Be careful on the rear cam, front seal. It can go in far enough it falls off the cam & the head allows it to spin. I had to replace it 3 times, before I finally got it right. Taking it out destroys it, so a new one is in order.

I put a little bit of RTV around the outside of the seal & installed it (the last one). The first one I installed slightly below the surface of the head and as it was sitting there, I watched as the seal got sucked in. I finally just left one in & put the new one over the top of it. I will know right away if it starts leaking, but I don't think it will.

The front cam, front seal surfaces & cam aren't machined this way, so the seal goes in just like it should.

 

96 Caravan with 67,000 miles. Pretty low miles compared to others.
I remember the 1st test drive when I was 6. Loved the big sliding doors and easy to walk around in.
Drives like the day my parents bought it. Had a leaking head gasket when it had 20 miles, but other than the A/C, everything works great.

 

Our 2006 has 375,xxx miles and our 2002 has 275,xxx miles.

We also have two Duramax medium duty trucks over 550,000 and as of this past week the lowest mileage rig in our fleet went over 100,000 miles. The next lowest mileage is 210,000 on the Sprinter (been through it's engine at 165,000) and the highest is the retired 7.3 Ford at 612,000.

 

Just an update,

The 2001 is up to 340,758 as of today....Not one major problem. No engine repairs except alternator lol

 

I have

 

Well, I had originally posted in this thread on page 1 back in 2010. Wow. Much has changed.

The 93 that I had, died. It was used for a fire & rescue demo, then scrapped. I still have the 2003. It has now reached 308k (kilometers) and is still going strong. Worst that I had to do to it so far was replace the electronic transmission module. God did that hurt my wallet.

I have also since then bought a 1997 voyager, and a 2001 Grand. The 97 is a winter beater. It is majorly rusted out, rear bearings and shocks are toast, and no exhaust past the cat downpipe. But it is a 4 banger, and has 180k miles. I paid 300 for it.

The 2001 I picked up for 250 bucks. I had to rebuild all 4 brakes, rotors and calipers, new tires, new radiator, new headlights, replaced the radio with the correct kind for these vans (it had one from a cherokee in it, replaced it with a tape/4 disk from an 01 GC), replaced drivers mirror, fixed a ton of little things, etc. A/C recharged, replaced O2 upstream sensor. Actually runs really good. 209k miles, doesn't drip ANYTHING, and works good. Bit of rust, but not terrible yet.

So yeah, I have had a total of 5 of these vans. They are good really. If taken care of, dependable and useful and not too bad on gas.

 

I changed the oil on our 380,506 miles van last night and noticed that it was about 2 quarts low. So when I looked underneath, I noticed that there isn't a 2 quart leak anywhere now that it has a new oil pan gasket.

And the CAT is bad. Hmmm I wonder what could be going on.

 

I have a 1997 Dodge Caravan with its original engine with 442,500 miles and its still running-drive it everyday.

 

wow, that's cool. I wish winter salt on our roads wouldn't rust the body on my vehicles to total ruin within about 12-15yrs. Rust out and my yearly mileage of under 20K mi means I can't ever reach 300k mi before vehicle retirement. My vehicles are almost always driven to the junkyard in proper working condition unless they get wrecked.

 

My 2007 sxt has over 600,000 km on it (over 375,000 miles), all city driving, stop and go traffic (it is a taxi), original engine and tranny. I will retire it at the end of next year. By then it should have 500,000 miles (800,000km). I use synthetic diesel oil, changed every 13-14,000 km (9,000 miles) and it doesn't burn oil. At changes, oil is still clean.