9th Feb 2004, 14:18

I have a 96 T&C bought new, now 115K miles. I've always had problems with the electrical system. The earliest was the alarm system going off by itself. Three of the four door locks have been replaced. Front left speaker comes on and goes off intermittently. The radio panel gets rather hot. Wipers wiping at odd times. Since everything is intermittent, the cause is almost impossible to pinpoint. After reading these postings, I will take a look at the BCM. Maybe that's the root of the problems.

The latest problem is intermittent stalling. It will stall while idling, while on the freeway, while turning a corner. It's in the shop today for evaluation.

Even with all the complaints, I am fairly content with this car. It's sturdy and has been great for hauling the kids and stuff.

1st Aug 2004, 06:56

Hi there- I bought my 96 T&C 4 years ago. Luckily, I haven't had all the problems everyone is experiencing. I did rebuild the started 2 years later. I bought the parts to fix it for- get this- $6.00. The labor was a pain, as getting it in and out was difficult. I also replaced the radiator, and most importantly to ALL WITH STALLING PROBLEMS- the M.A.P. sensor. The van would die while driving on highway, around corners, whenever it wanted. Luckily, it started itself OK. The sensor is on the intake plenum. The part was $95, and took me 20 minutes to change. Not too hard (for a mechanic or like person). Last week, I had to replace to right bearing and hub assembly. It is one big part. I saved $120 by doing it myself and shopping around for the part (bought at a local auto parts store). My van is a full show van, featuring 2 TV's, VCR,12 disc changer,$7,000 paint job (that I did myself in 3 months),and for shows- a hardwood floor in the back with an enclosure that has 3 fishtanks molded into it. Its pretty wild to see, because it's a minivan, but I am happy with it in general. I couldn't feed my Suburban I had before this anymore. I hope the MAP sensor info helps people, it sounds a lot like the symptoms I was having. Thanks for letting me speak, Scott.

1st Aug 2004, 22:24

I purchased my 1996 T&C last month from a wholesaler. Since that time I have experienced the problems mentioned here with the windshield wipers, radio, and the door locks. I replaced the multifunction switch (turn signal/wiper/hazard) without any benefit. They still don't work properly. I will try looking for problems in the BCM as listed previously here.

The radio buttons work sporadically and the FM radio seems to lose antenna signal regularly. I have checked and re-checked antenna connections... no help.

The door lock problem is only evident on the driver side. When I turn the key to unlock, it's like Forrest Gump would say is "like a box of chocolates..." I don't know what I'll get. Sometimes it unlocks, sometimes it unlocks/locks, sometimes I have to hold the key in the unlock position and pull the door handle before letting the key go back.

Finally, the A/C stopped working. The controls seem to engage the compressor and the refrigerant charge is good, but suddenly all I get out of the vents is ambient temp air. My Haynes manual says the heater-A/C controller will troubleshoot itself and its panel lights will flash trouble codes, so since I have no flashing lights, I figure all is well there.

Otherwise I have been very pleased with the van so far. It is very comfortable in every seat, and rides like a dream. Any info or advice on these problems would be greatly appreciated.

barrypoff@yahoo.com.

15th Sep 2004, 08:35

We are owners of a 1996 T&C. We have owned the car since 1999. On July 14, 2004 we took the car to the local Chrysler dealer for brake work. The van required new rotors and front disk brakes. the work cost over $500. Three weeks later the brakes seemed to be grabbing so we took it back to the dealer to check. What he told us was unbelievable. The brakes did have an adjustment problem which was fixed, but they told us the car was unsafe to drive. It seems the strut mounts had deteriorated to the point of possible failure. We were told they could fail at any time with potentially deadly force to the occupants. They further told us they could not fix the problem. We then took this to our body shop guy and he confirmed that it would be nearly impossible and certainly cost prohibitive to get at the area to fix the mounts. To add insult to injury we asked the dealer why he spent $500 of our dollars three weeks earlier on a van with such obvious problems? His reply was that the technician who performed the brake work "was not as observant as he should have been".

10th Jul 2008, 12:11

Our '96' T&C is also having lots of problems with the serpentine belt coming off while driving. I am sure this is a simple problem of pulley-tension or the belt stretching. Other than that we had to replace the radiator last week, and this week it is the water pump. A water pump is not a big deal as even the best one the Auto Parts store carries in stock runs $ 30.00, but the radiator, for a good one (lifetime warranty) runs $ 179.00. The radiators seem to overheat and blow out right along the seam where the plastic and aluminum come together. I would suggest that if you start to overheat in a T&C that you get it off the road and cooled down ASAP. Replacing the radiator itself is not hard but you have to take a lot of other things apart on the front end to even get the darn thing out.

We bought our T&C two weeks ago from a guy with the radiator blown for $600.00. When it is running it drives very well, " like a car " my girlfriend says. We got it for her to drive to work. Hind-sight hey? I am already tired of working on it. Funny thing is that I have a "93" GMC Sierra with 200K plus miles that is scratched, dented, cracked and beat up like you would not believe and I have no mechanical problem with it what-so-ever! Have not had any problems with it in the 2.5 years I have been driving it! Go figure.

Tom - Wichita Kansas.