Hello,
I just bought my first Dodge, a 2005 Caravan passenger 4 cyl., 86,000 miles, one previous owner. The rattle only happens when taking off from a stop coming from the passenger side. It does not happen at idle in gear or neutral, or matter if the air conditioning is on or off, and not while driving and changing speeds.
Got two opinions from two Dodge dealers:
First is pretty sure that the Overrunning Alternator Decoupler Pulley needs to be replaced, but will need to remove the belt to confirm. If so the belt tensioner the belt should also be replaced.
Second opinion is that it is not the Overrunning Alternator Decoupler Pulley, the harmonic balancer needs to be replaced, has heard it many times and knows the sound.

Has anyone experienced these issues? Should I just do both? Thanks very much for your opinion.

 

I don't think it is the balancer, mine just had that problem and i only heard the sound under light acceleration while going down the road. I would wager that you have a belt tensioner that is going bad, the sound will only get louder before it throws the belt.

 

It's really unusual to read that a dealer recommended swapping out the ADP. Dealers, and most other shops for that matter, don't want to mess around with that pulley, and will almost always replace the alternator. So hats off to that dealer
A bad ADP is a very common thing on these vans, and many of us who DIY would just automatically replace it, the idler, tensioner, and belt as well. The parts are fairly inexpensive and easy to replace, so why not just do everything, since you're already in there anyway. As a matter of fact, I did that very thing on an '05 that I bought a few months ago. And as expected, all of the noise was eliminated.
But if you don't DIY, the bill may go up significantly with every part. If you post the estimate from the first dealer for the repairs they described, we can tell you if it's reasonable.

 

I thank you both very much for your advice. The first dealer gave me a ball park estimate of "about $600-$700", so I am going to do this one myself and replace the alternator, the idler, tensioner, and belt. I thanked him and offered to pay for his time, he said it was no charge.
He recommended that I replace the alternator because a special tool is required for the ADP and it was expensive.
Again, thank you very, very much for the advice.

 

Although an estimate like this is sticker shock to those of us who DIY, everything seems to be increasing in price, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me as much anymore. That said, you have a very good dealership there, regardless of the amount of the estimate (which comes from the "book" anyway).
I recommend that you remove the EGR valve to facilitate removing the alternator, and not bother messing around with the dipstick tube as Haynes and others suggest. Just approch the job as if you were replacing the EGR as well as the alt. Good luck with it!

 

Thanks you very much for the advice CV. Our town librarian is looking into getting me a Haynes Repair Manual for the Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Voyager & Town and Country for 2003 thru 2007. I appreciate and will follow your advice when I begin the repair. I must say this is a great Forum.