2000 Town & Country 3.3 LXi

[James]

I'm thinking about getting one of these for my wife. The thing is,
we've had a '94 Grand Voyager for a few years now and have encountered
the problems that we've now learned are common with this vehicle: belt
falling off, especially in rain, and strange tranny stuff.

Anyway, were the kinks worked out by 2000? I don't want to have to
keep dealing with the same crap. Anything else I should look out for
on this van?

Thanks,
James

 

[jdoe]

What kind of crap? Belts and tensioners wear out as do brakes and many other
items.
Larry

 

[Matthew S. Whiting]

I'm thinking about getting one of these for my wife. The thing is,
we've had a '94 Grand Voyager for a few years now and have encountered
the problems that we've now learned are common with this vehicle: belt
falling off, especially in rain, and strange tranny stuff.

Anyway, were the kinks worked out by 2000? I don't want to have to
keep dealing with the same crap. Anything else I should look out for
on this van?

Thanks,
James

I've not had either problem with my 96 GV and it now has 141,000 miles
on it. I did have to replace the belt tensioner pulley as it was making
a lot of racket, but I never lost the belt. The tranny is original and
is still going strong ... knock on wood!


Matt

 

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

I'm thinking about getting one of these for my wife. The thing is,
we've had a '94 Grand Voyager for a few years now and have encountered
the problems that we've now learned are common with this vehicle: belt
falling off, especially in rain, and strange tranny stuff.

Anyway, were the kinks worked out by 2000? I don't want to have to
keep dealing with the same crap. Anything else I should look out for
on this van?

The kinks in the Ultradrive tranny were worked out by 2000. They were
still tinkering with the design as late as 1998 on that tranny but the
biggest
changes were pretty much over with. One day you ought to get the
Chrysler "41TE/AE Service/Diagnostics/Refinements" manual from Chrysler
it makes an interesting read.

The belt falling off is usually caused by misaligment of drive pullies. It
doesen't
have to be the belt tensioner either, any of the accessories can have a bent
bracket or some such that will do it. This is not a normal problem, you
need to
have someone who knows their head from their ass take a look at that one.

Ted

 

[James]

The belt thing only applies to the 3.3s and 3.8s, which you may or may
not have. It was common enough for Dodge to put out a TSB about it.
Assuming the pullies aren't the problem, the fix is an additional
guard. My copy of the TSB only cites through '95, so by '96 maybe it
came stock.

Anyway, I bought a 2001 Astro LS with 31k for $9750 last night. It's
clean and has some options. The design is as old as a rock, but I'm
hoping it's nearly as reliable. Anyhow, I need the extra room of the
bigger trunk and middle bench seat, which none of the 2000-02 T&Cs and
Grand Caravans I looked at had.

James

 

[Matthew S. Whiting]

The belt thing only applies to the 3.3s and 3.8s, which you may or may
not have. It was common enough for Dodge to put out a TSB about it.
Assuming the pullies aren't the problem, the fix is an additional
guard. My copy of the TSB only cites through '95, so by '96 maybe it
came stock.

Anyway, I bought a 2001 Astro LS with 31k for $9750 last night. It's
clean and has some options. The design is as old as a rock, but I'm
hoping it's nearly as reliable. Anyhow, I need the extra room of the
bigger trunk and middle bench seat, which none of the 2000-02 T&Cs and
Grand Caravans I looked at had.

James

I have the 3.3L engine. I suspect the Astro will be pretty reliable,
the biggest thing is being happy with RWD if you've had an FWD van
previously.


Matt

 

[robert]

the kinks were worked out by 2000.....my god the tranny has been out
since at least 1989. It took them this long to get it right....

 

[James]

I prefer it. I've already explained the differences to my wife and I
expect she'll adapt.

James