Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler Minivan Problems & Solutions

stever · July 2003

But I think every other manufacturer has an interlock on their shift lever so you can't do this. Seems like a pretty basic safety feature.

It's the one thing that really bugs my brother about his van.

Steve, Host

larryintn · July 2003

My 2002 GC has the interlock.

fastdriver · July 2003

hansienna-

"Galls me how STUPID, LAZY, People try to blame someone or some company for their stupidity and laziness."

The engine does NOT have to be running for the car/van to be shifted out of PARK! Chrysler was obviously just looking to save a few more bucks because of their dwindling sales! I never knew that I could do it in my former 300M until I discovered it accidentally one day. I was always under the impression that the shift interlock had been in place for years because most of my previous late model cars had it!

fastdriver

backy · July 2003

1) Did DC tell you that the 300M had a shift interlock device, before you bought it?
2) Was a shift interlock device required (i.e. by Federal safety regulations) on the 300M at the time it was built?

strokeoluck · July 2003

Very interesting link, thanks for posting it. I too thought all vehicles now had that feature. Seems to me like the guy deserves MORE than $100/hour to fly around the country and point out these issues.

Is there a way to install one of these devices with an aftermarket product?

I too am often a cold callous person but to call someone "stupid" and "lazy" after hearing her head was crushed by a minivan is just plain heartless. Reality is intelligent people often do "stupid" things in the blink of an eye, and that's all it takes for a tragedy to happen.

By the way, do you think Ford was innocent in the design of their Pinto gas tanks or the tanks on their police-equipped Crown Vics that mysteriously exploded with the consistency of a Sammy Sosa corked bat pounding balls out of a park? The auto manufacturers are humans. And humans make mistakes. And humans often try to cover up those mistakes while their attorneys get paid to help them cover up their mistakes. If you live in a glass house don't throw stones.

vtec200 · July 2003

I, too, discovered that our 98 GCS didn't have this feature after driving it for a few years. I accidentally put it out of park one day after getting a remote starter put in. I called the installer and told them that they screwed up something with the interlock. They told me that this model didn't have that lock feature. I was quite ticked that DC didn't have this feature in their vehicles to save a few bucks. I would say that our GCS with 60 000 miles have given us very little trouble thus far. It gave us no more problems than our 92 Camry LE V6 did, for last 10 years before we traded that in. Knock on wood. If people want to buy Hyundai mini-van, try Kia Sedona (same company) and great warrenty. I wish they offered that 10 year warrenty in Canada as well.

larryintn · July 2003

Maybe I'm confused, what does this interlock do?

I had assumed that it was the interlock that wouldn't allow you to move out of park unless you were pressing on the brake. Is that not the same? I check our 2002 GC and you must be pressing the brake to get it out of Park.

hansienna · July 2003

News media (radio, tv, print) frequently quote law enforcement requesting vehicle owners NOT leave a vehicle with the engine running or even with the keys inside.
    Common sense alone should convince most people to turn the ignition off when getting out of the vehicle and place the selector into Park.
    No Shift Interlock is NOT a design flaw. Many of us prefer to have a vehicle without the Shift Interlock just as we did not like the feature in the early 70's where the driver's seat belt had to be fastened for the engine to start.
    I have always worn the seat belt and the 3 point seat-shoulder belt but felt the early 70's feature was a nuisance.

fastdriver · July 2003

backy-

If your questions are for me......

Chrysler told me NOTHING about the 99 300M except that they would fix the left drift BEFORE I picked it up! :-)))

I would guess that there is NO Federal guidelines regarding the shift interlock. As far as I can remember all my cars from 1979 had such an item and maybe even the ones before 1979! If there is no Federal guideline, then there certainly should be one so no one else will die!

hansienna-

Speaking of intelligent people and common sense, the car/van does not have to be running and does not have to have the key in the ignition for the gearshift to be moved OUT OF PARK and into gear! Thank God you don't design cars or do you work for Chrysler?

fastdriver

stever · July 2003

My reading of various pages (put on the net mostly by law firms) on google.com indicates that DC started putting interlocks on their vans in '01.

Steve, Host

fastdriver · July 2003

steve_ HOST-

Would you happen to know if Chrysler was the only manufacturer without a shift interlock device until 2001?

Thanks.

fastdriver

fastdriver · July 2003

Maybe these articles will enlighten you.....

http://www.safetyforum.com/interlock

http://www.khorrami.com/Cases%20Web/Chrysler/Chrysler.htm

fastdriver

stever · July 2003

I didn't see anything in my search a little while ago, other than the plaintiff's lawyers claims that DC was the only minivan without a shift interlock during the 90's. Didn't see a source cited. The NHTSA and Insurance Institute don't seem to have much info on the issue either.

Your sites are interesting, but I'd like to see some that a bit less biased towards getting clients (Primetime doesn't count a lot with me either).

There was a longer version of the whistleblower story here, btw:

Fired employee battles Chrysler (Ithaca Journal)

Steve, Host

fastdriver · July 2003

steve_ HOST-

Thanks for the link. He seems to be appearing in a few newspapers.

fastdriver

crkeehn · July 2003

I don't know whether the shift interlock was federally mandated, I do know that a number of the manufacturers that incorporated it in the 90s were defendents in unintended acceleration cases. Ford was an earlier adopter but was also an early defendent.

topfivebob · July 2003

Well, I pretty much have determined that the problem with my dashboard gauges (temp, sped, gas) is a loose wire of some kind. The gauges were all down when I started my 97 DC this morning and an angry tap on the dash brought them back.
I called a repair shop that said they could fix it, but it never seems to be broken when I have time to take it in!
So, here's my question: how hard would it be to pull the dash gauges and look for this loose wire/connection myself? Obviously, I would have to invest in one of the repair manuals, but I wanted to hear from soneone who may have tried this before. I don't want it to turn into one of those repairs that you get halfway into and realize you need a special tool that is only sold every other weekend at some parking lot in Detroit.
I have done some repairs to my vans in the past (radiator on my 88 Voyager) so I'm not afraid to tackle this if it's pretty straightforward.

caravanuser1 · July 2003

I had a very weird problem on my 96 DC yesterday.
When I started the Van, AC was not working, indicators were not working and the turn signals were also not working. I was wondering if any of you have faced this and if yes, how did you resolve this?
Thanks in advance.

96caravan · July 2003

Requesting mech. advice on 96 DC (Grand 3.8L)
Problem: rocker arm shaft broke where journal bolt goes into head boss; Because of 3rd party warranty coverage limitations, I need to understand more about how the damage could have occurred: head vs rocker arm (and/or components)
Question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Could this type of failure possibly have originated in the engine head? With the head boss being a non-moving part, it just doesn't make sense to me that the problem could have originated here, which is what the warranty co is claiming - also stating that the breakdown was caused by a Dodge engine design flaw that is a very common cause for this type of breakdown - however, after speaking with several experienced Dodge mechanics - it seems that this problem is not very common at all. I have looked over the engine & from the appearance of the shaft where it is broken, it really looks to me like the shaft broke prior to the head boss.
Any help that any of you could provide would be appreciated. I have spent many, many hours attempting to educate myself on the workings of the engine - but, at this point, I need advice based on actual experience and/or engineering explanations regarding all possible and/or impossible scenarios. Thank you.

candlemaker2 · July 2003

Hello,
I had posted back in May about steering problems. That was fixed but now when I drive the van the air bag indicator light flashes on and off and a bell sounds.
The owners manual says it indicates a malfunction with the air bag control module
My husband is out of town again, that's why he bought me a newer van so we would not have to worry,,,,, anyone had this problem and knows what to do ????
Thanks

hayneldan · July 2003

There was a recall about the airbag light coming on. It involves changing a clockspring under the airbag on the steering wheel. Has this recall been performed on your van? If not it's a feebee.

candlemaker2 · July 2003

Thank you for your post. I don't know if it has been done. We purchased the van in May 03 with 34,000 km on it.
I took it out tonight and it did not do the light show this time.
I called the dealership and was told it would be covered under warranty but had to get it hooked up to the computer to find out what the problem was. Our van is 2002 and I had read that the clock spring problem was in earlier models.
The service man I spoke to said it was an electrical thing and to be careful driving it,,, makes me feel good !

mfahey1 · July 2003

Having gone through 2 compressors, an automatic temperature control module and a bunch of stuff related to the rear AC on our 2001(all done under warranty), it was nice to get a letter from Daimler Chrysler extending the warranty on the compressor to 7 years or 70,000 miles.
Now, I wonder if they would cover the AC on our 1988 Caravan with 196,000 miles on it? Too much to hope for? Oh well, you can always dream.

achan8 · July 2003

The transmission of my 2000 GC (32000miles) went around x'mas during a trip far away from home in the middle of nowhere. It took over 2 weeks for a small town car dealer to get a new transmission. Am glad it was under warranty! But who needs this hassle and the expense to rent a car.

mfahey1 · July 2003

Chrysler obviously hasn't changed much over the years. When our 88 GC had 15,000 miles on it, the transmission essentially exploded on my wife about 500 miles from home. She also had to get a rental car and it also took the dealer down in Tennessee two weeks to fix it. The explanation was that there had been so many failures nationally that there was a shortage of repair parts. Chrysler wouldn't do a thing about the extra expenses of the rental car and the hotel bills.

strokeoluck · July 2003

To gentleman asking about removing the gauges to look for a loose wire: are you nuts!? :-) You mention that you've done your own radiator repair in the past therefore you feel ready to tackle this dashboard/gauge job. That's akin to me pulling a splinter out w/a pair of tweezers and then deciding to perform a quadruple bypass on a relative due to my newfound surgical skills. I'm giving you a bit of a hard time so please take it in stride. However my Dad has completely refurbished about a dozen vehicles - from the ground up, and I recall him saying that the WORSE part of that process was the "stuff" behind the dashboard. Personally I'd leave it to the mechanics at the shop - dealer or independent. Good luck.

To the guy who had the bad transmission in '88...give us a break. If I'm not mistaken Chrysler is still the best-selling van in America. (And don't tell me it's because they're the cheapest because Kia stole that from them a few years ago). There's no sane person that would buy a D/C van if they were still having abnormally high transmission problems. D/C would have run out of "suckers" by now. I have a '96 (the problem year!?!?) with 108k miles and absolutely no transmission problems. Don't try to elevate anecdotal stories to the level of tried-and-true data.

- Rob

just4fun2 · July 2003

I agree with you, Chrysler/Dodge would not be in the minivan business this long if their products are as bad as some would lead you to believe. Yes, if you are having problems with your vehicle then yes, you are not going to be happy.

I believe that some of these problems people are having has to do with "Dealers" who don't know what they are doing in the first place and that will create more problems.

dustyk · July 2003

I believe the early UltraDrive electronic 4-speed transmissions did experience a higher than normal rate of failures due to a seal problem. If I recall correctly, premature seal failures were attributed to machining irregularties in a certain piston bore. However, not all units had the problem.

The 3-speed series was never a problem. In fact they've been very reliable.

Again, if my memory serves me correctly, at the peak of the problem years the failure rate for the UltraDrive was about 18 or 19%. While that's above the current US average (4%), in '88 through '94 the failure rate wasn't that much more than the national average.

Ford, GM and Honda have had problems in this area, too, by the way. In fact, the highest ever recorded transmission failure rate was around 46% on GM's THM200 series that was put in full size GM cars for a while.

It is quite untrue to state that "nothings changed" with Chrysler transmissions. Chrysler has upgraded their transmissions over the years, especially the minivan series. If you visit a transmission repair shop nowadays, you'll see what I mean.

Regards,
Dusty

royallen · July 2003

Dusty, On one hand, I have had excellent performance from my wife's '95 Caravan, however, I have a more negative opinion about Chrysler quality. Surveys published by C R show consistent high repair rates for the '95 transmissions. For example in April 2000, the '95 got a black half circle = 9.3-14.8 % serious problems (for the year ending 4/99) compared to the average car, 2.0-5.0%. Then April '02 CR, the '95 Dodge van transmission got a black circle,>14.8%, average 5.0-9.3%. This seems to me to be much more than a minor manufacturing problem you propose.
To keep my transmission alive: 1. I added an auxiliary cooler ($32 and 1.5 hours)(standard after '98 I've been told), 2. I change the fluid every 15,000 and filter every 30,000, 3. I check every quart of fluid to be OEM standard (mine uses ATF +3), 4. I keep the overdrive off in city driving cutting shifts about 40-50%, 5. when backing I stop before shifting to drive. Roy

arnej · July 2003

just a few questions for the experts out there.
if my oil pressure is real low-just above the bottom red line on the gauge-is it likely the oil pump? When I shift to low gear on the Auto Trans. and increase the RPM, the oil pressure does increase a little bit, but when I shift back to drive, the oil pressure drops.
Also, what is a MAP sensor? Oxygen sensor? EGR valve? the other day the van wouldn't start. It would chug a little(about 750 rpm) and then die. When I tried giving it a little gas, an occasional knocking sound came from the engine bay. Any help would be great!

ramou · July 2003

I just traded in my 96 Caravan for a Windstar and I feel everyone's pain with this van. The biggest problem I had until I sold it with 140,000 miles was major oil and transmission leaks. It had a recall on the cooling fan and the fuel pump but the A/C never went out on it. I just kept up with the tune ups and filters so I guess that's what kept it running. Engine and transmission never let me down and always started. Anyway I have a Non-Caravan question. My sister has a 95 Chrysler Lebaron with the 3.0 V6 engine. The transmission oil was changed twice in the past 4 month but it keeps turning black. Does anyone know what's causing it to turn black? it only has 83,000 miles.

candlemaker2 · July 2003

I would really re-think the purchase of a Windstar. We had purchased a 2001 brand new off the lot. We had nothing but problems with it from day one! It was so cheaply built, you heard so much road noise, even though we paid extra for undercoat(sound barrier).
The arm rest fell off, the paint had to be re-done, the window trim was damaged and was replaced with,,, you guessed it,,, more damaged trim. The thing was in the shop more than in our drive-way. There were 3 re-calls the first week we owned it. Mechanics were unable to set the security on the key less entry system, making it useless. This is minor stuff compared to the fact we started to have transmission problems with less than 2000 km on it. Mechanics told us it was just the way a Windstar drove,, NOT ! Try driving a vehicle that does not respond when you give it the gas, trying to merge into traffic on the freeway! Then having the thing hammer into gear and take off, enough to cause whiplash.
We took it back and left it with the keys with 4000 km on it. We wanted no part of it.
So before you think of buying a Ford, check the boards and do some research on re-calls, you'll save yourself so much time, money and aggrevation.

just4fun2 · July 2003

and then what happened? What did Ford Motor Company say when you wrote them about your problems? If the dealer can not or will not fix a car that is under warranty, it is your responsibility to go to the top of Ford(not the dealership) and get answers.

Must be some more to this story....

mina69 · July 2003

ive got a 99 plymouth voyager which is in the shop right now for the head gasket, I'd like some help as to go about getting help from chrysler w/this problem, have had no problems w/it until this, and apparently its a common problem?!!

candlemaker2 · July 2003

We got nowhere with Ford. I talked to them and got a call back from someone saying that we needed to deal with the dealership. Our salesman either quit or was fired, no one would return calls and when we had it in for service, it came back either parts damaged or in worse shape, never fixed. The last straw was the transmission. We told them we did not want it if they could not fix it. The bank got involved and we refused to make payments on it. We ended up settling with the bank and doing a voluntary surrender and they sent it to auction. Poor soul who bought it! After this all happened and it was re-sold, we received a letter from Ford about all the problems. The letter was in response to numerous problems with the van but was dated almost a year after we gave it back. It was also mentioning a different dealership. I called Ford and told them that we had not owned the van for almost a year, they had sent us the letter but it was meant for the new owner. Guess he was having problems with it too.
Ford has had so many problem with the Windstar. We like the Caravan we have , it is a much better built vehicle.

royallen · July 2003

Aaron, My expertise is limited but your van needs expert help soon. Low oil pressure can kill an engine. If you do not have a trustworthy mechanic check out www.cartalk.cars.com ,then "real car information", "MechanXfiles". There are possibilities besides failing oil pump such as low oil quantity and sludge in the oil pump pickup screen. Except for low oil, all require a mechanic to deal with it. For your other questions, a Haynes manual would be an excellent source for self education.
ramou, black oil is usually excess combustion blow by into the crankcase past worn rings. A compression test would confirm this likelihood.

strokeoluck · August 2003

Our '96 Plymouth Grand Voyager has a rust spot at the bottom of the passenger side sliding door. Actually the rust spot isn't on the door, it's on teh frame just underneath the door. The paint is bubbling w/signs of rust underneath and the entire area is maybe 2"x2" - nothing major. However I'd like to drive this van for another couple years (wife willing) and don't want to see this spread. Can anyone direct me to a site that would explain - pictures would be ideal - a SIMPLE way to fix this? I don't have bodyshop tools but have enough "basic" tools to get the job done. The paint job at the end doesn't have to be pretty either, it's pretty inconspicuous.

Thanks,
Rob

dustyk · August 2003

First, you must understand the way Consumers' Reports presents their data. Using their system, a "problem" could be anything from a leak to a noise to a complete failure. CRs data is not necessarily very enlightening. In addition, there is no differentiation for various transmission models. The 3-speed transmission on the '95 Caravan is almost bullet proof. It was the 4-speed version that caused the problem. Yet the CR "black mark" blandly labels all Caravans the same.

Keep in mind also that this defect was not present in all of the transmissions they manufactured that year. If you have one that has a smooth piston bore, you probably will never have a problem caused by that defect regardless what precautions you take.

However, if the machining of the piston bore in question has never been addressed, then I could see why 1995s would continue to have a problem. This piston bore is part of the transmission case. It's not something that can be replaced. There is a repair for it, however. A competent transmission shop can make the repair at overhaul time.

Regards,
Dusty

hayneldan · August 2003

This site may help http://www.diynet.com/DIY/article/0,2058,9078,00.html If you don't have a welder, fiberglass or bondo will work as long as you remove all rhe rust. If you can't, try a rustkiller paint on which will turn the rust into a hard black compound.

dalaw · August 2003

I have a 96 Plymouth Voyager with 66k miles and 3.0 V6 and 3 speed transmission, bought it since new. No problems with the transmission so far, but the rest of the van has a lot of problems. The driveaxle was leaking transmission fluid and was repaired for about $300 something. Now there are some small engine leak, think its from the valve cover, and coolant leak, probably from the water pump. Some of the problems repaired under warranty are the sticking turn signal lever and wipers that had a mind of its own.

strokeoluck · August 2003

Thanks hayneldan! I'll give it a shot this weekend or next.

- Rob

larryintn · August 2003

This isn't a problem but more of a question.

We have a 2002 Grand Caravan Sport. How does the rear A/C work?

Is it all run off of the same compressor? Does it have a separate coil? If so, where is it located? Or is it just separate temp control and fan which runs off of a single A/C unit?

Thanks...

distraught21 · August 2003

My 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan needed transmission work with less than 300 miles on it. Is there other 2003 owners who have experienced transmission troubles ?

just4fun2 · August 2003

What kind of trouble are you having with the transmission? Post it if you find out. The 2004 Toyota Sienna and 99-up Ody are also having their share of transmission problems. I guess it is a throw of the dice now a days. Good Luck.

4elysium · August 2003

My 2003 Dodge Grand Cravan Sport is under a year old and has less than 21,000 miles on it (In California it is typical to commute 60 miles per day) and has already had the front carpet repeatedly repaired (because it pulls out from the corners). The latest repair left a big 'ol ugly emergency brake exposed and the dealer considers it fixed.
The recall work has been done and just yesterday I picked it up from the dealer who had kept it for a week to repair the transmission pump. The problem arose the week before - the van would not consistently go into gear.
Oh, and have you all received your letter in the mail to let you know the A/C warranty has been extended to 70,000 miles because it is likely to break?
No, I'm not happy. I didn't pay big bucks (well it is big bucks to me - I'm in California) to deal with these kind of problems. I might expect it with a used car, but not a new one.

just4fun2 · August 2003

doesn't repair you vehicle to you satisfaction just go over his head and talk directly to Chrysler HQ. Your carpet repair should look like one of the new van on their lot, don't settle for anything less.

You mentioned the extension of the A/C warranty. Honda just extended the warranty on their Ody transmission because they are likely to break and the people who own Hondas are happy about this. At least Chrysler is stepping up to the plate and providing a longer warranty.

susanw3 · August 2003

We bought a 99 Dodge Caravan 14 months ago. The only problem we have had is with belts. The serpentine belt has been replaced three times and needs to be replaced again. It seems to get chipped off at the left edge first. Once, when we were on the way to the garage to have the belt replaced, the whole belt broke and we had to be towed. There is a definite "flapping" noise when this occurs. The last time, we had the tension pulleys replaced. There seems to be a direct correlation with wet weather and this problem. The belt often "chirps" when the van is idling in damp weather conditions.

candlemaker2 · August 2003

Just to follow up on my last post. It turned out to be the clock spring. There is no re-call for the 2002 but ours did go.
There is however a recall on the power steering hoses.
Had the van in today and they did both and reset the computer. Gave us a Ram tuck 4x4 to drive for the day since we were from out of town.
Service has been great.

wijoco · August 2003

There is a mechanical problem that's eating the belts: the belts themselves are not the problem. Either there is something snagging the belt and tearing it as it turns or one of the accessories is out of line. All accessory pulleys must be on the same plane; I would visually check the position of all the pulleys and then physically check each by hand looking for excessive play in one of the bearings. Also check the mounting bolts on each accessory to make sure they are all truly tight and torqued sufficiently. Look carefully on the side of the motor for loose covers or bolts that could snag the belt. Let your mechanic know you're not going to keep throwing new belts at it. Good luck.

hayneldan · August 2003

If your belt keeps on slipping (chirping) and comes off when it is raining check to see if you have the black plastic sheild installed on the bottom of your van to protect the bottom of the belt from puddles or rain. if it is missing or deformed this could be the source of your problems.

susanw3 · August 2003

We appreciate the feedback. We've been given two areas to check. When the second belt became frayed on the edge after only a few months, our mechanic assumed that the belt was defective. That one was replaced by the parts company that sold the belt to my mechanic and installed free of charge. (We use an mechanic who operates his own auto repair service.) Then in March, after driving over about 10 miles of slushy roads, that belt came off. We had to have the van towed to the garage. The mechanic replaced the tension pulley and inspected all parts. On Friday, road conditions were very poor with a lot of water, and the belt had chunks out of it on one side. Each time there is a sloshing sound prior to the flapping noise. We would like to thank people who have seen our message and taken time to post suggestions. We'll inspect all the parts and look at the splash guard. My husband will stay with the mechanic as he replaces the belt and inspects the guard. We did speak to the mechanic on the phone about the possibility of the guard problem. He had heard that some people purchase longer guards from the Chrysler company. We'll call the on Monday. Has anyone heard of these longer guards? The van is going to the garage tomorrow.

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