Engine Belts And Pulleys problems of the 1996 Plymouth Voyager

The contact owns a 1996 Chrysler Voyager. After purchasing the vehicle, the defogger failed to operate normally. The driver had to stop the vehicle in order to clean the windows. There have been several failures with the vehicle since it was purchased. The engine was rebuilt and the serpentine belt was replaced on five occasions. The steering was replaced incorrectly by a dealer and was authorized by the manufacturer to be replaced. The brakes and the heating system were replaced under the extended warranty; however, the brakes were replaced four times. The contact was charged $100 per visit. Invoices are available if needed. A complaint was also filed with the state attorney general. The contact is disabled and aware of the safety risk involved in the numerous vehicle failures. On March 27, 2008, the dealer replaced the manifold and cylinder. On April 14, 2008, while making a right turn at approximately 30 mph, the steering wheel locked. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer. The dealer stated that they really care about their customers and would be willing to do a buyout. The powertrain was unknown. The failure mileage was 68,000 and current mileage was 80,995.

The contact owns a 1996 Plymouth Voyager. Since November of 2003, the transmission has been replaced three different times. After purchasing a brand new transmission, it failed again the very same day and needed to be replaced again. The contact has had the top half of the engine rebuilt. The vehicle is stuck in drive and will not hold fluid. The front windshield wipers activate without a power surge in the vehicle. In addition, the rear bolts keep coming out of the shocks. The contact has taken the vehicle to have the bolts tightened three or four times. The engine is ticking and smoking. The serpentine belt slips off if it gets even slightly wet from snow or rain. The check engine light sporadically flashes on and off or constantly remains illuminated. The air conditioner was completely serviced; however, it cannot be used because of the transmission failure. The current mileage was 155,000 and failure mileage was 116,250. Update 09/10/08 updated 09/15/08.

I own a 1996 Plymouth Voyager and on this min van the wipers act very erratic. They work when they want. Sometimes they won't shut off and other times they will not come on at all or stop right in the middle of your view. I also have an issue with the serpentine belts popping off the drive line leaving you with no power steering or power brakes and completely disables the vehicle. I also experience issues with the rear shocks. The bolts come loose and detaches the rear shick from the van leaving it quite uncontrollable while driving. All 3 issues happens on many occasions. All 4 of these defects make this van very dangerous to drive or travel with. Currently my van is sitting in my drive with a bad transmission. I have owned the van for 5 years now and in 5 years I have blown 3 transmissions.

I had to replace 5 serpentine belts and 2 fan belts in the past 2 years, along with the pulleys twice. The alignment was checked to. But for some reason it keeps happening. I call a dealership where I bought the vehicle and they said no recall on this year but on the 1995, I told them that my car was made oct. 1995. I didn't have work done at the dealer since I couldn't get time off from work. So I used a shop near my job. The van is making the same noise again that it makes before the belt fails, a chripping and squeal.

Waterpump replaced 7 times. Four by dealer 3 by my mechanic. Tensioner twice. Dealer has not said that this is a common problem.

Tensioner snaps off while driving and vehicle loses power steering and belts. Contacted dealer, and dealer stated this was a difficult part to check. Consumer stated that serpentine belt and/or tensioner have failed repeatedly, this is the 3rd failure of this system in less than 3 years.

The belt tensioner failed, there was a recall on the clock spring which had broken, the transaxle pan side converter and the steering pump had rusted.

Drive belt tensioner broke while driving on a rural part of I-20 in texas. These can only be replaced at a Dodge dealer. It leaves you in a terrible position in the country at night with no help available.

The bolt holding tension pulley in place broke off, causing serpentine belt to break followed by loss of power steering , all electrical, and power brakes at speed of 50 mph. Vehicle had to be towed; in addition to replacing damaged parts, have had to replace battery and possibly starter or alternator within 7 days of accident.

Serpentine and tensioner belt are loose. Yh.

Power steering went out when driving through mudd puddles at 40 mph or in car wash. Taken to dealer, belt had come off. Repaired it, but had no answer why it happened. This has happened lots of times. Also, windshield wipers came on while driving, switch has been replaced 5 times. The main belt failed. The water pump failed. The transmission was leaking. The a/c compressor went out burning on freeway.

The bolt holding the tension pulley broke causing the serpentine to fail and resulted in damage to the power streeing pump,water pump, gasket and fan sensor. Yh.

Windshield wipers turn on intermittently by themselves, do not turn off properly & often stop in middle of windshield. Engine stalls repeatedly, especially during hot weather or after highway driving. Tension pulley has failed/is failing resulting in belt squaling and premature failure, belt has been replaced twice at owners expense.

Tensioner pulley on serpentine belt system of engine has failed twice since I have owned this vehicle. First failure was at approximately 30,000 miles. Pulley had seized on its bearings, and stopped turning. The failure forced the serpentine belt to run continuously against a non-rotating member of the belt drive train. This failure did not cause the belt to break, however it did cause premature wear on the belt. If the failure had not been detected, the belt would have broken due to fatigue and heat related stress, causing loss of power steering assist, and power brake assist, as well as loss of engine water pump function, and loss of alternator function. Dealer replaced the pulley assembly at approx 30,000 miles. The replacement subsequently failed somewhere prior to reaching 54,000 miles, and failed in the same manner -- it seized on its bearings and stopped turning. Dealer again replaced pulley assembly. Two failures of the same subassembly indicates to me that this particular component has an inherent design flaw. Undetected failure of this part can lead to sudden loss of the serpentine belt which will cause instant loss of power steering assist and power brake assist, either of which can lead to a serious accident.

Complained about noise and excessive belt load from first year onward.

Serpentine belt tensioner bolts broke.

Consumer pulled out from stop light and was driving approximately 15 mph when the serpentine tension pulley broke. Consumer lost control of steering, and the anti-lock brakes failed. There was little to no manual braking when applied. Consumer's vehicle was towed to laurel Chrysler-Plymouth garage on eisenhower blvd. Johnstown, PA. (814-266-2345) where vehicle was purchased. Dealer fixed vehicle free of charge to consumer and returned on September 23, 1997.

Vehicle has grinding noise coming from the front drive belt.

Driving at a speed of 45mph, heard a noise under the hood, engine belt broke, causing a loss of power.

When driving there is a cracking noise and when hitting bumps there is more noise intermittently. Dealer contacted numerous times, attempted to repair the vehicle, replaced the sway bar cushion and bushing, and problem still exists. Brakes were making noise from the rear due to shoe and lining, brake assembly failure. Rear right or left brake drum worn out. There is a driping noise from engine due to tensioner/pulley failure.