y2k Caravan, Troubles likely to be looming?

Status
Not open for further replies.
earlyre

earlyre

Joined
Nov 23, 2011
Messages
6,560
Location
Lima, Ohio, USA
Friend was recently given (really, given, like for free) a Purple Y2k Caravan.
160k or so, miles, 3.8 liter engine was "replaced a couple years ago", has new tires, needs tie-rod ends, and has a fair amount of cancer on the hood, rear wheel wells, and rockers. current plan is to make this her youngest's car.(he just turned 16) aside from the "shaggin wagon" connotations, anything particular fairly common issues we/she should be watching out for?

so far she's suprised herself that this van gets better MPGs than HER vehicle- (02-ish Pontiac Aztek(3.4l RWD) with 130k-ish mi)
 
Look for the front strut towers rusting out. Network with fellow BITOG'ers and demand a recall as no 12 year old, 160k mi vehicle should be rusting out even in a salty environment, and Chrysler has forced a faulty product into the hands of consumers.

OK, I kid. Except for the first sentence.
 
Low lead solder might fail on you where pins meet circuit boards. This can screw up your instrument panel or cause a no-run if the security module complains. Everything's on a network.

If it has rear heat/ac check the pipes for corrosion. Check the LR brake line for corrosion. Try to keep spilled oil out of the huge wiring harness that snakes over and under the transmission.

The engine itself is pretty good and peppy.

Sway bar end links are pretty junky on these. You'll know they're bad if the thing tips over like a sailboat on turns.

Repo the rear seats so you don't have a van full of seven hooligans showing off to each other.
 
REPLACE ATF with ATF +4. this is one of those "lifetime fill" units that can have a longer life if someone actually services them. They run HOT and the fluid has a hard life.

The motor is bulletproof. At most they can be hard on plug wires and the EGR solenoid can go bad.

CEL is usually a vacuum line.

ditto on sway bar links. Check back "axle" for rust. they have been known to split in high-rust environments.

very comfortable vehicle, and taken care of surprisingly respectable. We bought a barely-running 03 and now it is a pleasure to drive.

Ditto on removing back seats. or the middle seats. just lower the temptation to fill it with kids.

good luck!
 
A Chrysler transaxle with over 100k is definitely living on borrowed time. They're the only company that actually made WORSE automatic transaxles than Ford.

I'd drive it until it spun a bearing (3.8 specialty), popped a strut through the mount or the transmission gave out and scrap it.
 
thanks all, will definitely have to pass this all on.
the kids dad(mom's EX) is a decent shade tree mechanic, and his(dad's)brothers are professional mechanics, so getting decent work done shouldn't be a terrible problem,(just provide the parts and the beer
wink.gif
)there's also an excellent independent shop ( good enough they normally have a 2 week backlog to get in)just around the corner.
 
Originally Posted By: meep

Ditto on removing back seats. or the middle seats. just lower the temptation to fill it with kids.

good luck!


with this kid, i'd really be more worried about him filling it w/ bong smoke... or turning the whole van into a giant bong...
but that's another story.....
 
Originally Posted By: meep
cant stop laughing


No, no, the concern was filling it with mari-ju-ana smoke not nitrous. Go take a nap and sober up. Too much nitrous is bad for you.
 
not to mention, with it being purple, they are already calling it the "Barney van". I can just see a few stoners in the back, van filled w/ smoke, singing " I love you, you love me,..." etc.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom