I have a strange problem with the wife's 99 Caravan. It began with the solenoid going bad on the starter. I replaced the starter with a completely new unit. The van starts fine and sounds fine, but as soon as it catches and you release the key, I hear a metalic ring. I assume the solenoid isn't disengaging fast enough and is ringing on the flywheel teeth. I removed the unit, made sure there was no damage to the starter and re-installed it - same thing occurs.

So, off to the parts store where they exchanged me for another new unit. This one has the same problem.

Is there something else to check for? Can you shim one of these?

Thanks!

Hi David, you cannot shim that starter, please do not try. That metallic ring after you release the key is normal it will go away after the starter gear wears in a little. Typical gear reduction starter quirk. I have literally replaced thousands of those, all with Chrysler parts and they do the same thing. Don't make more work for yourself, as that c-van gets some miles on it you'll have plenty else to worry about. We call them cashavans (flat-rate joke).

Dennis,

THANK YOU!!! That is exactly what I needed to hear!

The good news is that this van is bullet proof. The only scare was a speed sensor that went bad. Of course 3 shops wanted to rebuild the tranny. Those kinds of shops give most vehicles a bad name!

Anytime David. You would be suprised the number of trans shops that bring freshly rebuilt trans that still wont shift only to find out it needs a 15.00 sensor. You are right alot of "bad" shops out there give us all a bad name. How is your water pump/belt tensioner doing? LOL

Dennis,

Great so far. She's got 80k at this point and is our second van. It is very well maintained, so hopefully we'll get many more years out of it.

So, dennis68, are you owning up to be the Caravan guru?

I am on my second Caravan. I've had the normal stuff go out on the 95 (air never worked right, trans at 103,000, head gaskets at 60,000 with 8 pistons, yeah I know it's a 3.3 V6 - don't ask) now that I'm at 160,000 I have picked up a couple probs. I have done all the maint. except for the pistons, trans and head gaskets.

Ok, I noticed alot of oil stains/drips around the dip stick at the bottom of the motor. I think it's been leaking since the rebuilt tranny was installed. I recently changed out the PCV just to make sure it wasn't something simple like that causing it. The old one rattled, so I don't think it was bad. I haven't driven it much to check on oil usage.

The other problem is whoosing noise at the front of the motor. I have a new belt tensioner, belt and lower idler pulley. I thought it sounds sorta like a "metalic-water-swishing around" sound. Not like a bearing, and you can't hear it if you idle up a bit.

I thought I may have had a heating issue since it got cold here in Ohio, so I changed the thermostat. Not sure if that made a difference. Does seem to take longer to heat up than it used to, but it never goes over ~190 when it's hot.

I did buy a water pump, and was going to change it for just cuz, the one on there is original. Looks easy to change. It's our third car, and I'd like to avoid a van payment for as long as I can.
Any chance these issues are related?

I have new struts and shocks to put on, but wanna address this stuff before I put them on.

So what do you think?

Alright DG, check it out. The 3.3 is a notorious oil leaker. Here is my recommendation, take that water pump back to the store and get your money back. Go to the Dodge dealer and ask for a timing cover package and cam gear/timing chain. Should run around 150-175 for everything. The timing cover comes with all new bolts,water pump, and gaskets including the oil pan gasket. The noise in the front is probably the loose timing chain. Could also be the A/C compressor, they make a "ringing" noise. Go around and tighten all the valve cover bolts, the gaskets are rubber over steel and can be re-used forever however the bolts always come loose and oil leaks all over the block. Also just for fun take the throttle body off and clean real good with carb cleaner and disconnect battery for 10 min. Makes a big difference in idle performance. It helps to take the IAC motor off, gets real dirty in that passage and no-one ever cleans it. I'm not really a "guru" but have put the family in a nice house fixing them over the years, I'd rather work on them than any other car I've ever touched, real easy, the same things always break. Everything is easy to get to, the 90-96's are the best. :D

Cool.

I was thinking it may be time for the timing belt, although that is not where I'm leaking oil. It does seem like the sound is in that area.

My compressor does make that "ringing" noise when it cycles. You can hear it when the defrost is on. Since the air dosn't work anymore should I worry?

Is replacing the timing belt setup a biotch of a job since everything has to come off?

Oh, is the "timing gear package" parts price you quoted a shop price or an over the counter price?

And this may sound lame but what does IAC stand for and where is it on the throttle body?

IAC-idle air control, it is bolted to the throttle body with (2) torx screws, I think T-20. There is no timing belt, it is chain driven and probably loose at that mileage. The timing cover price should be over the counter, it includes cover w/ water pump already attached, bolts, gaskets and seals. A/C ringing is nothing to worry about just annoying. I wonder though if compressor works and runs in defrost mode why doesn't the A/C work? The whole timing cover job with changing top gear and chain easily done in a weekend. Takes me about 2 hours on the hoist. No special tools, pretty much everything is straight-forward. The p/s pump is kinda tricky to get lose if you haven't done it before, but not too rough.Glad to help if you get stuck. :D

Cool.

The A/C used to come and go. It's like it would run (on hi) then freeze up and shut off. Maybe it would come back in 20-30 minutes.

We had it serviced 3-4 times under the extended Chrylser warranty. It usually acted up when we vacationed in Florida. It just was not reliable. I am not an A/C guy so I don't know how to shade tree test it.
DG

Dennis68,
I am about ready to tackle the timing chain on the 93 Caravan mentioned above.

I'd hope that fixes the oil leaks and the engine noise I described. And more tips on the R&R?

DG

No- just take your time and make note of where bolts go. There are alot of different length bolts that look the same and won't go in a different place. The P/S pump bracket has to come off, the bolts are kinda hard to find, if memory serves me I beleive there are 2 on the backside of the pump and the 3 on the front behind the pulley. I check my e-mail a few times a day so if you get in trouble, give a ring.

You know what...You really shouldnt put Dodge Caravans on a Chevelle website :D

I have hauled lots of parts for my Chevelle in my Caravan. I even brought back a 70 Bumper from Oklahoma in the middle of a vacation.

The wife loved that one.
DG

Dennis,

Although I don't own a FWD Chrysler product(or any Chrysler product for that matter) I have always been curious about something.

What exactly is that peculiar noise they make when they come to a stop? Sort of a growning noise that appears to be transmission related?

Any idea?

Dan

That peculiar noise you here is the people in the chevy next to you laughing! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Luuuke-thats pretty good LOL

Dan that stupid ratcheting noise that annoys everyone is the transmission solenoid pack engaging the different clutch packs for gear change. You could not beleive the number of RO's that started with "Customer states noise from engine area when coming to stop"

BTW, Dennis, the metallic ringing was the starter taking OFF the teeth of the flywheel. I would love to know why. My dealership was a little surprised. Cost me $800 to have it replaced. So, what appeared to originally be the starter going bad was actually a case of the starter having nothing to grab onto. Stranded my wife a day later when the flywheel kept rotating onto the dead spots on the flywheel.

Outside of that, the van in bullet-proof.

"Racheting".....yes, that's a much more decriptive word Dennis, thanks. So many of them do it I have to wonder if it's considered "normal", or if it's actually a problem and is fixable. Just curious really.

I actually wrote a letter to Chrysler sometime ago asking about this, promising to at least consider purchasing one of their MV's if they could explain the noise, as well as confirm the firing of the engineer that convinced someone that mechanical fasteners for the little decorative plate above the rear license plate (on the early vans) aren't needed: "Just glue the damn thing on..."

Never heard back, I guess they didn't see the humor. :rolleyes:

Sorry David, didn't mean to post-jack.

Dan

Dennis, graemlins/waving.gif
I have another minor problem with my 93 Dodge Caravan stopping me from some winter rebuild work on my 70 Chevelle.

I have to take care of the 3rd vehicle to keep the evil eye graemlins/angry.gif off me when I start hanging over the fenders of the Chevelle.

Anyway, it started out with the ignition key hanging up preventing the ignition from turning competely. That turn out to be a broken ignition switch. The pot-metal "c" at the end had broken, sometimes working sometimes not. I had a local lock-shop do the R&R.

Drove it for about 2 months without a hiccup. All of a sudden when I turn the key to start it I get...nothing, no starter spinning, no lights, no click, no nuthin! After a brief WTF??? redface.gif It may take 2 or three tries before it fires right up. Each time there is no click, .......

A Dodge-mech. friend suggested the battery cable sometimes has corrosion you can't see.

Could be the cheapest fix, right? So I dug it out of the harness, bought a replacement (not OEM - Diamler-Chry want $369), added the crimped connectors for what I'm guessing is the starter solenoid wire and the extra + cable to the aftermarket replacement cable, and...the problem was still there. graemlins/clonk.gif

I started it 10 times and only had the incident, as it's now known twice.

So, unless it's something in the column, behind the ignition switch (already had the lock smith R&R the ignition lock to look for damage) I suspect the starter solenoid is going out. :confused:

I did notice the battery wire at the starter lug dosen't tighten to well. I added a couple washers in case the nut jumped a thread. I just snugged it up in case the lug is turning in the case.

The starter is $74 (cheapest lifetime warr.), and I may just swap it out this week for a "might-as-well". graemlins/thumbsup.gif

The van had 174,000 miles on it still runs pretty good. So any idea? OH the battery is probably 3 years old. graemlins/sad.gif

DG