Lemon of a caravan - serpentine belt has freyed at the following milage points: 14138, 14661, 47724, 48333, 51280, 97143, 105647. Ghost whipers at the following mile points: 17606, 47724, 105647. Transmission rebuilt at the following mile points: 27000, 78868. Luckly for us our dealer was understanding of our problems, but only after going to the service manager, and getting on a first name basis with the shop manager (who was tired of seeing our van in his shop every few months if not less). I have 24 instances of my van going into the shop, some instances having service bulletins. Our latest adventure is yet another serpentine belt with the new dealership in bellevue, wa saying that the altinator bracket is misaligned. Also, my drivers side sliding door will nolonger open. The new dealership stated that it needs to be taken to a body shop? I've had my van for almost 4 years, and when it's not in the shop, it acts like a good van, but that only lasts for at most 3 to 4 months at a time. My van was also a demo and was purchased with 5,822 miles on the odometer.
1997 Dodge Caravan engine complaints
Page 4 of 5: complaints 71 to 100 of 121, newest first, as owners wrote them.
When the belt flew off, the dealership we took it to said that theis was a recurring problem they saw every day. And the replacement parts were the same as the original, and would probably fail agian within a few months. The last one was replaced in august. It is squealing again, indicating that the arm has again begun to fail.
Parking brake cable failed. Nlm
Vehicle bought brand new, well maintained, but oil started leaking approximately 3 years from purchase. Then dealer inspects vehicle and conveyed that manifold needed to be replaced also. Very frustrating. Service person at dealer could not viable explanation as to why there were leaks in gasket or manifold failure.
Gasket failed causing oil leak.
Vehicle was taking to mechanic for routine service. Upon inspection of vehicle, dealer noticed oil was leaking onto the engine compartment. Mechanic stated head gasket was going bad, needed to be replaced. *ak the auto shops that inspected the vehicle stated that the head gasket failure was a common problem with these models.
While driving less than 30 MPH serpentine belt tensioner pulley broke, causing all power steering to be lost. Van was towed to the dealership, where the belt tensioner assembly and power steering pulley was replaced at owner's expense. Dealership stated that this was a common problem,and happened all the time. Owner very concerned for the safety of himself and others. *ak transmission jerks while taking off from stop. A/c does not cool enough.
Oxygen sensor replaced. Engine check light will come on the dashboard red.
Cooling fan module was bad, causing vehicle to overheat. This caused vehicle to cut off while driving. Dealer has been contacted.
First in july the master cylinders on our back brakes were shredded and had to be replaced. This happened as I was driving on a bridge with a car full to teen age girls. In december, I noticed a hesitation and seemingly "jumping into gear" especially in reverse. Brought it to the dealer and although was 2 months out of warranty they declined to pay for it. The job was to cost about $1500. In feb, we brought the van to a independent service provider, and as he was looking at the engine, he saw the blown head gasket. We did contact chrysler and were told to bring it to a dealership in our area. Today, we did find out that they would cover the head gasket but not the transmission. There are volumes of internet sites that site specific transmission problems with 90-98 caravans. These stories could be rubber stamped. During this time, I found about 15 people who are having or had trouble with the transmissions in their vans. Someone needs to make chrysler responsible for their products. Please help.
Blown headgasket in regularly maintained vehicle. No known cause.
Relay is recall item on 96 model not 97 same part wonder why?
Dealer service manager stated that they (dodge) have had many failures of the head gaskets on the caravan 4 cylinder. Even though the car was out of warranty, dodge agreed to fix the engine head gasket. This is the second head gasket failure. Thank god that I noticed the small oil leaks in the carport. If I haddn't the engine could have let go on the highway. Something is very, very, wrong when you have to get a head gasket replaced every 10-30k miles.
At 57,048 miles, the head gasket began leaking coolant on the driveway. Dealer stated that there should be no way these vehicles leak form the head gasket this soon.
While driving vehicle sporadically stalls out . Dealer has vehicle, and cannot find a solution.
While driving at any speed or sitting at stop the van just quits. Sometimes engine checklight will come on. The oxgyen sensor was replaced by dealership. Owner kept experiencing the same problem. On nov 3, 1999, the van was taken to the dealership for the same problem. Dealer could not find what caused the problem.
During higway driving me, and later my friends inside the car start to smell someting burnig. When we pull over and stop the car, there was smoke coming from an engine compartment. When we opened a hood, there was a fire inside engine compartment. Hood padding was burning without apparent reason. Fortunately I always have a fire extinguisher in my car and we extiguished this fire. Now all interior of my car has terrible smell. My concern is: why padding inside engine compartment is highly flamable? Do chrysler corporation need more peoples dead in car fires? What happen if somebody else will get fire and will not have a fire extinguisher handy? How many peoples cary fire extinguisher, maybe this spouse to be mandatory for all cars? Thank you, zbigniew lucki
Went to change the brakes and noticed an oil leak. Contacted dealer, and was told this is a common problem with a 4- cylinder after certain mileage. Engine leaking from the head gasket.
Camshaft broke in half at 59,000 miles, necessitating engine replacement. Service mgr. & technician both iniststed this was very unusual in any engine, especially one with this low mileage. Dodge refused to help with repairs as car was "out of warranty". The wipers turn on by themselves every now and then, sometimes when just opening the doors. The whole brake system had to be replaced at 43,000 miles as it had never been properly looked at, even though service records showed inspection at three occasions before breaking down. Original dealer was dutchess dodge, 614 south road, poughkeepsie, ny 12601 (914) 462-7700. They never responded to correspondence regarding the brakes & wipers. The engine was repaired at hyde park motors. I've contacted dodge (daimler/chrysler) and the district mgr. (phil fornabaio) but they refuse to help with the engine and wouldn't even meet with me.
Having a hard time for dealer to repair problem. Always delaying tactics, because warranty is almost over.
Engine heads cracked, causing anti-freeze to leak into the oil pan, the engine smokes vey bad because of this. Dealer has been contacted.
Tension pulley belt thats controls the power steering and battery was very low. The battery/ thermostat went into a hot mode. Also, that there is water underneath the carriage of the vehicle, and it sounds like a boat. The water underneath comes from side to side when riding the vehicle.
While driving at 67 MPH on the highway engine pulley broke, causing the engine to shut down immediately. Dealer has been contacted.
While driving at 65mph vehicle shut down without warning. Had vehicle towed to dealer & mechanic could not locate cause of stalling.
Intermittently while driving vehicle will stall without any warning which may result in a crash. Dealer cannot determine the cause of the problem. Please provide further information and VIN#.
While car is being driven engine dies.has to put the vehcile in park in order to start car again. Cusumer has contacted dealer .
Vehicle experiences hesitation, bucking and misfires continually, several repair attempts to several components however continues to experience symptons. Mjs
The above mentioned vehicle was in route on a 12 hour road trip. About 2 hours before our destination, the van started making noises (when I applied pressure on the brakes they made a grinding noise). We arrived at our destination, and the next day the steering wheel started to "lock up". I called a dodge dealer, but I was afraid to drive it that far, so I drove to the closest full service garage. The mechanic got behind the wheel, and before he got it out of the lot, he pulled back in and said he thought he knew what was wrong. He raised the van up, and I was shocked to see the engine falling out. He said to stay out of the van that it was very dangerous. I immediately had it towed to the dodge dealer. They verified the engine was falling out and kept the van a few days to install two bolts that they said were missing. I asked them if it was a factory error and he said no - the bolts were in at one time and somehow fell out. P.s. We had to rent a car for 6 days while it was repaired. The dealer said he never saw this happen before - true or not?
Lifter noise developed when engine was started after sitting overnight. Many components replaced and cleaned but noise still exist. Nlm
The serpentine belt pully has broken twice, resulting in vehicle being towed twice, there is a constant thud from the gas tank when accelerating, stopped drains from the "AC" are a continous problem, car stutters at turnpike speeds as well as normal city driving, car has been in the shop 22 times in 27 months, tried to get information concerning "lemon law" but was asked to "give us the chance to make it right" .have had a niagra falls from under the dash twice since they "fixed the problem" car vibrates at turnpike speeds. Door locks break/foul smell when the "AC" comes on, engine service lights come on for no reason, the van was leased, and to get out of the lease would involve several thousand dollars. I would take my 7 year old bonneville on trip before I would take my 2 year old van. What can be done about this?
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