Power Steering and other failures
 

in a 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager. Grrrr....

Ok, so here's the scoop....

When it is rainy and we go though a puddle, and power steering just
goes out. No warning no nothing. The other thing that happens at this
time is the heater/ac almost dies (it is dying anyhow, but when we go
through a puddle it goes to its worst as it does when it is on for a
long time)


This car has a NEW water pump, NEW front end (struts, tierods, etc),
NEW transmission casing, NEW brakes, NEW tires, NEW steering column,
and well probably something else...
and windshield wipers that have a mind of their own. LOL

I will never ever ever buy a Chrysler. oh it has 160,000 miles

Power Steering and other failures
 

wrote:
> in a 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager. Grrrr....
>
> Ok, so here's the scoop....
>
> When it is rainy and we go though a puddle, and power steering just
> goes out. No warning no nothing. The other thing that happens at this
> time is the heater/ac almost dies (it is dying anyhow, but when we go
> through a puddle it goes to its worst as it does when it is on for a
> long time)
>
>
> This car has a NEW water pump, NEW front end (struts, tierods, etc),
> NEW transmission casing, NEW brakes, NEW tires, NEW steering column,
> and well probably something else...
> and windshield wipers that have a mind of their own. LOL
>
> I will never ever ever buy a Chrysler. oh it has 160,000 miles

I am guessing the the belt is slipping after going through a puddle.
This will affect the steering and the A/C. Is the spash sheild that
sits underneath the belt path intact?

As far as the wipers go, this was a known problem for the 1996 Chrysler
vans. There was a recall for the switch.

-KM

Power Steering and other failures
 

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> in a 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager. Grrrr....
>
> Ok, so here's the scoop....
>
> When it is rainy and we go though a puddle, and power steering just
> goes out. No warning no nothing. The other thing that happens at this
> time is the heater/ac almost dies (it is dying anyhow, but when we go
> through a puddle it goes to its worst as it does when it is on for a
> long time)
>
>
> This car has a NEW water pump, NEW front end (struts, tierods, etc),
> NEW transmission casing, NEW brakes, NEW tires, NEW steering column,
> and well probably something else...
> and windshield wipers that have a mind of their own. LOL
>
> I will never ever ever buy a Chrysler. oh it has 160,000 miles
>

There is not and never has been a recall on the wiper switch on this vehicle
and as far as you problem goes with the a/c and power steering it sounds
like you need to replace the belt tensioner on this vehicle. If the
tensioner is worn out it will cause these problems and may even brake off or
cause the water pump to go bad.

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

Power Steering and other failures
 

maxpower wrote:
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > in a 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager. Grrrr....
> >
> > Ok, so here's the scoop....
> >
> > When it is rainy and we go though a puddle, and power steering just
> > goes out. No warning no nothing. The other thing that happens at this
> > time is the heater/ac almost dies (it is dying anyhow, but when we go
> > through a puddle it goes to its worst as it does when it is on for a
> > long time)
> >
> >
> > This car has a NEW water pump, NEW front end (struts, tierods, etc),
> > NEW transmission casing, NEW brakes, NEW tires, NEW steering column,
> > and well probably something else...
> > and windshield wipers that have a mind of their own. LOL
> >
> > I will never ever ever buy a Chrysler. oh it has 160,000 miles
> >
>
> There is not and never has been a recall on the wiper switch on this vehicle
> and as far as you problem goes with the a/c and power steering it sounds
> like you need to replace the belt tensioner on this vehicle. If the
> tensioner is worn out it will cause these problems and may even brake off or
> cause the water pump to go bad.
>
> Glenn Beasley
> Chrysler Tech

Glen, the *phantom wiper* problem was was posted on this NG many times
after the vans were redesigned for 1996. Didn't you ever have any
customers report this?

-KM

Power Steering and other failures
 

On Wed, 12 Jul 2006, wrote:

>
> maxpower wrote:
>> > wrote in message
>> oups.com...
>>> in a 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager. Grrrr....
>>>
>>> Ok, so here's the scoop....
>>>
>>> When it is rainy and we go though a puddle, and power steering just
>>> goes out. No warning no nothing. The other thing that happens at this
>>> time is the heater/ac almost dies (it is dying anyhow, but when we go
>>> through a puddle it goes to its worst as it does when it is on for a
>>> long time)
>>>
>>>
>>> This car has a NEW water pump, NEW front end (struts, tierods, etc),
>>> NEW transmission casing, NEW brakes, NEW tires, NEW steering column,
>>> and well probably something else...
>>> and windshield wipers that have a mind of their own. LOL
>>>
>>> I will never ever ever buy a Chrysler. oh it has 160,000 miles
>>>
>>
>> There is not and never has been a recall on the wiper switch on this vehicle
>> and as far as you problem goes with the a/c and power steering it sounds
>> like you need to replace the belt tensioner on this vehicle. If the
>> tensioner is worn out it will cause these problems and may even brake off or
>> cause the water pump to go bad.
>>
>> Glenn Beasley
>> Chrysler Tech
>
> Glen, the *phantom wiper* problem was was posted on this NG many times
> after the vans were redesigned for 1996. Didn't you ever have any
> customers report this?

Wasn't there a firmware update for one of the modules that fixed this?
If I recall correctly, that was how I got this problem fixed on my '97
van.

Power Steering and other failures
 

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> maxpower wrote:
> > > wrote in message
> > oups.com...
> > > in a 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager. Grrrr....
> > >
> > > Ok, so here's the scoop....
> > >
> > > When it is rainy and we go though a puddle, and power steering just
> > > goes out. No warning no nothing. The other thing that happens at this
> > > time is the heater/ac almost dies (it is dying anyhow, but when we go
> > > through a puddle it goes to its worst as it does when it is on for a
> > > long time)
> > >
> > >
> > > This car has a NEW water pump, NEW front end (struts, tierods, etc),
> > > NEW transmission casing, NEW brakes, NEW tires, NEW steering column,
> > > and well probably something else...
> > > and windshield wipers that have a mind of their own. LOL
> > >
> > > I will never ever ever buy a Chrysler. oh it has 160,000 miles
> > >
> >
> > There is not and never has been a recall on the wiper switch on this
vehicle
> > and as far as you problem goes with the a/c and power steering it sounds
> > like you need to replace the belt tensioner on this vehicle. If the
> > tensioner is worn out it will cause these problems and may even brake
off or
> > cause the water pump to go bad.
> >
> > Glenn Beasley
> > Chrysler Tech
>
> Glen, the *phantom wiper* problem was was posted on this NG many times
> after the vans were redesigned for 1996. Didn't you ever have any
> customers report this?
>
> -KM
>

Absolutely, as a mater of fact I joked about it with a customer one time
telling him there was a sensor in the windshield that detected pollen and
the blades would wipe one time. I heard about it later on as the customer
took me serious.
But there was never a recall on it. The most common repair was installing a
new multifunction switch


Glenn

Power Steering and other failures
 

maxpower wrote:
> There is not and never has been a recall on the wiper switch on this vehicle
> and as far as you problem goes with the a/c and power steering it sounds
> like you need to replace the belt tensioner on this vehicle. If the
> tensioner is worn out it will cause these problems and may even brake off or
> cause the water pump to go bad.
>
> Glenn Beasley
> Chrysler Tech

Agree. There was a TSB but no recall as I recall. I replaced the
multifunction switch on ours to cure the wiper problem. The tensioners
are also problemmatic at 160K or so miles, at least on the 3.3.

Power Steering and other failures
 

maxpower wrote:
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> >
> > maxpower wrote:
> > > > wrote in message
> > > oups.com...
> > > > in a 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager. Grrrr....
> > > >
> > > > Ok, so here's the scoop....
> > > >
> > > > When it is rainy and we go though a puddle, and power steering just
> > > > goes out. No warning no nothing. The other thing that happens at this
> > > > time is the heater/ac almost dies (it is dying anyhow, but when we go
> > > > through a puddle it goes to its worst as it does when it is on for a
> > > > long time)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > This car has a NEW water pump, NEW front end (struts, tierods, etc),
> > > > NEW transmission casing, NEW brakes, NEW tires, NEW steering column,
> > > > and well probably something else...
> > > > and windshield wipers that have a mind of their own. LOL
> > > >
> > > > I will never ever ever buy a Chrysler. oh it has 160,000 miles
> > > >
> > >
> > > There is not and never has been a recall on the wiper switch on this
> vehicle
> > > and as far as you problem goes with the a/c and power steering it sounds
> > > like you need to replace the belt tensioner on this vehicle. If the
> > > tensioner is worn out it will cause these problems and may even brake
> off or
> > > cause the water pump to go bad.
> > >
> > > Glenn Beasley
> > > Chrysler Tech
> >
> > Glen, the *phantom wiper* problem was was posted on this NG many times
> > after the vans were redesigned for 1996. Didn't you ever have any
> > customers report this?
> >
> > -KM
> >
>
> Absolutely, as a mater of fact I joked about it with a customer one time
> telling him there was a sensor in the windshield that detected pollen and
> the blades would wipe one time. I heard about it later on as the customer
> took me serious.
> But there was never a recall on it. The most common repair was installing a
> new multifunction switch
>
>
> Glenn

Okay, so I was at least partially correct. The fix was to replace the
switch, but there was no recall. Thanks for clearing that up.

-KM

Power Steering and other failures
 

I replaced my tensioner at 165,000 km. The bearing was starting to
squeak. This is one little piece of preventive maintenance that is
money well spent. If that puppy goes, you are stranded for sure!

On 12 Jul 2006 17:09:47 -0700, "Dipstick" > wrote:

>
>maxpower wrote:
>> There is not and never has been a recall on the wiper switch on this vehicle
>> and as far as you problem goes with the a/c and power steering it sounds
>> like you need to replace the belt tensioner on this vehicle. If the
>> tensioner is worn out it will cause these problems and may even brake off or
>> cause the water pump to go bad.
>>
>> Glenn Beasley
>> Chrysler Tech
>
>Agree. There was a TSB but no recall as I recall. I replaced the
>multifunction switch on ours to cure the wiper problem. The tensioners
>are also problemmatic at 160K or so miles, at least on the 3.3.

Power Steering and other failures
 

NewMan wrote:
> I replaced my tensioner at 165,000 km. The bearing was starting to
> squeak. This is one little piece of preventive maintenance that is
> money well spent. If that puppy goes, you are stranded for sure!
>
> On 12 Jul 2006 17:09:47 -0700, "Dipstick" > wrote:
>
> >
> >maxpower wrote:
> >> There is not and never has been a recall on the wiper switch on this vehicle
> >> and as far as you problem goes with the a/c and power steering it sounds
> >> like you need to replace the belt tensioner on this vehicle. If the
> >> tensioner is worn out it will cause these problems and may even brake off or
> >> cause the water pump to go bad.
> >>
> >> Glenn Beasley
> >> Chrysler Tech
> >
> >Agree. There was a TSB but no recall as I recall. I replaced the
> >multifunction switch on ours to cure the wiper problem. The tensioners
> >are also problemmatic at 160K or so miles, at least on the 3.3.

I am on my 3rd one at 90,000 miles. The first two snapped off right at
the mounting bolt. Seems like a lot of tension for one lone bolt.

-KM