20th Jan 2004, 11:20

I brought my 99 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport in to have the serpentine belt replaced at 64,603. They told me the serpentine belt tensioner also needed to be replaced. Total cost: $130 dollars. I didn't think a tensioner should go bad that soon. Looking back since buying the van in March 99, the belt always squealed and I momentarily lost power steering when driving through standing water. I now believe the belt tensioner on my van has been bad from the beginning. I feel fortunate after reading the other comments on this problem. If you haven't had your belt tensioner replaced yet, I would recommend it.

17th Feb 2004, 00:07

I have a 2000 Grand Caravan SE, and our serpentine belt came off also after driving through a puddle of water - very serious problem since the van was not drivable (could not steer, and was overheating - with my wife and three small children on-board). Luckily, the tow truck driver that came had a long wrench to loosen the tensioner pulley so we could put the belt back on. My brother-in-law has a Caravan and had the same problem after driving through a small snow drift. The is very serious, and I also feel a recall is in order!!

Now we have transmission fluid that started leaking today - any suggestions as to what may be causing this? Is this a serious problem that should be looked at right away? Our van has 45,000 miles on it, and otherwise drives OK.

17th Feb 2004, 05:35

Leaking transmission fluid? Check transmission cooler lines. They probably need replacing. This is very common and is a relativley low expense repair.

24th Feb 2004, 00:57

Thank you all for posting these helpful comments. My Mom’s 1997 Chrysler Caravan has had the serpentine belt come off at least six times in the last two months. I thought I was an idiot for not being able to fix the problem. I’ve replaced every pulley and pulley component directly associated with the serpentine belt. I was just now lying in bed trying to fall asleep (2:00am), and wondering how I could fix the *#*% problem, when I thought about searching on-line for similar problems from other Caravan owners.

This site was the first hit I came across.

I noticed that water or rainy days is a commonality; just this morning my Mom was driving in a rain storm and bingo… can anyone guess what happened.

Anyways, I will check the alldata.com website for references to a fix for the problem.

All I can say is thank you all for posting the helpful comments.

Joe B.

20th Mar 2004, 07:03

I have a 1998 Dodge Caravan with 63,000 miles and have experienced many of the same issues mentioned here. The belt tensioner has just failed and I am replacing it now (it's a real pain to do it yourself, too). The tranny cooler lines have been leaking fluid and the resister block for the heater fan motor burned out.

I like the layout of the Caravan for family travel, but the vehicle is too poorly designed mechanically for me to consider buying another one.

10th Apr 2004, 17:57

Does anyone have any experience of replacing the serpentine belt with a Goodyear Gatorback belt? I have heard of several instances where this has cured the problem although I am yet to be convinced. The Gatorback design on the ribbed side is different, but it is the smooth side that slips off the idler pulleys; the only way I can see that this design would help is if the extra grooves allow the belt to follow a tighter curve and thus grip the pulley tighter. I'm about to fit one anyway ($38) and I'll let you know if it helps - anything to make the vehicle safer for my wife on the school run.

10th May 2004, 07:39

My family has experienced the same problem with the serpentine belt and have the same safety concerns. The belt and tensioner on our 99 Grand Caravan SE was replaced under warranty in March 2002. After traveling through a small puddle of water in June 2003 the belt fell off and took the water pump with it. Again, the belt and tensioner was replaced. October of 2003 the belt was again replaced. Now, in May of 2004, again after traveling through a puddle of water (1/2" deep) the belt fell off. Each time the belt falls off there is no power steering which presents a serious safety risk.

Perhaps Chrysler should address these concerns before someone is seriously injured.

27th May 2004, 17:29

My wife's 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan SE Has threw the belt off twice this week. No Water involved just driving down the road and almost wrecking because of no power steering. You can see the belt tensioner is not lined up right (I have put two on) Should be a recall!

25th Jul 2004, 15:12

My daughter and son in law bought a new 1999 Dodge Caravan. The serpentine belt came off twice at 24000 miles. A new belt split after just 4 months of use. This week the tensioner and belt will be replaced.

26th Jul 2004, 09:53

My 1999 Grand Caravan Sport, 3.8 L with 48, 000 miles requires the second tensioner replacement in a year. Although I have never experienced the belt slipping off, the noise is quite a nuisance. There is a 1 year parts and labor warranty for replacement. I'm surprised that given all the attention to this problem, no recall or goodwill gesture has been extended.

30th Jul 2004, 13:13

I fell lucky to have not had any of these problems, not saying that I will. I bought my 99 Dodge Caravan in 2000, and the only thing that I had to have replaced so far was the speed sensor in it. I am now at 126,000 miles on the van and it has done more than I ever have expected it to do.

N.C.

5th Aug 2004, 18:43

Wow! I can't believe the amount of people with this problem (or maybe I can). Today the tensioner on my 2000 Grand Caravan went out. The bolt holding the tensioner in place (there is only 1!!! bolt) was sheared right in half. This sent the tensioner flying into the power steering mechanism and bent the pulley wheel for the power steering. Now the tensioner and pulley need to be replaced (to the tune of $325 dollars). Thank God this happened in my driveway instead of driving 75 MPH down the freeway or the van would have been impossible to control, seeing that my power steering went out immediately, not to mention that I would have overheated pretty quickly. My van only has 47,000 miles on it and the belt was just replaced about 1 1/2 months ago because it was making a horrid squealing noise. Dodge has a potentially serious problem on their hands with a defect of this nature.

J.W. Houston, TX.

13th Sep 2004, 11:08

I own a 1999 Dodge Caravan and the belt has slipped off 4 times in the last year. An easy part to replace. However, my husband did notice when placing it in that it did not align correctly. I will be submitting a complaint to Dodge Chrysler. I will keep this site updated with any information I receive as result of the complaint. As I have 6 children and this is a huge safety concern. These vehicles need to be recalled and this needs to be corrected.