1999 Dodge Grand Caravan SE from North America - Comments

I have the same issue with my 2000 Grand Caravan. I purchased the car new and it now has 88,000 miles on it. The first time the belt came off in the rain I assumed it was wear and tear on the belt. I had the vehicle towed to the dealership and they replaced the belt. The second time I was able to drive the vehicle home. I called the dealer and they dispatched a technician to my house fix it. That was a year ago. This is the third time, and unfortunately my last. I will be selling the vehicle post haste.

My wife drives our 2003 grand caravan; we have 5 chidren. She complained to me that while driving the kids to school in the rain, the power steering locked up while making a turn. The belt did not come off; however, she almost lost control of the van. This was not the first time this happened to her, but it just never happened to me. I figured it must have been a freak occurence; now, thanks to this site, I know my family is at risk. If I can't get it fixed, I will be in the market for a new or used car (that we really can't afford, but can't not afford). Goodbye Dodge.

I just recently installed the Gates kit on my daughter's 99 dodge Caravan. The tensioner was a booger to get on but with the help of my son-in-law we successfully installed the pulleys. We thought that was the hard part but when we tried to put the new belt on we could not get it on. After several tries we ended up putting the old belt back on. It runs OK but I really want to put the new belt on. The new belt just seems to be too small. Anyone have any suggestions to get that doggone belt on. Thanks

We have a 1999 Grand caravan, bought new, and had a slight problem with it at about 45000 miles. The belt never came off, though it did slip. As with ALL repairs 'till the vehicle gets over 100,000 miles, I had a NEW Idler assembly put on. The one taken off was locked up, which causes the problem of the belt coming off. I now also have a 2002 Caravan, and the 1999 has over 200,000 miles. No more problems have occured, AT ALL. A FIX on the tensioner or Idler assembly is in no way a good idea.. If it was a bad batch of idler assys. or what, the NEW Assy. fixed the problems for at least 165,000 miles...I'm satisfied with that... Too many people (mechanics???) try to get by without doing the job right...The 2002 has WELL over the miles that were on the older van and NO problems have even been noticed....

Like so many others, I'm very happy to have found this site. We own a '99 Dodge Caravan, and it throws a belt about every six months, on average. (I'd say we've had this happen about four times, now.)

Each time, there has either been water from puddles or snow involved.

While I certainly plan on finding the Gates or Goodyear replacement kit, to have one of them installed on our Caravan, there is one solution I have not yet seen suggested on this forum, which--given the nature of the common aspects of the problems--kind of surprises me.

As universally common as this problem is, it would seem to be a prime candidate for relief via a class action lawsuit.

If Gates and Goodyear have created kits that address the problem, you know they didn't do so until they saw a major market segment develop.

That means that, while we only see two hundred or so people complaining here... there are undoubtedly tens of thousands who have been affected.

So, if justice is the concern, finding a good class action law firm to take up the case would be the answer, as this case appears to meet all of the necessary criteria... including the one the attorneys need to make the effort worthwhile: A defendant with deep pockets...which, of course, would be Chrysler.

I'm not an attorney, and I'm not interested in spearheading the effort to bring Chrysler to justice...but, since the government does not appear to be interested in taking up the situation, a class action suit is likely to be the only way to get Chrysler to address the situation.

Our '98 Caravan w/86,000 was fine w/no problem until the water pump and belt were replaced by our shop. Shortly after, the belt began chirping/squealing and we had it replaced. This has happened now 4 times since March '07. It's back in the shop again because this time the belt (which was making noise again after being replaced 2 weeks ago along with the tensioner) came off the pulleys last night on our way home from a Christmas movie. We live in the NW where it rains all winter long and have never had a problem with this before the water pump was replaced. I haven't noticed many posts were the dealer fixed the problem and am wondering if there's something that's not being done correctly with the repair. Why would the original equipment, factory installed belt be fine and not present any problem until it was replaced. I wonder if there's something else at fault? If the Gates/Goodyear fix works maybe that's the answer. I'm not seeing any posts that used it and are still having problems. My mechanic is installing the kit now and I 'll try to report back if it seems to work. We've been really happy with this vehicle since buying it new, with very few problems. I can't believe any auto company would sell a car that can't be driven in the rain and our history for the last 9 years with this vehicle speaks volumes! Cheap, Chinese replacement parts are more likely to blame than a design flaw. However, I am going to file a complaint with NHTSA. Loosing steering at highway speed could be really dangerous, not to mention the damage that could happen from overheating, dead battery, etc. etc.

Well seems after reading all these posts I bought a lemon. 98 3 ltr caravan. the belt lasts about 3 months then one rib is chewed off. replaced the belt and idler pulley and now after driving in the rain the belt won't stop squealling. I too am going to try the gates fix and post back later.

Thanks.

OK, reporting back from 12/26/07 post - Everything was sweet with the Gates kit until 1/5/08 when the belt began to make a little noise, and now it's making so much noise it's an embarrassment to drive. Not even 2 weeks and it's back to the shop!

They don't want to see it anymore. They suspect something may be glazing the belt. They swear the pulleys are in line and everything else checks out. The Gates tensioner will keep the belt from coming off, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to drive it. It was quiet as mouse till Saturday. Just my luck, the only Gates kit failure. Man this is aggravating!

Called the dealer and naturally they questioned the install! Back to the drawing board. If I find the answer I'll post it.

Responding to Jan 8th 2008 18:44 comments.

I have been a mechanic for several years and I have had tremendous success with the gates kits. I love them and they truly work amazing. I thought about your situation and I have a few thoughts that may help you out.

1) Is the coolant pump leaking onto the belt? This will cause belt slipping and noise.

2) Is there any other fluids leaking onto the belt, ie: power steering fluid, engine oil, or water from the drain tube on the cowl?

3) Is the power steering pulley properly aligned? This engine was notorious for having the power steering pump pulley out of position.

4) Does this vehicle have the proper size Air Conditioning compressor pulley installed? Some aftermarket A/C compressor pulleys are smaller then the factory ones. This will cause the belt to be too long and therefore cause the tensioner to be at the end of its travel. This will produce glazing on the belt in a uniform pattern.

5) With these vehicles you absolutely must use a straight edge to check that all of the pulleys are in proper alignment. Misalignment will show evidence of glazing of the belt, but only on one side of the ribs. Once again double check all of the pulleys with a straight edge.

6) Lastly, pay close attention to the grooved idler that comes in the kit, it can sometimes be installed incorrectly. It can drop down on the install bolt prior to tightening. This will mean that the idler will be out of alignment as well as vertical position.

As I have stated, these kits work amazing and there must be something else wrong with your vehicle as I have never ever heard of anyone ever having a problem with one of these Gates kits.

Hope this helps.- please post your results.

I posted a long time ago regarding our common problem of the belt slipping off. Its been about a year now that I've had the Gates kit, and I've had ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS with the belt! Forget all the "home remedies" that some have tried, just get the Gates kit!

Chrysler has treated us all like chumps and blew off their responsibility to us all! I use my Grand Voyager now for work, but in the interim I purchased a Honda Odyssey for my wife so she could safely transport herself and my 5 children.

I am happy with the Honda, but so angry at American carmakers!! They hosed me and you, and DON'T GIVE A DAMN!!! Posting complaints on NTHSA site, calling congressmen didn't do squat. Do you really think our government officials are going to say goodbye to their donations from Chrysler???

This entire episode is the embodiment of a nation sliding towards third-worldism!! Look at the cars in any parking lot, on any highway... the majority are foreign cars. So sad. Goodbye to a once strong nation...

Do any of you know how many other problems one can have with a vehicle? Expensive problems.., transmission, engine, electrical, etc. I seriously doubt there was ever a car or truck manufactured that has a perfect track record. And the complaints here are about belts. If you could sue a company for everything that went wrong with their cars, nobody would make them!

By the way, one of my cars is a 1999 Dodge Caravan with 111,000 miles bought new. Had to replace all window motors, but other than that just normal things brakes, batteries, wiper blades. My advice to people ready to buy something else because of belt changes; the next car you buy may need a new fuel pump or intake gasket every 1 year, in other words you wish it was just belts.

We had a 97 Grand Caravan with the same belt problem that seems to be fairly common. It usually happened in the rain or after hitting a puddle. After the 7th time we quit driving it in the rain. We now have a 2002 Town and County and have not had a problem with the belt slipping off. Our mechanic said the T&C tensioner has a "lip" on it to prevent this problem, but we do have a squeak in the tensioner. Is this a common problem and is there a different tensioner we can use. The 97 also had the squeak even after replacing the tensioner 3 times. We love our van and we're looking at an 08, but not if it's going to squeak.

Dar in Alabama.

Just want to thank all of you for the great info on dealing with my '97 Dodge Caravan that would eat serpentine belts. Yes the the power steering pump leaked a little, till leak sealing additive stopped it. But having it come off on rainy days was a real pain. Found out about the Gates Kit on this site and went and searched my local parts stores here in Northern Indiana. Local NAPA dealer wanted $150 for it. Pulled it up through this site for $100 bucks and went to our brand new O'Reilly parts store, first one in the area, with the ad. Manager said he'd match the price and got it in two days. Put it on with a friend in 30 minutes (trust me I'm no mechanic). That was 4 months ago and it works fine. The only one mad is my 17 year old son, cause that's what he drives to school. He was hopin' the van had expired, but I keep puttin' it back together. Guess he thought I'd be getting him a sports car...Not!! Thanks again,

Budman.

After my experience with my 1999 Dodge Caravan, I can say that I will NEVER purchase any vehicle made by Dodge again. I'm glad (?) I'm not alone in having a problem with the serpentine belt and tensioner...

This minivan was purchased by a family member, new, and sold to me one year later. Now, at 133,000 miles, we've had the tensioner replaced four times & this is serpentine belt #7.

The worst part about this is the Dodge's reaction to complaints about this. I called Dodge corporate 800 number this a.m. and was given a very insulting run-around: first person I spoke with would not turn me over to a supervisor (also would not tell me his name), told me there were no outstanding recalls on the vehicle, that this was a problem he had never heard of, that there were no known problems with the belt or tensioner, that I should take the vehicle to the nearest dealership to have the repairs made; I ended the call when tow truck arrived. Later this afternoon, repair shop calls me to say that they did some digging, found that the problem was indeed belt, that Dodge had no recall, but some sort of service bulletin detailing the problem, and had gotten this info direct from Dodge (from repair shop: 'they don't like to tell the car owners, but they need to give repair shops the info') ; I was furious! Dodge customer service rep didn't tell me this was a problem, even after repeated direct questioning; called back to complain about this, was given the run-around for a while, then finally turned over to a 'manager', who told me again, this was not a Dodge problem, no recalls, never heard of this before, must be because I do not use dealer service for repairs; I explained that the repair shop had been given information which they would not give me, and was told that without a name of the repair shop, their phone #, name of person at repair shop who called Dodge, name of person whom they spoke with at Dodge, and a confirmation # of the call, they would not admit it or consider it truthful; finally I ask 'is there ANY sort of published, documented notice regarding 99 Dodge Caravan that relates to the serpentine belt and/or tensioner?' Put on hold, then told, yes, there was a technical bulletin recommending that this vehicle should not be driven through heavy snow... and then with an accusing tone informed that abusing the vehicle thusly would cause it to need repair (note: deepest snow this minivan has been through is 3-4") ; I said that I will never purchase a Dodge again, & that a vehicle sold in all 50 states should be able to drive on snowy roads, or in a drizzle of rain; then when I asked for her name was hung up on.

How on earth can Dodge tell their customers that the vehicle shouldn't be driven in wet weather (meaning, for us, do not use between late September and early June, and parts of the remaining months)? And am I correct in my reading of a previous post, that there was a recall in Brazil for this problem?

No more Daimler products for my family, thank you very much, but we want to not die while driving. Hello Toyota.

Ahem, but I believe the previous posts have missed something: do you think that ALL of the drivers/car owners posting comments about this serious flaw used their minivans like monster trucks? Any vehicle sold in the United States should be able to drive on a wet road without fear of major failure, losing control or incurring repair expenses.