Hydraulic Power Assist Steering System Problems of Plymouth Grand Voyager

While driving transmission failed to switch from 1st gear. Engine check light came on, and power steering stopped working. Contacted dealer,and dealer installed output speed sensor.

See all problems of the 1999 Plymouth Grand Voyager 🔎.

Serpentine belt tensioner bolt sheared off, resulting in loss of power steering/ engine cooling/ and alternator function. Very difficult to repair as to limited engine compartment clearance.

See all problems of the 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager 🔎.

Vehicle experienced failure of power assist steering system at low speed. Have been told that mfg. Has this problem on a "star list" but not currently on recall. Cost of repair/replacement significant. Possibility of catastrophic/fatal accident due to steering failure significant. Not a happy customer. Manufacturers customer service number not helpful in resolving problem of major equipment failure at relatively early point in life of vehicle. I intend to raise a fuss.

Rack and pinion failed, causing consumer to experience control problems, dealer replaced the power steering pump, the rack and pinion, and the tensioner pulley.

Rear heater lines and power steering pump rusted out. Unacceptable on a 4 year old car. Chrysler will do nothing about it.

While driving in a mall parking lot, made a turn and heard a loud bang. Steering wheel locked up. I managed to turn the wheel to avoid hitting a parked car and brought the van to a stock. Inspection found that the retaining bolt holding the belt tensioner pulley had snapped off causing the serpentine belt to come off and resulting in power steering failure. Inspection of the failed bolt by aircraft mechanics revealed that the bolt may have had as many as 5 internal stress cracks. Contacted Chrysler who took care of the repair,immediately. Repairs were made at the dealers the same day. Damaged parts were taken to the dealer service department. I was surprised to find out that this retaining bolt is not rated for high stress. If the breakage had happened at high speed it could have caused a serious accident. Suggest that these bolts be inspected and replaced at around 30,000 miles. Or replaced with a rated bolt. Locked up. Managed to turn the wheel and bring the van to a stop. Found that the bolt that retains the idler pulley and tensioner had snapped off, causing the serpantine belt to come off, resulting in power steering failure. Examination of the snapped bolt by aircraft mechanics indicated 5 possible stress cra.

See all problems of the 1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager 🔎.

Reported steering problem in Jul 98. Dealer said they were unable to duplicate failure. Dealer was cutter Chrysler Jeep of waipahu. It has been a problem since purchasing the vehicle and seems to be getting worse. Now the steering is locking-up (intermittently) when I go over a speed bump, causing loss of steering control. The windshield wiper problem was corrected by the same dealer on 24 Jul 98 as a malfunctioned switch that was on recall and they replaced it as a goodwill repair because vehicle was out of warranty by mileage only. It once agian is failing intermittently. Both of these I feel are traffic safety concerns that the manufacturer should research and correct immediately. The power distribution center I believe is intermittently shorting out and causing many small electrical problems like radio works, then doesn't, lights go on by themselves, and things like that. Once again I feel that if left uncorrected this may also pose a potential traffic safety issue. All three failures I feel are based on vehicle production line problems that may be affecting many vehicles in the same manner. Please advise on what to do. Thank you for your time and effort on my issues and concerns. Sincerely, louis c. Martinez.

This is the second time this has happened. The first time was 2 months after purchase. An exceptional amount of rain had fallen and many roads had standing water on them. While negotiating one spot (approx. 6-12 in) all power steering ability was lost. Assuming the belt was wet continued to drive until warning light and signal showed overheating. Discovered that serpentine belt had fallen off. Dealer replaced and informed that incident had been reported to Plymouth. Today same problem. Attempting to negotiate several instances of water, less than 25mph and suddenyl, no power steering. Personally reported to Plymouth and was informed that they had not heard any instances of this failure. Questioned dealer and was informed that they had seen it happen several times. Initial problem: tension pully has no edge to hold belt on if water gets between pulley and belt. Pulley is also smooth which causes belt to slip. Result: loss of power steering, loss of charging to battery, loss of power to drive headlights/wipers/air conditioning. Dangerous result: loss of control/visibility. Solution(?): replace smooth pulley with one that has edges and put grooves of some sort on the pulley to allow water to be sheeted off if it comes between the pulley and the belt.

See all problems of the 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager 🔎.

On 3 occasions the steering stopped working. I had no control over the direction of the vehicle. It lasted approx 2seconds. The dealership says a drip from the air conditioner is causing this and that the service bulletin tells them to add an ac spout, and auto tensioner and a belt (serp. ?). This is very dangerous and appears to be in quantities that makes the service people very familiar with this problem.

Engine shuts down repeatedly when decelerating; loss of power steering, brakes; may or may not restart immediately. O2 sensor, battery, ignition cables, belt drive & tensioner, 60k service, 3 service visits: problem still occurs, but less often. Twice, nearly lost control as ps & pbs failed in a turn; engine shuts down particularly while decelerating or braking, as in turns and at traffic lights. Worse when ac was on. Sounds to me as if an ignition controller shuts down under low voltage ("brown-out") conditions.

When driving in the rain or when going over rain puddles steering wheel locks up and makes it hard to contol vehicle. Contacted dealer, and dealer did not remedy problem.

Power steering assist fails when car is operated in rain. Problem occurs during turn and belt gets water on it. Dealer contacted and I was told that this is a design defect and that nothing is being done by Chrysler at this time. Without power assist, the steering is very difficult and could easily result in loss of control if the right set of conditions were present.

Vehicle would momentarily lose power steering during sharp left turns.

The drive belt appears to be defective. If this is the case, the power steering could go out. Occasionally, the power steering has locked up on me. The windshield wipers turn on whenever they want to. Several friends said they have the same problem with the Plymouth truck, voyagers or with the Dodge truck, caravans.

Consumer states when it rains and when making sharp turns the power steering will lock up. The dealer has repaired the vehicle.

When making a turn, the vehicle lost steering power. Please describe.

The vehicle is experiencing a loss of power steering,a/c,and the electrical system. Also, engine belt needs to be replaced. Dealer has replaced engine belt 3 times. The problem has happened 5 times.