Losing my paitence with my van

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Someone help me from beating it with a bat and setting it on fire. I've had the transmission out 5 times in the past 2 years for various problem's. Leak's, Diff pin went thru case, Bought one that was bad, You name it. Well the late last year I rebuilt the tranny because of the diff pin, Now it's leaking pretty good and i'm going to have to pull it again this weekend to see whats wrong. I have to say though I'm getting pretty good, I can have it on the ground in 45 minutes flat. But either the front seal went or the front pump bolts came loose again, But I'll find out soon.

I completly went through the engine at the first of the year with all new gaskets and seal's and even threw in a new oil pump and many many other new parts. Well no leaks till now. I think it's coming from up top . It leaked a quart in about 1100 miles when I wasnt having to add any.

I'm just so ready for another vehicle, I just hope this one hold's up till then.
 
Ahhhhh, the joys of owning a beater. Hey, at least you can fix it yourself! People out there throw thousands upon thousands at beaters only to have to throw some more thousands at the same problems. Just keep on keepin on; gotta do what ya gotta do.
cheers.gif
 
sometimes beaters arent such a good deal.

Unless you have infinite time, one has to wonder if said time would have been better spent with family and friends, rather than tinkering ona beater vehicle to no end. Throwing excess time or money for unknown problems is a good sign to me that the vehicle isnt worth having. All of a sudden, the utility derived is greatly offset by the time and effort wasted, and there are better ways to spend your time and dollars, IMO.

I think you might want to make a good long thought about what youre loosing vs. gaining today... Of course there could be other factors that determine whether you keep the van or not too.

JMH
 
Yeah I'm gonna keep it, I've got too much money in it. It's not a bad looking vehicle for it's age, I've took really good care of it. I'm just gonna fix it and keep driving it. But I'm still gonna buy something else and keep it for backup and to haul stuff or whatever. It put me in a foul mood last night thinking about it, But I feel confident that I will be able to fix it this time.
 
Is this a Caravan? (sounds like it with the pin thing).

Since you've mastered the R&R ..go get a factory re-man. Not all that bad if you get cut a good deal by the parts man.
 
Yep It' a caravan. Gary, I dont think i'm going to put that much more in it. And there's nothing wrong with this one besides the leak and it has all new internals anyway. So i'm going to buy a new front seal and put it in anyway and check those front pump bolts. They came loose once before and I thought is was the seal. But this time if there loose there getting smothered in red loctite for good measure.
 
Do yourself a favor, and buy a 1-2 yr old Caravan or Freestar at 50% of the cost of a new one:) I've seen a local 06 Freestar SEL (loaded) for only $13.9K. It made me sick, as I drive an 04 S (base), and still owe more $ on it.
 
Quote:


Someone help me from beating it with a bat and setting it on fire. I've had the transmission out 5 times in the past 2 years for various problem's. Leak's, Diff pin went thru case, Bought one that was bad, You name it. Well the late last year I rebuilt the tranny because of the diff pin, Now it's leaking pretty good and i'm going to have to pull it again this weekend to see whats wrong. I have to say though I'm getting pretty good, I can have it on the ground in 45 minutes flat. But either the front seal went or the front pump bolts came loose again, But I'll find out soon.

I completly went through the engine at the first of the year with all new gaskets and seal's and even threw in a new oil pump and many many other new parts. Well no leaks till now. I think it's coming from up top . It leaked a quart in about 1100 miles when I wasnt having to add any.

I'm just so ready for another vehicle, I just hope this one hold's up till then.


Must be American made!
 
Just be glad that the mechanism for opening the rear gargo hatch door didn't break off inside, forcing you to cut a hole in the interior plastic to gain access to the mechanism so you could open it.

And then..the part is $70. On the way out of the dealership I said, "Well, the best cars require the best parts at the most expensive prices".

In that smarmy radio ad salesvoice, too.
 
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Do yourself a favor, and buy a 1-2 yr old Caravan or Freestar at 50% of the cost of a new one:) I've seen a local 06 Freestar SEL (loaded) for only $13.9K. It made me sick, as I drive an 04 S (base), and still owe more $ on it.


Why did you buy it new, then? Did you not know? It's funny, Ford vans have NO resale value. Our work 2001 Windstar is almost worth less than our 1993 Toyota Previa, in the used car market! Don't understand why, the Windstar has a decently robust engine. However it has required MUCH more maintenance than the Previa, including two tranny rebuilds. Ahh, sorry for going off-topic.
 
Well did the deed today, Pulled the tranny installed new front seal, Checked front pump bolts and new axle shaft seals. So far not a drop has leaked.I believe the front seal was causing the leak. Pulled the valve covers the other day and smothered the already new gaskets in RTV and the oil leak has slowed down to almost nothing. I still have some slight seepage from somewhere. So I should be good till at least 400k.
throwroses.sml
 
Quote:


Quote:


Do yourself a favor, and buy a 1-2 yr old Caravan or Freestar at 50% of the cost of a new one:) I've seen a local 06 Freestar SEL (loaded) for only $13.9K. It made me sick, as I drive an 04 S (base), and still owe more $ on it.


Why did you buy it new, then? Did you not know? It's funny, Ford vans have NO resale value. Our work 2001 Windstar is almost worth less than our 1993 Toyota Previa, in the used car market! Don't understand why, the Windstar has a decently robust engine. However it has required MUCH more maintenance than the Previa, including two tranny rebuilds. Ahh, sorry for going off-topic.




Yep -- bought it new -- the first model year. Now I read they are axing them after 2007. That will really help my resale. I know the resale of most domestics are poor. But, they have never let me down, and I can continue to buy them at less than invoice + monster rebates.
 
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