1997 Chrysler Town and Country from North America - Comments

My belt came off in rain.

I lost power steering d/t belt coming off.

My Van overheated d/t belt coming off.

My Van died d/t belt coming off.

My transmission was rebuilt in March, at ~120,000 miles.

I too have a 1997 Chrysler Town and Country. The belt to the water pump and power steering has come off about ten times, every time when hitting a puddle of water. My gas station installed the factory solution, a shroud, but it has not helped. It is a fair weather vehicle only and I am getting rid of it since I cannot drive it in the rain safely.

For the first guy that posted "I hate this van".

Considering that it's a Chrysler, 120,000 miles is very good before having the trans rebuilt, and by the way, this is just a little tip... when the belt comes off (there is only one belt on this van) everything including the power steering pump, water pump, and alternator stop turning, thus it overheats for the lack of water flowing through the engine due to the water pump not turning.

And if the belt comes off several times, especially when wet, it's possible that it's the belt tensioner that is broken. If it's broken, then the belt has no tension on it and it falls off very easily, especially when wet... not to hard to replace.

I work at oreilly auto parts gates has come out with a retrofit kit on chrysler minvans w3.3l,3.8land 3.0l.the factory pulleys are smooth. this kit comes with grooved pulleys and special belt and tensioner. call me 2814991556 paul.