17th Nov 2009, 12:23
I was in the rooftop parking lot yesterday morning. It was raining like hell, and I was about to drive away, and I guess I ran into a small puddle, and after about 3 meters I totally cannot steer. I immediately braked. Good thing I was still in the parking lot. I was baffled as I saw the battery light come on and I wondered what the battery had to do with the steering. I checked the steering fluid and it seemed OK. I had no choice but to call tow truck and went to shop for repairs. They said that they will replace the belt/tensioner with a kit. The kit costs around $320 and labor costs around $130 plus taxes come to total around $500. They say it will never come off now because it has grooves. They say it is a common problem. Have I been overcharged? What can I do if I am? I certainly don't mind paying for safety, but I certainly mind overpaying.
22nd Nov 2009, 00:02
Chrysler should be worried about a class action lawsuit over the serpentine belts falling off of any of the 3.3 L and 3.8 L products they sell. It is a known problem, and has probably affected a great number of Caravan owners in everything from minor inconveniences all the way to accidents from sudden loss of power steering during a rainstorm.
Anyone know how to find out if a lawyer out there has started any sort of litigation against Chrysler?
14th Dec 2009, 17:17
The serpentine belt problem is not only on Caravans, I have the same problem with my 1998 Chrysler Town and Country LXI.
Every time we hit a puddle the belt slips off. There is no lip on the pulleys to hold it in place. This company just took a government bailout, that has not been paid back, to stay in business. Don't you think they should protect their reputation by fixing this problem, that is affecting thousands of minivans?
26th Dec 2009, 10:58
I too own a 1997 Dodge Caravan.. It was Christmas Eve with a little one (who is disabled). I noticed my steering right away, had no phone service, had no choice to drive with little to no head lights, no wipers, no HEAT till it was safe to pull off road where our cells worked.
This is very dangerous. I am so surprised there has not been a recall! We did get lucky though; the tow truck made it within an hour. It cost us all most 100.00 dollars just for a 8 mile tow (Christmas Eve?) To make matters worse; when I was getting out of tow truck, I hit a patch of ice and really hurt myself...
THANK YOU VERY MUCH CHRYSLER. I WILL NEVER EVER BUY YOUR BRAND AGAIN..
27th Dec 2009, 05:47
Well my family and I were heading to my mother's this Christmas Eve. Anyway, you all know what happened, unfortunately I'm not the only one that lost the belt on that day. But boy am I glad I found this site! It's now Boxing Day, and all I want for Christmas is the gates kit! When my belt went, it looks like ALL of the coolant gushed out from underneath the engine, I am curious why and am wondering if anyone knows where it is coming from? I will find out in a week or so, but I can't sleep it's 3am! And has this happened to you where your belt slipped?
Jamie Surrey, BC.
27th Dec 2009, 14:15
Our 96 Caravan munched a rat resting on the serpentine belt, and we went thru replacing the tensioner twice and the belt three or four times with a mechanic, and once on a weekend by ourselves. Any water was a threat to the serpentine belt. I found a reference to using a Good Year Gator Back belt on this list and installed one. That was three years ago and no problems since. I mentioned it to my mechanic and he has had excellent success in addressing this issue with the Good Year belt. I know how unlikely the fix sounds, but my experience leaves me a believer.
29th Dec 2009, 15:59
Please note that if you lose your belt and your temperature gets hot, pull over and let the van cool down before driving any further, as you could damage the engine internally.
Jamie Surrey, BC.
5th Jan 2010, 21:49
Corrections are sorely needed:
1- A drivebelt splash 'shield', is a large plastic cover under automotive engines to keep water, snow from getting on the drivebelt.
2- A pulley shield is a thin piece of metal/plastic that goes on the idler and/or tensioner pulley to to keep belt on.
3- A timing belt is not the drivebelt.
4- Our wet belt problem is common on all 3.3, 3.8 - 1990-up vehicles.
5- P.S. pump - splash shield too short, no water protection - gets wet, belt slides off the long span stretch at the IDLER pulley. Somehow seal off water intrusion (on earlier posts) at P.S. pulley area
6- Yes, a lousy Chrysler design that bamboozled us all.
8th Jan 2010, 17:18
Can someone tell me what sizes does the tensioner pulley have, and also the idler? I'm trying to fix this problem, but can't figure out the size of these bolts..
Thanks very much to everyone.
19th Feb 2010, 20:43
Well, well, well... Toyota gets grilled and drilled by the US Govt. for their problems with cars, yet all of us here couldn't get ANY satisfaction at all!! What a joke! Toyota is getting hammered because our government owns our car industry. Chrysler/ Dodge/ Plymouth owe all of us!!!
26th Oct 2009, 21:46
I am a 2000 Dodge Caravan driver.
In 2006 I was experiencing trouble with a recently replaced serpentine belt.
My trouble was a squealing belt that was causing noise pollution wherever I drove. After 2 years and 10 trips and $1000 in parts and labour to the local dealership, the so called experts on Dodge Caravans, I'd had enough. I still had the squealing belt, which had partially broke two times in those two years too.
It wasn't until the service department started recommending the same parts that they had changed within the year, that it got me realizing they don't know what they are doing.
So I vowed I would make them change the belt every two months if that's what it took before they finally decide to attempt to do some problem solving. They never bothered and would attempt to sell me solutions again and again that I had already paid for the year before.
Then during one of my frustrated times a supplier rep from my job called me. I began to rant about my serpentine belt issue to him. He recommended me to a gates after market system that was built for this very issue. I was dumb founded that my dealership would not know about an after market solution that had been on the market for two years. Sure enough I google the item and there it was!! The Gates Serpentine belt and pulley system.
THIS WEBSITE SAVED MY CARAVAN!!!
When I brought the kit back to the Dealership for them to install, the service tech acted surprised. "Never seen or heard of these before". My only response was. Promise me you put this kit in any Caravan drivers that come to you with serpentine belt issues. His response. "I can't promise anything"
Mike VAN BC
Happy to have my hearing back.