I just bought a used 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan 107000mi, and we love how comfy it is inside... but the only thing is since we bought it we have had some trouble with a lot of things. When we first test drove the car, it worked great accept for some weak breaks which my husband has repaired,.. there were no belt noises, no smell of oil leaking, etc.. he is a DIY.
After we brought the car home, within the first week,.. we realized there was a small oil burning smell when we would get out of it. He said he saw a drip while working under the car, but has no clue as to where it is leaking from.
We have replaced the belt to a gator belt, due to belt squeeling.
Then my husband fixed the breaks. We bled them, and they seem to be working well accept they squeek a lot now only when stopping. My husband says the fluid looks black, and he showed me what it is supposed to look like. Not cool,...
I wonder how much maintenance was kept up on the vehicle, (it's oil changes, lubes, tires etc.) as we found when replacing the breaks, they still had the OEM pads, etc. The rotors were eaten alive and we have replaced those as well.
Current problems are as follows...
My service engine soon light is on, was before replacing the belt, and stays on consistantly now.
My breaks squeek more than I think they should when stopping.
*** (my biggest dillemma now) There is a slight vibration at the front of the car when stopping, or using the break, turning etc. and when at lower speeds seems to vibrate more in lower gear and lose some pick up until it reaches maybe second gear. We almost thought this was the belt still slipping, but realize now that's not it.We are about to change the trans. fluid out with the reccommended fluid, not a power flush, but we assume maybe the guy who sold it to us, may have used the wrong fluid and replaced it before actually giving us the car? Hence the problem after the test drive.
We are also anticipating giving it a tune up, but I hear the spark plugs (rear) are hard to get at. It is not an easy job compared to my Saturn, there is more of a tight fit to get at things in this one.
The engine runs hot, although you wouldn't be able to tell by the needle on the dash. But when I pop the hood and use the stick that holds up the hood,.. I can burn myself easy, it's so hot.
It's a V6, but I was wondering if it were normal that it uses so much gas?,.. seems excessive.
I'm wishing we researched this model more before buying it.
I just left an over 10 year old Saturn that we invested a lot of work into. I'm sort of disappointed with the new used Dodge since my husband hasn't had a weekend off since we brought it home :(
Thanks for any advice, Juliet