Seven problems related to brake hoses, lines/piping, and fittings have been reported for the 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Part 2 I've read on here that gates has a belt/pulley fix for this problem. If they have one, Chrysler can make one. This is a dangerous problem that can happen any time to many Dodge vans, it results in other damages, sudden loss of power steering control, possible injury even death to many people at one time. Many other vehicles have serpentine belts without this problem so it can be fixed. It's a repeated design flaw & should be corrected immediately. A ntsb rule goes something like this "a company is responsible for any foreseeable problems in their product" the same goes for the brake lines corroding enough for failure to occur in just a few years, this is also unacceptable. This is a $29,850 vehicle not a $2,000 1967 Volkswagen beetle, my beetle has the original break lines. And in good shape. All break lines are to be stainless steel to resist rust and corrosion. This is purely lack of quality in materials used to make these lines and the company also should be made to correct the problem by warning all owners about the problem and replacing all defectable lines with good quality lines.
The contact owns a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 mph, all of the brake fluid drained from the brake lines and the brakes failed to stop the vehicle. As a result, the contact crashed into a tree. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 160,000.
The contact owns a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan. While driving approximately 30 mph, the contact applied the brakes but the pedal was depressed to the floorboard. The vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop where the contact was informed that some of the brake lines were severely corroded and fractured. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 126,000 and the current mileage was 128,000.
Complete brake failure due to rusted brake lines and sudden loss of all brake fluid no stopping ability except emergency brake (only effective at low speed).
Sudden brake failure when departing my home. Pedal went fully to the floor. Later inspection revealed heavy corrosion at the brake line joints with the short section of flexible brake line just rear of the abs box. No significant corrosion aside from the vicinity of the flex line. One of the corroded brake lines had a pinhole leak that triggered the brake failure.
While driving 60 mph the brakes failed. The consumer stated the brake lines were replaced.
While driving, brakes failed without warning. Dealer diagnosed that the brake fluid line, located near the gas tank, had corroded resulting in the brake failure.