Power Steering and other failures

I am guessing the the belt is slipping after going through a puddle. This will affect the steering and the A/C. Is the spash sheild that sits underneath the belt path intact?

As far as the wipers go, this was a known problem for the 1996 Chrysler vans. There was a recall for the switch.

-KM

There is not and never has been a recall on the wiper switch on this vehicle and as far as you problem goes with the a/c and power steering it sounds like you need to replace the belt tensioner on this vehicle. If the tensioner is worn out it will cause these problems and may even brake off or cause the water pump to go bad.

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Glen, the *phantom wiper* problem was was posted on this NG many times after the vans were redesigned for 1996. Didn't you ever have any customers report this?

-KM

Wasn't there a firmware update for one of the modules that fixed this? If I recall correctly, that was how I got this problem fixed on my '97 van.

Absolutely, as a mater of fact I joked about it with a customer one time telling him there was a sensor in the windshield that detected pollen and the blades would wipe one time. I heard about it later on as the customer took me serious. But there was never a recall on it. The most common repair was installing a new multifunction switch

Glenn

Agree. There was a TSB but no recall as I recall. I replaced the multifunction switch on ours to cure the wiper problem. The tensioners are also problemmatic at 160K or so miles, at least on the 3.3.

Okay, so I was at least partially correct. The fix was to replace the switch, but there was no recall. Thanks for clearing that up.

-KM

I am on my 3rd one at 90,000 miles. The first two snapped off right at the mounting bolt. Seems like a lot of tension for one lone bolt.

-KM

I have a 1993 Voyager with the 3.3L. One broke while it was being backed out of the garage, and the other just around the corner.

-KM

NewMan wrote:

I used to have a 1994 Grand Caravan with the 3.3

I never had any problems like that (thank GOD).

How bizarre.

I went through a *lot* of various accessories and tensioners before I learned that they really didn't want the "as tight as I can get it" tension I was subjecting it to. Going to a "if my wife is complaining about belt squeak maybe it needs to be a bit tighter" plan has made a huge difference on longevity.

And how many water pumps did the tight tensioner tear up?

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

I too have just experienced the tensioner failing, well in fact it looks as if one of the idler pulley bearings has failed which has taken out the other idlers and the Tensioner.

Does anyone know of a different supplier other than a Chrysler main dealer, the prices they are asking for the idlers is extortionate.

The engine is a 2.5L Tdi earlier 1999 which has the three idlers not the two with recent models.

Cheers Ray

maxpower wrote:

Replace your accessory drive belt and check the tensioner. Its getting wet and slipping.