1999 Dodge Grand Caravan SE from North America - Comments

My elderly mother has the 1999. She bought it a few months ago for 3,000, and we thought what a nice van. She takes her grandchildren to school, and the 2 year old where ever she has to go, as she babysits while their single mother goes to school full time and works.

So my 63 year old mom calls last night about 8pm stranded, (the belt had slipped off and lost all normal ability to steer due to rain slicked roads) had forgot her cell phone, it's cold, raining and dark with two very young children. I will get the gates and put in on for her... how can an American company put so many Americans at risk is beyond me.

rbben@yahoo.com

Have logged 201,000 km (120k miles) on the 1999 Grand Caravan 3.3 litre.

The belt is ORIGINAL and has not failed but has shown signs of lateral cracking for the past 4 years. No chunks missing yet. Over 2 years ago a mechanic insisted that the lateral cracking is a safety concern and the belt and tensioner should be replaced. I told him to leave the belt alone and not to put pressure on the tensioner for testing as this resulted in squeal when the AC was activated in the past. The squeal gradually went away as the tensioner naturally tightened over time. Every time I do oil changes there (meineke) they say the same thing about the belt and tensioner. I keep telling them that they told me this 2 years ago and not to touch the belt.

I read somewhere that there is a design flaw in the tensioner bending the assembly and shaft its connected to overtime. New belts and tensioners amplify this.

I have lost power steering momentarily a few times after driving through puddles. It always returns so I don't worry about the belt condition, as long as it runs. I have subsequently began avoiding big puddles.

I think the majority of the problems here have been caused after tensioners or belts have been replaced. If it's not broke.. don't fix it - friggin mechanics.

I have found out that the belt jumping issue has now been addressed for the 1993-95 minivans with the 3.3L and the 3.8L engines.

Gates Part number is 38398K.

Goodyear part number is 49381K.

I have only heard great things about these kits.

I have a 1999 Grand Caravan with the 3.3L and never have had the problems with the belt as others have stated and it has 155K miles on her. The van is located in Florida and when it rains it rains hard and can last a while. The only problem I now have is the trans cooling lines leak at the radiator and they are new and securely clamped. Radiator is also new. It is driving me nuts trying to locate the trans cooling lines leak (s) I have the original water pump and now it is showing signs of leakage. I do not think I will mess with the pulley system since this one has worked all these years.

Sky Pilot.

Same problem with our 1997 Dodge Caravan, 3.3 engine, with belt coming off in wet conditions, 4 times past six month; not a good situation.

I brought it to an independent mechanic who seemed very familiar with the situation and confident in the correct fix. I am told it needs a new Engine Mount Bracket, part 04612412, which will make the tensioner tighter and thus keep the belt on. I'm paying around $250 total for new belt, engine mount and labor & tax. Fingers crossed this will be the correct fix.

<< 13th Jun 2009, 08:40 << I would be curious to hear the FULL explanation as to why/how an engine mount can effect the belt tensioner. Unless the tensioner is attached to the engine mount and a new engine mount changes the tensioner's position, it just can't be. This doesn't make sense to me.

The reason I am posting is my '92 3.3L G. Caravan threw a serpentine belt last winter when my wife went through a puddle. From everything I have read, the '92's aren't suppose to have the problem - mine does.

I was going to fabricate a retainer device similar to one that is made and sold by a guy in the mid-west, but I was at the wrecking yard for something else last week and found an idler pulley from a 94-95 3.3L that has a 'lip' on each edge.

I assume the lips are to retain the serpentine belt. I have measured the pulley and compared it to my tensioner and idler pulleys and they are the same. The bearings in the center of the pulleys would need to be swapped, but that's easy.

Has anyone heard of or tried this fix? Or knows anything about these lipped pulleys?

Thanks...

My little woman (wife) has a 1997 Caravan with the 3.3L engine. This past winter she was pulling out of our driveway where there was a small puddle from the melting snow. Our driveway is nothing like an "off road course"... Just a typical little city driveway. You guessed it - the belt pitched off about a mile down the road. She had two 3 year olds, one 6 year old, one 7 year old and one 9 year old with her. If you adding it up in your head... That is a BUNCH of kids in an ailing automobile!

I replaced the belt and pulley that night. NOT an easy job for those of you that have done it! Problem solved right? NOT A CHANCE! Last weekend the oldest girl had a softball game - did I mention it was a play off game?? I'm sure the design team at Dodge doesn't care about this small town game but we sure did... You guessed it - a car load of kids again and a few wet roads later and the new belt flies off... We made it to the game in time and I spent the next hour getting the belt "restrung" in the rain while missing the game. I have since contacted my mechanic only to find out that this is a major design flaw that has been active for YEARS. Not like this is a family vehicle or anything right!?

Like so many other entries I have read - I too am a bit afraid to send my wife and the little ones across town in this rig let alone out of town. I never have been a fan of Dodges and this just adds merit to my feelings. The makers, designers and fellas that have worked hard to cover this problem up should be ashamed! Sure hope you don't miss YOUR daughters play off game (or worse) because of this sort of thing!

- "Warm in Montana"

I experienced the same issue with my 99 Caravan Sport after the original tensioner and belt were replaced by the dealer back in 2003? Maybe 70K for supposedly being at the end of its adjustment range. The belt was cracked a bit but okay and falls into the "while you are it" category since the labor included. I took it back to the dealer and they did replace the idler pulley and the bracket that holds it as per http://www.youfixcars.com/chrysler-serpentine-belt.html This resolved the issue and was done at no cost to me.

"Like so many other entries I have read - I too am a bit afraid to send my wife and the little ones across town in this rig let alone out of town. I never have been a fan of Dodges and this just adds merit to my feelings. The makers, designers and fellas that have worked hard to cover this problem up should be ashamed! Sure hope you don't miss YOUR daughters play off game (or worse) because of this sort of thing!"

I LOVED this comment. I am by no means making light of this commenters feelings, but it reminded me of some of our Dodge experiences. Several years ago my wife and her best friend took an 800 mile cross-country trip in her friend's Dodge Caravan. It had 110,000 miles on it and they DID have trouble. The van still had the original Michelins and one of them went flat. Her friend put a new set of tires on the van and continued driving it from coast to coast (she had children in Washingtom State and Maryland) until she finally traded it for another Chrysler van at 250,000 miles. She put 220,000 miles on that one before trading it for (naturally) ANOTHER Chrysler van.

I've owned three Dodges. The first (a Shelby Daytona) made 100,000+ miles with not a single repair. My 1990 Dodge Omni was sold with 240,000 miles running like brand new. It had had only two brake jobs, two timing belts and one hose in all that time. The A/C still blew cold (NEVER any freon added) and it used not a drop of oil. My last Dodge was a 2001 Dakota pickup. It was totally in 2006, but had never required a single repair.

I am a 2000 Dodge Caravan driver.

In 2006 I was experiencing trouble with a recently replaced serpentine belt.

My trouble was a squealing belt that was causing noise pollution wherever I drove. After 2 years and 10 trips and $1000 in parts and labour to the local dealership, the so called experts on Dodge Caravans, I'd had enough. I still had the squealing belt, which had partially broke two times in those two years too.

It wasn't until the service department started recommending the same parts that they had changed within the year, that it got me realizing they don't know what they are doing.

So I vowed I would make them change the belt every two months if that's what it took before they finally decide to attempt to do some problem solving. They never bothered and would attempt to sell me solutions again and again that I had already paid for the year before.

Then during one of my frustrated times a supplier rep from my job called me. I began to rant about my serpentine belt issue to him. He recommended me to a gates after market system that was built for this very issue. I was dumb founded that my dealership would not know about an after market solution that had been on the market for two years. Sure enough I google the item and there it was!! The Gates Serpentine belt and pulley system.

THIS WEBSITE SAVED MY CARAVAN!!!

When I brought the kit back to the Dealership for them to install, the service tech acted surprised. "Never seen or heard of these before". My only response was. Promise me you put this kit in any Caravan drivers that come to you with serpentine belt issues. His response. "I can't promise anything"

Mike VAN BC

Happy to have my hearing back.

It is pretty sad that Chrysler Corp. seems to leave its customers dealing with these kinds of issues.

My personal experience with Chrysler's customer service (or like customer disservice) was all negative.

I don't not think the US government should have given Chrysler (or GM) a penny of taxpayer's money. If and/or when Fiat gives up on Chrysler (as Daimler Benz did) I can only hope that Jeep survives and is built by an American company (Ford might be the best fit). Otherwise Chrysler can go away for all that I care.

I had the same issue on my 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan (3.3 L) with respect to throwing the belt. I too ended up getting the Gates kit. Instant fix to the problem. Next issue that I am currently working through is that the crankshaft pulley that runs everything fell off last week. Lost the pulley before I pulled over. No joke.

Anyway I have ordered a replacement crankshaft pulley, but the pictures of it show that there is NO Woodruff Key slot (half moon shaped key that keeps shaft and pulley locked together..) And sure enough there is no circular slot milled into the crankshaft to accept a Woodruff key.

So apparently the bolt torque on the end of the crank is the only thing that seems to keep the pulley spinning with the shaft (which is only 13/16 diameter I might add -- about the same diameter as a 5 hp Briggs and Stratton engine output shaft) At least the people at Briggs and Stratton know enough to use a Woodruff key to lock the shaft to the pulley.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has lost the crankshaft pulley on their 3.3 L Caravan also. Mine has 165,000 miles on it and looks brand new. Its always had regular maintenance but its been an unreliable headache. I can't rely on it for anything but local use less than 5 miles from home. Probably flipped the belt at least 15 times. New A/C compressor. New transmission shift solenoid. New radiator -- the plastic and aluminum one cracked. New front struts 3 times already. New alternator. and the list goes on. Pretty bad for a vehicle that is not even 10 years old yet...

I was in the rooftop parking lot yesterday morning. It was raining like hell, and I was about to drive away, and I guess I ran into a small puddle, and after about 3 meters I totally cannot steer. I immediately braked. Good thing I was still in the parking lot. I was baffled as I saw the battery light come on and I wondered what the battery had to do with the steering. I checked the steering fluid and it seemed OK. I had no choice but to call tow truck and went to shop for repairs. They said that they will replace the belt/tensioner with a kit. The kit costs around $320 and labor costs around $130 plus taxes come to total around $500. They say it will never come off now because it has grooves. They say it is a common problem. Have I been overcharged? What can I do if I am? I certainly don't mind paying for safety, but I certainly mind overpaying.