Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
1. Compressor leaking (I can change this myself)
2. Receiver/ dryer leaking (I can do this)
3. Evaporator leaking :sick:
How do I change the evaporator? I heard that you have to remove the whole instrument panel. Is this true? Also, how can you see the dye without removing the dash board then? :confuse:
I was at the dealer for a routine oil change today and was told that the spark plug wires are developing cracks and need to be replaced. This is something that I would like to do myself. I have read/heard how hard it is to get at the back three plugs. The service guy told me that they would have to remove the wiper crawl, or something like that. Has anybody every done it this way? What are the steps? How much time did it take?
Thanks and Have a Blessed Day.
Per the manual that I just got in the mail yesterday, the R&R of the Cowl Cover is as follows:
1) Remove the wiper arms, then remove the screws that hold the lower area of the cowl cover to the wiper module.
2) Disenage the quarter-turn fastners that hold the outer ends of the cowl cover to the wiper module.
3) Open the hood and release the wingnuts that hold the front of the cowl cover to the wiper module.
4) Close the hood but do not latch it. Now remove the outboard screws and lift the cowl cover up enough to get to the washer hose.
5) Disconnect the washer hose from the right washer nozzle. Lift the cowl cover toward the windshield and off the vehicle.
6) Installation is the reverse of removal.
I hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Shipo
The good news is that even with 115,500 miles on the engine at the time the sample was taken, the wear numbers and such look extremely good. So, what's the bad news? Coolant. According to the report, 0.29% of my engine oil was coolant, which BTW equates to roughly five and a quarter ounces of Ethylene Glycol having made its way into my oil pan over a period of 7,500 miles. As some of y'all might know, Ethylene Glycol does LOTS of damage to engine bearings in very short order.
Stepping back and thinking about this, our van's engine got real hot one day back in the fall of 1998 (the van was about five months old then) when we were visiting some friends and took a scenic mountain road instead of the local highway. Said mountain road was VERY STEEP and the only reason why I noticed that anything was wrong at all was when the van's computer cut back on the power and limited it to only first and second gear. A quick look at what I call the "Idiot Gauge" confirmed that things were plenty hotted up under the hood. As soon as we stopped climbing, the van cooled enough to return full power to the engine and shiftability to the transmission.
The next summer (when the van was about a year old) I noticed that the coolant was about a quart low, and each and every summer since then I've needed to add a quart of coolant. All along I've just assumed that evaporation was the most likely culprit for my coolant loss. Now, with this latest information I'm thinking that it's been leaking into the oil pan all along. Was the hot engine event of 1998 responsible for the slow leak? Don't know. Is the leak a result of a blown head gasket? A cracked or warped head or heads? They are aluminum after all. A cracked block? Don't know any of those either, however, my bet is a head gasket that allows coolant to make it to the oil drain galleries that carry oil from the valves and rocker arms back in to the oil pan.
So, attempting to think about this logically, my average driving speed was about 42 mph over the course of this 7,500 mile Oil Change Interval, and that means that the engine was operational for about 180 hours. Said another way, about one ounce of coolant leaked into the oil for every 34 hours of operation. Not exactly a fast leak. Oh, wait! Roughly half of coolant is water (which evaporates rapidly when the engine oil reaches operating temperature) so let's double the leakage numbers. Hmmm, one ounce of coolant every 17 hours. Still not what I would call a fast leak.
On the surface it seems that I have several options:
1) Continue to use the Mobil 1 that I've been using since the van had about 15,000 miles on the clock. I'm currently using 0W-40, and before it was widely available I used 0W-30 and before that I used 5W-30. I consider this (i.e. doing nothing different) an option because apparently the Mobil 1 is able to hold its own against the debilitating effects of the coolant contamination; after all, it seems that I've had a coolant leak for well over 100,000 miles.
2) Do the same as Option 1 except change the coolant from Ethylene Glycol to Propylene Glycol, which apparently isn't as toxic to engine bearings.
3) Buy a head gasket set and spend a weekend wrenching.
4) Buy a pair of reconditioned heads (anywhere from $150 per to $300 per) in addition to the head gasket set and spend the same weekend wrenching.
5) Pull the heads one weekend, send them out to a shop for reconditioning and put them back on the next weekend (I'd need to hitch a ride to work for a couple of days).
For the moment at least, I've decided to go with Option #2. Why? Well, one reason only. Per the Amsoil web site, they claim their Propylene Glycol coolant has the following properties:
Stops Leaks
AMSOIL Antifreeze & Coolant adheres to metal. It self-seals hairline cracks in welds and seams to prevent leaks, without additional stop-leak products or fibrous materials.
While I'm very opposed to "Stop Leak" products in general (I've seen too much internal damage to heater cores and radiators to trust that crud), I'm thinking that this stuff might just do the trick. I ordered three gallons (our van has the "Rear Heater" and Propylene Glycol needs a slightly higher coolant to water ratio than Ethylene Glycol) of Amsoil coolant yesterday and plan on putting it in sometime next week. I will then put another couple of thousand miles on the current engine oil and then change it at 120,000. I'm hoping that the Amsoil stuff isn't all marketing hype and has actually stopped my internal leak by the 120K mark. Unfortunately I won't find out until I hit 127,500 miles when I send in that next batch of oil for analysis.
Any thoughts or recommendations?
Oh! Sorry for the long post.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I change my own oil, buying brand name but rebated oil, generally with rebates of $.59 per quart. Filters about $3-$4. Oil change less than $8. Cheap insurance.
Given the age and value of your van at this point, I would consider using Stop Leak as well. Hard to justify dumping a lot of money in an aging vehicle.
Another option is replace it. We just bought, at the end of June, a new GC Caravan SE with Stow and Go and an option package including three row AC. Over $7K off MSRP. Just a hair over $19.5K plus TTL. Paid about $2K less than we paid for our short wheel base 1996 Caravan SE Sport ten years ago! A few less bells and whistles than the 1996, but then again a few new ones too, primarily the Stow and Go and the three zone AC.
Of course, it is always cheaper on your finances to keep an old vehicle running, if you are willing to put up with increasing levels of unreliability and repair rates.
Now my next chore is to sell the 96. Didn't trade it in as dealers will not give you squat for a ten year old in trade, despite its immaculate condition and fairly low mileage for its age, 89K.
Hmmm, interesting. I guess it all depends upon perspective. I've been using synthetic oil and extended OCIs (10K-12K miles) for the last 100,000 miles on this van, and even with the coolant contamination, the UOA (which can be seen at shipo, "Synthetic motor oil" #6389, 8 Jul 2006 9:40 am ) shows that the engine is in extremely good condition. If I was to switch to a 3,000 mile OCI, I would be changing my oil every four to five weeks, no thanks, that's just too much like work. :P
Regarding keeping the van and methods of keeping it running, well, I figure that I can do a complete top end overhaul for about $650 (about what, two car payments?) and given that the engine is still only consuming a quart of oil in 7,500 miles, I figure the lower end is in pretty good condition. True, the van is nearing 120,000 miles, however, it seems to be in good enough condition to easily make it to the 200K mark and then some.
As you mentioned, the other option is to buy a new one, however, given the number of miles that I'm currently driving (29,000 in the last 12 months), and the number of miles I'll be driving this time next year (the company that I'm contracting to is moving our offices twenty miles further up the road), buying new (or even used but newer that what I have) is money down the drain at a rather quick rate. I'm thinking that from a pure financial perspective, nothing is going to beat this van.
Of course, truth be told, I've had a new car every three to four years for the last quarter of a century and I really WANT another new one now. It's just that I've never had to consistently drive so many miles and so new cars made more sense from a financial perspective.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Best Regards,
Shipo
I ask because I'm pretty sure the leak is from a bad head gasket, however, I don't want to tear it apart to find that both gaskets are fully intact (meaning that the problem is most likely one of the two heads).
Best Regards,
Shipo
Hmmm, I'm thinking that there is a third possibility. I've wrenched on plenty of engines (in years gone by) that had neither a compression problem on any cylinders or a cracked head. The problem would instead turn out to be a failed head gasket between a coolant gallery and either the lifter valley (on "V" type engines) or an oil return drain, both of which will allow coolant to drain into the oil pan without a crack or a low cylinder.
FWIW, while I haven't performed a compression test, I have no indication that there is a low cylinder (which doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't one). I suppose a cylinder leak down test and a borescope could help rule out a leak into a cylinder, however, having that diagnosis performed will cost at least half of the total cost of overhauling the top end of the engine.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Back in my "Wrenching" days I saw too many plugged up heater cores from the various "stop leak" products. Of course I lived in San Diego in those days and so a plugged heater core was of little consequence. I now live in southern New Hampshire, and trust me, there are times when I need every calorie of heat I can get from the heater core (and I'm a guy who likes it cold).
The course of action that I've embarked upon is to flush out my (new as of last month) Ethylene Glycol coolant and replace it with Amsoil Propylene Glycol (which is apparently far less toxic to bearings) sometime next week (whenever it gets here). I'm not a fan of Amsoil (or their marketing practices), however, if there is even a shred of truth to their claims of leak elimination, the Amsoil PG might just do the trick. If by November (when I'm expecting to do my next UOA) I'm still showing coolant leakage I'll decide whether to take a chance on a stop leak product or just fix the problem, regardless of whether it's a bad gasket or a warped or cracked head.
I'll keep y'all posted. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
I'm wondering if this noise is the fuel pump, or something else? And if it is the fuel pump (or something else) how difficult would it be to change the component. I consider myself handy with a wrench.
The last two times that it has happened I disconnected the battery, the first time for about 15 minutes and today about 45 minutes. After reconnecting the battery it started both times. I am still experiment what to do when this happens.
The dealer just called me back and said the spare was loose under the car which caused the creaking noise. They told me an edge of the belt in the engine is getting chewed up on one edge and tech needs to find out whats wrong with it. Does anyone have any info on these issues? Common to this van?
These 2 new issues are on top of other issues we have run into in the past: Steering fluid resevoir swapped for new, new power steering lines installed. Rear buzzer (?) replaced when it quit working.
All this in only 19,000+ miles.....making us a bit nervous. At least with our extended warranty, we get a free loaner. I'm drivng a Jeep Liberty Limited. We have gotten our money's worth from them providing loaners to us while its in the shop.....
This morning I took the car out and had no problems. 6 hours later I go into the garage and the van will not start up. There was a little bit of light on the dash and then I lost it when I turned the key. Just the old clicking noise.
Jump started the car and took it around the block. Lights on the dash were flickering on and off and the gauges were not stable. Then then the battery light came on so I parked the car.
Do I need a new battery or could it be the alternator or something else? Is there an easy way to diagnose? Could a shop just hook something to the battery to determine the issue?
THANKS,
MIKE
Has anyone else experienced this problem and can offer some advice ?
Were you able to fix it yourself? I'm having the same problem with my 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan. The liftgate won't even lift or beep with the remote or interior button. I'm hoping I can fix this myself.
Thanks,
Tricia
I've been searching the forums for a while, and I'd like to get some opinions on the following problem:
My 99 dodge caravan - 4cylinder had a problem over the weekend with the transmission slipping.
We towed it into the dealer...the radiator had transmission fluid in it. Since then the dealer has told us the warranty company will replace the radiator, and pay for the transmission to get flushed out. My husband and I are also going to flush the engine, and since the a/c wasn't working they will also replace the evaporator.
I would like to know, according to the dealer they feel flushing the transmission won't solve the problem....(they said that the torque converter is contaminated with anit-freeze).
I'm sorry but I always thought that once the tranny would start acting up it would just be better to replace it not flush the system. Any input/suggestions would be appreciated. (our warranty is through interstate - the diamond package)
Thanks for the help. :confuse:
thefoxman7
As far as why the transmission was slipping, my guess is that it was low on fluid due to the leak. For the short time you experienced the problem, I doubt this will cause a long term problem. However, by all means, have them pressure flush the transmission to replace all of the fluid. If it is still slips, then you have a legitimate claim with the warranty company.