Dodge grand caravan problems?

19 years ago

Hi Everyone,

I have a 2001 dodge caravan I am making payments to the finance company for.This car has given me a fit from day 1.The first day I had it I woke up to a dead battery cell,so there goes a 80 more dollars.Then less then 3 months later the map sensor both oxygen sensors and the reverse went out of the transmission not to mention the car caught on fire underneath the passenger side.Come to find out we now have a short in the wiring harness going to the fuel pump.Has anyone ever had this kind of vehicle and if so were your experiences similar.It is costing me right at 3000 dollars to have this fixed.Jlowe308

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Comments (6)

jemdandy
19 years ago
I have not owned a Dodge Caravan, but I have friends who did, and I've owned simlar engines in the sedans. First off, you didn't say how many miles were on your vehicle, but there is a maintence schedule for the oxygen sensors. These get replaced about every 80,000 miles. At that point, the 'required maintance' light will turn on.

There is a danger of overheating the catalytic convertor if the oxygen sensors are being ignored by the engine mamagement system. The fuel mix may be nominal or on the rich side (default starting conditions) and if one is stalled in traffic for a lengthy period or the engine left runing while parked, the catalytic convertor may overheat.

The engine management system will ignore the oxygen sensors if it receives signals outside an acceptable range.

I haven't heard about wiring problems. The main gripe I've seen are transmissions. Because of the built-in automatic adjustment (done by timing the application and release of clutches)the user doesn't get a hint that his transmission is failing until near the fateful day. Its only a few more miles after the first 'glitch' is felt to complete outage.

In one case, my neighbor's transmission had an early failure at 36,000 miles. A fastener inside the tranny broke. Later transmissions seem to be better.
quirkyquercus
19 years ago
When I had a dodge it was the same story, nothing but problems. Those damn O2 sensors needed replacing all the time and that was years ago. Nowadays they're putting more and more of those O2 sensors in from what I understand. Wash your hands of it and buy something else. Anything else. On any given day you can go to a Xler dealership and sit in the waiting room and pitch a fit with a bunch of irate people throwing and breaking things and saying bad words.
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Make sure you clean the battery terminals also, it is possible that you have a large voltage drop at the battery terminals and/or wires, this is also known as corrosion. Put some of the red and green felt looking battery terminal anti corrosion rings that are hanging on the shelf next to the new batteries. If the battery cables arent too difficult to change then change them also. You may also opt for an extra (redundant) ground connection from the battery negative to the body somewhere. As mentioned its most likely just a dead battery from sitting so long but get your alternator checked also, you can just check the output while running with a volt meter. In case you are wondering as it looks like you were, jumping it and getting it running made it run off of the alternator, the battery was so dead that it would not accept a recharge immediately after 10 blocks it started to accept a charge, then you turned of the engine. On the next jump, the battery was sucking up the extra juice and then some from the alternator so there wasnt enough outputleft to keep the entire car running, ignition, injection, accessories, input & output sensors and the rest of the stuff. Change the battery, add a few new tidbit items and as mentioned if it sits for a few days and you have starting probs, then you have a parasitic draw draining the battery, then you can troubleshoot for that, amp, radio, sticking relay, improperly wired something, security system???
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mastertech
19 years ago
First off there is no maint required light on that van that comes on at a preset interval. The 02 sensors do not need to be changed unless they fail. It's dang rare for all of them to fail at one time. What most likely happened you ran up on a mechanic that doesn't have the required knowledge or training/tools to properly repair your car and just threw parts at it. The transmission in this Van has it's share of problems but nowhere near like they did in the 90's. I suggest you find a qualified mechanic to look at the Van.
scbound29123
18 years ago
I've got a 97 dodge carvan we just rebuld the transmission and done some more work to the van to make a trip.We left saturday night didn't get 50 mile and it started hesitateing so we turned around we fixed to o2 sensors. left yesterday got 200 miles and it just stoped didn't shut off just wouldn't go no matter how hard you hit the gas. My mechanic said it's the computer. But i think it's not getting fuel. I've put so much money in the thing i don't care anymore i think dodge is just a piece of crap i've never had this problem with any other car and i've raged out some cars.
johndeere
18 years ago
Since you owe money on it I take it you have full coverage insurance?Next time it catches on fire let it burn.Wiring harness to fuel pump short might just be the best thing for it.

My parents had a Dodge Caravan in the 90's it was a Drama Queen.Constantly Service engine soon light coming on.Transmission went out.Head gasket failure.Started smoking and leaving a blue smoke trail with reasonably low miles.You just do not see many high milage Dodge products on the road.Like you see other brands.Resale value is not good either.
rnjnb1122_frontiernet_net
15 years ago
I have a 98 Dodge Grand Caravan that has 234000 miles on it. The battery was disconected and now I have The flashing lights on the wiper switches and the air conditioner switches. Dose anyone know the reset code? I used to know how but I'm getting old I guess and don't remember. Thanks

Dodge grand caravan problems?

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jemdandy

quirkyquercus

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