1996 Dodge Grand Caravan Issues List with Resolutions
Over the years I've been a great beneficiary of the miraculous power of Google and Forums. I almost feel guilty for having taken so much information and provided so little. I now own two similar Chrysler/Dodge products. (A 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan and also a 2002 Chrysler Town and Country Limited AWD.) I have spent many hours troubleshooting and repairing these vehicles. I thought it may be of some use to someone to see what I've found to be challenging problems and also read what I did to resolve them. I will focus on the 96 Caravan which I've owned the longest and done by far the most work on.
Many of the problems I've had are common and there are answers posted through forums that give descriptive details of what happens, why and how to fix them. I'll not spend too much time with those. Other problems have far fewer published details. Here we go: Summary of facts about my 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan LE:
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Thanks shjone27 I have my 1996 dodge caravan and my transmission fails, I have no reverse because it burnt out so my last option is the transmission of 2002 model is it fit on it?
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Welcome to DF
Don't feel guilty,That what this forum is all about.If the information you read helps you, by all means use it. If you want to share information, by all means go ahead and share it. |
Thanks Shjones27 I too own a caravan with over 200 thousand miles on it and I am having some similar problems especially the shudder as I get on the frewway at about 45-50 so I come off the gas some but now I know what might be the problem I just recently started having a problem with it surging forward at stops and then as it was being driven, my friend put his diagnotics machine on it and got back a random misfire and a MAP sensor code so he checked all of the hoses and sure enough the random misfire went away and it is driving smoother according to my brother, I had what midas said was a cracked exhaust manifold so it is a litte loud but my brother said that even quieted down, what I am noticing when I back up is a clanking noise coming from the front passenger area I don't have money for a car note either living on a fixed income and this being my only means of transportantion to and from the doctors I have to keep it running as best I can are there any other things I should look out for?
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Topkat690: Well, the one thing I would caution you about is that forums are great for giving you a clue where to look but they certainly aren't a substitute for "boots on the ground" troubleshooting. Many times you will see and read in these forums that what was a "solution" for one person was not for another for the "same" problem or symptoms. As far as when you back up and hear the clanking noise, I think I would do the following: Go to a big empty parking lot. Drive your van in tight circles slowly in both directions, (right and left), also forwards and backwards. Go slowly and have a person follow you on foot with their ear close to each wheel. It sounds like you have an outboard CV joint that has wear or a mechanical failure otherwise. The source of the failure might be more obvious to someone that is near your wheels while you creep along. As far as your random mis-fires, if they come back, don't discount spark plugs if you haven't changed them in the last 80K miles or so. On my 2002 Chrysler T&C, I pulled them at 90K, (first time they had been changed), and it was amazing how worn out they were. The gap on them was more than double the original .050" specification and the electrodes were "way" worn. Some worn down level with the insulator and the edges weren't sharp. They were really rounded. In addition to that, I had a large carbon track on one of them that would have perhaps caused some mis-fires. It was a bizarre pile or mount of carbon coming off the curved ground hook that extended down nearly to the electrode.
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CorbitExt: Honestly, I wouldn't know if the transmissions would be interchangeable. I doubt it. They might be very similar but I bet the electrical connectors to the valve body etc. might be different. Do a visual inspection of the two. You might be able to immediately see they aren't the same. Also, I would definitely find a "friend of a friend" that works at a transmission shop and find out that way. That is a pretty good seperation of years. I'm sure that the TCU code would be different too. I would think the odds are it would not "plug and play". But, check it out. You never know until you know.
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the shudder at 45mph or so may very well be your transmission fluid. what you are feeling is the torque converter slipping (locking and unlocking). release the gas and the torque converter unlocks and you get no shudder, but at that range of speed when the torque converter is supposed to lock up, there is some slip. pass this range in speed and the lock is ok. you need to change your transmission fluid or if you're cheap, get an additive that eliminates torque converter shudder. these additives don't work 100 percent though. speaking from experience. had my transmission rebuilt and immediately had that shudder around that speed. I complained to the transmission guy and he admitted that he forgot to use the chrysler additive in the fluid. kinda shady fellow for not using original chrysler tranny fluid. the chrysler brand of transmission fluid already has the additive in it.
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losing power
Hi:
I own a 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan with 119K miles on it. When I was idiling (this was about 2 weeks ago) I would lose power when the van was in drive. I would then put it park, start it then shift to drive and it barely ran. This happened off and on and my mechanic couldn't find anything wrong. This has been going on for a month and I took it in twice and they couldn't figure it out. Yesterday after driving about 50 miles I returned home, it started acting up again as soon as I got off the freeway (50 miles of freeway driving). I barely made it home. It was running fine in park, and it starts right up no problem. Now, when I shift it into drive or reverse, it automatically shuts off. I let it cool off overnight and tried it again this morning, still no luck. Would anybody know what the problem sounds like? Thanks in advance. |
Hi well I have had allot of the similar problems you have posted above. However I had my transmission repaired in 2006 and it has been fine thus far. However I have had the shudder issue since 2004 before the transmission had issues. I took it in to four mechanic's and none of them could figure out the problem. I changed an axle, bushings, on and on and spent a bunch of money and still have the problem. Hummm might check into what you are saying above. I even had one mechanic that told me it was that Dodge does not balance their engines properly and this could be the problem. Could this also be
true? Oh the famous windshield wipers that have a mind of their own still live in my van. lol |
hisbeauty, when do you have the shudder? A bad shudder at idle could be multiple things. what engine do you have? a 2.4 liter major shudder at idle may well be a broken balance shaft chain. It is a PITA to fix as it is behind the timing belt. I know from experience. While you feel it, a broken balance shaft mechanism will not do any major damage except maybe your motor mounts over time. if it was broken and fixed in the past, the balance shafts and chain might not be timed right and thus ineffective. in fact it will give you more power if broken and people actually remove it on purpose along with the balance shaft assembly for just these reasons (on the 2.4 liter anyway)! A shudder at the 40-50 mph range points directly to the torque converter lockup problem, which most likely means you have the wrong and/or worn transmission fluid. Perhaps your transmission guy reused the old tranny fluid or still put in the wrong kind. A complete fluid exchange (NOT FLUSH) with a chrysler approved ATF+4 will fix that. Check your manual for the right kind of fluid as I don't know what transmission you have. A fluid exchange involves 2 people. you need to know how much tranny fluid your transmission will hold in total, then drain your trans fluid from the pan in a container. you will measure how much came out. change your filter, put the pan back on, then you put in 4 quarts. pull the return cooler line from the radiator at the transmission end and stick it in something that will hold it in place, like an empty gallon. Have the friend start it up and you start pouring more transmission fluid in, counting how many you are putting in of course. keep an eye on the fluid going into the container, it will take a few seconds to start flowing and is not super fast, but fast enough. will probably fill that gallon in about 20-30 seconds from what I remember. get your friend to shift through the gears holding the brake. when the gallon is almost full, shut it off. count the quarts you took out. you should take out as much as you put in, until the fluid runs cherry red. drive lightly for a few miles to get rid of any air bubbles and you're done. there are threads with different/similar ways of doing this. think it through before you try it so you don't get mixed up while doing it. A FLUSH at the dealer or service station is not safe if you've never done it for multiple reasons, but a FLUID EXCHANGE in this manner is very safe and effective since you are replacing very close to 100% of the fluid in there. good luck. there are youtube videos you can watch, very informative and you'll come up with ideas on your own as well.
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