1998 Dodge Grand Caravan

RANDOMLY WILL START UP AND IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN. AFTER 3 TIMES, WILL NOT START. HAVE HAD IT TAKEN TO 4 DIFFERENT MECHANICS OVER THE LAST 18 MONTHS. 2 WERE DODGE DEALERSHIPS. ONE DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE STARTER FOR $440. THE NEXT DEALERSHIP (I WAS OUT OF TOWN FOR CHRISTMAS, SO COULDN'T RETURN TO FIRST DEALERSHIP) REPLACED THE POWER TRAIN CONTROL MODULE FOR $800. STILL HAVE HAD THE PROBLEM. THE MESSAGE BOARD IS FULL OF PEOPLE WITH THE SAME PROBLEM AND DEALERS REPLACING THE SAME PARTS THAT I HAVE HAD REPLACED AND STILL NOT GETTING FIXED. IF I CAN LOOK ON THE INTERNET AND SEE WHAT IS WRONG, WHY CAN'T A MECHANIC? I WILL HAVE THE INSTRUMENT PANEL CLUSTER CHANGED NEXT AND IT BETTER BE NO CHARGE!! *TR

I HAVE A 1998 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN THAT HAS SOME ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS THAT CAN'T SEEM TO BE FIXED. THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS TURN OFF AND THE VEHICLE WON'T START AND STAY RUNNING. IT USED TO COME RIGHT BACK ON AFTER TAPPING THE CENTER OF THE DASH, BUT THAT DOESN'T WORK ANYMORE. IT EVEN HAPPENS NOW WHILE WE ARE DRIVING. MY LOCAL DODGE DEALERSHIP CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT, AND AFTER SPENDING A CHUNK OF MONEY TRYING TO GET IT FIXED MANY DIFFERENT TIMES, SO MY WIFE AND CHILDREN FEEL SAFE IN IT I AM DEFINITELY SORRY I EVER BOUGHT IT. THE PROBLEM OCCURS NOW ALMOST EVERY DAY TO EVERY SECOND DAY, AND WILL LAST ANYWHERE FROM A COUPLE OF MINUTES TO COUPLE OF DAYS. *TR

AFTER HAVING MY TRANSMISSION REPLACE I NOTICED EVERYTHING ON MY DASH WAS DEAD, MY ABS AND ALARM SET LIGHT WOULD COME ON. IT ONLY STAYED THAT WAY FOR A FEW MINUTES AND THEN EVERYTHING WOULD COME BACK ON, BUT THEN THE PROBLEM ONLY GOT WORSE. I WOULD TRY TO START THE VAN BUT WHEN I DID IT WOULD SHUT BACK OFF BECAUSE MY DASH GAUGES WERE NOT WORKING AND MY ABS LIGHT WAS ON. I HAVE 3 KIDS AND I DEPEND ON MY VAN FOR TRANSPORTATION. I WENT ON A WEBSITE " TOPIX" AND FOUND THAT THERE ARE ALOT OF PEOPLE WITH THE SAME PROBLEM, ALSO THAT IS HOW I GOT THIS ADDRESS. IT SEEMS LIKE NOBODY HAS THE RIGHT SOLUTION, THERE ARE JUST DIFFERENT SUGGESTIONS. I THINK THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL SO THAT WAY EVERYBODY CAN STOP WASTING MONEY ON WHAT REPAIR SHOPS TRY (SAY) AND LET DODGE FIGURE IT OUT AND COMPENSATE FOR ALL OF THE HASSLES, MISSED APPOINTMENTS, AND EVERYTHING ELSE. *TR

SOMETIMES WHEN I TURN THE KEY THE ENGINE WILL START AND IMMEDIATELY STALL. AFTER THE THIRD TRY, IT WILL NOT START AT ALL. THE GAUGES AND ODOMETER ALSO FAILS AT THIS TIME. AFTER SITTING FOR ANYWHERE FROM 1 HOUR TO 4 DAYS (SO FAR) THE ENGINE WILL START. IT MIGHT BE OK FOR A DAY OR A MONTH AND THEN IT HAPPENS AGAIN. SEVERAL TIMES WHILE DRIVING THE GAUGES GO OFF, ENGINE FALTERS AND THEN COMES BACK ON. OTHER TIMES ENGINE STARTS AND IDLES ROUGH AS IF THERE IS A VACUUM LEAK THEN IT STRAIGHTENS OUT. THIS HAS BEEN A PROBLEM OFF AND ON FOR AROUND 2 YEARS BUT IS NOW HAPPENING MORE FREQUENTLY. TODAY I WENT TO A STORE AND WHEN I CAME OUT THE CAR WOULDN'T START. IT IS STILL PARKED AT THE STORE. I RESEARCHED THE PROBLEM ON THE INTERNET AND FOUND A VARIETY OF ANSWERS. DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO INSTALL MANY PARTS AT $250 PLUS LABOR EACH TIME AND STILL HAVE THE SAME SITUATION. I KNOW OF THREE PEOPLE WITH SIMILAR PROBLEMS. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY THERE HAVE BEEN NO RECALLS OR SERVICE BULLETINS ISSUED ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1998 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN. THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE ALARM WOULD REMAIN ON EVEN WHEN SHE MANUALLY TURNED IT OFF. THE FAILURE PREVENTED HER FROM STARTING THE VEHICLE. SHE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THEY REPLACED THE BATTERIES IN THE REMOTE. SEVERAL WEEKS AFTER THE REPAIR, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN PROPERLY REPAIRED. THE EQUIPMENT INFORMATION WAS UNKNOWN. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 115,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1998 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN. WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH, THE TWO FRONT TIRES SUDDENLY LOCKED AND CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO SLIDE SEVERAL FEET. THE VEHICLE MADE A CLANKING SOUND AND IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS, THE TWO FRONT TIRES UNLOCKED AND ALLOWED THE CONTACT TO SLOW DOWN THE VEHICLE. THERE WERE NO PRIOR WARNINGS. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED BY THE DEALER. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 266,000.

THE INTERMITTENT FEATURE OF THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS JUST QUIT WORKING AS IT SHOULD. IT WOULD SOMETIMES WORK FOR A FEW WIPES, STOP WORKING FOR A WHILE, THEN SOMETIMES IT WOULD START WORKING FOR A FEW MORE WIPES. THE CONTROL MODULE ON THE STEERING COLUMN HAS BEEN REPLACED TWICE. IT WORKED FOR ABOUT TWO BLOCKS OUT OF THE SHOP & JUST QUIT AGAIN. SO FAR I HAVE INVESTED OVER $1,000.00 TRYING TO GET THEM TO WORK. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT'S CLIENT OWNS A 1998 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN. AFTER INSTALLING A NEW TRANSMISSION AND DRIVING THE VEHICLE, THE CONTACT'S CLIENT NOTICED AN EXCESSIVE AMOUNT OF FUEL LOSS. THE FOLLOWING DAY IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE SEAM OF THE MUFFLER HAD ROTTED AWAY AND WAS BLOWING HOT AIR DIRECTLY ONTO THE PLASTIC GAS TANK. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 129,580.