1999 Dodge Grand Caravan SE from North America - Comments

We have a 1998 Caravan with the same sepentine belt problem. We've been fighting this for years. Don't waste your money on the so called "replacement mount" that is supposed to align the pulley and tensioner. I have replaced countless belts and can now consider myself a professional belt changer. This is most definitely a safety concern that should have been addressed. A word to the wise, save your money, don't invest in the sham parts. This problem is absolutely pathetic! Keep the 15mm wrench handy or trade your Caravan in on something more reliable and SAFE!

Both Goodyear and Gates now carry a field fix kit that addresses the belt jumping issue with the Caravan. Both the Goodyear 49204K kit and the Gates 38342K are for the 1996-2000 3.0L engine only. The kit includes a new tensioner with a grooved pulley, a grooved idler pulley and a unique double ribbed (ribs on both sides) serpentine belt. I highly recommend this kit. It is the only solution that actually works. Believe me, I know. It puts this issue to bed once and for all because the belt is locked into the pulley grooves. Don't waste your time and money with the "snow shield" or the mount repair. They are band aid solutions at best. There is also a kit that will be out in early Dec 2006 for the 1996-2000 3.3L and 3.8L engines.Call your local Goodyear or Gates distributor and ask for it. If your belt has fallen off in the past your should get the kit. If your belt has not fallen off yet, don't wait for it to fail, get the kit and install it. It only takes about 1 hr to install. Bring on the deep puddles !!!

Well here we go again, first snow fall of the year and guess what the belt fell off our 1999 dodge grand caravan. My wife was on her way to work when it happened we only had 2 inches of snow and that's all it took, this will make it 4 times this year with it happening 2 times this summer going through a little wet conditions on the highway and once last spring when the snow was melting. Thanks to cel phones she called me and I went and got her half way to work on her 55 kilometre track to work. Just wondering I have been putting new belts everytime and it still does it. I went to our local garage and he was putting 2 more on. Glad to see the post that someone put in that they have a fix hope it works I ordered it, thanks to good year no thanks to Dodge Canada. I must say this will be the last one me or any of my friends will be buying, I also will be putting ads in the major papers about this in this weekends papers.

Thanks

nick.

We have a '98 GC Sport and I SO APPRECIATE This forum! I thought I was crazy when the serpentine belt popped off 3 times in ten days. Brand new belt, new pulley system, etc. the last two times were in our driveway (thank goodness).

Using information obtained via a 'net search we called the local Dodge dealer. They had a TSB on this and offer a parts fix that is about $22.75.

We will pick it up and install it tomorrow. Will try to remember to post back if it works (knock wood!)

I posted yesterday. Just picked up the part that according to the dealer's TSB should "fix" this problem and it's a bracket. According to my husband there is no way, no how taking the entire engine out (practically) to replace this bracket could really solve this problem. He suspects it's the "band aid" mentioned above.

Sigh... There must be something that causes this because we didn't have it happen for 3 years and now three times in ten days??? Obviously it's a design flaw, but something changes in the alignment of the van at some point that makes this "failure" happen.

I love my van, but as others have noted, it is horribly unsafe (at any speed!) not only for me driving my young children, but frankly for all the rest of the people on the road I may irreparably harm when the steering fails instantly (and I defy you to steer this sucker correctly without PS).

While I appreciate all the die-hards out there carrying spare belts and tensioner tools in the back, I can assure you this soccer mommy has no intention of performing roadside repairs.

They sell these vans to families knowing darned well that we buy them for safety and convenience - certainly not "style."

I mean honestly, I expected my Trans Am to be be tempremental, but if your danged MINIVAN grocery hauler kid cargo containment system isn't RELIABLE what is the point?

Forget the "snow shield" TSB. Your right it is a band aid solution at best. I hesitate to call it a solution because it does not work. Forget about the bracket as well. Just get the Goodyear kit or the Gates kit. They are absolutley amazing and in my opinion the only real solution to this chronic problem. It is $99 bucks and installs in 1 hr. You can't beat it.

I own a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan and I never had this problem until I took it to my local Dodge dealer to have the serpentine belt replaced as preventative maintenance. Three weeks after the belt and tensioner were replaced it rained and guess what; the belt came off. This happened two more time over a three or four month period. The engine mount was replaced (Dodge recommended fix for 3.3L) and this seemed to fix the problem for about 35,000 miles. This August the belt came off again during a rain storm and again it went back to local Dodge dealership which had since changed ownership and didn't have the service history on the van. The belt was reinstalled and this lasted until the next rain event 2 weeks ago. In the past 10 days the van has been towed to the dealer with the belt off three times. The dealer has been very very cooperative, but they are also frustrated with Chrysler. They have again replaced the mount which didn't fix the problem as it jumped off four days later and they also tried an after-market NAPA belt which is not coated (the Chrysler belt has a dressing on it which cuts down on squeaks) which my local service manager was told by his regional service director would fix the problem which it didn't. The new belt jumped off and it had barely begun to rain. The van is now back at the dealer as I write and they are trying to get some additional help from the factory. The Gates and Goodyear fix kits for the 3.3L will not be available until Jan 2007 at the earliest. My real frustration is that Chrysler will not acknowledge there is a design problem, one that could possibly cause an accident when the power steering goes out during a rain or worse, snow, event. If there are enough problems to justify two after-market companies (Gates and Goodyear) to design a fix kit; then the problem must widespread. Our van is in excellent shape and I would like to keep it for another year or more, but my wife refuses to drive it and now I am in the market for a new vehicle. The real problem is, how can I sell this van to someone knowing there is a real safety issue with the car? I think I need some consumer protection agency help.

Nice to know what the problem is and that I am not alone. But the best advice I read in all the posts is to file a complaint with the NHTSA. Only by doing that can we force Chrysler into a recall!

Hi, I posted my first info in April about the belt, and now I would like to post my update for your reference.

about 1 to 2 months after my first post, it happened again in a rain shower. Unfortunately, this time the belt was cut by the driving pulley on the engine while driving 5 kilometers to a garage.

Amazingly, this new belt gave me over 40000km without any problem till now. I almost forgot the belt falling off problem. I checked the belt recently, and found out that my belt was oiled by power steering pump leakage. But the belt still works fine even after I rushed into deep water many times in the past months.

I believe that belt is not special, but it really gives me no chance to try on my other spare belt under my seat!

Since I found this fact of mine, I am sure the belt is not the only key to the Problem.

Now, I happily am bringing a spare belt and await the next fault of the lovely belt I got accidentally from an unknown garage.

Smiling Geoffrey.

After suggesting that everyone follow my lead and contact the NHTSA and file a complaint, I bought a GatorBack serpentine belt to replace the one that popped off last night. When I took off the belt that had popped off, I discovered it is a GatorBack, too! Time to call for a tow to have it hauled to the shop- with copies of posts from this forum.

Well, I am just as frustrated as all of you. I just sent off an e-mail to Chrysler and am just positive I'll get a satisfactory answer (please note sarcasm).

I have a 2000 Dodge Caravan with over 100,000 miles on it and it has run fine until it hit the magic mile number. I have, to date, put about $900 into repair work, most of it for the belt problem. My local mechanic has been fantastic. He's just as frustrated as us so he keeps doing the labor for free and just charging me for parts because he's determined to figure this problem out. I plan to take him some of these suggestions tomorrow. Today we replaced the harmonic balancer. We've replaced everything else, including power steering pump so we figured why not. He said when he went to take it off, it just fell off (it's supposed to be a little tough to take off).

I too agree with other posts, this is supposed to be a family vehicle and I'm tired of it putting myself and two small children in danger. Luckily my husband was driving Sunday when it came off in a curve and forced us into oncoming traffic in (you guessed it) pouring rain. However, mine comes off in rain or drought (I live in South Texas where it is usually pretty dry). I have two college degrees, and I can't count high enough to tell you how many times the darn thing has come off. My mechanic and his helper just laugh everytime they see me pull into the shop. I'll let you know if Chrysler comes through with the magical answer...

Same thing: 1999 Dodge Caravan (Columbus, OH). The serpentine belt has slipped off 3 times in 10 months - all in wet weather.

'Was told by a local mechanic (because I have come to distrust my local dealer repair shop) that there's a kit to fix it - some sort of guard bound by a single bolt that keeps it on (which I believed was mentioned in earlier entries here).

In order to get it, we had to (groan) go back to the dealer. The part was around $11 and after labor the bill came to $79.32. It is running fine now since I picked it up last night. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so we shall see.

With 96K+ miles, I guess I can't complain too much, and we love our van... but the bottom line is that we did everything you are supposed to do and had it serviced regularly per the manufacturer's advice. Dodge should have had a recall - this is a design issue.

Dodge doesn't have the same quality as Nissan or Honda, so our next van/car will be from one of them.

Here is the answer! I hope. I too had the problem with the serpentine belt falling off in wet weather. We purchased the replacement bracket that was supposed to fix the problem (a joke) this did absolutely nothing. The belt will slide off of the tension pulley when any moisture is present. The fix kit is not available for the 3.3 motor until Jan. 07. We have been dealing with this problem for years and finally figured it out. The dealer told us the belt was falling off at the water pump pulley. Not so, like I said it falls off at the tension pulley. I took our van to my brother in law (GOD BLESS HIM!) and he looked it over, got the hose out and bingo! Like clockwork it slipped right off. O.k. the fix is find somebody who can cut 2 discs out of 1/16 in metal about 1/4 inch bigger than the tension pulley. (remove the pulley first obviously. JUST UNBOLT THE PULLEY, NOT THE ENTIRE SPRING MECHANISM. It is just one bolt in the center of the pulley. Now you will need to get a bolt that is about 1/4 longer than the one you just removed. Now in the center of the disc you created, drill a hole just large enough for the bolt to fit (don't make it bigger than the bolt or it won't fit right.) now assemble as follows, on your new bolt first put the disc on, then a spacer (washers work fine) you don't want the disc to touch the pulley so the pulley can spin freely. 1/16 clearance is good just so the disc is as close as possible, but NOT touching the pulley. O.k. now install the dish shaped washer that came off the pulley, then set the pulley on, check the clearance, remember as close as possible without touching! The pulley should spin freely not touching the disc. Now just place it all back on the pulley's mount. It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. Now tighten the bolt as usual. Please make sure you buy a longer bolt, because there is a lot of pressure on it and safety is worth $.99 cents! now that this is all tightened spin the pulley to make sure it operates as before. The disc you put on should be stationary. Now just do the same to the IDLER pulley. Now when you put the belt back on install it over the tension and idler pulley first. Have somebody pull the tension pulley down for you and you will have to get underneath the motor and pull the belt over the big pulley on the bottom of the motor. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET YOUR FINGERS CAUGHT WITH THE BELT.. MAKE SURE YOUR HELPER HAS A GOOD GRIP ON THE TENSION PULLEY'S BOLT!!! YOU CAN LOSE A FINGER REAL EASY. Once you have the belt on check that the discs you made are taller than the belt. Check your clearance again and that's it. It started raining right when we finished and I got home (20 mile trip) with no problems! We even gave it the water hose test and you could see the belt try and slide off the pulley, but realign itself after it contacted the disc. Grind the edges smooth on the disc before you install them, so they won't cut the belt. Getting the belt back on was a pain in the rear, but it was well worth it!! I hope this helps I know how frustrating this problem is. Not to mention DANGEROUS! Like I said be very careful every step of the way, but it works! After spending about $500 dollars in an attempt to fix the problem this fix only ended up costing $2.00 dollars...Don't try this if you are unsure or not mechanically inclined. Just give the directions to your mechanic... Good luck!

Does anyone know where we might pre-order the kit for the 3.8?

Wow, that sounds like a lot of fabricating work. Why not just buy the Goodyear or Gates fix kit? That sounds like the easyest thing to do. I have only heard good things about the kit.