Last december 2004 while driving, my steering wheel locked up and I was unable to make a turn. I looked under hood and found s belt had slipped off. I was able to have it fixed. I do not know what caused this. Today 5/9, again, the belt came off as my sister was about to go down an incline. Should she have been in the process of descending, she would have had an accident, because of a sharp turn in the road. At the repair shop I was told that there is a problem that exist with the tensioner in this vehicle, and that it slips off when it rains or if water gets into it. In order to put the vehicle in use I've had to have it repaired. From the complaints I've read, this should be made into a recall issue, and those who've had to make repairs and replace belts, should be reimbursed by the manufacturer.
1997 Chrysler Town and Country engine complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 53, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The bolt that holds the fan belt tensioner onto the engine broke unexpectedly while going about 25 MPH. As a result, the fan belt broke off and the consumer lost steering. *ak the consumer managed to bring the vehicle to a safe stop. The fan belt pulley tensioner was replaced.
Chrysler town and country mini van 1997 serpentine belt falls off. This has happened to us at least 5 times. This belt will come off when ever it is raining or snowing. When this happens we lose power steering immediately. We have had some near terrible accidents with the loss of power steering. We have been blessed to not get hurt. Chrysler knows about the failure in their service bulletin number 07-02-99. We had to install a special bracket assembly 4612412. Even with this bracket the belt came off again.
When driving, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle has been to the dealer on six occasions.
While driving serpentine belt came off. As a result, power steering assist malfunctioned. Serpentine belt was replaced five times, however, problem still exists.
I had the belt replaced on my 1997 chrysler town & country to avoid a breakage. Since that time, the belt has come off twice allegedly due to water/rain. I live in new orleans & have been in alot more rain over the last 6 years and never had a problem. The first time, they just put the belt back on, the last time, I was charged an extra $50 for a better belt, but was also told of an advisory that chrysler issued 7-2-99 indicating this problem and that a bracket could be used to fix the problem. The local dealership advised that this would cost another $260 to fix a problem that never existed before I had the belt replaced. I feel that chrysler knows that there is a problem with their new belts, but because my van is older, they are unwilling to foot the bill to fix it and they are jeopardizing my safety and everyone else's by not doing so. I am now afraid to drive my van during or after a rain.
January 2003 - r & r cross over pipes had a crack. Had to replace january 2003 - 3 lugnuts fell off. Had to replace july 2003 - key cylinder locked up. Had to replace and had the car towed. October 2003 - fuel pump went bad. Part broke inside the gas tank. Had to remove the tank and buy a new part. I have a toyota with 128k miles and it has never had any of these problems! I'm thinking about trading the van in.
The most recent brake failure was the most potentially deadly. Without warning, we had total brake failure due to rear wheel cylinders seizing up. We contacted chrysler, offered to send them the defective parts. After numerous calls to customer service and the recall center, we were told chrysler was not interested. Chrysler contacts were very rude. We pulled up a recall from the federal safety agency id number 96v215000. Our concern was the remark in the corrective summary. The master cylinders in 1997 minivans made in st. Louis were defective. Our minivan was manufactured in st. Louis. According to chrysler recall center, the recall was on vehicles with traction control. We have traction control. People at customer service will not talk to us about the recall notice to help us. Our van is handicap accessible. Safety for our family and out disabled son is of utmost concern. Since chrysler is no help, who is?
Somewhere between 82,000 & 86,000 miles, my engine began making a ticking sound. Since I was due for an oil change, I took the van in to a nearby shop for an oil change. The first thing the mechanic called me about was an oil leak...he thought the head gasket was blown and was calling for my authorization. When he removed the valve cover, he called back to inform me that I had a broken head. Somehow, one of the stanchions that holds the rocker arm assembly had broken off and the rocker arm next to that stanchion was loose and causing the clicking sound. Neither he nor I had never heard of that type of part failure and I went to the shop to see what he had found. The stanchion was broken through about 1/4 inch below the rocker arm. In my mind, since a head is a solid block of cast aluminum, this was not a part that should wear out or have to be replaced. The engine had never overheated, et cetera. In quoting the repair estimate, the mechanic informed me that since the head was broken, in addition to the cost of purchasing a reconditioned head, I would also have to pay a $200.00 core charge since my broken head could not be exchanged and reconditioned. To my way of thinking, since the head shouldn't have broken in such a manner anyway, the core charge was unfair. My belief was that this is either a casting or design flaw and regardless of the fact that I was 16,000 miles over the warranty, this type of breakage should not have happened. I then went to the dodge dealership service department to see if chrysler corp. Was helping consumers with this type of problem. He then put me in touch with the service manager. I learned a few more things from the service manager. First, since my vehicle was out of warranty, he was certain that chrysler would not help in any way with the repairs. When they recondition the heads, they now insert a shaft through the stanchions to provide additional strength to prevent these breaks.
While turning/braking vehicle stalled and lost power. The consumer managed to pull over.
"service engine soon" light comes on at 55 to 60 MPH accompanied by a stumble in car's motion. Dealer tried and was not able to correct this problem.
Engine fails while car is in motion. It happens often and at different speeds. Dealer installed a co-pilot which registered a number of occurences. Since august 2003 dealer tried and was not able to correct this problem.
The evaporator heater coil and expansion valve malfunctioned. Prior to this, the air conditioner was not cooling the van. This happened since january 2002. The consumer was told by the manufacturer there was no recall on the above parts. *ak the battery had been replaced on four occasions, the rear brake drums, the serpentine belt and tensioner had been replaced. *scc also the horn, driver seat rack and grill were replaced.
Nar 06/19/2003. *mr soon after the consumer purchased the vehicle he noticed the parking brake did not work. The vehicleh had a flat tire before entering the interstate. The car was taken to the service dealer to have the brakes repaired, but it was evident that the parking brake was defective. Along with the parking brakes several other problems existed with the vehicle. A belt tensioner and tune up was needed. There were two recalls were issued for the fuel rails and clocks springs. However the dealership failed to recognize other malfunctions like the parking brakes in which the consumer felt a recall needed to be issued. Please investigate and give prompt response. *cb the consumer was told the reason the parking nrake did not work was because the vehicle needed disc pads, brake shoes rotors and drums because they were glazed and could not be resurfaced. The fuel injector and throttle body needed to cleaned.
Van engine dies at any time without any sputtering or warning, like someone turned off the ignition. Will start right up again as soon as I put transmission in neutral and turn key. Often when driving the engine will jerk real hard like I just drove over a speed bump, but engine does not kill. The engine light flashes for a second. Dealer says nothing shows on computer so theres nothing he can do. Chrysler in detroit was called and said the same thing. They were no help at all. I have almost been hit from behind several times due to this problem. I see others have had the same problem posted also. Happens about once every two weeks or so. It seems if the dealers computer doesn't give them a code they are lost and can't do anything to help. It's a very frustrating and dangerous situation to be in!
Serpentine belt comes off on a regular basis. A chrysler employee told the consumer to expect it to come off when driving in the rain.
1997 chrysler town and country. The air bag light illuminated, the dealer stated the clock spring shorted out internally, however the consumer received a notice in the mail, regarding the clock spring and that it would be replaced regardless of mileage. The check engine light illuminated, the dealer replaced the egr valve.
While driving vehicle under rainy conditions, consumer states" there was a sudden loss of all power. Took to dealer and they stated serpentine belt had fallen off due to driving in rain. Please provide any further information. Ts
Was driving approximately 40mph, when the serpentine belt (timing belt) came off. This caused the lost of power steering, brakes and coolant. Have been to dealership at least 3 or more times for problem with serpentine belt. Ts
Consumer state while traveling 30 MPH without any indication the power steering ended the temperature gauge was running high. Consumer pulled over and look under hood and notice major belt had broken. Vehicle was repaired three weeks after repair problem return. Please provide further information. Ts
Consumer states that while driving at any speed the vehicles engine will died, and then consumer can restart and it will continue to go. Cause is unknown. Nlm
1. Steering system locked up while making turns making control of vehicle difficult. Van also made screeching noises while turning. Was told rack and pinion needed replacing per "service bulletin". It was, but did not solve problem. Dealer recommended drive belt and tensioner be replaced. This finally helped. 2. Air bag light and ABS lights came on, and traction control went off at hwy speeds. Air bag light remained on constantly. Dealer says that both air bag clock spring and ABS controler must be replaced. Dealer stated that if these controlers were not replaced, neither the air bags, the horn, the cruise control nor the ABS braking system would work. Please reopen the federal safety agency action investigation #ea01007 for the air bag clock spring in this vehicle. It is important for people to know that if their air bag light won't go off it means that the system is not operational!
When the vehicle was turned off the fan continued to run, the vehicle was taken to the dealer but they were unable to remedy the problem. Nlm the dealer replaced the relay rod on the fan. The consumer requested reimbursement. Scc
Consumer received manufacturer's recall notification 895 for engine seals. Contacted dealer, and they stated parts were not available and didn't know when they will be.
The insured was driving into a parking space and smoke came up on both sides of the vehicle, insured opened the hood and flames were shooting out, vehicle intermittently catches on fire, but there is no visible damage. Claim number 06-5430-611.
The insured states that the vehicle caught on fire from the engine and destroyed the vehicle, the fire started near the front wheel wells. Claim number 20-5421-367.
Clock spring problems, consumer states the horn will work sometimes, but cruise control is not working, also there was a noise from the steering wheel column, contact dealer and vehicle is being repaired. *ak. Consumer also stated there was a coolant leak, the dealer replaced the radiator cap.
Fire started in the engine compartment destroying the vehicle, claim # 20-5421-367. Nlm
While driving heard a strange noise, and temperature gauge went to hot, and lost all power. Consumer managed to get to side of road. Consumer felt that on highway there may have been an accident. Dealer has put four belts on vehicle, and problem still remained. *ak consumer states each time belt fails that brakes fail and steering is hard, consumer was told by 2 mechanics that this year and model vehicle is noted for this problem.
Tensioner pulley bolts snapped, assembly flew into power steering pulley, breaking pulley and pump, due to low speed at moment of failure, loss of control of vehicle did not result in accident or injury.
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