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Dodge Grand Caravan Steering

171 messages,  Last post on Nov 21, 2009 at 6:09 PM

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What is this discussion about? Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town and Country, Plymouth Voyager, Steering, Van

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#105 of 171 2 years of power steering woes by Greybeard_FL Jan 17, 2009 (2:54 pm)
Hello All,   I am very greatful to edmunds for this message board.. I appear to be one more of many people that have had headaches with power steering in later model Caravans and T'C's... I have a 2005 LX. For a little History.. we bought the car used (an ex-rental car) for a decent price w/ 30K miles on the clock.. at 40K my p/s issues began.. first symptom was when I exited the fwy the p/s would be howling as if not enough fliud were present.. after about 10 minutes on the street the howl would go away.. dealer flushed 2x over the next 40K miles, but howl would return after 1K or so of driving.. since I had an extended warranty, I waited until p/s was making noise nearly all the time and then took the car in.. dealer replaced hoses and cooler, said all were badly deteriorated.. this fixes issue for appx 6K miles.. at 88K took car back and pump/rack were replaced - thankfully my extended warranty went until 90K so cost was minimal..but... 2K after rack and pump.. car again would howl after exiting the freeway for a short period of time.. after 10K miles noise was again constant.. and pump was again replaced (dealer said pump failed and fixed for free as there was a dealer warranty of 12K/12mo that was still in effect).. all fine and well for next 2K miles.. until we went to visit my son at Christmas.. traveled appx 90 miles on fwy at 65mph going to his house (1st time on fwy since 2nd pump).. we were relieved that when we exited, there was no noise from the p/s system.. on the way home we pushed the speed up to 70 mph.. guess what.. when we exited the fwy the p/s was howling again.. so I asked, why was the pump howling at 70 and not 65.. answer could only be that something in the system was starving the pump at engine speeds above 2000 rpm.. so I called the dealer (truthfully, they have been good to me) and explained what was happening again, and asked if there was a filter or something similar in the p/s sytem.. they answered no there was not??!!.. then I started reading the posts here at edmunds and found many other people having nearly identical issues with their late model T/C's and Caravans.. I Called the dealer back and asked if there was a filter screen in the p/s fluid reservoir.. they checked with the parts counter and said yes.. thinking I could save a little money, I took a small screwdriver and poked about 5 holes in the screen membrane thinking to increase the flow thru the reservoir.. BIG MISTAKE.. now the noise began within 1-2 minutes of starting the car AND the reservoir was filling with pink foam.. obviously something had changed and air was being held in the fluid.. so I bought the new reservoir ($34 after taxes) and installed it.. as I inspected the old reservoir, I could see the filter screen was nearly clogged with debris.. I also figured out that the reservoir has a second function.. it works as an air/oil separator.. (air mixes into the oil as it is churned up by the pumping action.. even if there is no seal leak the air can rapidly build in the oil to a point where the oil loses it's ability to support pressure and won't lubricated effectively.. apparantly the reservoir also functions as an air/oil separator.. when I punched the holes into the filter screen I destroyed this separation function).. upon replacing the reservoir, and filling about 1/4 inch above the full line (dealer parts guys suggested this) my problem seems to be solved.. have driven the car for 2 weeks including trips on the fwy at speeds up to 75mph with no more noise from the p/s system..   Not sure what Chrysler recommends for interval between p/s system flushes.. but it might be wise to replace the reservoir regularly..
#106 of 171 Power Steering problem too by dale1223 Jan 20, 2009 (6:17 am)
Im new here and Im glad I have came to this forum, I have the SAME problem with my power steering as everyone else! I have had the whinning noise for about a year only when it's cold for about a minute and then it stops and everything is fine. We are finally out of the artic cold and now as of last night, the quick winning noise went away as usual at start up but when Im in park now there is a noise and when I turn the wheel either direction the noise?? Could it be the reservior and is it still driveable? Of course Im going out of town today so I hope it's still ok to drive. I have a 2001 GC sport and I noticed alot of you have 2003. Is changing the reservior the same on all models? Thanks so much for your help! PS Im going to check the fluid level this morning
#107 of 171 A reservoir with filter from anoter car by Yegorus Jan 30, 2009 (2:28 pm)
I appreciate to all in this forum, who helped me to solve the problem of whinning in power steering.   I live in Russia and have a TC 3.3/2003. I tried to buy a new original reservoire here but didn't find it right away. So I decided to clean my old reservoire...   Then I thought about a reservoire with replaceable paper filter element and found it in a Russian car "Volga" (about $20). It is almost of the same size but with different ports. I installed it and was happy. Whinning have gone. I replaced the element ($1) after 1500 miles to remove all old dirt, the fluid is very clean after that.   Please visit my page. It is in Russian but you can look at the photos at least. There are the necessary parts on my table and the instaled reservoire.   http://yegorus.narod.ru/Car/PS-Chrysler.html Replies to this message: xwesx (Feb 02, 2009 10:53 am) Yegorus (Feb 03, 2009 12:22 pm)
#108 of 171 Re: A reservoir with filter from anoter car [Yegorus] by xwesx Feb 02, 2009 (10:53 am)
Replying to: Yegorus (Jan 30, 2009 2:28 pm) Clever, Yegorus; well done! So, you are saying that the best way to "repair" Chrysler products is to replace them with more reliable units from other manufacturers. Replies to this message: Yegorus (Feb 03, 2009 12:22 pm)
#109 of 171 Re: A reservoir with filter from anoter car [xwesx] by Yegorus Feb 03, 2009 (12:22 pm)
Replying to: xwesx (Feb 02, 2009 10:53 am) I love my minivan, and it is much better and reliable than Volga. Though not all solutions are the best. Chrysler's reservoir suits for very clean conditions. In our case my Volga's reservoir is better since I will be able to change the filter, simple procedure and cheap... and the paper filter works better than mesh. And I hadn't find an original part quickly. By the way, I am not the only, some Volkswagen drivers are also do the same here.   I don't know many cars with paper filter in power steering, probably Mercedes, Volga, but many trucks.
#110 of 171 Grand Caravan Steering Rack by gparkman Feb 05, 2009 (7:15 am)
My 06 Grand Caravan has developed slow pwr steering leak. Dealer wants more than $1,000 to fix (replace steering rack). Anyone else had same problem? Brother-in-law has similar problem. Have others experienced this with Grnd Caravans? Is there a recall bulletin on this out there? Tks, Gparkman Replies to this message: jimmysdown (Mar 20, 2009 10:59 am) joepeterson56 (Mar 24, 2009 5:27 am)
#111 of 171 Power steering out - Just had rack and pinion replace by cv1269 Feb 15, 2009 (11:30 am)
Just had my 2004 caravan in to the dealer to have it checked out before the extended warranty expired two weeks ago. They replace the rack and pinion and the water pump. Luckliy all but $400 was covered. Today the power steering went out. Check and the resevoir was completely empty. Car never made a sound or gave a warning. Filled the resevoir with 1/2 qt of power steering fluid. By the time I drove home from the store it was empty again. Before I head back to the dealer in the morning to complain, ANY IDEAS???? Not very car handy, just a lady trying to maintain her car!!!!   Any thoughts or suggestions Please! Replies to this message: racerx933 (Feb 25, 2009 6:59 am)
#112 of 171 Re: Power steering out - Just had rack and pinion replace [cv1269] by racerx933 Feb 25, 2009 (6:59 am)
Replying to: cv1269 (Feb 15, 2009 11:30 am) I have a 2005 dodge caravan with the same type of problem. Try using LUCAS power steering with leak stopage.   Seem to do the trick, stop that whinning noises and I have had no leaks.   It cost about $10 a bottle.   Rich
#113 of 171 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1) by docbunner Mar 09, 2009 (10:24 pm)
I have been getting this message "Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1)" when my tach gets down to about 600rvpm. This happens once in a while. Any suggestions? Maybe MAP Sensor needs cleaning? Replies to this message: srs_49 (Mar 10, 2009 2:06 am)
#114 of 171 Re: Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1) [docbunner] by srs_49 Mar 10, 2009 (2:06 am)
Replying to: docbunner (Mar 09, 2009 10:24 pm) Try replacing the rear O2 sensor. If that doesn't work, then the cat itself may be worn out. It's a lot cheaper than the catalytic converter.   The OBD system uses a heuristic to infer if the cat is working correctly. This algorithm looks for expected outputs from the rear and front O2 sensors. If the front sensors look good, but the rear is marginal, then it may decide the cat is bad/marginal even though it could be the rear sensor.   You didn't say how many miles are on the van.

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