2005 Town and Country Steering Groan

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Jimmy.A.Smith, Dec 28, 2006.

  1. Hello All! Well I'm frustrated as hell. I've taken my wife's van to the
    Cracksler (I call them that, beceause the answers they are giving me
    are like they are on crack) dealership at least 3 times for this issue
    and all I get is: "yes its a problem that Chrysler knows about and they
    are working on a fix". When my wife turns into say the driveway or a
    parking spot, there is a noticable groan coming from the front end. It
    only happens when she's driving slow and turning, Never at freeway
    speeds and never when driving straight. I keep getting the same line,
    so I figured I would give this a shot to see if anyone else has this
    issue. She has a 05 Town and Country with a 3.6L engine.
     
    Jimmy.A.Smith, Dec 28, 2006
    #1
  2. Jimmy.A.Smith

    maxpower Guest

    You are frustrated? So am I!!! when ever the weather gets colder this
    moan/shudder/groan/ low speed parking lot maneuvers from the steering
    returns on these vehicles and as your "Chrysler" dealer tells you...they are
    trying to get the problem fixed, since 2004!!! Don't blame the technicians
    or the dealer. We can not engineer parts to eliminate this problem. There
    has been 4 TSB's out to correct this problem and so far none have worked.
    The last time I called Chrysler on this they tell me some off the wall story
    too. If you want to complain to someone, contact the toll free number on
    back of your owners manual. By the way, Chrysler doesn't offer a 3.6L it is
    a 3.8/3.3L

    Glenn Beasley
    Chrysler Tech
     
    maxpower, Dec 29, 2006
    #2
  3. Glenn,
    Thanks for giving me some insight on this. It's driving us nuts!
    So 4 tsb's? Would I be able to get those #'s? I would really be
    intrested in reading them. Plus it would give me some ammo with my wife
    as to why she needs to get a different van. LOL. You are correct, its a
    3.8L. Thanks for that correction. I'm not blaming the techs or the
    dealer, just Cracksler! They invested soo much money in the stow n go,
    they forgot about the rest of the vehicle.
     
    97CamryLEnewbie, Dec 29, 2006
    #3
  4. Jimmy.A.Smith

    philthy Guest

    i just replaced a power steering pump for a customer on a 02 for the same
    complaint
     
    philthy, Dec 29, 2006
    #4
  5. Jimmy.A.Smith

    philthy Guest

    speaking of stow and go, there is suppose to be captians chairs that spin 180 for
    the center that is stow and go
     
    philthy, Dec 29, 2006
    #5
  6. Jimmy.A.Smith

    Art Guest

    Ford had the same problem with the Taurus in the early 90's. Took them 5
    years to figure out why some steering systems groaned. Turned out to be
    slight kinks in the hoses during installation.
     
    Art, Dec 29, 2006
    #6
  7. Jimmy.A.Smith

    damnnickname Guest

    You can request from the dealer to get you any TSB's that may pertain to
    your problem. The first thing that should have been done was to have the
    Power steering fluid flushed. Was that done?

    Glenn
     
    damnnickname, Dec 29, 2006
    #7
  8. Jimmy.A.Smith

    jdoe Guest

    My 03 does it too. I really don't care. Geez some are just too touchy about
    nothing.
     
    jdoe, Dec 29, 2006
    #8
  9. JDOE,
    It's ok that you don't care that your van groans, I just don't
    believe that if you pay $30,000 for something that you should have to
    put up with inferior workmanship. It is something to be "touchy" about.
    It's an issue that's annoying as HELL. Just because it doesn't bother
    you don't mean its ok and I should have to deal with it. So by all
    means, you keep on putting up with the issue. I'm going to keep on
    trying to get it fixed. Have a nice "noisy" day!
     
    97CamryLEnewbie, Dec 29, 2006
    #9
  10. I've never heard of them being able to spin.
     
    97CamryLEnewbie, Dec 29, 2006
    #10
  11. Jimmy.A.Smith

    maxpower Guest

    The first thing the dealer should have done was flush the fluid, If the
    problem is still evident a new P/S cooler package should have been
    installed, Part# 4743473AE. If the problem still persists a new power
    steering rack would have been replaced.

    Glenn
     
    maxpower, Dec 29, 2006
    #11
  12. Jimmy.A.Smith

    maxpower Guest

    The first thing the dealer should have done was flush the fluid, If the
    problem is still evident a new P/S cooler package should have been
    installed, Part# 4743473AE. If the problem still persists a new power
    steering rack would have been replaced.

    Glenn
     
    maxpower, Dec 29, 2006
    #12
  13. Here is my $0.02 on this one. I bet the engineers know full well what
    the problem is but they don't want to fix it. I am betting the simple
    problem
    is that the pully on the PS is too small and the pump isn't developing
    sufficient
    pressure at low speed - as a result your getting a resonance. Ever
    heard a water hammer in a water pipe, or groaning in a old radiator
    steam pipe? Same thing. Cold weather amplifies it since the fluid is
    colder
    and thicker and has more resistance. A flush probably will fix it
    temporairly
    since the fluid will be newer and lower friction but it won't last.

    As to why they won't fix it that's easy. A larger pully means the pump
    will waste slightly more energy, thus lower EPA ratings. Or there may
    be engine bay or engine layout interference issues. In other words, to
    fix the problem means they have to make a tradeoff elsewhere. A tradeoff
    they don't want to make. Since the problem is harmless, they are just
    making up bullcrap to tell the public since they don't want to fix it.

    Your best bet is to keep screaming about it on the 800 line but most
    likely those calls will go into the same file that Microsoft uses for the
    people that call in and bitch that their new Windows version is so much
    piggier and hoggy than the old one they cant run it on their old hardware.
    In other words, yah they know there's a problem, yah they know how to
    fix it, (spend money optimizing the code) Na they don't want to make the
    tradeoff to actually fix it.


    Ted
     
    Ted Mittelstaedt, Dec 30, 2006
    #13
  14. Jimmy.A.Smith

    philthy Guest

    actually d.c requires each dealer to a have a power steering pressure
    analyzer tool on hand as a essential tool( required )but the dealer techs do
    not use it let alone know what it looks like and it will tell the tech
    whats wrong without a fluid flush
    it can be a pain to hook up and most flatrate techs won't take the time to
    do so, even thought there is a labor time for it
     
    philthy, Dec 30, 2006
    #14
  15. Jimmy.A.Smith

    bllsht Guest

    Nice work Einstein.

    First of all, a larger pulley would slow the pump down. Probably not
    good if you want to increase pressure.

    Also, I'm sure they wouldn't be spending what it takes to replace
    steering racks when a simple pulley replacement would actually fix it.
     
    bllsht, Dec 30, 2006
    #15
  16. Jimmy.A.Smith

    philthy Guest

    hehehe hehehehe
    well i'm not so sure after working on vw's and beemers and mb
    germans do have a tendency to throw the baby out with the bath water and the
    tub too!
     
    philthy, Dec 30, 2006
    #16
  17. Jimmy.A.Smith

    maxpower Guest

    Before you got fired from the dealer Dirty. Do you remember Star on line? In
    big bold letters it says do not replace power steering pump for these
    problems!!!. It isn't a power steering pump or pressure problem, no need to
    connect a gauge either!! You sell all the pumps you want to your customers.
    But what you are really doing is flushing the system and charging them for a
    pump and the labor to install it.

    Just a thought Pal

    Glenn
     
    maxpower, Dec 30, 2006
    #17
  18. Jimmy.A.Smith

    maxpower Guest

    You beat me to it!!!
     
    maxpower, Dec 30, 2006
    #18
  19. Yeah, I realized that the second I sent that, but the post didn't appear on
    the server right away so I forgot to post a followup. Smaller pully is
    what you want. But of course all the parasitic loss issues still apply. To
    make the pump turn faster at low engine speeds means you are going to
    sap more horsepower from the engine.
    You simply don't understand either because you are an idiot or are
    deliberately playing dumb. Manufactures are under enormous constraints
    to meet fuel economy figures that are mandated by the government.
    Chrysler might have many tradeoffs to make if they decrease EPA mileage
    on the vehicle by even 1 mpg.

    Ted
     
    Ted Mittelstaedt, Dec 31, 2006
    #19
  20. Jimmy.A.Smith

    Bill Putney Guest

    Although there is some safety factor built in for a properly working
    system. People all the time put "underdrive pulleys" on the main crank
    to slow down all accessories without too much problem (though under
    worst-case driving conditions, there may be some noticeable sacrifices -
    battery droop if a lot of idle time, a.c. performance not optimum in
    stop and go, etc.). The factory has to design for worst-case conditions.

    Bill Putney
    (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
    address with the letter 'x')
     
    Bill Putney, Dec 31, 2006
    #20
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