2000 Chrysler Town and Country: sudden loss of power

Filed Aug 8, 2016 · Engine · 203,912 miles · VA

Engine suddenly stalls while van in motion. Losing power steering and power braking. Once van coasts to a stop, restart with no issues. Normally occurs after van sits overnight and engine isn't warmed up as yet.

Filed Dec 17, 2015 · Electrical · 99,400 miles · WA

When driving through puddles, or large amounts of water on roads, the alternator belt falls off causing the loss of power steering, engine over heating, and the battery to die. Could be while turning or driving straight.

Filed Nov 4, 2013 · Engine · 235,000 miles · MN

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 chrysler town and country. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH there was a complete loss of power steering with the illumination of the engine and voltage indicators. The vehicle was driven to the side of the road where the detached serpentine belt was reconnected. The failure recurred ten times. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 235,000.

Filed Jul 23, 2013 · Engine, Steering · 140,560 miles · FL

While my wife was pulling into a driveway she drove thru a small puddle and the water splashed up on the idler pulley and caused the belt to slip. This in turn caused the vehicle to lose power steering. She ended up in the yard instead of the driveway. I have been in quality since 1985 and I am currently a quality manager so I am really surprised with chryslers' lack of concern with this design problem. I am really disappointed with chrysler and the federal safety agency for not doing something about this issue. Maybe it is time to let some of the national investigative tv shows know about the problem.

Filed Dec 26, 2010 · Steering · FL · crash · 3 injuries

After repeated serpentine belt replacement on 2000 t&c the belt has slipped off during a "minor" rain storm, the belt slipped off again and caused me to lose power steering and I crashed into another vehicle as well as a business. I contacted the dealer and they informed me that even though there have been repeated complaints about this problem, that because the federal safety agency has not issued an "official" recall of this problem that there was nothing that could be done. What are my tax dollars being spent on?

Filed Nov 24, 2010 · Steering · 91,308 miles · IL

After getting caught in an early evening's thunderstorm, I attempted a regular, right turn off us 34 toward our subdivision. Our 2000 chrysler mini van lost power steering during the turn. I was unable to keep completely with in my lane. Thankfully, no one was in the opposing traffic lane. After regaining my composure, I deciding it was ok to "limp" home with the van, through the subdivision. I noticed a lot of the dash lights were triggered, which indicated to me that the alternator was no longer working for the final couple of blocks. This affected the brightness of the headlights and slowed the wiper speed. This also affected the air conditioner and that prevented the defogger from working properly. Once at home, I found that the serpentine belt had come off. In another moment of time, the belt's coming off might have easily have resulted in more disaster. Consulting the auto repair place, (which had replaced the same belt in june), I had the van towed in, where a new belt was installed. Nothing else was found amiss in the system. It was suggested that perhaps the rain or a particular puddle had the effect of causing the wet belt to slip off during the turn. And it was mentioned that they had seen similar "wet belt" issues from my van's manufacturer. Now I'm afraid to drive in the rain with the van for fear of it happening again with worse consequences.

Filed Aug 23, 2010 · Brakes, Engine · 120,000 miles · KS

At least 6 times since owning a 2000 chrysler town and country, the serpentine belt has come off either in the rain or snow. Once causing property damage as I pulled off the road when the car overheated. It also caused the head gasket to fail. Gates has a correction kit for this. Chrysler should supply them on a one time basis t every owner. Failure of this design causes occupants to be put at risk in the most inclement weather conditions when you need the car to perform it's best. Additional there is loss of power steering, power brakes, and alternator.

Filed Apr 22, 2010 · Body, Engine · 120,000 miles · CA

Driving through small puddle of water (drainage from waterhose run off not storm type drainage). Serpentine belt comes off rendering the vehicle unusable. Happens in all weather conditions. I have replaced the water pump, the tensioner, the idler pulley. I've had the alignment of the pulleys checked, all have had no effect on the serpentine belt. It still comes off going through any form of moisture. This has been ongoing now for over a year, I have gone through 4 different belts trying to see what could work. The first time it happen was early in the morning (approx. 3am) while my wife was on her way to work, with the sudden loss of power steering she ran into a curb. The only damage was to the vehicle front bumper and bottom valance.

Filed Jul 3, 2009 · Engine · 85,000 miles · MA

My 2000 chrysler town and country serpentine belt keeps slipping off after driving through puddles. This problem has been "repaired" 4 times already and is still slipping off. This is a potentially hazardous problem as it is not always immediately known that the belt has slipped off which cause driver to lose power steering (among other things). Being unable to steer while driving is an absolute danger especially depending on the speed of the car!

Filed Sep 12, 2008 · Engine · 64,404 miles · NJ

My chrysler town&country with 3.8 eng.belt has come off when driving in heavy rain 4 times. Losing powersteering and causing engine to quickly to overheat. Dealers have no fix for this problem. This almost caused me to damage my car and possibly others since it came without any warning. I checked the internet to see if any one else had this problem and found many. It seems that so may that gates belt company designed a belt package to solve this problem. I purchase this repair package and seems to be working in the rain. Shouldn't this repair been a recall by chrysler before someone gets hurt.

Filed Feb 6, 2008 · Engine · 95,000 miles · IL

It is a well known problem with chrysler minivans - whenever there is a heavy rain and the water puddles in the street, the serpentine belt slips off and all power to the vehicle is lost. This has happened to me multiple times. I have spoken to my local mechanic about this problem and he stated that this happens to all chrysler minivans (dodge and pontiac minivans as well) and has occurred since they started making minivans. Every time there is a heavy downpour he has a lot full of chrsler vans that need their belt put back on. I called my local chrysler dealer in urbana, il and spoke to the service representative. She told me that they are fully aware of the problem because two of their own service vans are out of commission due to the recent rain. She agreed that every time it rains heavily, the belts come off these vans. I called chrysler automotive and spoke to a customer service rep. About the problem. She checked and told me that chrysler will not do anything about this because it is a known problem and because the federal safety agency has not issued a recall. Since chrysler will not address this known problem until the federal safety agency issues a recall, please issue a recall. What could be more dangerous than for people to lose power while driving on crowded roadways and interstate?

Filed Dec 22, 2007 · Engine · 106,703 miles · CO

The serpentine belt on my 2000 chrysler town and country slips off when I drive through puddles resulting in loss of power steering, cooling and electrical. This event strands us where ever we happen to be.