30th Sep 2004, 20:52
Fellow sufferers.
As per my previous posts, I really would urge you to try fitting a Goodyear Gatorback belt. It has worked wonders for my Dodge. I no longer worry about my wife driving in the rain. I am yet to hear of anyone having one of these belts come off. Please give it a try.
10th Oct 2004, 16:48
Well, thank you for sharing your experiences with the serpentine belts! My 1997 grand caravan belt just slipped off, luckily only about a mile from home. The power steering went immediately, then the alternator light and high temp lights came on just as I pulled in the driveway! I tried to put it back on myself, but couldn't get enough torque on the tensioner. After much aggravation, I broke down and took it to the local fast lube shop and they put it back on. Only cost $35 - YIKES!!! The guy at the shop showed me an $80 "fits all" type of tool that was about 2ft. long that provided enough leverage to move the tensioner. Do you all have any other ideas on tools that can be used effectively for roadside repairs when not close to a shop?
19th Oct 2004, 13:07
Same here! I have a 98 caravan. the belt shreds about every 20,000 miles. have replaced each time and it doesn't seem to make a difference what type of belt I use. I have not tried the goodyear belt. dodge/chrysler should recall soon. I never noticed if rain makes the situation worse or not, I experience this problem in all weather.
21st Nov 2004, 21:44
I tried the Gatorback belt... It did seem to work, for a while, at least.
Most belts were lasting anywhere from 500-5000 miles, and the Gatorback lasted a WHOPPING 10,000 MILES!!!
I have replaced the tensioner and idler numerous times, and I did notice the tensioner is out of alignment (not the idler).
I think it is a dual fatigue problem... The Idler/motor mount, and especially the tensioner's mounting on the P/S bracket. This has a full 1/3" offset, no matter what brand tensioner is on there!
I am surprised that the NHTSA has not even started an investigation on this to see if a recall would be warranted.
26th Nov 2004, 13:01
I have a 1997 Voyager. We used to like running through puddles. About 1 year ago the belt slipped off while running through a big puddle. It has been downhill since. We have had the belt slip off once in a big puddle and twice when the weather was wet, but we did not drive through any puddles. Once we also shredded a belt once a rough, but dry highway at high speed. The low speed turns are the arm killers.
I have to check again, but on my engine (small v6) I think the water pump and alternator use a separate belt so I don't overheat.
15th Dec 2004, 11:11
I bought a 1999 Grand Caravan SE, 2 years ago with 52,000 miles on it. At 65000, also on a rainy day, the serpentine belt came off and resulted in killing the battery. I think Chrysler should look into this.
27th Dec 2004, 13:19
To all: Try the gator back belt. It is awesome. It is a little shorter than the mopar and gates belts, there by keeping it tighter. I had a squeak that would not go away. With the gator it is fixed! Another trick, when working with the tensioner, use the old mopar belt, slip it around the open end of a 15mm wrench and then let it hang down the front of the van. Then put your foot through it and use your leg as leverage. This works and is very nice to have the free hand.
8th Jan 2005, 17:34
I own a Town&Country 1996 3.8L
I was having my oil change done at oil express and the guy heard the noise on the belt and started spraying some thing on it. The belt came off right away. They could get it on so I am working with pep-boys to get it fixed. The master mechanic at pep-boys says that I need to replace tensionor and idler pulley along with the belt, all costing over 250.00. After reading all the comments I am praying with this money I could get away with my problem. I wish I hadn't bought a Chrysler.
14th Jan 2005, 03:21
On the last comment-
I think he sprayed the belt with a product called belt dressing. This works for conventional belts, but not serpentine. This caused it to slip off the tensioner.
You may need a new tensioner, but really, try the gator too, it will do you well.
Make sure they clean all of the pulleys and with a de-greaser before installing any new belt. But again, I used the Gator and it is awesome. Hope this helps.
24th Jan 2005, 16:08
I do not problem with the serpentine belt, idler and tensioner and would like to share my experience.
I have a '97 Town and Country LX bought brand new, now 78,000 mile and still have the original serpentine belt, idler and tensioner. I noticed the squeaking high pitch sound from the beginning, we thought it was normal, because it disappeared, and came back from time to time. Now I knew it might depend on if it rain or not. We started to notice the noise got louder because it is wetter in 2004 winter in CA, hence I finally concluded that it is time to get a new serpentine belt after reading all postings on Internet.
I believe that not every T&C, Caravan have the problem described here. There are million of Chrysler cars with similar belt/pulley design. It seems to me it is an alignment issue - A car would need front wheel alignment if the tires keep on worn out on one side of the wall. Similarly, if the serpentine belt keeps on slip off, putting it back without inspection is not a solution. Or if the belt is shredded repeatedly, putting a new one is not the solution either. Even a new idler or tensioner without realignment does not guarantee solution either.
May be the real problem is it is hard to align all the elements (i.e. pulley) correctly or the brackets to hold them are subject to bend.
Having a tensioner tool (homemade or not) and a spare serpentine belt in the car seems a good practice.
/Steve from S.F, CA.
23rd Sep 2004, 09:57
I own a 1999 Chrysler Town and Country Limited minivan which I purchased new. It has been an excellent vehicle except for the problems related to the serpentine belt and tensioner. In January, 2004, after driving on rain soaked streets, the belt came off, leaving me without power steering. I had the vehicle towed to a mechanic, who replaced the serpentine belt with a new one. Yesterday, while turning into my driveway, and on perfectly dry streets, the belt shredded, again causing the engine to die and causing loss of steering. I paid for towing and replacement of both the belt and the tensioner. The vehicle only has 59,000 miles on it, but after reading all of these comments and after my own personal experiences, I am very concerned about driving this vehicle 70 mph on a wet highway.