Tl* the contact owns a 1998 dodge caravan. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning; however, the vehicle restarted. The failure occurred on twenty occasions. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was taken to another dealer for a second opinion and they were unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the consistent problem. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000. The VIN was unavailable.
1998 Dodge Grand Caravan engine complaints
Page 2 of 5: complaints 11 to 40 of 129, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The serpentine belt on the 1998 dodge caravan, has fallen off during driving, whenever the car goes through a puddle of water. This causes nearly unresponsive steering until the belt can be replaced. There are thousands of reports on this issues on online forms, and dodge does not admit to the problem.
Tl*the contact owns a 1998 dodge caravan. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH in the snow, the serpentine belt came off and caused a sudden loss of power. The serpentine belt had been replaced six times. The failure mileage was 97,000.
The serpentine belt has come off of the pulleys on multiple occasions in wet weather, including rain and snow/slush, especially when a puddle is gone through by the right front side of the vehicle. On two of these occasions, I was turning a corner when the belt came off, lost control of my steering and almost hit the car which was stopped across from me. The belt coming off also causes the engine to overheat. This issue causes a loss of control and will lead to injury or death. Chrysler claims it is not a safety issue.. There is an updated belt/pulley kit which has a double-sided-grooved belt and pulley which is supposed to correct this issue but the cost to the consumer is approx $400-500 since chrysler claims that this is not a safety issue. However, this is most certainly a safety issue considering the loss of steering control on wet roads especially if driving on the highway, as I do, where the speed limit is 55-65mph or turning a corner at an intersection where other cars are stopped.
When I purchased my van august 21 2009 it had a problem with the left turn signal. The salesperson said it was from the bulbs being burnt out. I went to autozone that day to get the bulbs replaced, and that wasn't the problem. Autozone told me it was the turn signal switch that had went bad and was causing my left turn signal not to work. I went to goodyear a few days later to have the turn signal switch replaced. They told me it was not a guarantee that it would hold or work for a while. Since then it still has not been working properly. Sometimes if I turned the defroster on it would kick on, but now it will turn on for maybe one turn and turn off right and when I go to use it again, it'll turn on then cut off and wont turn back on. Also my sliding passenger doors, the child lock is stuck and noone can open the door from the inside. I have to get out or the passenger has to get out to open the doors. The door handles are hard to open on the outside. Even though the child lock will say its not on, you can not still open the doors from the inside. This has been like this since I purchased the van. Also I have some pans under my engine that leaking fluids and as far as I know, its the oil pan, coolant pan, and I have metal shavings in some of my fluids. This was also like this when I purchase this vehicle.
Serpentine belt comes off when it gets wet such as driving through puddles or water from roadway when raining. Has happened several times over past few months. Replaced belt but still comes off. This results in loss of power steering making it very difficult to safely pull off road to safe location.
Tl*the contact owns a 1998 dodge grand caravan. The contact has experienced two failures regarding the serpentine belt. While driving 30 MPH, the power steering and power brakes lost power. There were no warnings prior to the failures. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence and he repaired the vehicle himself by re-attaching the serpentine belt. The contact is currently unable to take the vehicle to the dealer for inspection. The manufacturer stated that no compensation would be provided because there were no recalls. The failure mileage was 120,000 and current mileage was 123,000.
I own a 1998 dodge grand caravan the serpentine belt came off during my evacuation from hurricane gustav it happen in the middle of a bridge at night is the 6th time that this occur I just had this replace how come there has not been a recall to solve this before someone die.
Tl*the contact's client owns a 1998 dodge grand caravan. After installing a new transmission and driving the vehicle, the contact's client noticed an excessive amount of fuel loss. The following day it was determined that the seam of the muffler had rotted away and was blowing hot air directly onto the plastic gas tank. The current and failure mileages were 129,580.
Engine starts and immediately shuts off. After 3 or 4 tries it will not turn over at all. This happens completely at random and happens 3 or four times a month minimum. After 24 hours, engine will start normally. Replaced body control module and clock spring. A mechanic also checked for loose connections in the instrument cluster and corrosion.
Our dodge grand caravan was idling at a fast food restaurant during late october of 2007. There had been no problems up to this point. I noticed that the engine temperature had gone all the way to the hot position and my husband got out to look. The cooling fans weren't running. My husband opened the hood. He heard the radiator boiling loudly, and then the cap blew off without being touched, giving him second degree burns to his face and chest. After an emergency room visit, we searched online and found that this is a common problem. The cooling fan relay system is a faulty component listed as a technical service bulletin for all chrysler minivans and as a recall item only for certain chrysler minivans. The funny thing is they used the same control unit on all of the chrysler minivans but won't fix them because they aren't on the "official" recall list. The van was taken to the dodge dealer in pensacola florida and I was told that they wouldn't do anything to fix it without an $80.00 inspection. The problem part is a fan relay. It is called a solid-state speed control which is a computer unit controlling several devices although dodge calls it a relay. When looking to purchase a new one, part stores either said that it is a recall item or that it is only available only through chrysler as the entire computer system needs to be "flashed" after installation and only a dealer can do it. We connected a hot wire directly to the fans from a power source to run the system full time. As for the radiator explosion, it is uncertain why the cap blew off. We thought the radiator top was to blame but the plastic mouth is not noticeably broken. There was no visible damage or defect in the cap. We have since replaced it. People on the web say that the boiling over had got so violent in the radiator that it may have worked the cap loose and blown it off which has been known to happen. As a side note, a reliability report at msn autos states that this is a "moderate problem".
Belt falling off 1998 dodge grand caravan for the 5th time in 1 1/2 years. Resulting in mechanic charges and loss of vehicle. We have replaced tensioner on 2 occasions, belts on 5 occasions to no avail. The problem continues. Dodge/chrysler should do something about this problem. Fortunately, no one was hurt (this time). The added expense is killing us!
Tl*the contact owns a 1998 dodge grand caravan. The contact stated that in cold weather and approaching a stop, the vehicle sporadically stalled without warning. After the failure occurred, the vehicle restarted immediately. Speed was not a factor during the failures. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that this was a common failure with this year, make, and model vehicle, but could not determine the cause of the failure. The failure mileage was 98,000 and current mileage was 100,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 1998 dodge grand caravan. The contact stated that the serpentine belt continuously detaches in wet weather conditions. The belt detaches while driving at various speeds and causes the vehicle to shut off. The vehicle has not been taken to a dealer for repair. The powertrain was unknown. The current mileage was 158,000 and failure mileage was 156,000.
Serpentine belt flies off with a minimal amount of moisture. Both wife and I have driven our 1998 dodge grand caravan in wet weather and the serpentine belt has come off numerous times. The vehicle doesn't even need to hit a puddle, the slightest amount of water splashing from another car will cause it to come off. Belt falling off causes power steering, cooling, and charging to fail resulting in serious safety hazard as car is impossible to control.
While driving in heavy rain my serpentine belt came off the pulleys and resulted in a dangerous situation when I lost my steering while driving in traffic. I understand that this is a common and dangerous problem on the earlier (1997 through the early 2000s models) dodge caravan 3.0, 3.3, and 3.8 engines. There are many postings on the internet with people having the same thing happening during rain storms. I am the original owner of this 1998 dodge caravan. The van only has 61,686 miles on it. At 43,000 miles I had to replace the belt, tensioner, and pulley idler. I also have heard that dodge did a recall on this problem in at least one other country. Chrysler should be mandated to offer a fix for this here in the USA. I temporarily fixed my problem by putting the old serpentine belt back on the pulleys. This is not an easy task and trying to do it along the road is hazardous. But for most people this would be impossible to do.
Serpentine belt came off four times while driving in the rain. After the fourth time the garage ordered a conversion kit from the gates corporation that replaced the idler plus the tensioner. The kit also included a new double sided ribbed belt. Their part number is 38,342 k. It can also be ordered through car quest auto parts stores. Their part number is the same. I have not had a problem since.
Tl* - the contact owns a 1998 dodge grand caravan. The contact stated that the serpentine belt slipped off in wet weather, and it made steering extremely difficult. When this happened there was no longer power steering. This has happened at least 4 times. The failure mileage was 70,000, and the current mileage was 107,000. *ak consumer states dealer made additional installation of the belt 6 months prior to the incident. Update *4/23/07 *
After having clock spring changed from recall, vehicle will stall while driving down the road and automatically start back up on its own. It will do this from a coasting speed to highway speeds of 70 MPH. There is no warning!! I don't know if its from the clock spring or another issue. Had to 2 different deals and personal friend that has the obdii computer and it does not kick or store a code, even when hooked up to the computer! I have a 1998 dodge grand caravan, 3.3l with the flexfuel engine.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving various speeds, the instrument cluster panel intermittently failed to illuminate. Also, during the instrument panel illumination failure, the engine was sluggish and operated at a reduced speed. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who duplicated the problem, but was unable to determine the exact cause of the failure. The manufacturer was alerted. Updated 11/21/2006 -
Dt*: the contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the power steering failed, followed by loss of vehicle power, illumination of all warning lights, and the rising of the engine temperature. The vehicle was taken to a private repair shop, who determined that the serpentine belt became detached due to water splashing up into the undercarriage. The mechanic replaced the belt, however the problem persisted. The service dealer mentioned that a splash shield kit was no longer available for the vehicle. Updated 10/30/06.
During a hard rain shower, the serpentine belt which drives the alternator, A/C, power steering and water pump jumped off of the pulleys resulting in the loss of the power steering and the engine overheating. Had vehicle towed to a repair shop for repairs. Repair shop could not find any reason for the belt to jump off. Belt was examined and found to be in good condition. This first occurrence occurred on 12/16/2005. The second occurrence occurred on 7/28/2006 under the same wet weather conditions. The vehicle was taken to the same repair shop and checked out by the owner of the business. The belt was examined again and found not to have any sign of damage. The owner of the business replaced the belt with a new one as he could find no reason for the belt to jump off. Steering of the vehicle was next to impossible due to the loss of the power steering. I checked with the service manager at the local chrysler dealership and he said he had not had any service bulletins from chrysler on this problem.
This is for a 1998 dodge grand caravan 3.0 we had to replace the serpentine belt tensioner twice in two years. In doing some research, it seems that others have had problems with the serpentine belt tensioner so we wanted to add that it has happened twice to ours.
Serpentine belt keeps coming off.
My 1998 dodge grand caravan (3.3 l engine VIN: [xxx] ), the serpentine belt comes off when driving in rain, or when driving through puddle. When this happen, the vehicle lose power brakes power steering, causing very hazardous condition. This has happened about 6 times during the last 18 months out of which 2 were on freeway at 60mph. Fortunately I was able to pull over safely. Replaced the belt, tensioner etc, still the problem persists. Took it to dodge dealer (dayton dodge, dayton, nj) on 01/10/2006, they were unable to fix, siting "chrysler is aware of problem, but has no fix" a search on google shows numerous hits for this problem on chrysler minivans. I believe chrysler has a tsb for this, but has not a recall. See below links below. Http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-4450.html http://www.carsurvey.org/viewcomments_review_30931.html. *nm updated 07/17/2012 *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)
Besides all the 1998 recalls on this van, I found a pinhole leak in the head itself. At first I thought it was a gasket leak but its not. When it ran out of water, temperature gauge did not tell me it was hot but instead registered cold. On top of the front speakers goes off and on and the rear speakers do it on occasion. Stereo gets really hot to the touch. Transmission seems to be doing strange things like not kicking down when stopped and then lunging while stopped or accelerating when stopped. I think this whole van should be on recall.
While driving through puddles the serpentine belt which controls the steering and other accessories slips off. I have owned this vehicle since new and never had this problem before. Went to dealer he installed tsb bulletin 07-02-99 that consists of a bracket to stop the belt from coming off, but after I drove 7 miles in the rain it came off again. While at the dealer there were several other caravans towed there with the same problem, even a 2005. The dealer rep says this is a common problem because the water is splashed onto the belt tensioner and idler pulleys which are not grooved and just slips off. I did a web search at allpar.com, edmunds.com, etc. And found numerous complaints. This is a serious condition, people can be seriously injured or killed when they lose power steering control unexpectedly. I can't believe chrysler corp. Has allowed this condition to go unresolved for so long.
Service engine soon light came on revealing a problem. Computer diag shows that there is a misfire on #6. Opening the valve cover revealed that the camshaft is defective - metal pieces have fallen off of it. Replacement of camshaft and all other parts (rocker, lifters etc.) including labor will come to a total of close to $1800. Nothing has been done to correct the defect.
Dt: consumer complained about a rack and pinion steering and other problems. Consumer drove over a rough pothole with a metal flatbed on top at a low speed. While driving at a street at 25 MPH consumer made a right turn and there was popping noise in the steering wheel. The noise was evident only when turning to the left or right. Took vehicle back to dealer, who said there was a problem with front alignment , but that was all. However, insurance company noted there were problems with rack and pinion steering /front alignment/ radiator, and the transmission pan. Also, consumer noted the engine light was constantly on and it smoked after driving a long period of time. Oil was changed regularly. Vehicle has had a recent front end alignment but no other repairs.
Vehicle: make : dodge model : grand caravan year : 1998 bulletin num : 98771 date of bulletin: may 01, 1998 the federal safety agency item number: 601474 component: engine and engine cooling:cooling system:fan summary: the radiator fan relay may not turn on the radiator cooling fans, causing engine to overheat. *ak ================ this problem happened to me for the first time in sep 2004. The radiator fan relay failed causing the engine to overheat. I took the vehicle to my dealer, they replaced the part and charged me over $200. This problem reocurred again in may 2005. This defective part should be considered a factory recall and would appreciate your assistance
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