Consumer states vehicle caught on fire and fire department put out the fire (claim # 16-n184-274).
1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager engine complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 65 of 65, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Consumer states while driving, smoke started coming from under hood, when consumer stopped and raised the hood flames were coming from the motor (claim # 46-0533-441).
I was traveling at about 60 MPH on interstate 85 north in atlanta, ga when I heard a loud bumping noise under the vehicle. I looked in the rear view miror and saw somthing rolling on the road. I lost power steering and the vehicle was very difficult to control. I managed to get to safe spot off the road and looking under the hood I discovered my water pump pulley was off and laying on the splash pan. The serpentine belt tensioner pulley had also fallen off and was what I had seen rolling in the road. I had the vehicle towed to a five star chrysler dealership in stone mountain, ga where the maintenance supervisor said it just wore out and he had seen them fall off in less mileage than mine had. I complained that it was a manufactures defect and should not have just sudenly fallen off with no warning. I was left with no choice but to have it repaired. They charged me just under $400.00 to replace the water pump and put a new tensioner pulley on it. Towing cost me $85.00 and a rental vehicle $79.00. The dealer maintenance supervisor even had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to get a 60000 mile check up while they were working on it. I told him no thanks the vehicle never made it to 60000 miles. I have not complained to chrysler because I felt I would get the same cold treatment that I got from the dealership in stone mountain where I was stranded over 100 miles away from home. I once thought chrysler made good quality vehicles but no more.
Fan relay failed to start radiator fans, car over heated stranding wife and 3 kids(ages 7,4 and 7 months old ),took to shop and they said #771 recall on that relay, contacted dealer said no recall on my specific van, even though problem exists in other vans, said will not fix their problem until enough people complain and make them.
In september of 2000 we replaced the belt tensioner. The car had about 33000 miles on it. In january or so we had to replace a valve cover gasket because oil was leaking and we were losing oil. The van had 39000 miles on it. The manufacturer was contacted and would not accomodate us even though the dealership said there was only one cause of the problem at that milage - manufacturer's defect. Then we just foundout this week at 48000 miles that we need a valve and ring job because the car was burning oil. We had been burning oil since before the valve cover gasket. We've been told by the dealership (not the one we purchased the car from, which was a small independent company) and the manufacturer that the repair will not be covered because we didn't complain of burning oil before. (of course, the oil was being lost prior to the valve cover gasket problem but they said we weren't specific about burning oil. We had attributed the lost oil to the leak.
There's a lot humming noise coming from engine.
On 2 occasions while driving in rainy weather the vehicle hit a puddle and the serpentine belt came off, the consumer lost temporary control of the vehicle but was able to pull over to the side of the road. Nlm
While driving about 55 MPH vehicle did not have any steering. Then, all lights on dashboard came on. Heard a loud noise like a pop. Engine stalled. Consumer opened hood, and found out that engine cap was not in place and all coolant was every where.
In november 1999 had transmission replaced. Currently, transmission needs to be replaced again. In december 2000, headgasket blewout.
I have contacted chrysler and they paid for the ignition and the manifold gasket replacement. They paid $1,000 of the transmission failure. The total bill for the transmission failure was $2500.
Had let vehicle idle a while before moving. Shifted into reverse & started to back out. Engine stalled out. No prior warning. Took to dealer 1st time & had map sensor replaced. 2nd time throttle sensor was replaced. 3rd time control module. 4th time mechanic took engine apart & found wires under the hood had melted together & all the electrical wires needed replacing. This was due to the wires being too close to the exhaust system.
While driving the vehicle experinced a problem, the driver pulled over then the vehicle caught on fire in the engine compartment, claim # 25-5404-238. Nlm
Vehicle caught fire while parked, claim # 16-n184-274. Nlm
Antifreeze was found under the car, an intial diagnosis was a blown head gasket.
Three weeks after purchasing transmission/ transfer case was defective, and the bearing that held the fan belt together fell off. While driving consumer heard an explosion, then lost braking power and steering. Consumer coasted to the side.
While driving on the highway vehicle would die out/stall without prior warning. Has happened 3 times in 2 weeks. Contacted dealership & was informed engine needed new spark plugs & wires, which were replaced. However, problem still exists. Contacted manufacturer & informed consumer to take vehicle back to dealership.
This is the second time this has happened. The first time was 2 months after purchase. An exceptional amount of rain had fallen and many roads had standing water on them. While negotiating one spot (approx. 6-12 in) all power steering ability was lost. Assuming the belt was wet continued to drive until warning light and signal showed overheating. Discovered that serpentine belt had fallen off. Dealer replaced and informed that incident had been reported to plymouth. Today same problem. Attempting to negotiate several instances of water, less than 25mph and suddenyl, no power steering. Personally reported to plymouth and was informed that they had not heard any instances of this failure. Questioned dealer and was informed that they had seen it happen several times. Initial problem: tension pully has no edge to hold belt on if water gets between pulley and belt. Pulley is also smooth which causes belt to slip. Result: loss of power steering, loss of charging to battery, loss of power to drive headlights/wipers/air conditioning. Dangerous result: loss of control/visibility. Solution(?): replace smooth pulley with one that has edges and put grooves of some sort on the pulley to allow water to be sheeted off if it comes between the pulley and the belt.
There is a severe upper engine oil leak that from an undetermined location. Oil under pressure sprays the engine comparment, including the engine bloc, and burns.
In spite of repeated tune ups, engine runs rough when stopped - sometimes quits.
On various occasions since the first week of ownership of the vehicle the speedometer and temperature guage have simultaneously dropped to zero and the fluctuated between 0 & 85 MPH, dealer was contacted and they kept the van to investigate, nothing found, they then hooked up a computer reader that I drove with for 10 days, as sthis incident only happened sporadically and I had to hit a button when it did nothing was reported. When travelling at anywhere from 10 to 65mph it is sometimes quite dangerous to takes your eyes off the road and your hand off the steering wheel to hit the button of an attachment on your visor..! This incident had continued to occur over the past year and now in the middle of a hurricane I have attempted to evacuate my children from the area only to find that my vehicle will not start. The dealership sent somebody to assist and due to the weather conditions he told me to keep the car running all day as he did not feel that this was a battery problem but computer related,particularly after I told him about the strange happenings with the speedo etc. The van ran for about 3.5 hours on my driveway and then died...! The local chrysler dealership is coming to pick it up tomorrow morning.
The vehicle is experiencing a loss of power steering,A/C,and the electrical system.also, engine belt needs to be replaced. Dealer has replaced engine belt 3 times. The problem has happened 5 times.
Fan relay recall.
While driving in rainy conditions the serpentine belt came off, disabling the power system, which may cause an accident. Happened 4 times. . Dealer cannot determine problem. Please provide further information.
The self tensioner failed to work properly. Had taken to dealer & informed that the surpentine belt came off the pulley. The engine motor system stopped working.
Consumer was driving vehicle in water 18 inches deep on wet pavement, then vehicle would not start, towed to dealer. Dealer indicated that engine locked up. Consumer maintained that it was poor engine design since water is sucked up into engine which causes this problem.
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