2 engines, original blew at 62,000 and the second engine (used) blew only 20K later
1 transmission, failed @ 65K
drive axle.
The Mitsubishi 3 liter engines they used in these vans were running time bombs, guaranteed to self-destruct well before 100K. They had many faults, the biggest being cracked cylinder heads due to overly-thin castings. They also had oil-pressure problems, which resulted in ticking and knocking. I junked my van after the second engine cracked a cylinder head (always the one closest to the firewall). My grandfather had the same thing happen to his 3 liter Voyager @ 60K.
The other problem was the dreaded transmission failure, which plagued this model.
I'm surprised to read of your trouble with this van. Friends of ours have put well over 200,000 miles on 4 of these vans without a single problem. One currently drives a 1998 Chrysler Town and Country with 180,000 miles on it and other than a minor electrical problem with the dash lights it has performed flawlessly. I don't even know anyone who has ever had a problem with one of these vehicles.
I've heard a lot about the transmission failures with these also.. they're infamous for it. I'd suggest to stay away from the older models (anything older then a '93). The majority of these vans I see still on the road are oil burners (almost all of them blow blue smoke out the tailpipe). And yes they do tick and knock just like a time bomb. I had a '94 Grand Voyager with the 3.3 litre motor and it had no major problems like I see with the 3.0 engines.. but unfortunately it was still a Chrysler product so it did have its issues. After new axles (AWD model), a fuel pump, and endless front-end headaches we traded it in with 125k miles for a new Honda. I'd suggest you do the same. If you MUST buy domestic, get a Chevy Astro van (or GMC Safari). They're ugly and they're gas hogs, but they're rock-solid dependable vans.
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