Exhaust became loud and you can smell it coming through to cabin. I was told it was a crack in the exhaust manifold crossover pipe. Doing research on the web, there have been several other people who had the same problem citing that they were told by dealers it was a bad design. The repair costs in excess of $900 and there is a chance if not repair for carbon monoxide to leak into cabin.
1998 Dodge Grand Caravan engine complaints
Page 3 of 5: complaints 41 to 70 of 129, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The serpentine belt falls off when it gets wet. Dealer has replaced it twice, and a shield once, however the problem still exists.
While driving serpentine belt disengaged, causing power steering to fail, and water pump to overheat. This happened five times. A technical service bulletin was issued on this problem.
The cross over manifold was recalled. However, the dealer stated the part was on national back order consumer was waiting for eight months. As a result, fumes seeped through the passenger compartment, and the vehicle was unable to pass emissions inspection.
The drive belt has repeatedly come off resulting in the immediate loss of power steering while the vehicle is in motion. I took the car to the dealership each time, but they were unable to determine the problem. Finally a different dealership identified the problem as a flexing engine mounting bracket. This problem is so common there is a chrysler service bulletin #07-02-99. This repair should be covered as a safety recall.
Iam posting the exact problem as listed under your "defects" page for my specific vehicle: make : dodge model : grand caravan year : 1998 manufacturer : daimlerchrysler corporation ervice 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 a little over a year ago. The radiator fan relay failed, causing the engine to overheat almost immediately. I was stranded and had to have the vehicle taken to my dealer, team dodge of stone mountain, goergia. They refused to replace the relay as a recall (a tiny module located on the side of the radiator), and charged me in excess of $150.00 to replace it. Since this has happened to me, I have been informed by many dodge caravan owners that this is indeed a common problem. I feel this defective part should be considered as part of a factory-wide recall, and would appreciate any help you may be able to offer. Thank you.
The engine "blew up". Apparently there was an oil problem" on the inside of one side of the engine and a chunck of it actually "blew off". The entire engine had to be replaced including hoses, etc. The original engine had only 77,326 miles!!! I have spoken with many people who have had to replace their engines in this same mini-van at or around 70,000-80,000 miles! Not only that, but I spoken with and was warned that this would probably happen by the owner of an auto body shop, prior to this happening. He said "we see these engines on these mini-vans go bad right around 70,000 miles, lynn". This seems to be a chronic problem for the dodge/chrysler mini-van.
I purchased my 1998 grand caravan in october of 2003. I love this vehicle, it has everything I want and need. I purchased the same type of vehicle after the other one was totaled by a deer. Could you please tell me why there is no recall on the air conditioner? I replaced the evaporator in my other van and this one needs the same thing done to it. This vehicle was purchased in the cooler month, but now that it reaches 100 degrees here in florida, I need an air conditioner that works. I cannot afford to pay $1,400 to fix this one, I did in my other van and am still making the payments on that repair bill. I have three children and cannot go anywhere when the heat is so intense. Many people with a caravan have this same problem. Can you help, can you explain why there has not been a recall on this malfunctioning problem? Thank you!
When vehicle is turned off the fan continues to run. Consumer disconnected the battery so it wouldn't burn out the motor. This occurs because the radiator fan relay does not turn the cooling fan off or on, which is causing the engine to overheat. To correct this problem dealership has to replace the radiator fan relay, and reprogram the power train control module as stated in the recall. However, this vehicle is not included in the recall due to VIN.
While driving cruise control light began to illuminate along with the air bag light. Consumer took vehicle to the dealership, and they informed consumer that clock spring cracked. *ak the tensioner seized.
While driving 10 MPH pulley belt fell off. Steering wheel was hard to steer and turn. Consumer drove vehicle to dealer for inspection, and mechanic told consumer that problem could not be duplicated or resolved.
While driving engine check light illuminated. Then vehicle stalled. Consumer had the vehicle towed. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.
Engine failure of second engine in vehicle within 55,000 miles. I previously reported the replacement of engine in my dodge grand caravan at 37,000 miles due to a lifter failure occasioned by what was described by the regional service manager as "soft metal." a long block replacement was installed and now at 55000 miles I am told that the engine has a "bad lift" and needs replacement. Thus, I now have had two engines in the same car each of which has failed in about the same way. I have a warranty claim pending but feel strongly that this is a systemic problem that needs to be investigated. I assure you that the car was well cared for and that all required service was met or exceeded. I have had many cars not one of which had engine failure even after a hundred and twenty thousand miles and considerably less meticulous care.
After driving through standing water, the serpentine belt slipped off, causing a loss of power steering control. The same thing had happened in june 2003, about three weeks after the dealer had replaced the belt and tensioner. The tendency for the belt to slip off after driving through water is a serious safety problem, which could easily lead to a loss of control of the car by a less experienced driver.
My 1998 grand caravan suddenly started burning oil. My mechanic says this is due to leaking valves that are common in the 3.0l engine. The disturbing part is the oil light never came on despite a very low level of engine oil. I contacted the manufacturer regarding both problems and received no assistance with either problem. The engine and warning light malfucntions resulted in lifter damage that was repaired at a cost of $500.
We bought our 1998 dodge grand caravan se (3.3 liter) used from the original owner in 2000. At that point, the tensioner had been replaced once at least. Since then we have had the unfortunate and dangerous circumstance of being stranded on a major highway with our 3 children because of the tensioner belt falling off, not once, but twice. It coincided with rainy weather both times. I have read several other reports on the internet with other consumers having the same exact problem with their dodge grand caravans. This is a serious problem. This could lead to deaths very easily. We were lucky enough to get across 3 lanes of traffic, with no steering or power, and park in the break down lane while traffic passed by us at 75 miles an hour. We were nearly rearended a couple times, which would have meant our children would have been hit first, and I doubt that they would have survived that kind of impact. In the meantime, my husband literally stood in back of our van waving our detached serpentine belt in the air desperate for someone to help get us off of the busy and potentially deadly highway. The next 30 minutes were scary, I cried the entire time scared for the safety of my 3 young children (a newborn, a 2 year old and a 3 year old). The next time the belt fell off, luckily I was nearer to our home on a quiet street. I could only imagine what would have happened had I lost the belt while on a back country road in maine, in the middle of the winter, with my 3 children by myself. A family van should never lose it's serpentine belt 3 times in 4 years. With all the recorded statements from others who have had this same exact problem, several times over, there is ample proof that dodge is aware that there is a huge problem. Losing power, steering, etc. Is a major issue that cannot be ignored. We were lucky to survive our incident. There will come a day, if this situation is not resolved, where a person or whole family, will die because of this careless defect.
November, 2003 - 1998 grand caravan with 73500 miles. Head gasket failure. Leaking coolant to the outside of engine from rear head. Had to replace both head gasket and oil pressure switch. Vehicle has been well maintained and serviced regularly. Driven by "soccer" mom. Also, complete transmission failure-see automatic transmission section.
I have a 1998 dodge grand caravan se that hade engine failure. The van has been running good and has been well taken care of. My van at that time hade 126,000 miles on it, so it is pass warranty period. I still believe that this engine shouldn,t have failed at 126,000 miles. This is my second mini-van, and up until this point have been satisfied with them. I think chysler should take responsibility for this failure. My voyager has 208,000 miles on the engine and still running. Something went wrong with this 3.3 l v6 engine. I am not satisfied with the failure or with me having to spend $2,500.00 to repair it. This shouldn,t have happen.
Premature, sudden failure of head gasket, potentially leading to rapid loss of coolant, obscured vision, loss of control, etc.
Almost all of the air conditioning components were replaced only to find that less than 1 year later, july 2003, the evaporater is leaking and needs to be replaced at a cost of $750.00.
The car is on it's third transmission. We like the caravan as a package, but quality is lacking and problematic. The most critical problem is body rust through. The drivers side shock mount tower is rusted through and chrysler owner relations refusing to fix it. Never mind that the dealers say the problem is prevalent and chrysler used to fix it but recently stopped paying for (perhaps due to financial and market conditions).
The van started having problems last week.it does not want to go into first gear after reverse or after stopping. I have been told the the differential pin is broken and will take anywhere from $1700 to $2300 to repair. I am trying to get chrysler to cover the cost of this as it is a known problem with these vans. I will never buy another dodge again.
My 1998 dodge grand caravan (which I purchased new) had "thrown" its' serpentine-belt 4 times (approximately every 10,000 miles- it now has approximately 50,000 miles on the odometer). The danger/hazard in this circumstance is that power-steering, water-pump, alternator, & possibly oil-pump are driven by this belt! Dodge has replaced the belt, tensioner, tensioner-mount bracket successively: I.e.- belt at 1st incident, tensioner at 2nd, bracket at 3rd. Now it has occurred again & they wish to charge for all the aforementioned. The vehicle had camshaft failure at 41,000 miles & now has a rebuilt engine- the belt/ tensioner/ bracket are said by dodge not to be affected by the replaced engine. So, does this mean the vehicle needs a new tensioner/ belt/ bracket every 10,000 miles?
The serpentine belt fell off intermittently. Dealer indicated the need to install bracket to retain the serpentine belt.
Serpentine belt fell off the tension pulley, causing a loss of power steering. Tsb 6088784 was issued on the problem, which indicated that cause was rain/stagnant water, and snow.*ak 1998 dodge grand caravan experienced problem where serpentine belt fell off the tension pulley causing a loss of power steering, power brakes and engine failure. Chrysler corporation sent a memo to their dealerships addressing how to correct the problem. The memo also stated that this problem was not a safety issue.
Serpentine belt of my 1998 dodge grand caravan came off while driving down the highway. I lost ABS, power steering, radio, and the engine overheated almost immediately. My daughters were in the car and I was in heavy traffic. I could barely steer the van. I was alarmed to find that many others have had this same problem. If my wife had been driving, I'm not sure if she could have steered the van. I could have easily caused an accident/injury/death to myself or others. The belt was not frayed, the tensioner is fine. The thing just slipped off. It was raining at the time as well, making a dangerous problem almost catastrophic.
On two occasions, both during a heavy rainstorm, the serpentine belt had fallen off the vehicle while driving at a high speed. This caused a lost of power steering, overheating and the alternator light had come on. The service could not find a reason as to why this occurred. The consumer was also told that this was common on the east cost due to the rain and snow. (model/sport) *ph *scc
On 07/05/03, the engine stalled without warning when driving. Mechanic diagnosed problem as broken camshaft and repaired it. On 08/19/03, engine stalled again while driving. Mechanic diagnosed failure due to camshaft broken again. The consumer believed a defect existed behind the engine block which caused the camshaft failure.*ak *ph
We purchased this vehicle used in august 2001. After two months of having the vehicle we had to replace the serpentine belt, which broke as soon as I turned a corner,(we were told the dealership, maroone toyota in weston, fl sould see nothing wrong) we then had to have the vehicle looked at as our engine light came on (we were told there was nothing wrong with the engine) within the next 2 years of having this car, we have replaced the serpentine belt 4 addiotnal times, we have had the motor in the driver door break and we cannot get that window down, we have the warning lights come on for the air bag system (which I just noted is a recall issue that I never received notice), we have just experienced the A/C breaking down, wich looks in turn that this will be a problem with the pulley or system it is attched to ( a coil problem). We have 3 small children and I must admit that this has been the worst experience that I have ever encountered with a used vehicle. We have had nothing but complications with this vehicle - I should have returned thevehicle and count my blessings, I'm afraid the next time something goes wrong with this vehicle - it may cost us ourlives. Can someone please contact me and tell me my options.
The radiator relay switch on my 1998 dodge grand caravan keeps going out, causing radiator fans to not run and vehicle to overheat. This is third time. Once in april, july and now august. Dealer repalces relay each time and moves it on second time with new ground. Failed a third time.
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