Engine Belts And Pulleys problems of the 1998 Dodge Caravan - part 2

The contact owns a 1998 Dodge Caravan. The contact has changed the vehicle's serpentine belt eight times. The belt has either detached, shredded, or become worn while driving 35 mph. The vehicle's pulleys and belt accessories have also been replaced. She believes that it is a design flaw due to the numerous repairs for the same failure. She also feels that the failure is a safety issue because once the belt detaches, the alternator begins to overheat and the power steering fails. The current mileage is 79,000 and failure mileage was 36,351. Updated 06/08/07.

Serpentine belt ripped, causing engine to cut off.

Serpentine belt comes off when driving through deep snow. Belt has been replaced 4 times.

Engine warning light was on, and consumer saw something hanging from under the car, it was serpentine belt. Then, there was no steering or braking.

While driving defective timing belt and idler arm broke which cause vehicle to stall unexpectedly, almost causing a crash. Please provide further information.

The serpentine belt slips off when you drive through water. Losing the belt causes dangerous steering changes and stops the water pump and alternator. The most recent time this happened I almost lost control of the car and had a near miss head on crash problem has happened 5 times on my car and two friends who have the same model Caravan have also had problems with it. Dims 11 ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis---------770765.

The consumer is having problems with his serpentine belt. He states that the belt keeps coming off of the pulleys causing his van to over heat and loose steering.

While driving about 45mph all of the guages and lites came on and then immediately went off. Noticed all of this when a left hand turn was made, resulting im no control. No warning lights came on. Serpentine belt stretched but the belt tensioner was almost totally useless.

Serpintine fan belt jumps off pulleys when driving through 3-4 inches of water replaced belt dealer stated belt tenstioner was faulty in 2000 I replaced tenstioner Nov 2000 in June 2001 and nov2001 belt jumped the pulleys again even with a new belt and tenstioner installed.

Serpentine belt came off during a 25 mph turn. Belt then wrapped itself up in a/c pulley. Loss of power steering and alternator ensued. I've had this vehicle in the shop now 3 times for alternator or belt problems - they were not aware of TSB affecting the serpentine belt.

The contact owned a 1998 Dodge Caravan. She stated that the timing belt kept coming off. Dealer said they had numerous similar complaints, and they do have a TSB, but it has not been made a recall yet.

I am having alot of problems with my van over the past year I have put over 1500 worth of work into this van they made the engine too small for this size of a van. I continue to have problem with the engine and now the transmission is acting up. I have already replaced head gasket all the motor mounts timing belt it has been one thing after another and now my engine is making a rattling sound everytime I push the gas petal I don't know where else to complain.

This is the fourth time the serpentine belt has shreaded apart. The first time was at approximately 20,000 miles. When the belt goes there is, of course, no power steering (which seriously affects the handling, no power brakes (which affects the stopping) and the water pump dos not work (causing the van to overheat rather quickly). The dealership is not able to determine why this keeps happening. I am from canada so I was unable to enter my province (british columbia) and my postal code (v3g 1l5).

Consumer had to replace surpentine belt. When she was driving serpentine belt came off, and vehicle lost power. Dealership was aware of her problem. The belt have to be replaced periodically.

Tensioner failed causing the belt to be thrown off engine pulleys. Nlm.

Intermittently, while driving at 20-30 mph, the drive belt will come off. This has happened 4 times since the 30th of April. The van has been fixed under warranty 3 times for this problem. The driver has the van again for the fourth time for the same problem.

Air conditioner evaporator failed twice within a two year period. Also, serpentine belt was replaced 6 times. When the serpentine belt failed vehicle had no power steering or power brakes.

When driving serpentine belt would keep coming off. This happened whether it was wet or dry. Went to dealership 3 times & was informed a flaw in design of belt. Had belt replaced 5 times & had been shredded 5 times.

The vehicle stalled, which was caused by the serpentine belt falling off. The belt was replaced, however the problem recurred.

Serpentine belt came off while driving during a rain storm, causing loss of power steering/brakes and lights. Apparently, manufacturer sent out TSB which stated serpentine belt will slip off when it gets wet. Please provide furtehr information.

Consumer states while traveling at highway speed vehicle suddenly started to make a weird noise. Consumer pulled over, popped the hood, and noticed that one of the belts in the engine compartment had shredded. Cause unknown.

Serpentine belt fell off 3 times due to snow and rain splashing upon the engine resulting in power steering to fail and engine over heated.

Main belt keeps slipping off dealership serviced it several times. The belt finally broke in half whle driving.

During a routine maintenance, the serpentine belt tensioner was replaced by the dealer. Since then the belt has come off the pulley twice due to the water getting on the pulley, causing the belt to slip.