I have a weird noise from the engine of my Caravan. It's a 3.3 V6 with only 70'000 km's.

At idle you can hear a distinct erratic light rattle/cracking sound. I have taken it to my local Dodge dealer & they road tested it and without any delay they told me that the noise is the normal operation of the lifters, apparently they have heard a few cases of this ??

The noise is loudest if you listen by the right front wheel. I have removed the Auxiliary belt to see if it was a noisy water pump....etc but the noise was still there. It's weird that my 2001 3.3 Caravan did not make a sound & I have not heard it from other Caravans ??

Are Dodge trying to palm me off or has anybody heard of this type of complaint ?

Thanks

 

I too have a 2005 Caravan with the 3.3 V-6. Mine is at 78,000 miles with a similar odd sound from the passenger side of the engine. Lifter noise should be coming from the middle of the engine not the drive belt side in my opinion. I know I have a belt and/or pullly bearing issue.

But if you have removed the serpentine belt then no accessory (water pump, power steering pump, A/C, alternator) or pulley (tensioner/idler) would be turning.

I've been thinking if my noise source could be the timing chain itself.

 

My van makes the same noise. I think there is some slop in the timing chain and that is whats causing the noise. I was planning on replacing it this summer but had too many other projects and didn't get around to it. I heard another van in a parking lot the other day make the same noise.

 

I feel a little better knowing that it's not just mine making the noise !!

I suppose the guys at Dodge might be telling the truth when they say it's lifters making the noise. They did tell me that not every one makes the noise ?

When I removed the Aux belt I tried to locate the noise with a stethoscope but no matter where I put it I could not pinpoint the noise, but I must admit I did not place it on the cylinder head because the noise sounded low down.
But it does sound exactly like a failing water pump or AC compressor ??

I'll keep an eye on it & if it gets any worse then I guess my power train warranty will come in useful.

 

Mine does the same thing and has since i bought it with 90k, now has 138k has not gotten any worse. It does sound like a timing chain rattle

 

I have a 99 caravan 3.3L. 124k.
My wife recently pointed out a noise from the engine.
It sounded to me like a bearing. I checked the idler and tensioner for looseness, grinding or gritty feel. None. There was some rubber stuck to the pulleys which I scraped off but no difference.
I know I need a H2O pump. It weeps a bit in winter. I noticed the pump pulley has some axial play in it.
I also noticed that the main drive pulley seems to be a bit wobbly. It seems tight when the belt is off, i.e., I can't wiggle it by hand, but with the engine running I can see it wobbling. Possible partial de-lamination of the rubber damper? Normal?
Now you guys have me thinking it may be timing chain. I've probed around with a long screwdriver to my ear but can't seem to pinpoint anything definate.
I don't want to take it somewhere and have them just shotgun parts in it til it's fixed. If I have to take it in, I'd like at least a general prognosis first.
Any input from the gurus?
Thanx...
...bob...

 

Is the noise that any of you posters describing just at start up in morning only?

Every time you start up?

How long does the sound stay before transitioning away, if it does at all?

Is the sound towards the upper, or below portion of engine/rear pulley by power steering pump?

thanks for any responses coming fourth.

 

Mine is always. Passenger side, seems to be forward, so H2O pump is a suspect. Hard to determine exact location. As I said, screwdriver to the ear method was inconclusive. I'm concerned also about the seemingly unstable drive pulley/harmonic dampener. Maybe its supposed to appear wobbly and is doing its job . . . dampening. ???

 

If it is making a rattling noise like ' tack tack tack" Pretty quickly, Then it is possible for the Lifters to be the problem.

Get the sthetoscope and put it in the heads. If it is, IT WILL BE LOUD!

I can't comment on the water pump or the timing belt. Only way i know it is a timing belt is when you have some hard starts and when it does it stalls or hesitates alot.

Im not expert, Just my $0.02

 

A quick search regarding a noise like that on 3.3 brings up lots of cases where a clogged oil way in the head caused loud lifter noise in the back bank which eventually led to serious damage in fairly low mileage engines. I would not ignore it. Maybe try oil flush and high quality synthetic oil. Several reported Chrysler actually replaced engines under warranty when it started with a single very loud lifter/valve train rattle or click.