OT/ON Topic? Grand Voyaher problem

I'd have to look at the car to give you a definitive answer, one clue I can offer is to look and see how the pivot joint is assembled on the other side of your car. You know, the side that hasn't broken yet. ;-)

But car manufacturers do stupid s*it all the time - like trusting a splined shaft with a simple interference press fit into a hole on the stamped sheetmetal crank arm to last forever...

If there is a slot on the backside of the pivot 'knob' they could have used a C circlip or speed-nut as a retainer, and it broke.

You may have to engineer your own permanent fix, which could range from cross-drilling the shaft for a cotter pin or wire, or threading the back of the shaft and putting a nut on, welding or heat to red and peen over the back of the shaft like a rivet (if both parts are steel), or epoxy...

Wiper linkages are tricky. If you take it apart, take pictures and draw match-lines everywhere, so you can get it back together correctly the first time.

And most car makers use the exact same electric wiper motor for all the cars they make for several years range, and anything from the junkyard will do. What determines the stop position and wiper throw is the motor crank arm and the double-D punched hole for the motor shaft - save yours or get one from an exact match junk car.

-->--

Did you try the Chrysler forum? There is a lot of action there though not all of it is helpful.

rec.autos.makers.chrysler

Quick fix? Trade in the POS on a Sienna.

You must have owned a Chrysler product - because of the way you said "the side that hasn't broken - yet". This implies that will break . . .

No, it only implies that if they did a for-s*it job on one side, they probably did the same thing on both sides. When you figure out a fix for the botched design, fix them both - or you'll just have to take it apart again next year...

I haven't had the linkage break, but I've changed out several CryCo wiper motors over the years. Last on the old Work Truck, 92 Dodge in about 98, a motor that shouldn't have gone bad that soon.

-->--

And some people still wonder why Toyota keeps gaining market share.....

Aw, c'mon! It was a whole $150, it runs, has 4WD and is a winter beater/band equip hauler. Ticks like a time bomb, but it runs.

Before I bought it a guy came in and asked if I wanted to buy an '87 Toy van w/4WD and a 5 speed. He came back about 3 weeks later, I drove it, it ran fine, told him to come back in 2 weeks and I'd have the cash for it ($600). Never came back...so, a guy wanted to trade the Voyager for an Explorer, I gave him $150 and away we went!

No, that I didn't. Still no reply in the Dodge forum...

Yeah! If I could SEE it! It's buried under sheet metal, with an approx 3" access hole to get to it. At least the side that broke has a 4" access hole! I still cut the hell outta my hand! I guess I need something like a dentists' mirror to look at the good one.

There is a slot...at the TOP of the splined area! Only thing I can think is there's some kind of clip that encompasses the entire mess...

Except for the Epoxy, I guess we think alike.

Yeah, my next step if I can't figure something out is to go dumpster diving. I may try slotting it myself and using a circlip (otherwise known as Jesus clips...)

OK, why is it called a Jesus clip?

Well, I guess that's OK then . Just don't spend any real money on it. I like the epoxy idea.

What to they talk about on the Dodge forum? Not politics I hope :-) Obivously, you have gotten more responses from the Toyota forum, despite all of the political and nerd posting.

Infinitly more. And, uh, *I* participate in some of the political postings, and definitely the nerd postings!!

Damn man! I just remembered. I was going to go junkyard diving but one of our associates has three of these things behind his garage! All he chrges me for parts is what he pays his guys to trudge out there and pull 'em, usually $5-10. If I get off my butt and go myself, they're free.

Thanks for reminding me!

If you search this group you will find several Toyota wiper problems posted here. Usually because the strong motor breaks the linkage when the wipers are frozen down by ice. Not the best design either.

Well, that ready source of spare parts gets you out of paying too much for parts, or paying someone else too much money for fixing it.

From my empirical 'survey' of vehicle reliability (read as "My Not So Humble Opinion based on my first hand experience and observations of other people's breakdowns") Toyota hands down best, then Nissan, then Chevy/GMC, then Ford, and last Chrysler/Dodge. The ranking hasn't changed much lately, but the gap has narrowed a lot.

When that Crapsler(*) dies irrevocably, push it to the boneyard and find yourself an old "Two-Slice Toaster" Van you can drive forever.

-->--

(*) PS: The Agent spell-check DID offer Chrysler as a correction. ;-)

LOL! On both Crapsler and two slot toaster. If you read my other post, I offered a guy $600 (his asking price) for a 4WD model, but he never came back! Damn! They are getting too old, and the Previa is more car than van for my uses. I can strip the Voyager down and it looks like a van inside.

If I could find an eighty-something (9?) 4WD with 150,000 or less, i'd surely 'upgrade'!

And this is where we differ. I'd take a Ford over a Chevy any day (I sell a LOT of Fords) and my Nissan 240SX was a piece of crap. I'll stick with Toys as #1, and if people keep giving me Chrysler products, so be it! BTW, I have seen a LOT of 92-94 Caravans with over 200K on them!!! They must have done SOMETHING right!

Actually according to Consumer Reports Nissan quality is down these days and Chrysler beats most of GM's divisions except Buick.

I suspect the bad Voyagers are the ones that come with a 4 cylinder engine. Kind of crazy that they make them but gives them a price leader.

I think it is a good idea to stay away from the Mitsubishi

Ed