Register
Events
Popular
More
Post #1481
Not difficult at all as far as parts complexity, but you may find it a bit tight underneath the car. I suggest putting it on four jack stands to give yourself some literal breathing room underneath it.
It's flat impossible to not end up behind someone on the road. Don't be stupid.
By bug I take it he means you're supposed to do something to the electrical system to break it. Find the crank position sensor and disconnect that. I guarantee you it will make them rage.
It is a Chrysler, actually.
What the god damn fuck did Dodge do to get that unreliable heap of shit onto a best selling platform list? 160,000 miles, immaculate service, never abused, and the transmission is FUCKED.
The Fords? One has 300K, one has 200K, one has 194K, all three have perfect gearboxes and none of them have been rebuilt. The one with 300K has been beat on and neglected as well, and on top of that it's ten years older.
Fuck Caravans. they're disposable heaps of shit.
Then why is mine sitting in my driveway with no fourth gear and burnt transmission fluid when the Fords we have work flawlessly? We have one F150 with 300,000 miles on it, another F150 that just past 200K, and a '97 Explorer with 194K on it's original powertrain. All three run flawlessly. The '96 Caravan with 160K on the clock? NO FOURTH GEAR FOR YOOUUU!
Looking past the Ultradrive failure, the engine runs like ass. It misfires, it stumbles, it has no power, it's sometimes hard to start. The ignition switch is going out as well, sometimes you have to jiggle it to get the van to power up. It's got a parasitic drain too, killed a brand new battery in two weeks of sitting. When it was running it only averaged 14-16MPG, no better than the Fords can muster. It barely revved past 4500 when you buried it, just fell flat on it's face. There was no power to speak of. Every bushing was clunking like crazy, the axles were popping, the dome light didn't work, the driver's side power window didn't work properly(REAL slow to roll up), T the seat position memory didn't work, the power mirrors didn't work, the headlights were so dim they might as well not be there at all, the paint is flaking off in six inch chunks, the gauges don't work when it's cold, it creeps around like the throttle can't close more than 25%, the parking brake needs to be jammed to the firewall if it is to hold the engine back, and there's numerous shot body seals that make it whistle like crazy on the freeway. Lastly, the head liner is collapsing and several of the doors covering the storage containers up front have literally fallen off to the point you can't use them.
And don't get me started on the 'comfort'. There is none for the driver. The steering wheel isn't centered with the seat, there's no legroom for someone 6' tall, the dashboard doesn't hardly tell you a damn thing(Fuel, water temp, RPM, speed, PRNDL status, that's it? Where's my oil pressure? Where's my amperes? Where's my tranny oil temp?). The seat reminds me of those desks they have in high schools. The seatbelts try to strangle me. The airbag in the steering wheel is so big it obscures what precious few gauges you do have if it is turned more than 90º or so. Oh, and getting to the parking brake is an exercise in contortionism, and releasing it ends up with the hood ajar as often as it doesn't thanks to Dodge's bright idea to put the hood release where you expect the parking brake release to be.
Chrysler minivans are disposable junkheaps that were built to warranty. Once you get past the warranty you're supposed to trade it in/scrap it and buy the new model. They have all the longevity of an ice cube in the middle of the Sahara, and I wouldn't buy one if you held me at gunpoint and ordered me to. If I want a van I'll buy a Chevy Astro, mainly because those things will last forever. They're just a longbed regular cab Silverado underneath the van body, and I've NEVER heard anyone say those were unreliable.
If you're wondering how we acquired the Caravan, relax, we didn't buy that heap. It was given to us for free by my grandfather on my mom's side. He bought a '98, didn't need the '96, and we were relying on my 300K+ mile F150 for EVERYTHING. The only 'cost' was putting me on a bus to Florida and then driving the van back. Funnily enough, aside from some clunking and flaking paint, it ran fine on the trip up. But it started falling apart within three months of getting it to Tennessee.
-
-
We picked up the Eunos MX5 today! for a 20 year old car it is incredibly tight, and looks like a great basis for our track plans, if the weather is a bit nicer tomorrow ill get some pictures up!
-
Ahh, I want to get an MX5, and get it completely track ready!
Strip everything that doesn't need to be in it, improve the suspension, K&N intake, and get an exhaust system... Get it done right! ;D
-
Trust me, they are set for sale... i dont want them, i want 16' Borbert A's instead
The guy who had it before has ruined the entire exhaust, just today i ordered a new complete exhaust from http://www.supersprint.com/
:)
-
Ahh, good, good. I'd suggest at the minimum re-packing the wheel bearings when you do get the new wheels, although replacing them wouldn't hurt.
-
Those wheel bearing are non-serviceable.
-
Derp design. Should be repackable. Oh well, I'd still change 'em if it was mine.
-
Whoa there man, sounds like you've had a really bad experience, my lord. 96 must have been a bad year. My 98 has 263,000Km and is still running mostly the parts it came from the factory including the trans. Also, all my options (everything electrical) works fine, and the motor is in almost pristine condition.
Am I saying you did something wrong? No, but it's weird to me nonetheless. The transmissions are weak on any Chrysler from the 90's for sure though. Also, I'm 6"2 and it's the most comfortable thing ever, so wat
-
Anybody in canada wanna buy a 95 saturn?
No ?
:< its really reliable
-
Most wheel bearings are like that... Not every car is an old pickup truck, with dinosaur bearings. If it were mine I'd check bearing play and replace if needed but there is no point in replacing a wheel bearing that is perfectly fine.
-
Yes they are
They are the same as for a Passat i35
-
You can change them, but you can't pack them with grease.
That's what servicing a bearing means -- check it for wear, repack it with grease, reinstall. You have a sealed bearing, you have to replace the entire unit. Sealed bearings are non-serviceable.
-
Fuck I want to get a car-related job so I can start learning more about them, but most of them require me to be 18+. Only a couple months left but this waiting is too intense aaaaaa
-
Anybody interested in a free VIN check? I've got a one month unlimited pass with Autocheck.
Just PM me the VIN of a car you want checked out.
-
The fuck is that?
-
man the wait before a car you purchased is ready is the most awful thing ever
-
Vehicle Identification Number, you can find out a lot about a car with checkers, like original car colour any reported accidents, reported stolen or lost ectect
-
Really bad is an understatement. It's pretty much made my whole family swear off any Mopar newer than 1985. It's not the only Chrysler that's given us problems, either, though it certainly has given us the most.
We also had an '87 Dakota that ran fine, but then a stoner blew the bellhousing up by driving it on pavement in 4Hi. We never could get it to work again, we put three transmissions in it before we just gave it away to a local guy that picks parts off of cars. All three gearboxes failed within 200 miles. We had a '94 minivan as well, and that was a heap of rust. And I mean that literally. The driver's door was held on by luck and good wishes. That also had a miss, although oddly a solid transmission. And then this 96 has given us more problems in 30,000 miles than my F150 has given us in 100,000 miles, and the van's such a bitch to work on that my dad and I flat refuse to even try to turn a wrench on it ourselves. So it costs more to fix it than it does the Ford, which we do the work on ourselves.
We absolutely hate that vile thing. We're going to give it to my cousin, who has decent luck with Mopars. She's gonna have a tranny put in it, and I wish her the best of luck. Personally I'd ship it to the Mythbusters and be done with it, but my name's not on the title so oh well.
From the research I've done 96 was, indeed, a horrible year for them. That was the year that the majority of the bad Ultradrives were made. There was huge, sweeping recalls and buybacks.
Our van was given a clean bill of health when it was taken in for that recall, so they didn't replace the transmission.
They may have adjusted the footwell a bit. Either that, or the seat's fubar as well in mine.
-
I should be getting my Blazer by the end of next week, at the most. My uncle already mailed the 2500$, he -really- wants my- err, his truck back.
-
Sounds like your trans should have been swapped but the people working there were lazy, lol. And yeah, in mine at least the footwell is pretty roomy. I've had to do 300 mile trips in it and was comfortable the whole time (and I don't believe in cruise control).
-
Jesus dude, this is a forum, not a CAD comic.
-
I get to check out my blazer tomorrow. should be rad.
-
But in the end the wait is very very much worth it!
-
Sealed bearing are best for application where there is a minimal level of lubrification (in this case, grease). It prevent dirt and fluid from entering and ruining the tight tolerance on the balls, resulting in a overall, longer bearing life within reasonable specs.
ps: I'm totally not studying in mechanical engineering
-
hey you live near me want a saturn
-
My 'tiac is fine
Sent you a PM.
-
As did I, Always wanted to know what my car had been through, if any of it was even recorded.
-
Aspiring to be a buyer of a sans ABS 80's car, I was wondering, are there any aftermarket ABS systems out there?
-
Fuck ABS. You're better off learning out the right braking technique than relying on your electric control taking control of your brakes. It pisses me off, at least mine gets off when I smash it hard enough. But yeah, mine short-circuit itself so it's even more annoying.
-
abs is dangerous
-
I gotta admit, I'm not too impressed with ABS either (especially on my car, which has possibly the most retarded ABS and TCS available on a car).
-
I should record my ABS Short-circuiting someday. It's like a very loud buzzing noise and stupid braking control, it nearly made me do a 180 one time. It does it everywhere when it shorts, even on perfectly dry pavement. Dear god. Need to re solder those wires properly, but not worth it, they short so rapidly
Not very safe.
-
My ABS works perfectly in every car I've owned.
-
Not on topic, but CubeMan reminded me of :
-
Your like the 50th person to say that to me
-
You won't need it if you look more than fifteen feet ahead of you and don't overdrive for the conditions. The only time I've ever triggered the ABS in a vehicle that had it at all is when I've intentionally mashed the brakes just to confirm it works.
And I'm by no means an 'expert' driver. I'm just average.
For the record it is possible to retrofit ABS to some cars, models where this is possible will have retained the same unibody and suspension into the mid 90s when it became commonplace, but you're better off learning to drive in such a manner that you don't need it at all. Good drivers never need their ABS, bad drivers rely on it.
Edited:
I should record my ABS Short-circuiting someday. It's like a very loud buzzing noise and stupid braking control, it nearly made me do a 180 one time. It does it everywhere when it shorts, even on perfectly dry pavement. Dear god. Need to re solder those wires properly, but not worth it, they short so rapidly Not very safe.
Just pull the fuse and disable the system entirely.
-
This is why manufacturers switched to sealed bearings decades ago.
I really don't know why anyone would prefer an unsealed bearing, it's extra maintenance that you shouldn't have to do.
-
So i realized my car is a hybrid.
Burns gasoline and rubber.
-
ABS in Renault is useless. I was driving down a small icy hill towards a road and started braking and the ABS started to fuck with the brakes so I slowed down way too little and almost slammed into the side of another car. I slammed the brakes even harder and then ABS stopped interfering and then the car actually started slowing down.
-
My ABS has saved my ass a couple times like when cars decide to cut across 4 empty lanes to be in the furthest left lane doing less than the speed limit and far less than the speed I was doing. Although all of these happened in the rain where braking is much more touchy, with the Hawk ceramic pads and stainless brakelines I've put on my car ABS is rather nice as well. Despite how much you guys might feel that you're professional drivers when a frightening and sudden situation happens it's pretty damn likely for you to lock them.
I'm not aware of any aftermarket systems, it would also be a huge fucking pain to swap over all of the ABS components from a trim or model of your car so that it would work. Older ABS systems are also very likely to have failed by now as I've yet to see a pre-OBD2 ABS system to be working on any Honda I've come across.
Edited:
ABS is absolutely terrible when it interferes with braking though, in the snow/ice it's a total joke.
Informative x 2
Dumb x 2
Winner x 4
Friendly x 1
Disagree x 1
Funny x 3
Agree x 1
Zing x 1
Useful x 1
