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Vans & Minivans Chrysler/Plymouth Voyager, Dodge Caravan Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler Minivan Problems & Solutions 
4276 messages, Last post on Oct 23, 2006 at 1:11 AM
You are in the Chrysler/Plymouth Voyager, Dodge Caravan Forum. Your Host is Karens
| Thank you for the points you made. I'll have to check out the pressure question as I assumed the dipstick tube was essentially a vent, but that could be wrong. The 32 pitch or higher thread is also an excellent idea. | |
| We just got rid of our 96 grand caravan le with only 69K miles. Three reasons: bad rotors $300, water pump pulley $350, broken bolt on the cylinder head $890. No more for me. I just bought a 99 taurus wagon le. | |
| Our 1996 Dodge Caravan chirps every mile or so. I am thinking it might be a pulley somewhere or a belt. I know that there are not any birds in the engine. By the way, we just bought an extended warranty for the van from Allstate so we would feel good about it for the next couple of years. We have 78000 miles and 'assume' the trans will go soon. We thought about buying a new van but we like this one and taxes alone on the new van would exceed the cost of the warranty. | |
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re posted from the dodge/chrysler minivan topic 1984 Cutlass Supreme: other than maintenance, it had no problems, original engine and tranny, 167,000 miles. car was rear-ended and was totalled. 1978 Chevy Van: 170,000 other than maintenance, same tranny, same engine, we call it the ferrari because of it's poor gas mileage (no offesnse to ferrari owners), but it still runs well. 1991 Chevy Camaro: 102,000 same as above, no problems. 1997 Dodge Caravan (Base): Grinding brakes finally resolved with different brand brake shoes. frozen calipers, left and right sliding door locks malfunction, (why is the door totally inoperable if the power locks fail?), the popular wiper problem: they have a mind of their own. and now at 45,000, the tranny decides to fail. lack of maintenance? remember the previous cars listed at the top of this post? all GM...not that all GM cars are great either...but at least the ones listed above are/were going strong at over 100,000 miles and no problems. should've stayed with GM. gave chrysler a chance, they failed miserably. they're nice to look at, they're nice to sit in, but start putting on the mileage and prepare for something to go wrong. just from my experience. sorry if this is too long. |
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| By "eyeball" the transmission pan is very close to 1/16" thick in your example. It is also vented via the filler tube so there is no pressure to seal. Since it's not due for service until next summer, I will not have further follow-up until then. Thanks again for your advice. | |
| We would love to get some info on a class action suit against Daimler-Chrysler (Dodge)! We are the unhappy owners of a 96 DGC-LE, 93k miles 2 trannies, one fuel pump, numerous wiper motors, door locks, electric windows, broken driver's seat , everything plastic broken (since the car was about a month old),a broken steering belt, 3 batteries, and 2 radios later, and a car that dies any time the gas gauge is under 1/2 tank...and so much more. Aren;t these vans meant for driving? We figure the reason they are a low risk for theft...they read these too! We had an extended warranty...a lot of this stuff happened after the 75K. Help! | |
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I bought a '99 base GC a year ago. It now has 15k miles and has had no problems. It was driven off the lot at the dealership and hasn't been back yet. The advice I have gleaned is to adhere to the "severe" service maintenance schedule. I plan to replace the fluid and the filter in the trans shortly. We bought this minivan based on our very good experience with a '90 Caravan with the 3.0L engine and the 3-speed transmission. It now has 105K miles. Aside from recommended replacement of the timing belt and the oxygen sensor at about 90K and normal items such as brake pads and shoes and one battery, I think the other repairs have been pretty reasonable. At ca. 95K I had the fuel pump and the engine computer replaced. I have a suspicion that the faulty computer may have hastened the demise of the fuel pump. These two items cost about $700. I must admit that I may have contributed to the computer problem when awhile back during an oil change, I spilled about half a quart of oil directly on top of the computer! The only problem I had early on was the gas-charged struts for the rear hatch had to be replaced. I have replaced the trans filter and the fluid on the '90 three times. Prior to the last change I was getting some shudder at 45 mph on hills. I finally adjusted the kick-down and the reverse at 95k for the first time. I have always used Dextron but I now know to use ATF+. After the adjustments and Pennzoil Dextron that said it would eliminate shudder, I have no shudder and the trans works great. I do all my own basic maintenance. My only problem with the '90 now is a minor oil leak that may be coming from the rear camshaft seal or the valve cover gasket. One final thought. In '90 the regular Caravan cost me about $16k new, with AC, the V6, and the auto being the only add-ons to the base price. The 1999 Grand Caravan with 3.3L, 4 speed, tilt, cruise, power locks, windows, etc, cost me $19.5k new. Given reliability comparable to that I have had on the '90, I'd say the '99 was a much better deal. Time will tell but so far I am happy with both our minivans and I feel we have gotten good value out of them. |
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| I would think a web search should answer your question. Also you might find help at the Center For Auto Safety, a consumer advocacy agency at www.autosafety.org | |
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I have a 96 Grad Caravan I have had weird gremlins with the power windows each side has had to be fixed 3 times. I feel it was due to a power regulator burning the window regulators out. I mentioned this to my dealer and he told me I didn't know what I was talking about and replaced the units again. I explained the fact that the control panel occasionally lit up items like the low gas light even when I just filled the tank fifteen to twenty minutes prior and my windshield wipers would occasionally turn on by themselves. The dealer had in my opinion decided fixing the problem would not occur because the warranty did not give them enough money to diagnose a problem they could not repeat or have the talent to find. At 70,000 miles my Caravan started leaking fluids. My Dealer said that it was a leaky oil filter. Even after they changed the oil it still leaks the dealer says that happens after an oil change. I don't care for my dealer... I tryed another dealer but he indicated he did not want some other dodge dealers problems. I called Dodge and they got my dealer to fix the window yet again but I feel that since the warranty is up and so is my blood pressure I will dump this thing and not buy another Caravan again. |
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I am new to the town hall, but I have browsed thru most of the discussions for the vans. It seems that '96 and older DC vans have problems with transmissions, but so far the '97 and newer are much better (mine is fine at 43,000 miles). A few people (dog-something), find it hard to believe that anyone would buy a DC van knowing that there are transmission problems. Yet when they are told that the Honda site posts plenty of problems, they still are OK with buying a Honda. Use your own logic, or take it easy on DC. |
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