Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Vans & Minivans Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan Chrysler Minivan Transmission Problems
1833 messages, Last post on Nov 10, 2009 at 3:54 AM
You are in the Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan Forum. Your Host is Karens
| I have a 1999 dodge grand caravan and it sux! Woke up one day and the damn thing wouldnt start! Changed starter, battery and a/c pulley. Car now starts but will not engage into gear. Shifter moves but car does not disengage from park, any ideas? I was thinking a shift solenoid but not sure. not good with cars myself. | |
 I own a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan with 223,000 miles and a 3.8 liter engine. While driving on the highway, I started to go down a steep hill and the steering wheel started to shake hard and irregular. I thought the wheel was falling off. The next day a Chrysler mechanic looked at it and said the wheels and all front end suspension components looked good and he could not duplicate the problem. I decided to drive the 90 miles home. 10 miles into it, the shaking started again. I noticed that it only does it when faster than ~30 mph and when decelerating. Applying brakes does not affect it. I drove it home. Can anyone tell me what this is? I am thinking differential pin after research but it sounds like that happens during acceleration and is more of a whine.
|
|
I am considering purchasing a 1996 Caravan from the original owner. It has 123,000 miles on it and he has the paperwork that it has been faithfully maintained the entire time that he owned it, including tranny fluid changes. I am not a Mopar guy myself so I need some expert opinions on whether or not you think this tranny will last. I guess my gut feeling is that if the tranny made it this long with regular maintenance and no failures that it should keep going for quite a while or is this just wishful thinking?
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: gegrunt (Jan 05, 2008 1:10 pm) Looking at most complaints around here, I think, proves my experience to be more common than not. Plus just remember, any vehicle with 123K miles COULD experience a tranny problem, not just the Caravan/T&C models.
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: blondin (Dec 30, 2007 4:24 pm) |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: jrakers007 (Dec 17, 2007 12:09 pm) |
|
|
"I bought a 1997 GCaravan brand new and the engine snapped in half at 1,500 miles - then the trans went. Even new, Dodge just rebuilt the engine." Sorry, gotta call a hearty BS on that one. If your engine really did "snap in half", then there's no way it could be rebuilt. "...and bought another 1997 GCaravan - no problems except it ran a quart low of oil between oil changes (since the day I bought it - new)." IIRC, your 1997 DGC called for a 7,500 mile oil change interval, and virtually any car will require a quart of oil over the course of 7,500 miles, regardless of manufacturer. FWIW, our 1998 3.8 liter DGC Sport uses a quart of oil roughly every 7,500 miles while our 2003 3.8 liter DGC ES uses a quart of oil roughly every 5,000 miles. In both cases I consider that oil consumption "normal". "...I bought a 2003 GCaravan - total junk with parts going left and right." Hmmm, completely different from my experience. Our 2003 DGC ES has 104,000+ miles on it, has the original transmission and virtually every other factory part still intact. To date, that van has needed two batteries, a front wheel ABS sensor, and that's it outside of regular maintenance. "The first time I had the transmission serviced on my 2003 Grand Caravan by the dealer (according to the Manufacturer's recommendation)..." Recommendation? What recommendation? Per your Owner's Manual, your transmission never needs service; it came from the factory with ATF+4 fluid which is considered a "Lifetime" fluid. Our 2003 is still running the factory fluid at 104,000+ miles, and it shifts perfectly and has no burning smell. The fact is that your experience is so incredibly different than the one we've had with our two vans of virtually identical vintage that I find myself wondering of you've used a little poetic license with your posts.  From my perspective, our two vans, which are nearing 260,000 combined miles, have been models of reliability. Last time I checked, our total bill for unscheduled maintenance has yet to reach $3,000, which in my mind is pretty darn good for over a quarter of a million miles of driving. |
|
|
Replying to: superwoody (Jan 05, 2008 3:50 pm)
|
|
This is a little off topic but I didn't see any forums related to suspension so I will post the question here. I went and looked at the 1996 Caravan with the 3.0 V6, the tranny seemed to shift fine and the fluid looked good. What bothers me is the clunking sound that I would hear whenever I hit a bump, it was somthing that seemed out of ordinary. There is also a line of rust breaking through inside the engine compartment along the top of the area where the strut mounts, this seems like a very unusual place for rust to start as it is not exposed to the outside. Was there a common problem on these vans with rust forming in this area?
|
|
|
Replying to: gegrunt (Jan 06, 2008 9:21 am) Personally I wouldn't own one even if it was free. Best Regards, Shipo |
|
You are here:
Forums
Vans & Minivans Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan Chrysler Minivan Transmission Problems
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2010 Chrysler Town and Country
2007 Dodge Caravan
2000 Plymouth Voyager
2000 Chrysler Grand Voyager
2010 Dodge Grand Caravan
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
