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Trouble With Dodge Grand Caravan
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Comments
ground from the battery.I don't know what the wiring is like on that van,but, somewhere on that battery ground wire,should be a smaller one that comes out and grounds to the body somewhere. If that ground goes bad, you won't get ignition either. I have had this problem myself. Jarring the vehicle might make that connection close,
if it were loose. Makes some sense to the intermittent trouble. Sometimes they attach the wire to a fender. It will have a ring on the end with
a big screw going through it. Sounds very simple,but,can't hurt to check.
We are at least happy to know this is not just us. Thanks for the suggestions, we will let you know if we find anything else out about what causes this.
Can someone suggest part I need.? I can do most anything there is to do to a car..
Thanks..
Craig
Dallas, TX
Bye,
Bill
Lisbon, CT
The dealer replaced the turn signal stalk under warranty, and the problem went away.
jokes aside. I own a Dodge Caravan 1994, about 82000 miles on the odo. Transmission is a 3-speed A403. It's been replaced at least twice, once at 70000 miles and once at 80000 miles. It's also needed a head gasket at 75000 miles, and a distributor a bit later. The Cardan joints keep failing (3 times), but the mechanic that did the tranny work last time says it was because there was too much pressure in the tranny.
Other maintenance I had done on the vehicle are brakes, ignition (nothing was broken) and belts.
Given the expenses on trannies and head gaskets, both common problems I believe ? Is there any chance Dodge might consider paying for part of the repairs ? Or can I just forget it ? Should I try writing them a letter asking for some money ?
@!!!!&^% broke again at 110K. The overdrive separated from the hub and I have a choice of fixing it (replacing cranny with a rebuild or do an overhaul or send entire vehicle to the landfill).
I'm real close to driving to the landfill.
On the transmission, it stopped shifting down intermittently at about 46000 miles and within 3000 miles I had to replace it. Dealer said there was no way to prevent this from occurring.
Last Dodge for me.
Now that I am done winning, I am ready to buy a new vehicle. I can get the VIP plan and have been trying to get the price for a new AWD Caravan (another story....). In all likelihood, I am going to pay sticker to buy a Honda Odd or less like a Toyota Senna. My question, have any of the problems we are all having been solved. I was assured the problem with the bad transmissions were solved before I bought my 1993. Right....
Any information would be wonderful.
Haven't had the problem since. I Spent alot of time, agrivation and money but finally got it fixed. Hope this helps any other 96 Caravan "stalling out" owners. DP
Color is navy and the paint on the roof peeled off. Just to let you know, it had aprox 85K miles and Chrysler paid 75% of the cost to repaint it. So for those of you who wonder if it pays to complain when your vehicle has high mileage - it does. The worst that could happen is they could say no to whatever it is you are wanting.
On the airbag recall.Had the recall fixed. Airbag light came on again. Took to dealer and they replaced a fuse and claimed it had nothing to do with the recall. A couple of months later, the airbag light came on again. Took back to dealer - mechanic said fuse was blown again. Called Chrysler and they said to bring back in to have checked. In the meantime, my mechanic replaced my fuel pump and the airbag light went off at that time. I know that sounds crazy, but that's what happened. Anyone have similar problem?
From 100,500 until 118,500 when we finally said goodbye, it was frozen brakes, ABS lights and parking brake lights du jour. Some days not, most days at least part of the time, it was a dance with death. We never knew if we'd be able to stop in time. A couple of times I brought it to the dealer, who couldn't duplicate my problem. OF COURSE!!
My neighborhood mechanic advised me that he thought the dealer would repair the ABS systems under factory warranty regardless of the miles of the vehicle. He said he couldn't do it for me, and besides, it wasn't worth spending $2500 to $3000 to do so.
So about two months ago, my local dealer - which had serviced the car regularly while it was warrantied - (somewhat reluctantly) made the calls necessary to get clearance for recall 685 (05685182) to replace the pump and motor - ABS brakes (R4509292), the Piston Package, ABS Brakes (R4740086), the Fluid (4318080AB), and the Gasket - Throttle body to I (4300071). With the exception of a $68 diagnostic fee, the factory paid for everything...and the car ran beautifully...for about a month and a half. No lights came on involuntarily, and it stopped when I needed it to do so.
At the time of the repair, I declined the dealer's advice to replace the ABS accumulator at a cost of several hundred dollars. Maybe that's why, within 6 weeks and about 1500 miles, the ABS and parking brake lights started playing peek-a-boo with us again. The brakes still worked, but this is what happened first before we started to get the rock hard brakes out of nowhere. I couldn't stand to revisit this place again, or to put my family in jeopardy behind the wheel of this thing anymore.
At this point, we started to shop around for a new vehicle. Believe it or not, we bought a low mileage 98 DC ES with the extended warranty, but there is no way I will keep it beyond 100 K, or hang onto it if the ABS haunts us. I shopped all of the other vans - new and slightly used - and liked the Sienna and the Windstar, but the Caravan still won us over with all of its features. Seems like quality is much better since '93, too, but time will tell.
In closing, don't accept the dealer's unwillingness to help. Maybe it helped that I showed him my printouts from the NHTSA and the Center for Safety in the Public Interest (Nader's group) sites concerning the ABS problems in Chysler products.
The site http://www.allpar.com has alot of information regarding the beloved Mopar product line. It may save you hundreds of dollars in repair bills. My brother also owns a Dodge Caravan and we consult with this site pretty often...more often than normal! A little knowledge goes along way!!!!!!!
Chrysler needs to improve its Quality before Honda starts building Oddessy's in Alabama. Right now, Honda has capacity problems in Canada plant, and that is why it can't build as much as it needs. I walked around the oddessy, and sat in it, and opened and closed the doors. the sliding doors don't even come close to Chrysler's. Chrysler has much better feel to it, but I know Honda's engine/transmission is much better than Chrysler's.
I still like our van, and its reliability has always been my concern. I bought it for its look, and its practical and well laid out interior.
Nothing like being stranded on the side of a country highway, almost out of cell range, with a car full of kids and Christmas gifts at 8 o'clock am Christmas night. Now what happened? While passing a car the oil light came on (it had plenty of oil), the motor froze within a hundred yards. NO WARNING! We have 80,800 miles and in most cases the van has run well. The engineer designed the oil pump bearings in 2 pieces. What happened in our case, one of the pieces spun around and piggy-backed on the other half causing the motor to seize. Dodge's response was "tough luck it is out of warranty". We found a used motor, after having the van back a week- the fuel pump had to be replaced. Want to guess how fast it will take me to trade this money sucker in?
Component failure of this type will occur at these mileages...it's just a fact of life, but some owners are luckier than others as to which component takes the flying leap...I'm sorry to hear about the catastrophic failure on your engine...I doubt you could have prevented it, if it was a sudden failure of the oil pump...you would have had to shut the key off almost instantaneously at highway speeds if the red light came on, to save the engine, and that might not have been a safe thing to do anyway.
but the cars we've had since then (two Toyotas and a Subaru) went far beyond that mileage with no hint of trouble in the case of the Toyotas - one up to 195,000 miles with nothing other than exhaust systems (2), and wear items (belts, brakes, tires).
I assure you that any component on a Toyota lasting 195K miles (never replaced the alternator in 200K miles?!!!) is well outside the statistical extreme.
Component failure on any new modern car starts around 60K and goes downhill from there. Ask any good repair shop and they'll tell you this. Your experiences, if entirely accurate, are quite exceptional. Just go to a wrecking yard and read the speedometers...I doubt you'll find 1 car in 500 with 195K on it.
Getting well over 100,000 miles without non-maintenance repairs is more the norm with Toyotas, Hondas and Subarus than it is the exception. Getting that kind of mileage out of a Caravan without a replacement tranmission is not normal - it'd be a miracle.
No one should expect component troubles/failures at 60K. Increased routine maintenance maybe, but alternator, power steering, brake pooster, valve/lifter noise, transmission trouble, strut replacement....I would say NO.
60K/100K: That is the time when true quality of cars come through. We are not talking about 70's cars here.
In other words, a manufacturer tries to build the components to have a service life more or less in compliance with each other....it is rather stupid to build a motor that goes 125K but a differential that is good for 500K (like on say a Greyhound bus, where both engine and trans can go 500K with top, top maintenance).
Now, these "service ranges" aren't perfectly predictable, but what I was proposing is that on a typical Chrysler product, the LOW END of the service range on components could well be 60K...that alternator may go to 100K, sure, but it could also fail at 60K....why, because of the choice of bearings, electronics, etc.
I think many of the components used on a Toyota are of excellent quality, but we can't really peg the service life of a Toyota at 195K any more than we can say that all men will live to 100 years of age because Mr. Ralph Nelson of Melonville Ohio actually did. Our service life is around 80, most will make it, some won't and a few will exceed it with good maintenance (and genetics!).
This is also, by the way, why a BMW costs more than a Mustang, at least theoretically, because of choice of materials and projected service life. Whether that all pans out in real life, sometimes I wonder, but I can tell you that a Porsche alternator looks a lot better made than a Chrysler one.
Has any body had any problem with the rear glass shattering?
this has happened twice in aroung 32 deg. Once, I closed the front door and the rear glass shattered. the next time my wife was driving down the road and it just shattered.
You did it, U Won ! Worldwide consumers have paid there hard earned money and you provided worldwide consumers with the worst Engineered vehicles on Earth...
Got to hand it to Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth you have Won beaten all your consumers.
Wise old saying you can't read a book by its cover :O)
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth great looking vehicle unfortunately for the unsuspecting consumer even to date Transmission failure, head gasket failure , too many more serious problems Etc...
Just read this Newsgroup 2% Satisfied , 98% Unsatisfied . Surf the internet U will find 100s of thousands of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth vehicle owners that are Big Losers. Telling there Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth vehicle Horror stories.
Now that Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth consumers have read the book by owning one of the worst Engineered vehicles on Earth. Consumers worldwide learned a costly but valuable lesson.
Now we have come to realize. Yes Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth they are the Winners.
Yep we the "Consumers of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth vehicles are the BIG LOSERS" !
Were losing vehicle trade in, Value its Awful.
Quality Automobile Dealers don't want your Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth vehicle offering 50% of Galves Trade in if in Mint Condition.
Even Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth Dealers are offering 50% of Galves. Now we are driving around in a nearly worthless Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth vehicle and paying for Major repairs :O(
Its not going to get any better cause Smart Consumers are not Buying a New or even thinking of buying a used Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth vehicle.
We sure learned a Valuable Lesson > Never again buy Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth vehicles. For those few Die Hards remember( Only a Fool Loses Twice )
Rejoice fellow Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth vehicle consumers now it is our turn to Win.
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth your profits are gone, Stocks are dropping to an all time low Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth is just hanging on by a thread bankruptcy is near Hooray - Yeah !
Now how does it feel to be a LOSER ! Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth :O)
Worldwide automotive consumers buy smart be a Winner don't become a Loser like the rest of us who owned or still own the worst engineered vehicles on Earth.
Let Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Plymouth become the final Loser.
In general, with the two vans we've had (94 GC SE and 97 GC SE), the main problems we've had have been electrical. Bad rear window motors on the 94, wiper motor, power lock system and radio/speakers on the 97. Everything else has worked pretty well.
I know that the famed/infamous 4 speed auto. has a locking torque converter. Could this be the clutch pack not releasing ? Is this a typical problem ? What is the usual suggested fix ? Should I be demanding a new tranny under warranty ?
vehicle is still under warranty but barely. I fear the trans will fail soon, but, only after the warranty expires. new trans runs approx $2500.
anyone else with similar prob that has had it repaired, I would appreciate some info.