Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

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DTMAce
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Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by DTMAce »

Yep, glutton for punishment. Picked this up Thursday evening:

Sorry for the hugeness, on the lappy...

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Here are the rest as links:

http://art.cariboucomputers.com/P1120510.JPG
http://art.cariboucomputers.com/P1120512.JPG
http://art.cariboucomputers.com/P1120514.JPG
http://art.cariboucomputers.com/P1120516.JPG
http://art.cariboucomputers.com/P1120517.JPG
http://art.cariboucomputers.com/P1120518.JPG
http://art.cariboucomputers.com/P1120520.JPG

Apparently a 2001 build, but I was under the impressing this gen didn't start as a 2001 model, but 2002. Oh well.

Grand Caravan Sport.
3.3 V6
Power seat, mirrors, electric side and rear door, lots of extras.

Issues:
Radiator has a hole in it.
Transmission cooler has a broken mount (rivet failure)
A/C has a slow leak.
Front bumper cover and lower plastics are busted.
Headlights are fubar.
Brakes need rebuilt front and rear, ABS also not working. (sticking rear caliper and bad warped rotors)
Horn not working.
Radio not working.
Rear wiper doesn't work.
Battery was dead. (picked up a replacement for that already)
Tires are shot.
Needs fluids changed, plugs probably, etc. (tune up basically)
Thorough cleaning.
Rear hatch tries to open but won't, also won't close (auto)
Side door works auto but needs lubrication.
Other side door is a manual, works fine, but needs lubed as well.
Headlights are bypass wired. Fogs don't work.
Overhead console doesn't completely work, displays temp, but nothing else.
Few other on dash controls are not functioning. Passenger door window won't work. Mirrors won't operate. Driver's side was busted then "glued"
Rust hole in the passenger lower front rear quarter that I will have to fix. Other rust areas I need to attempt to tend to.

Lord knows what else. Runs good, drove it to the house without too much trouble, other than I could tell it had bad tires and warped/fubar brakes.

Total investment so far, $110 dollars cash. $60 dollars worth of laptop repair parts. Price we agreed on was $250 total, just taking some of it out in trade for computer repairs. Still have to bill for labor on the laptop once parts are in and that's done.

This is to replace the 97 Plymouth Voyager with the 4 banger I bought last fall for 300. That thing tried to drop a gas tank on Wednesday. Its a really rusted hulk right now, even worse than this 2001.

The car under the tarp (and car cover) is the Z. That is going up for sale on here shortly soon for a great price. I need it gone as well. I own 3 vans and 2 cars. The broken crap has to go.

So this Monday, I have tons of parts going out that I have been taking too long to get done. Mostly cause I have been busy as crap. I doubt I will be touching a computer Monday. I want to get caught up, and get parts shipped. But as I said, another project. And I have to make this one road worthy VERY soon. The local yard I have here is willing to make a deal and get me whatever parts I need in exchange for the POS 97 I have now. Works for me.


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Koots
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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by Koots »

That looks like a lot of work!!

I too, am a sucker for punishment though and have been working on 2-3 basket case projects the past few years and still consider buying more.


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by 1990BerettaGTZ2.3L »

I don't want to hear it I only have 7 vehicles and only about 1 is legal at the moment and that's the celebrity next is my garnet Gtz then my chevelle, then my crew cab, and the black Gtz needs a motor so does my 78 Chevy truck lol


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by DTMAce »

I have little choice. Van's are kinda required in the life these days, with 3 kids and the fact that we do a lot of camping, traveling, etc.

This one is rough, but it can be made nice without having to put tons in it, which I like. The 97 was ready for the scrap heap when I bought it. That thing is missing the entire exhaust beyond the straight pipe behind the converter, one rear shock is complete rotted off, the other is just junk. Body rust is bad. Rockers are completely gone. Bearings in the rear are shot. Front shock towers are nearly rotted through. Issues with the vent electronics. Only thing going for it, is its a 2.4 DOHC with great gas mileage and it runs fairly well. Oh and one of the tank straps had rotted off, I had to fix that Thursday morning with some plumbing strap and self tappers. Ugh. You can kinda see a pic of it in one of the ones above.


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by ErichZ26 »

Typical Chrysler van with its electrical issues. The body module is most likely toast.


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by DTMAce »

Body module eh? Interesting. Where did they put it?


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

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I have a '98 Grand-V Plymouth (longer body, big enough for a 4'X8' sheet of plywood inside), I got it for the time it took me to replace the ENTIRE brake system, after some shop down in Florida put DOT-5 brake fluid in it (which is typically for race-cars, cannot be mixed with DOT-3 or 4, and is bright purple, so how did they screw that up?) for top-off and destroyed everything aside from the e-brake cable with it. It has been a great van for me, is in good shape, and has very little rust. It is also the 3.3, but the older version with the "you wanna change the rear-bank spark plugs, eh? Pull the upper intake manifold off, piece of cake" idiocy, I get a little better than 22 MPG with it, 20 if I am towing another car with it and fully loaded. The tranny leaks pretty bad despite a full service and new pan-gasket I put into it a couple of years ago, I would honestly like to see if I can bolt-on a five-speed from a Duster or some such, otherwise it might eventually end up with a Chevy engine, maybe a 5.4 or a 3800, that can be bolted up to a five-speed transaxle... Is your new van AWD, or did they even still offer that in 2001?
It looks like a good project, nice straight-forward work, that rust is the only thing that caused me to raise an eyebrow... Congrats, hopefully it will be a good vehicle for you.


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by DTMAce »

Well, considering this is my second generation 4 van, I'm not concerned yet with the rust hole. There is some lower rocker rust too, but there is a lot of meat in that lower body, so it would take a lot of rust to compromise the structure there at least. As for the hole, just going to carve me some replacement sheet metal off of another van, cut and weld in, etc. Shouldn't be too god awful to fix.

My other gen 4 is that Canadian version of the basic Caravan (short) with the 3.3. Been excellent, considering the price I paid. 700 Canadian for that one, and we have put about 100,000 kilometers on it since Nov of 09. Have probably put around a grand into it over the years for repairs and what not. Maybe 1500 max. Can't complain. Still runs good.

So in total I have had a 93 Grand LE, 94 Grand Sport (both black) the current daily 97 Voyager (toupe/tan), this 2001 Grand in silver, and my 2003 in Deep Molten Red Pearl. LOL

I'm not partial to Dodges in general, but the vans have been superior to the couple of Astro's I have encountered over the years. Especially with gas mileage.


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by Rettax3 »

...In my opinion, these vans look a whole lot nicer than most other mini-vans do too. Besides, it is hard to argue against one of the leading stars of 'The Jackal'!

Unfortunately (or luckily, depending on view-point) these vans just don't seem to be worth much anymore, and the salvage-yards are filthy with them. I've heard rumors for years about the transmissions in these things, but mine has almost 200k miles, and aside from the fluid leak, the tranny seems fine (knock on wood).


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by DTMAce »

Rumors.

Considering that they have been the single largest selling line of vans (plymouth, chrysler, and dodge brands combined) for the past several years, of course their problems are going to seem magnified. Out of those 5 I have bought, only the 93 and 94 had physical tranny issues. They were both burnt out. I rebuilt the 93 and used the 94 for various parts. Both got donated to the fire dept as extraction practice vehicles. Considering I paid 500 for the 93 and 200 for the 94, and managed to get 100 thousand miles out of the 93 after rebuilding its tranny, I don't think I did bad.

The 2003 had the transmission control module fail. Let me tell you, THAT was a pain in the ass. Cost me 550 bucks, and it had to be done at the dealer. Cannot swap it from another van, can't just buy one either, unless you know how to copy the programming and VIN over to the replacement. Sucks. So that was the worst thing I had to buy for the 03. Outside of the entire cooling system, brakes, lines, struts, etc. Typical stuff. But it now has nearly 310 thousand kilometers, this 2001 has 208 thousand miles, the 97 has almost 180 thousand miles, the 93 had 210 thousand miles I think.... Not sure what the 94 had, never drove it. LOL

At least the engine and tranny seem strong on this one, so not too worried yet.


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by SummitBalt08 »

My step mom has a 2000 Plymouth Grand Voyager... I never liked driving it. You sit too far up and it seemed like a chore to drive it so to say.. I told myself I would never buy a van..

Fast forward now I have a Fiance and 2 kids. We need a van LOL.

Found a great deal on a 2002 Pontiac Montana AWD. I didnt even know they made them in all wheel drive until I saw this one.

Let me tell you, I will drive this van anywhere. It drives like a car! Your not sitting too high and it is just a whole better experience. Leather seats and steering wheel.. soo comfortable lol

You should try a GM van.

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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by Koots »

I like these vans, but I have personally seen a lot of real transmission failures on a variety of Dodges. I've worked a few jobs that have seen a variety of them come in for transmission service and replacements. So to me, they aren't just completely rumours...

It just that it seems they don't like being neglected like the average consumer expects, so they do fail, but they can also hold incredibly well if treated correctly. So it's not really a concern to the average backyard mechanic/wrencher.

Anyway, that's my opinion as a former dealership slave.


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by DTMAce »

Interesting. I always enjoyed driving these. One I really didn't like where the Lumina APVs... God those were strange.

I have driven Fords mini van too, it was okay (outside of being a Ford) and a few others. Took one of the Ventures for a test drive once. (Chevy version of the Montana) and wasn't really that impressed. My issue with them in general is they always seem to rust worst, at least on the body. And nearly every Montana I see around here has a busted grill. I mean what's up with that? LOL

Anyway. Around these parts you see more Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth vans than any other on the road. But that's ok.


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by 3X00-Modified »

That's kinda funny because Dodge Dakota trucks rust worse than a bare piece of metal out in the ocean around here.


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Re: Like I REALLY need another project right now.... *sigh

Post by Rettax3 »

Yeah, these vans really do 'blend' into the crowd. Everywhere I go, ooo look, there's another one...Or eight... It is a good thing I pay attention to where I park, or I would never be able to find my van in a parking-lot. Haha.

I had one of the old Toyota van-wagons, rode like a truck, had no power at all, bizarre with the fact that the driver sits on top of/slightly in front of the front wheels, the van had no nose at all and parking by a building felt like you were driving into the wall. But it was reliable as anything else, until it was totaled-out by an idiot in a Bronco, who broad-sided me hard enough to cave the van in from headlight to taillight, tweaked the window-frame, the passenger-side doors wouldn't open/close and the van literally only had three headlights left, and knocked me across two lanes of oncoming traffic, over a curb, and into a fence. But it still ran and drove fine for a couple of years after that, until the alternator died. The window was cracking pretty bad, and because of the twisted frame, it couldn't be replaced, so I finally scrapped it out, and got over $500 for it (I even kept the wheels) by filling it with scrap-metal and taking it to a recycler that paid by the ton.

If I ever go out and buy a new van, at this point it would be a Mazda 5. They are actually available with a manual transmission! And (at least in the earlier 5's) the turbo from the Mazda 6 (IIRC on which car had this engine) 2.4L turbo engine would bolt on, so... :twisted:

But I like my Grand-V a lot, I don't have any plans to get rid of it. I do wish that the mid-row bucket seats could also clamp-down into the back row, I checked and they can't. *shrug*


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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