1999 Dodge Caravan Engine cooling Problems

“Serpentine belt comes off while driving on wet roads. I replace pulleys belts several times this has happen since the van ran out of warranty. Finally I took to chrysler and they put double pulleys on an a double side belt cost was around $300.00. Chrysler knew of this problem. This happens in winter time also.”

“I have had repeated shredding of the serpentine belt on my 1999 Dodge Caravan resulting in loss of power steering and systems shutdown (including engine) during driving. This is a serious safety issue and I have read numerous reports of the exact same failure. Brazil has recalled the Dodge minivan for the same failures and Dodge has made a modification kit (2005) for this problem but refuses to date to post a recall in the united states. I have replaced the belts 6 times and the tensioner 3 times in 60,000 miles. …”

“I had the van in for a state inspection and the mechanic stated that the serpentine belt and the tensioner arm needed to be replaced. He stated that he could tell just by the sounds that the van was making. I have since heard the same sounds from several vans that I come accross. If this is such a known problem with the tensioner arm freezing up and destroying the serpentine belt, shouldn't Dodge redesign the tensioner arm and effect a recall to replace it.”

“1. Vehicle: 1999 Dodge Caravan serpentine belt slippage when road is wet. 2. The belt slips off the pulleys, steering power is lost and I get stranded in the middle of busy streets. This is a safety issue! (I wonder if I would have made it out alive if I was driving on I-95!) on the internet there are 100s - if not 1000s - of stories/complaints: wives stranded in the snow with children, elderly people stuck in a street in a rainy night, and Caravan /voyager owners changing belt and pulleys 2 or 3 times, without the problem being corrected. …”

“Our belts sips off during wet weather five times we replaced the s belt and the tensioners,waterpump,overheating our 2nd yr of owership.now the 3rd yr of transmissions leaking,the ABS light came on while driving at 35mph w/children in car ,starting to brake causing to slow way down in traffic and made a chime sound,the horn went off and it got hot fast causing the car to shut down. Thank god there was room to get over. All the lights were flickering all over the dashboard. The car just leaks everywhere,water,oil,trans. Something needs to be done about these cars. …”