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Along the way, the service light started coming on. It has been said that we're getting a is-fire on cylinder 1. That led to replacing the head, due to a cracked rocker-arm support.
Anyway, replaced the head, cleaned the injectors, new plugs, still getting the light.
How can I turn it off? I'm going to trade it this week.
Thanks.
sstombaugh@compuserve.com
I just purchased a 1994 Town and Country with integral Fog Lamps and it is missing one lense cover. Dealer wants $85 for the whole assembly, salvage yard want $69 for whole assembly.
Does anyone know if there is an aftermarket lense or assembly that will fit?
Any suggestions on the course of action at minimal cost?
Also, there is a freeze plug leaking behind/above the bell housing and tranny must come down to facilitate repairs....should I consider replacing/rebuilding tranny while it is out of the car?
Any suggestions welcomed! Thanks
George
http://www.dodgechryslerparts.com/
https://www.partsautocenter.com/
http://www.buymopar.com/
http://www.wyckoff-mopar-parts.com/
http://www.dodge-parts.net/
http://www.subaruparts.com/
Despite the name, the last one carries Chrysler as well.
Best of luck.
We're new to this list. I hope this has been mentioned previously. We have a 2001 Grand Caravan and the thing squeaks like crazy when driving. Going over bumps and just general road irregularities is when you really notice it. When traveling slowly, the squeaks are not as bad. It sounds like it's coming from somewhere deep inside the engine or the dashboard, but it is
very hard to nail down. In fact, while sitting in the back seat, it sounds like the squeak is coming from the rear axle area. Very strange and very annoying.
Of course, when we take it back to the dealer, they say, "we couldn't get it to squeak for us."
Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks!
One thing you have to do is to get the service manager or a mechanic to hear this squeak. Don't rely on them finding the squeak for themselves. Take the car at midday to the dealership you bought it from and request that they ride with you. Make sure they hear the squeak and know how to recreate it.
Thanks
Check out the links listed in post #653. Many offer pictures and descriptions of accessories.
I had transmission rebuilt on my 95 Grand Caravan (172000 km, just over 100K miles) which I bought used just four months ago. Imagine my 'surprise' when a week after rebuilding it lost drive in reverse. Mechanic who did the work said it's crazy, he never seen transmission engaging but not driving. Well, he's seen it now and working on it as we speak.
Has anybody had this problem before?
Thanks.
I mounted the unit on the passenger's side and have posted the details previously at Edmunds. I think my circuiot runs from the tranny to the radiator cooler, then to the auxiliary cooler on the left, then to the additional Hayden unit on the passenger side, then back to the tranny.
I've only had one highway trip with the '01 3.8L, and that got 19.6 MPG. Weight? No, 4 small kids and luggage, a total of maybe 600 lbs. counting the parents. Of course, there was one highway mountain pass and two metro areas with stoplights ... pure, flat highway would be better. But still, it's about 2 MPG less than the '94 on the highway, 1 MPG less in city, and nowhere near carleton's numbers.
Any ideas, anyone? Is the 3.8L that much thirstier, despite EPA estimates that are similar to the 3.3L? Weak California gas? Sunspots?
Our normal cruising speed is 70-74 MPG.
Well stop and look we are putting down each others minivans. Can anyone see the real problem here .......well......WE HAVE MINIVANS what happened to craming every body into the little datson and going out to a bar or a night club to have fun we did not care about fold away seats or built in car seats or if the dam thing had doors on it .If it got us to the beach or the bar we where happy.
So lets stop putting down each others car and look at the reel thing we are getting older and there is nothing we can do about it.
And yes I have a dodge grand caravan ex and I love It
joe
i started hearing windows rattling on the driver side now (towards the rear). my sister's '96 has a severe rattling problem in the same area.
i supposed this may be moot once the door flies off!
It took a few years to discover the best remedy for the annoyance of a problem vehicle. We kept the NEW 1972 Volvo for 3 years but had learned our lesson with it. We kept the NEW 1975 VW Rabbit for 18 months, the used 1977 VW Bus purchased January 1979 (with 20,000 miles) for 18 months, and the NEW 1980 Chevy Citation for 15 months.
We learned that a bad vehicle will start having problems within 1 week to 10 days and the problems just escalate. My sister-in-law inherited a 1986 Caravan that her father got at a fly-by-night used car lot. When it started having engine problems, I suggested she get rid of it as she did not know how badly it had been abused nor the real, actual mileage. She did NOT listen and had the engine rebuilt. The mechanic who rebuilt the engine said it had at least 187,000 miles and not the 87,000 indicated on odometer. It has never run properly even after rebuilding the 4 cyl engine. The money spent on overhauling the engine was wasted.
In 1991, my brother-in-law got a used 1990 Ford Taurus "Program Car" with just under 10,000 miles. When the transmission went out in 1997 at 130,000 miles, he said it was not worth the cost of transmission repair so he just gave it away. He got a used Nissan King Cab that has had zero problems. His wife (my sister) inherited our mother's 1979 Impala in 1996. When they got their NEW 2001 Odyssey EX last week, they gave the 79 Impala with 99,500 miles to their son-in-law who plans to drive it for a long time.
Our friend had a rear axle seal replaced the 2nd time under warranty on his 1999 Tracker (Suzuki Vitara clone)at 30,000 miles. I suggested he get rid of it. We got an e-mail yesterday that he did...traded it in on a 2001 Blazer.
When we got zero problem vehicles (after the Volvo, Rabbit, VW Bus, and Citation problems) we gave them to a daughter when we got our new vehicles. Good vehicles seem to run indefinitely with no problems. Bad vehicles will just keep having the same and new problems.
Question: Do the driving habits of the owner have a greater effect on vehicle reliability than does costly, un-necessary, too frequent maintenance procedures?
In 1999, we had to have the seals and gaskets in the transmission replaced because of leaking. Until now, we've not had any further transmission problems. Three weeks ago as I was coming home with my son, I turned on a street about a block and a half from my home and all of a sudden there were no gears. I had it towed to a nearby dealer who eventually ended up telling us that the warranty company was only going to cover the cost of the Torque Converter, the rest would be on us. Why? Because of something they called a pre existing condition. One of the clips on the core was broken. Two weeks and $1800 dollars later we have the van back and it runs great. The van is not driven hard - it goes to and from work (4.9 miles each way), soccer games, periodic camping trips and maybe a road trip once a year. It has 70,000 miles on it. Part of that includes a move from Ohio to Florida. The usual stuff.
My question I guess is how were we to know something was broken when we had no external indication that anything was wrong. There were no leaks. The information center above the steering column never gave a clue anything was wrong. Does DC offer any assistance? Has anybody else had problems.
Looks like the party that issued the warranty is unethical, crooked, or liars. We have discovered that a warranty is only as good as the party that issues it. Examples:
#1. We bought a used 1977 VW Bus with 20,700 miles from a VW dealership in January 1979. It had a written 30 day or 1000 mile warranty. We drove it on a 220 mile round trip and had to refuel 3 times...only a dismal 11.1 MPG at 50 MPH. Took it back and the dealership would do NOTHING to fix it. That was our 5th VW and I will NEVER own another Volkswagen (JUNK in German) as long as I live.
#2. The 2nd gear in our 4 speed 1980 Chevy Citation would not stay engaged after the factory warranty expired. Took it to the closest Chevy dealership and gave them the facts. The Chevy dealership rebuilt the manual transmission and did NOT charge us anything.
Chevrolet provide excellent warranty service. Some Volkswagen dealers will do anything to avoid honoring their own written warranty. Does anyone wonder why the sale of Volkswagens is in the toilet?
NOTE to DaimlerChrysler: Honor your warranty and provide repair at NO COST the problem automatic transmissions that are caused by poor or cheap design.
http://www.autosite.com/editoria/asmr/svolfc.asp
Oh and if we want to about talk great companies horning warranties, try me trying to have GM honor my two year old Chevy Vega's warranty after it rusted out only after two years and its rear end back fired and caught on fire, almost killing my dog. Stupid me for believing Motor Trend's car of the year was really a good reliable car. After two years and fighting with GM in the courts, I was done with them. See we all have different experiences with cars. I see you have had no problems with GM, where I on the other hand was dragged through the mud by them nearly 30 years ago.
God Bless those aluminum block engines.
I'll check in on all of you from time to time, but I'm sure that I won't miss a thing. Good luck to all, even those who don't own Chrysler superior minivans. ;-)
Because of the overwhelming sales success of the DC minivans, there are more DC minivans with problems than other brands. BUT, the percentage of unreliable DC minivans is no higher than the others. In Troll Hall, the current Odyssey reigns supreme as "The minivan with the MOST reported reliability problems". Just read in all forums what the current owners of each are reporting.
I, too, was very frustrated with the numerous failures in my 1996 Plymouth Voyager. Oil leaks, head gaskets, bad computers, bad starter, etc. were very hard to understand in a 3, 4 or 5 year old car. When I finally realized that my "1996 Voyager" was actually 15-years-old in "Dodge years", it all made sense.
I have much more patience with the old girl now.
Honda reliability? Ha Ha...Big Joke. 4 of 7 Honda Accords owned by people I knew (early 1999 when we were minivan shopping) had MAJOR expensive repairs like engine replacement, transmission replacement (and both for 2), electrical problems.
Go read in the Odyssey Problems Forums to read of all the numerous problems with the 1999 Honda Odyssey.
http://www.allpar.com/i/survey.html
You are right about the Honda Odyssey. All the data I have seen indicate that it has a "below average" reliability rating. It also appears that Chrysler minivans now have an "average" reliability rating. In fact it was that average reliabitliy that led me to buy an American car after 20 years of a "Japanese-only" buying policy. (I left American cars in the age of the Chevy Vega, Ford Pinto and AMC Gremlin--back when American cars melted in the rain.)
But my decision was a disaster! This Voyager has been a major headache and has screwed up 4 vacations in a row due with problems. It is also true that the major failures have been due to the crappy Mitusbbushi engine in the car, so the problem is not that it is an "American car."
In fact, I just bought an "American car" (85% at least) that I believe I will be able to depend on--a Toyota Sienna. It was cheaper and nicer than the Dodges and, after the last experience, I am not gong to take a chance that Chrysler didn't get it right again.
It should also be more reliable than the Honda minivan.
The survey may not have an exact date, but it's very recent - they had the news about it on the website just a few weeks ago.
The enthusiast editorial on the faulty transmission design is here:
http://www.allpar.com/ed/tips/trans.html
Generally, with the exception of LA, Seattle, and Oakland / SF, Western traffic is not near as crowded as East Coast traffic, and you can get up to some speed with resulting cooler running and longer lasting transmissions.
I would be interested to know if other manufacturers, also experience a similar regional problem.
However, other automakers do just fine in designing automatics that work fine here in the Northeast - why not Chrysler? And why has it kept producing a known-troublesome unit for over a dozen years now?
was prompted by any serious accidents.
I bought my 01 van on May 13, drove
around town until June 5, left on a
2000 mile trip and then found out about
a recall when I called the dealership.
When I contacted the dealership on June
15, they said not to drive the van in,
but to have it towed in so they could
fix it. No one ever contacted me about
this until I called in when I heard
something on television about a recall.
I too would be interested in hearing if there were serious accidents. Didn't see any in the NHTSA database, but I haven't checked for a few weeks.
New subject: I had 3 nerve-wracking episodes with the A604 transmission in this thing very early in its life, but they apparently fixed themselves because it's gone 100,000 miles since then with no problems.
Usually on freeway, when I am doing 55 to 65, after a few minutes, all of a sudden the speedometer needle starts to move freely between 55 and 100. At this point I know the problem is starting. A little later the movement becomes quick like a pendulum, going back and forth, and as soon as the needle gets close to the 90 or 100 mph mark the car takes a jerk. I am only doing 60 or so at this time. At that point the needle either stays at 100 and wont accelerate OR it would swing back towards the 60 mark but as soon as I accelerate the needle starts going towards 100 again and again the van takes a jerk. This may go on for a while then I may be able to maintain 60. But the speedometer needle is still moving slowly around the 60 mark and as if wanting to go back to the 100mph mark.
I have had so much trouble with this as it happened when we were driving back to Virginia from NewYork. I had no choice but to manage 50mph.
It looks like the jerk is somehow related to the speedometer needle.
I have had the transmission checked, and electrical testing done as well. Dealer says, bring it when it is actually doing it. Well, it has started doing it more frequently so I may be able to do that. But would really appreciate if anyone has any ideas or suggestion or has experienced anything like this before.
thanks for your help
=>Irfan