Late model Caravan = fun?

In reply to Ranger50:

Not in any of the ones I've worked on...valve cover gaskets on my brother's old Quest (Mercury Villager) sucked because the plenum is buried under the cowl. Everything is buried under the cowl, and it seems like all of them (up until quite recently) have timing belts, and that sucks too! Despite all of this, I'm sure we'll have one in the next couple years if God blesses us with more kids (and no, I actually don't mean that sarcastically ). I'll just have to pay one of my buddies to do some side work if I don't feel like messing with it.

My hate for minivans comes from them being a pain to work on. I have no doubt that they are great people movers, and I'll probably have one someday when we have more than 1 kid, but man I hate working on them. If they would put 4 cylinder engines into minivans I'd be all over it.

A 2001-2004 AWD 3.8L van is PRETTY DAMN EASY to work on. The water pump is not as easy as it SHOULD be.. But compared to most cars it's not very hard to work on! Plugs, wires, coil pack, sensors, hoses, brakes, struts, blah blah blah all pretty damn easy to work on. And who needs a timing belt? A late-model 3.8 timing chain really is good for the life of the vehicle.

To be honest, i wouldnt buy a 90s or early 00's japanese van either. That has no bearing on a 'late model Caravan' thread, or how hard a late model caravan is to work on, or really on anything else about the minivan segment in general.

Vigo wrote: A 2001-2004 AWD 3.8L van is PRETTY DAMN EASY to work on. The water pump is not as easy as it SHOULD be.. But compared to most cars it's not very hard to work on! Plugs, wires, coil pack, sensors, hoses, brakes, struts, blah blah blah all pretty damn easy to work on. And who needs a timing belt? A late-model 3.8 timing chain really is good for the life of the vehicle.

Why oh why do you do this to me? Just when I decide I should look for a Suburban you get all enabler on me!!!

In reply to Ranger50:

Not to threadjack, but I've got a 1994 Grand Caravan that will be coming on the market soon. A/C no worky, though.

In reply to mrwillie: Not a thread jack at all. If you posted you were selling a Camaro maybe...

In reply to Vigo:

Fair enough...I guess I haven't worked on enough Caravans or other American minivans. I shouldn't assume that they all suck to work on. +1 for timing chains!

In reply to ebonyandivory:

Thank you sir. What years have u owned, and how did they really stack up( in your opinion ) to the asian competition?

Vigo wrote: A 2001-2004 AWD 3.8L van is PRETTY DAMN EASY to work on. The water pump is not as easy as it SHOULD be.. But compared to most cars it's not very hard to work on! Plugs, wires, coil pack, sensors, hoses, brakes, struts, blah blah blah all pretty damn easy to work on. And who needs a timing belt? A late-model 3.8 timing chain really is good for the life of the vehicle.

I thought you had to lower the engine down or some such nonsense to get the rear set of sparkplugs out.

In reply to bgkast:

No, you can do them from the bottom on the pushrod Dodge 3.8

2000, 2004, 2006, 2009...

'00 didn't have Stow & Go but had one issue which was trans related. Turned out to be electrical and fixed for ~$100. 2004 was one of those weird things where everything was going wrong... Power doors, steering had some weird groaning and popping from the struts. Dealer gave us a 2006 to make up for it all and it was great until we traded it in on a 2009 which aside from rear caliper freezing up, so far so good.

Fun? Minivan? All I can say is something about being glad for the dark tinted windows and the quick fold away rear seats ;)

ebonyandivory wrote: 2000, 2004, 2006, 2009... '00 didn't have Stow & Go but had one issue which was trans related. Turned out to be electrical and fixed for ~$100. 2004 was one of those weird things where everything was going wrong... Power doors, steering had some weird groaning and popping from the struts. Dealer gave us a 2006 to make up for it all and it was great until we traded it in on a 2009 which aside from rear caliper freezing up, so far so good.

So 2006 and newer are the ones to look for? Didnt they have their suspension designed by MB at some point?

Here's my wife's; I love it but I drive a mini minivan myself

Versatile and the 3.8 is pretty snappy; freaking power door harnesses are a pain in the neck and fail regularly (I just require them each time) and this one eats brakes but otherwise 70000 trouble free miles.

Grtechguy wrote: Fun? Minivan? All I can say is something about being glad for the dark tinted windows and the quick fold away rear seats ;)

Haha, nice. I forgot that was a perk of all that space!

bgkast wrote:

Vigo wrote: A 2001-2004 AWD 3.8L van is PRETTY DAMN EASY to work on. The water pump is not as easy as it SHOULD be.. But compared to most cars it's not very hard to work on! Plugs, wires, coil pack, sensors, hoses, brakes, struts, blah blah blah all pretty damn easy to work on. And who needs a timing belt? A late-model 3.8 timing chain really is good for the life of the vehicle.

I thought you had to lower the engine down or some such nonsense to get the rear set of sparkplugs out.

Nope. BTDT. You can snake your arm in between the cowl and upper intake while using a flex head ratchet and 4" extension on the spark plug socket to R&R the rear plugs. But it is FAR easier to just remove the wipers and cowl to have room to work.

I thought you had to lower the engine down or some such nonsense to get the rear set of sparkplugs out.

You never have to lower the engine. How you do them depends on which generation and engine van you are working on, and how fat your arms are.

On a 2001-2007 3.3/3.8 van i can do all the rear plugs from the top without removing anything just by sticking my arm through above the coil pack.

On the 96-00 3.3/3.8 vans i do rear plugs from the bottom. It is kind of crappy without a lift. You can also remove the plenum to do it which is fairly easy.

Ive actually NEVER removed the cowl parts for any reason, but i have worked with guys who were older and heavier and for them it was the quickest way because they couldnt fit their arms through. At 200lbs im about 100lbs away from having that issue.