. We have a '96 Plymouth Grand Voyager which I think most people consider to be on the fringe of "bad" or "suspect" D/C vehicles. We've owned it for almost four years now and have 100,000 miles on it. It's had a few goofy things go wrong (weird electrical problem w/wipers, etc.) and one major one, a head gasket replaced for ~$900. But other than that it's been a very solid and COMFORTABLE vehicle. We routinely take it on 15 hour round trip excursions throughout the Midwest visiting relatives. Our record so far is a 20 hour straight (one way) trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. Runs like a champ. Considering you're going to be well within your warranty period I think you struck a great deal (probably got a bargain due to recent style change) and you'll do fine in terms of reliability.
- Rob
The reason I did not go into a lot of details is because a) it depends on the source of the rattle to determine which slider(s) to adjust b) the adjustments are obvious with fairly accessible bolts that have oblong holes meant for adjustment c)if you take a look and post your findings and thoughts here, I will try to help you out as much as I can, and d) I thought it was no big deal to adjust, I mean it is not like a head gasket change.
We'll be driving down the road and suddenly the stereo and clock, the fan blower, the power windows and rear wings and the windshield wipers will just shut off. The light on the "power" and "a/c" buttons are still ON, but there is no fan blowing air. You can feel slight cold air seeping through as tho the air conditioner is ON but without blower it's not doing much.
The power door locks, hazards, dome and headlights, alarm, they work fine when this occurs.
There seems to be no set parameters to having it happen....kinda feel like it happens more often in warmer weather (70+) because it didn't happen for several weeks when we had 50/60 degree weather...now with 70's again it's happening. Happens whether we're using any of those accessories or not.
It usually corrects itself in a few minutes, sometimes as much as 15-20 minutes. Have attempted to drive to dealer while it was not working, but always comes back on before I get there....dealer on other side of valley
According to the Dealer this is impossible (their word) because those systems have nothing in common. Beg to differ, they must have something in common if they all quit working together!
Anyway....has anyone else ever experienced this? Was it ever resolved?
We're in Arizona and in just a couple short months here it's gonna be a real safety concern when the weather is well over 100 degrees and the A/C cuts out, and the windows won't go down!!
I have looked up the lemon law and it says same repair must be unresolved after 4 attempts, so we have 2 more to go.....taking it back on Monday for try number 3, gonna talk to General Manager instead of the slick talking "used car salesman" mentality service manager. (He's the same guy that "absolutely guaranteed" me his staff couldn't have been responsible for the theft of change out of the ashtray....hmmm, how do you guarantee the behavior of another person, especially one that only works for you? I told him bull....I couldn't even "guarantee" that my husband wouldn't steal something....might believe he wouldn't, but not guarantee!! Also the same guy who keeps telling me it's impossible for this problem to occur...well, it is occuring. Think my next step will be to keep the video camera in the car and pull over and record it next time it happens.
Has anyone dealt with the lemon law and used that knowledge to get them to get off their duffs and fix the problem? I'm not necessarily interested in returning my vehicle, I just want it to work properly. Could have kept my old falling apart van if I wanted to constantly take for repairs, and saved myself a few hundred a month!!
Thanks for any insight you can give me.
Jan
Another option is to find out who the regional D/C service representative is. This person is paid by D/C - not your local dealer - and one of their main duties is keeping retail D/C customers happy...that would be you! Usually this person steps in when the dealership and customer can't resolve an issue. On your next visit I'd ask to speak with the dealership General Manager or owner (set up an appointment ahead of time; they're usually fairly busy). Tell him/her, nicely and firmly, of your past problems and that the service department hasn't been able to correct the problem but you KNOW you're not imagining things (and I'll be the first to admit that male service people often DO think women don't know what they're talking about when it comes to car problems). Then ask that they REPAIR your vehicle and if they CAN'T then you'd like the name of the regional D/C representative. I think this will give added emphasis to their repair efforts.
Best of luck.
- Rob