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.
Wife was driving 96 Grand Caravan le to college in the rain. When she arrived in the parking lot steering became impossible to turn so she pulled it straight into parking spot. Looked underneath and saw belt had come off. This happened once before but car was parked in driveway at home. As she started to reverse out of driveway steering became tough and car would not move. It was also raining at this time. This happened early January 2011. Around March 2010, again while it was raining, as my wife approached a stop sign the car began to become unresponsive and she had to guide it to the side. Since it was blocking the road police did come by and help push if off the road until the tow truck came to take it to the garage. New belt, idler pulley and tensioner was installed by mechanic. The most recent incident (April 2011) pulley and tensioner was replaced. Don't know if it will solve the problem. Luckily the speed was slow in all instances and no injury or damage was done...yet.
I have a 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan le 3.8. in the last 2 months the serpentine belt slipped off 2 times when it is raining outside or the van goes through a puddle of water. I have almost been killed twice. I have read that other Dodge owners have also had this problem. The wheel cannot be controlled when this happens, and my wife is scared to drive this car now. I think that Dodge has some explaining to do as they have been made aware of this defect, and are not taking any responsibility for this repeated serious safety fault.
When ever it rains or snows and a lil bit of moisture gets up in the engine the serpentine belt comes off and I lose everything, power steering, fan, you name it its gone, and I have almost wrecked 5 out of 8 times this has happened..2 times I found myself having going in to a field to stop due to steering was gone, and possible burn/ fire could have resulted from engine over heating and liquids boiling/ and steam rising. Leading to be a very dangerous problem to anyone near the vehicle, I have 3 children and they were with me 3 of the 8 times the belt came off. I searched online and apparently im not the only one having this problem.. there is alot more people out there with this complaint. I did however replace the belt once again, along with pulley/ tensioner its getting to be quite expensive for me as a single mom.
The serpentine belt chronically has fallen off and been replaced on the car. It has fallen off twice in the first year that we purchased the car new. When it falls off, there is no power steering. Fortunately up to this time my wife was not driving highway speeds. It is a fatality waiting to happen with this design.
While driving 55 mph the consumer hit a deer. When getting out of the vehicle the owner notice a fire in the engine compartment. No report of air bag deployment. As a result the vehicle burned to the ground. No injuries reported. Please provide additional information.
- Massanutten, VA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
I own a 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan with the mileage around 128,000 miles. Starting in April, we smelled and saw smoke coming from under the hood. We took it to aamco and they checked it out and could find nothing wrong with the car at that time using the diagnostics. A few weeks later, the service engine soon light came on and stayed on steadily and they could find nothing wrong with the van at that time either. The *code* they found said *oxygen sensor* but they reset it. Four days later, we were heading back to charleston (100 miles) and had made it around 40 miles on interstate going around 65-70 miles an hour when, without notice, the service engine soon light started blinking and the car completely lost power. We had to pull over on the side of the emergency lane and wait until a tow truck could tow us back to lexington... the van was taken again to nasco where they thought the problem could be the spark plugs and wiring so they changed all that out to the tune of $400 plus the $80 for towing... then....two days later the van was driving again to charleston on interstate and at almost the exact same spot --it cut off again !! the van had to get towed yet again to orangeburg ( closer to where it cut off ) and the mechanics there could find absolutely nothing wrong with the van !!! in town, the van does fine...but when you are on interstate and going a high rate of speed for a prolonged period of time...and it cuts off ---something is definitely wrong with the van !! it is very dangerous to be driving at such a high rate of speed and then losing power..and must be addressed before a death occurs !! last weekend, my husband took the van on the interstate again to try it out and sure enough around 50 miles out it cut off yet again with the service engine soon light on.I notice there are several other instances of this happening to the Grand Caravan and think it should definitely be investigated and a recall issued.
For 3 summers in a row, we have had to recharge the air condition system for it to only work 3-4 weeks at a time. Our mechanic says that it isn't that the air conditing unit has failed it seems to be loosing the freon some where.the locks on the van to the tail gate doesn't seem to work correctly, 90% of the time you have to beat on the lock from the out side for it to unlock. We have also replaced the brake pad approx 3 times and they still squeak and seem to grab at times.
A/C internal fan switch fails in at least two positions and have had smoke enter inside the van while driving, from I think the fan. Once the fan is turned off the smoke goes away.
The serpentine belt fell off and it was replaced including the tension belt. Also, the vehicle was overheating and the water pump and gasket were replaced. Consumer stated that the check engine light was on twice and the dealer replaced oxygen sensor and leak detection pump for possible failure.
Vehicle was making rattling noises at start up, it was found that the tensioner was fractured, dealer replaced the water pump, belt tensioner pulley, idler pulley, serpentine belt, and thermostat, dealer had sliced the wire insulation to the manifold sensor while replacing these faulty components, dealer had also forgotten to put the radiator cap back on and caused a puddle of coolant on the ground, consumer examined the coolant bottle and found it was empty after the coolant had been flushed just 3 days prior, dealer could not find any leaks, but stated the reason was due to air in the system after the loss of coolant, dealer found engine mount support was fractured and required replacement, dealer also stated the valve covers and radiator cap were bad.
Vehicle was making rattling noises at start up, it was found that the tensioner was fractured, dealer replaced the water pump, belt tensioner pulley, idler pulley, serpentine belt, and thermostat, dealer had sliced the wire insulation to the manifold sensor while replacing these faulty components, dealer had also forgotten to put the radiator cap back on and caused a puddle of coolant on the ground, consumer examined the coolant bottle and found it was empty after the coolant had been flushed just 3 days prior, dealer could not find any leaks, but stated the reason was due to air in the system after the loss of coolant, dealer found engine mount support was fractured and required replacement, dealer also stated the valve covers and radiator cap were bad.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Harrisburg, PA, USA