I had a critical failure in my 2000 GC last week. The oil pan seems to have rusted through, and drained out all the oil. The big issue is that I was going 85 km/h when it happened. This thing is 58 months old, and was in for a service and oil change to the dealer 2 months ago.
best bet it seems is a remanufactured engine. Is this a common problem? Should the dealer take the responsibility since it was only a couple of months agio that they had it last? I can see the trail of oil now that there is light, and it obviously was draining for some time the night before.
I don't know how common it is in all areas but people have posted about it before in this forum.
I've never heard of such a thing out here where I live from anyone. But, we don't salt the roads either.
This is a sticky issue. Check carefully the paperwork that came with the last oil change. Read the fine print. If your oil change included one of these "20 point inspections" espically if they CHARGED you money for it, then I would bitch. Mostly these inspections are nothing more than duck hunts looking for things that might be borderline just to run up the bill. For example they might charge you $10 to replace a breather 'vent' filter, which is nothing more than a square of filter material that costs $1.00 from an auto parts place. Often these inspections go into great length about all the things they check and why checking them is such a value to you, yadda yadda yadda. But, if they are telling you they are inspecting the engine, then that means they are looking for things that are getting close to failing - and they should have caught this, espically since it probably rusted from the outside in.
Now if your oil change was just an oil change - ie: $9.95 quickie - that's different, if they wern't supposed to be inspecting it, then you can't fault them for missing it.
If your heart is set on going the remanufactured engine route espically if you want to buy the engine from Chrysler (I wouldn't) then bitching to the dealer espically if you bought the vehicle from the dealer and have done all service work there, might stimulate them to call the Chrysler district manager and see if some kind of allowance could be worked out for you. But be prepared because while you have a good chance of getting something, it's not going to be a whole lot, and it's certainly going to carry a host of stipulations, the primary one being that you get the engine swap done at the dealer. This is the same dealer that missed the rust spot on the pan to begin with - so you may be a bit uncomfortable with this.
Well, I have a '95 T&C myself (same engine as your GC) and this is why I do all my own maintainence and preventative maintainence. I am not a professional mechanic by trade so it probably takes me longer to do an oil change than a professional takes - but I spend a good long time on the crawler under the van, staring up at the bottom of the engine and looking things over, and I know that a professional isn't going to be doing that.
But, if I was in your situation what I would do is get on the phone and start calling around to the wrecking yards. Since your vehicle is young, you have a chance of finding a smashed up minivan with the 3.8L engine in it that is of the same vintage, that has pretty low miles. And you are an excellent candidate for a used engine for a number of reasons - first, your GC still has high book value, second all your electrical and subsidiary components are intact (it's not like your van was flooded, or had an engine fire) third the 3.8L engine used in your van is normally indestructible, forth that engine has been used for a long while, and there's lots of them out there.
Once you find an engine that has low miles then ask the yard for a couple of referrals of local mechanics that will do the swap. Then visit those mechanics and check out their shops and see what they have to say. And while your having the engine done, if there's a low mile transmission hitched to the wrecking yard engine and you have space in your garage and you can get them to sell it to you cheap, buy it.
I'm amazed at these incidents myself. I live in an area where a fair bit of road salt is used (PA and commute to NY) and my 1996 GV oil pan is in fine shape. It is hard for me to imagine what could cause rust through in 4 years. Was this fan driven in a coastal area where salt spray is prevalent? Do you live in Canada or somewhere that uses even more road salt than NY? Did you ever drive over a curb or other obstacle that scratched through the paint on the oil pan?
If you are having the dealer do tyhe oil service on it, shouldn't they be spotting it, noting it, and trying to seel me the replacement part? This is what really burns me. I'm not a gearhead, so i'm not up under my cars on a monthly basis. I pay good money for their service work. I do it because I expect a level of service. Maybe Glenn, you provide that level, but my local sure didn't.
My '97 3.3 w/ 87k on it has a lot of rust on the pan as well. It's way more than surface rust - so I have to believe its a steel formulation problem. Crawling under my vehicle to inspect my oil pan for rock chips is not my idea of routine maintenance unless of course it was made in China ? ! If it rusts through, that will be the straw that broke the camel's back.
If the pan did rust from the outside in.... somewhere, somehow this vehicle lacks serious
I have 2000 GC and they salt the roads up here like crazy. My pan still looks new after a quick wipe with varsol after I change the oil.
I can not imagine a pan rusting through unless it was soaking in acid. Are the pans not galvanized anyway, I don't think I have ever seen a rusty pan, and I've done a lot of back yard mechanics in my time.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.