Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-90, 91-105, 106-120, 121-135, 136-150, 151-165, 166-180, 181-195, 196-210, 211-225, 226-240, 241-255
Malfunction sliding door lock at delivery.
Transducer sensor (input) fault at 20,000 miles. It caused erratic acceleration while driving. All meters display erratically.
Transducer sensor (output) fault right after warranty expired at 38,000 miles.
Replace belt tensioner (and belt) at 42,000 miles. Dealer said the tensioner is close to lose all the strength.
Serpentine belt came off while driving at a rainy day with couple inch deep water on some sections of road. Around 43,000 mile.
I thought this minivan was a fairly good people mover. It is roomy and comfortable at front and middle seats.
Honestly, the dependability was better than I thought during warranty period. It had only one sensor problem while driving. However, I am not so optimistic after warranty expired.
But one thing changed my mind, the serpentine belt. The belt came off while I drove in a rainy day (with 2 to 3 inch deep water on some roads). I thought it was because the dealer didn't install the belt tensioner and belt right which wasn't too long ago. But the dealer put the belt back on and told me that the belt for this van is easy to come off if you drive in deep water! Another dealer confirmed this and said several same vans towed in because of this. This really surprised me!
The serpentine belt is the only belt driving all the accessories, including power steering, water pump, alternator, etc. Without power steering, this van is hard to control. (Fortunately I was driving slowly on a local street.) Whatever the condition is, I think the belt should NOT come off at all. If it has a chance to happen, it is a major safety hazard, and Chrysler should recall the flawed belt/pulley design.
This van is supposed to be a safe family van, but now it carries a major safety hazard. My wife drove the van most of the time, now she is scared to drive it when it rains.
I will keep the van for now (it's a big lose to sell it since it drops in value greatly), but find a replacement car for family use. I won't recommend this van to anyone with whole family's safety in mind before Chrysler is really willing to address the problem.
I own a 1999 Dodge Caravan and had the same experience. While driving through standing water on a rainy day, the belt came off. The loss of power steering was the first indication of trouble. Shortly thereafter the overheating light and beeping alarm started.
This is certainly a problem and Dodge should remedy it. It's hard to imagine anywhere this car could be used without the chance of splashing through a puddle of standing water and risking the loss of steering control.
I do not, however, consider it a "hazardous" condition since anyone traveling at high speeds through standing water can't be protected from themselves.
If I were in the market for another van and someone offered a 1999 Dodge Caravan with this belt unrepaired, I would not buy again.
My 2000 GRAND CARAVAN has failed the same way twice.. first time parked, I heard the belt squealing and lifted the hood and witnessed the belt come off right in front of my eyes (No water, no high speed). That was 4 months ago, it came off again yesterday...30MPH, small puddle on side of the road... THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS DESIGN FLAW AND SHOULD BE ADDRESSED... I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER CARAVAN!!!
Own a 1998 caravan and just had the power steering belt come off when I went through a snow drift 18 inches high. Looking to fix and cannot put back on myself so will drive it in tomorrow. In the past the air conditioning squealed every time it went on. I am very frustrated to see that this is a common occurence and has not been recalled. Who do we contact to make this happen as it appears as though I am not the only one with this issue? Has there been a recall that we are not aware of?
98 Dodge Caravan.
Today my caravan traveled in 2-3" of water @ 10-15 mph., and experienced loss of power steering.
1998 Town & Country - 65K - belt just popped off during a slow drive in the rain. Looks like we've got a common problem here! Dan.
At 100,000 miles our tensioner for the serpentine belt gave out causing the van to overheat and ruin the radiator and mix radiator fluid in the transmission cooler. 1200 dollars later it again runs fine. This was the first repair we have had to make in 100,000 miles! Over all a reliable van with a smooth ride and a rock solid motor unlike a Toyota Sienna Sludge motor that dies before the warranty is up. If the belt tensioner is my only problem in 100,000 miles then thank God for a reliable American Van. I will buy another soon.
I have 140,000 on my 1997 Grand Caravan, been a good car, but I can't fix this belt problem, it will run for months fine, then throw belts twice in a week, quality belts, new tensioner (replaced 2 times), definitely have a water problem, or snow. I've been a mechanic for 30 years and my wife (who drives the van) thinks I'm an idiot because I can't keep a belt on it anymore. Glad to see you folks out there with the same problem, anybody got a fix yet?
1998 Grand Caravan. Same problem with the serpentine belt. Six times to date. After the first three, my wife took it to the dealer to be fixed under warranty: They gave us a new belt. The last three have been within the past two weeks, now that we're at 75,000 miles with no warranty. Luckily 5 of 6 times I was driving, realized the problem as soon as the power steering went out, pulled over and shut off the van before seriously overheating the engine, and have been close enough to a bridge or cover to replace the belt during a thunderstorm. If you are capable of doing this yourself, I have a few tips for you: 1: collect these items for roadside belt replacement: An extra belt for when the old one falls out of the engine compartment, A flashlight, A 15mm offset wrench for pivoting the tensioner pulley, A towel and Go-Jo hand cleaner, An old shirt you don't care about (to use during repair) and either; a large bottle of ice-cold water to pour on the now scalding hot radiator hose you will be rubbing your arm against, the patience to sit and wait for the hose to cool off, or some first aid burn cream for those in a hurry without any cold water. There is a diagram inside the engine compartment showing how the belt wraps around the different pulleys, I always start at the bottom with the big one and then around all others except for the center tensioner, which you pry down with the 15mm wrench and slide the belt under last. By now the van has cooled down, (ready to drive again) and you can use the hand cleaner to wash your now greasy hands. Simply lather up and walk out into the rain to rinse off. ---Bob in Georgia.
Our 1998 Grand Caravan's Drive Belt came off in a rain storm. Our first clue was lose of power steering. I noticed in other comments that this is a repeating problem with other Grand Caravans. Chrysler should recall this and fix the problem at their expense.
1997 Grand Caravan, multiple serpentine belt problems. Dealer now says that getting less than 30,000 miles out of this part is not unusual.
Given the fact that this one belt controls everything, including safety features (steering), this is definitely something Chrysler should fix. The dealer says it's a spring-loaded tensioner and that the springs just get metal fatigue. How about a beefed-up spring, Chrysler?
Jerry P., Washington, DC area.
I have a 1997 Chrysler Rally (Dodge Caravan) that has 55654 miles on it. The problem I had on Sunday 08/17/03 is: the serpentine tension bolt broke off (inside the assembly), which caused the belt to wrap and tangle in main crank shaft. I believe this should merit a recall.
A Nguyen Chantilly VA.
Unbelievable. I'm shocked to see this many representations of the same problem. I just purchased my 99 Grand Caravan used with 93k miles. It looks, runs and handles fantastic. But it has had this squeaky belt recently. So I popped the hood and plain as day the 'automatic tensioner' (that's a laugh) is completely and obviously out of alignment by a good half inch to the left. Replacing the belt is really about a 10 minute job... not too bad. But there is certainly no good way to access the tensioner itself if it indeed needs to be replaced. I will be researching recall protocol and if anything positive comes to pass I will repost here. Anyone else please do the same. So far it is otherwise a great vehicle... but it can't ride forever on its bells and whistles. I desperately want to purchase American products in all facets. Our manufacturing base is going to have to completely redefine itself and genuinely strive to grow a more impressive reputation if we are going to survive global trade.
Scot M.
NC.
I have a 1999 dodge grand caravan sport, with 41000 miles. Today the belt fell off again for the third time this year. Of course Chrysler tells me its not covered under my extended warranty that I was told was bumper to bumper, however they did advise me that there is a service bulletin that states there is a problem, and they designed a replacement part that will correct the alignment flaw, at my expense. I will never buy another Chrysler.
If there is such a part, please, say what it is. What does the bulleting say? I am very frustrated as I have encountered the same problem for the seventh time in less than a year.
I have replaced the tensioner's idler pulley (in a brand new tensioner), the second idler pulley and many belts. Last week the last belt I installed, snapped. I had a spare cheap one, so I replaced it. The cheap belt was no good. As soon as I cranked the engine it got misaligned. So, I decided to buy the "good" more expensive one. It looked fine, but after some 450 miles of use last night (going from Miami to Kissimmee and back) it started making the infernal squeaking noise again.
This morning I took a look at the belt and it is about to snap again. It is moved one full "lane" out of the bottom "pulley" I think it is the damper one. If I install the new belt I just got for $28 and I don't fix whatever misalignment problem there is I am going to be wasting my money (again).
Please if anyone knows of a permanent solution, I want to know. I will gladly receive suggestions at caravanProblem@rafaelsantoni.com.
Caravan/voyager owners, there is a technical service bulletin on mis-aligned serpentine belts. If you search google you may find it under alldata TechRX.
The website which is a auto technician website refers to replacing a bent motormount which causes the idler pulley, (not the tensioner pulley), to be out of alignment. The spec refers to 2mm as being the limit of misalignment.
Recently I had my voyager belt replaced and the mechanic and dealer, whom I think was doing a fairly good job, said they also shim the idler pulley assembly to make sure the belts are aligned.
An interesting side issue is how the motor mount/idler assembly gets out of align. I know that in my family we drive the heck out of the van, hit curbs, potholes, scuff the sidewalls - the van takes a beating. I know the suspension bottoms very hard when I hit the ends of slopes in parking lots, off curbs, etc. I plan on keeping an eye on the belt alignment, if the dealer doesn't know about TSB's, or the alignment issue, I think they need to.