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Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it

16 messages,  Last post on Nov 21, 2011 at 11:43 AM

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#1 of 16 Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it by big_poppabear

Mar 22, 2009 (2:10 am)

Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it. Had it inspected by my mechanic and he told me it was good to go. Took the family on a long road trip and put about 2,000 miles on it. About 8 hours away from home the engine light appears and I take it to an Autozone and get the code checked out. Its and EGR code, no big problem according to the attendent.
 
I take a look under the van and notice transmission fluid leaking. I decide to stay in town since I have family there and have it looked at in the morning. The transmission shop owner told me it was could be the hoses, common problem. He called ma back and told me that the pan gasket needed to be replaced. So he replaced the pan gasket, new screws and the leak stops. Cost $148 and the engine light is gone. Big relief, or so I thought.
 
Back on the road
 
About 1 hour from the house the engine light comes back on, I'm thinking it has to be low on gas since it is almost empty. Wrong. filled the tank and the engine light is still on. what to do? I see no other visual problems, van runs great., transmission does not slip. no more leaks. What else to do?

#2 of 16 Re: Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it [big_poppabea by srs_49

Mar 22, 2009 (3:49 am)

Replying to: big_poppabear (Mar 22, 2009 2:10 am)
Read the ODB-II diagnostic code fist, then get back to us. CEL could be any of several hundred things.

#3 of 16 Re: Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it [big_poppabea [srs_49] by big_poppabear

Mar 23, 2009 (8:53 pm)

Replying to: srs_49 (Mar 22, 2009 3:49 am)
I performed the majic trick of disconnecting the battery cables this morning and the CEL went away. Drove around town, got a car wash, fixed my dvd player (ground got disconnected) and drove the family to coach my son's baseball team.
 
No problems, Van is running great. I hope it was just a false alarm since I was close to running on empty when the CEL appeared.
 
! added over 2,100 miles on this recent road trip and am very impressed.
 
Current mileage: 100,350.

#4 of 16 Re: Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it [big_poppabear] by scoutll

Jul 11, 2009 (10:05 pm)

Replying to: big_poppabear (Mar 23, 2009 8:53 pm)
I had a 2003 GC and the light came on at around 90,000 miles. It would go off periodically, but always came back on. It would stay off for a couple days when ever the battery was disconnected for a while. The code always came up as a vac leak in the emissions system. Never could find it (the leak) or get the light to stay off permanently.
The van is now owned by a good friend, has about 150,000 on it and the light still comes on whenever it feels like it. Never had any other problem with it other than a new ignition switch at 110,000.

#5 of 16 Re: Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it [scoutll] by LASHAWN

Jul 30, 2009 (2:15 pm)

Replying to: scoutll (Jul 11, 2009 10:05 pm)
I have a1996 Town & Country(selling it now) that has 155k miles on it and the CEL comes on every now and then and don't know why. But recently for some odd reason we switched to using name brand fuel stations(BP, Exxon, Shell) it seems to run better and the CEL hasn't come on for past 2 months. Wierd

#6 of 16 Re: Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it [LASHAWN] by big_poppabear

Jul 30, 2009 (3:01 pm)

Replying to: LASHAWN (Jul 30, 2009 2:15 pm)
The message light is gone now, it could be because I only use ExxonMobil gas. It is one of the perks since I work for them.
 
It's a great van and the whole family loves it.

#7 of 16 Re: Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it [scoutll] by lokiwong

Aug 20, 2009 (4:40 pm)

Replying to: scoutll (Jul 11, 2009 10:05 pm)
2003 Grand Caravan, low mileage. Check engine light came on for the same reason as previously posted. No luck with the "replace the gas cap solution." My friend the mechanic used nitrogen to try to find the emission leak with no luck. Live in California and can't get new tags until I clear this up. Any suggestions? Looking to do a "smoke test" next, but not optimistic.

#8 of 16 CEL by big_poppabear

Aug 20, 2009 (4:56 pm)

Sorry no luck on my end either, the light comes and goes as it pleases.
 
Disconnect the battery and see if that will work. Other than that your going to have to replace the egr valve. Don't know how much it wil cost, but I was told that they had to remove the exhaust manifold to get to the EGR valve.

#9 of 16 Re: Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it [lokiwong] by LASHAWN

Aug 25, 2009 (10:55 am)

Replying to: lokiwong (Aug 20, 2009 4:40 pm)
The only suggestion I have is to take to the nearest dealer to have looked at if you haven't already. They probably can take care of the emission test for you too, I know that some dealers perform an emissions test.

#10 of 16 Re: Bought a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 98,180 miles on it [LASHAWN] by scrat1

Sep 10, 2009 (6:44 pm)

Replying to: LASHAWN (Aug 25, 2009 10:55 am)
My wife has the same car 2005 dodge grand caravan about the same mileage. her check engine light just came on today. Question i have i want to get a code reader to find out what the code is. what is a good code reader to get. i was at autozone and it seems like there are so many different types. not too sure which to get then once i get the code reader where would i find out what the codes mean. i had a lot of experience on obd1 but not obd2 type of codes.

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