This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 1999 Chrysler Town and country. While driving 35 mph through a puddle of water, the power steering failed. The contact pulled off the road. The vehicle was towed to the repair shop and it was discovered that the serpentine belt was loose. The belt was replaced; however, the failure continued only in wet conditions. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 120,000 and current mileage was 150,000.
On several occasions my 1999 Town and country has had belt and pulley problems where while riding in busy traffic rainy days, the belt will slip completely of the pulley its attached to, causing my vehicle to completely lose all power steering abilities right in the middle of the heavy traffic, prior to the belt coming off the vehicles makes this loud chirping noise for several days prior to the belt coming off. I have had so many incidents with this same problem, but cannot afford to purchase a new vehicle as this one is still nice and paid off. Every mechanic I've used is telling me that this is a know factory issue because of the number of vehicles they've seen with the same problems. And have suggested that I change my vehicle for something with less aging problems. This is such a problem. We cannot travel in this vehicle when it rains as we know the belt or pulley will definitely leave us walking again. If water puddles are in the street it is suggested that the vehicle not be driven through them in order to keep the belt attached and not lose power steering that will for sure cause a major accident on busy streets. Is there anything my family and I can do to avoid being killed by this problem" or is there something that can be done mechanically to fix this problem" we still favor the Town & Country but not in favor of the known mechanical problem with the belt and pully situations.
Multiple times the belt has slipped off... luckily, both during low speed maneuvers. This happens every time the car gets wet underneath and this time I was going through a car wash. I almost ran into the side of the wash when I was pulling in due to the lack of power steering. I have replaced/put the belt back on at least 5 other times. This is crazy that it keeps happening, and you can tell the design is just plain flawed.
I just filed a complaint here regarding serpentine belt coming off when driving through a puddle of water. Mechanics and Chrysler service mechanics are well aware of this problem and you have sufficient number of complaints showing this same problem with other owners of vans. This is not a wear and tear situation. It is a defect in the company design of these pulleys and belts. Why isn't there a recall yet??
Serpentine belt derails when driven in rain. This is a huge safety issue because the power steering goes out. Replace belts and tensioner pulley, still happens. Lots of posts on the web from people having the same issue even after having the tsb for the idler pulley done. It's amazing that no one has been seriously hurt by this defect.
The pulleys that hold the belt are misaligned which shreds the belts in the motor. This occured while drivng down the exspressway @ 70 mph. The car loses power steering and power. This happens as we researched more often then not. You would have to replace the tentioner assembly in order to correct this defect. I have not heard of a recall for this defect.
The serpentine belt has fallen off the car 3 different times. The first time it broke, I was out of town. The other 2 times it fell off in town. All 3 times I had just driven through an unavoidable deep puddle during a heavy thunderstrom. The car immediately loast power steering and the engine overheated. I had to quickly pull off the road. Luckily I was on neighborhood streets each time, but just as easily could have been on the highway - which could have been deadly. Also, each time I had a car full of children and twice it was at night. After the third time (and third tow/repair), the repair shop found the service bulletin from Chrysler. The van had a bracket already in place, but it replaced again anyway. I think this problem is very dangerous and should be a recall, not service bulletin.
While driving a 1999 Town and country Chrysler van the pulley for the water pump separated from the water pump. This caused the drive belt for all engine accessories to come loose. The lack of the belt caused the loss of all power assist, I.e., brakes, steering elect. Etc. A subsequent review of the water pump pulley showed that it was bolted to a three bolt hub. The hub was a pressed fit on the water pump shaft. The hub appeared to be designed to be permanently attached to the water pump shaft. There was no obvious damage to the water pump shaft nor to the hub bearing that would indicate that an induce torque caused the separation of the hub and the water pump shaft. The vehicle only has 42,000 miles on it. It appears that this premature failure is either a poor design or a manufacturing defect. In either case the failure at highway speed would induce a high risk accident. The loss of steering power assist alone would make the driver feel that the steering had locked up. When I discussed this failure with the Chrysler customer service that stated that they had no record of this type of failure. When I discussed the failure with the local repair garage ( pep boys ) they recalled several pulley failures on Chrysler/Dodge vehicles. The question is do we have a potential safety problem with the water pump shaft and the hub connection that can fail with any prior warning. I have the water pump and the hub.
The incident is the failure of the retaining bolt on the accessory driver's belt tensioner pulley assembly. The bolt failed by shearing off at the engine block. In failure, all accessories driven by the drive belt cease to operate, including the alternator, water ump and power steering pump. When the power steering pump stops, the driver is left in the hazardous situation of not being able to handle the vehicle. If the vehicle engine is left running, it will soon overheat because the water pump is no longer running. Additionally, on failure, the tensioner pulley assembly falls down into the engine compartment where it can damage other components. In our case, it broke the power steering pump pulley. The failure was corrected by drilling out the broken bolt from the engine block, replacing the tensioner assembly, and removing thepower steering pump to replace the power steering pump pulley. The old part is available.
The serpentine belt sheared off while driving, causing vehicle to stall. Consumer was unable to restart vehicle, and had it towed to the dealer for inspection. Mechanic determined that the pulley belt and a shield needed to be replaced.
Sudden failure of engine serpentine belt tensioner. Soon after starting vehicle, and while backing out of garage there was a loud bang under the hood. Instantly power steering was lost along with engine cooling and alternator output. Tensioner assembly mounting bolt had sheared off from apparent metal fatique, throwing off the serpentine belt. The resultant violent departure of the tensioner assembly also shattered the power steering pump pulley. This could have been catastrophic on the highway.
Acute failure of engine belt tensioner resulted in immediate loss of power accessories, including steering and brakes. Engine coolant circulation lost as well as the serpentine belt had derailed. It was not possible to reinstall the belt as the tensioner was frozen in place.
Tensioning device that holds serpentine belt is defective, it does not hold belt in place, and the belt comes loose. When belt comes loose, vehicle will loose power steering and ABS. Contacted dealer, and this was the fourth time consumer has taken vehicle in.
Consumer's wife was driving when she rode through a puddle of water, and serpentine belt came off, causing her to lose power steering, etc. The consumer learnt from the dealership that thes serpentine belt failure was a common problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Dover , AR, USA