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J.K.

Welcome to the forum.
Avid Mountain bike and Cyclist. Grew up around the Chrysler vans, first being a 91 that had 604 fail, 2nd a 97 GC, and 3rd being a 4th gen.

Finally acquired my first a 96 Grand Voyager after a slew of cars when my buick died. Orig owner for 19 years hit a concrete median and deployed the bags, offered it to me for 50 bucks. It had 152k on it and was well maintained thus it drove fantastic, for 50 bucks i couldn't lose so I picked her up. I just hit 180k on it. It's been amazing vehicle for what I do:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJEdPQ2gC8J/?taken-by=xti90
https://www.instagram.com/p/BI_QxzLAPhl/?taken-by=xti90
https://www.instagram.com/p/9tkY-GtJOU/?taken-by=xti90
https://www.instagram.com/p/8W6telNJGO/?taken-by=xti90

Also picked up a 1999 GC with a 105k as a backup. Only issues i have had are corroding brake lines in the 99, and dieing Infinity radio in the 96.
 
Avid Mountain bike and Cyclist. Grew up around the Chrysler vans, first being a 91 that had 604 fail, 2nd a 97 GC, and 3rd being a 4th gen.

Finally acquired my first a 96 Grand Voyager after a slew of cars when my buick died. Orig owner for 19 years hit a concrete median and deployed the bags, offered it to me for 50 bucks. It had 152k on it and was well maintained thus it drove fantastic, for 50 bucks i couldn't lose so I picked her up. I just hit 180k on it. It's been amazing vehicle for what I do:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJEdPQ2gC8J/?taken-by=xti90
https://www.instagram.com/p/BI_QxzLAPhl/?taken-by=xti90
https://www.instagram.com/p/9tkY-GtJOU/?taken-by=xti90
https://www.instagram.com/p/8W6telNJGO/?taken-by=xti90

Also picked up a 1999 GC with a 105k as a backup. Only issues i have had are corroding brake lines in the 99, and dieing Infinity radio in the 96.
I had to reflow all the solder joints on the infinity speakers in my 97GV. The rear 6x9's and the 5x7 door speakers have an amplifier built into the speaker. They would cut out intermittently, by carefully prying off the plastic cover over the pcb, I was able to get to all the poor solder joints with a soldering iron. They worked perfectly afterwards.
 
I had to reflow all the solder joints on the infinity speakers in my 97GV. The rear 6x9's and the 5x7 door speakers have an amplifier built into the speaker. They would cut out intermittently, by carefully prying off the plastic cover over the pcb, I was able to get to all the poor solder joints with a soldering iron. They worked perfectly afterwards.
Neat. One of my speakers has cut out, wonder if that's the problem.

The head unit...all the buttons barely work as it seems like i have to push them really hard. The vol knob barely functions so I have it set to go as loud as it can go and use the 5 band equilizer and fader as volume. Then FM radio doesnt work, sometimes i can hit the dash and then it works. I was primarily using a cassette adapter with it but now it just kicks it out.

Was glad to find out that the rear radio connections are the same for non infinity system...just curious on how the radio triggers the relay for the speaker amps? And how that implements with aftermarket head unit?

I like how my 96 is optioned...with alloy wheels (though harsher), cloth interior panels, infinity, ABS, no rear air/heat. Wish it had Captains chairs though (even though both benches are 100% removed).

Wish my 99 was the same as it doesnt have ABS, infinity, has all plastic interior panels, no captains...i will say the steel wheels and tires are less harsh, road noise seems quite a bit less but that might be due to tires and rust on the 96.

All in all i do like the way these 3rd gens design and how they drive compared to the gm ford equivalents!



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
I believe there is a blue wire on the factory harness which turns the amplifier's in the speakers on. You simply connect this wire to the 'remote turn on' lead on an aftermarket head unit, which is often a blue wire itself. It's the same wire on the head unit which you would connect to an aftermarket amplifier.

I've fixed this on two other Dodge vehicles with Infinity sound, the owner replaced the head unit with an aftermarket and forgot to connect the blue wires as it wasn't in the instructions(it might have been brown or orange). In both cases, they thought the speakers were all blown but as soon as the amps had a signal to turn on they worked fine.
 
My parents bought the first Plymouth minivan back in '86(?) with the dinky 2.5ish L engine. Towing a trailer it would just hit 65...then upshift and slow down to 60.

I got their '92 in '96 and had 132,000 miles on it in 2003 when they offered me the relatively new 2000 Chrysler T&C LXi. I was hesitant at first because with the '92 I'd already replace or fixed the muffler, AC evaps front and rear, water pump, and the rack blew it's seals at 130,000 miles.

But I'm happy I did take the LXi because so far, apart from the crappy OEM AC Evaps, has been a solid car. Water pump didn't fail until 112,000 miles; radiator last year in May on a trip to Colorado it sprang a leak...fixed with Barz and replaced in Houston that June, and it was absolutely flawless this year for the annual trip to Estes Park from Houston. Cruised solidly at 75-85 mph all the way.

As of 133,000 miles and 16.5 yrs of service:

Replaced the plugs myself.
Replaced the radiator, also myself...lot's of fun in 97 degree heat.
Double sided gates v-belt for the belt throwing, then put on the new bracket per the TSB and found it did NOT help at all.
Struts and shocks with the rears getting the Monroe load leveler coil overs. Very nice with a full load for the highway.
Put on powerstop discs and pads last year, made a difference.
Retrofit LEDs into all the interior lights.
12" ported subwoofer with 1000w amp to provide the missing bottom octave for the infinity sound system which lost some low end between the '92 and the '96 redesign.
Replaced the rear-most hatch pillar tweeters because the foam surround was shot.
Retrofit the old 5 band graphic eq + cassette head unit in place of the mostly useless 3 band + CD head unit from 2000 because I like the 5 band over the 3.

Oh! Built a 6 band subwoofer graphic EQ for the van and put the knobs on the fascia trim panel below the head unit. 25, 31, 40, 50, 60, 85 hz.

Needs to have the headliner replaced...but apart from that, the van, at current usage, should be good another 17-25 yrs.
 
.....should be good another 17-25 yrs.
I wish I could be that optimistic with mine.

Lucky you live in Texas where its dry and you don't have a deep freeze/salt bath/giant potholes for 5 months of the year.

Most 3rd gens up here have returned to the earth as an orange stain on the ground of some scrapyard. (Mine is still in great shape. lots of maintenance though).

Good job!
 
Hmmm...didn't put a sig line on...but if I did...
1976 - 1989 - Chevette...sold still running at 132,000 miles
1984 - 1996 - Mazda 626...sold still running at 192,000 miles
1989 - 2009 - Mazda Protege SOHC (rare) sold mostly running but really not well at 262,000 miles
1996 - 2003 - Dodge Grand Caravan sold still running at 132,000 miles (and oh how I miss those headlights!!)
Current:
2005 - present - Toyota Corolla 136,000 flawless little car
2000 - present - Chrysler T&C Lxi , 132,000 3.8l 4spd, not quite as flawless, but pretty dang near <<< gave her a bday present - an official Chrysler "100,000 mile Club" license plate frame.
 
Hmmm...didn't put a sig line on...but if I did...
1976 - 1989 - Chevette...sold still running at 132,000 miles
1984 - 1996 - Mazda 626...sold still running at 192,000 miles
1989 - 2009 - Mazda Protege SOHC (rare) sold mostly running but really not well at 262,000 miles
1996 - 2003 - Dodge Grand Caravan sold still running at 132,000 miles (and oh how I miss those headlights!!)
Current:
2005 - present - Toyota Corolla 136,000 flawless little car
2000 - present - Chrysler T&C Lxi , 132,000 3.8l 4spd, not quite as flawless, but pretty dang near <<< gave her a bday present - an official Chrysler "100,000 mile Club" license plate frame.
? What are you celebrating?
 
Can't take much previous credit for it but my '96 Grand Caravan 3.8l has just over 270,000 miles now. Engine transmission runs nice. I got the mv 2 months ago and so far installed a new radiator, new plugs and new wires, did the oil and filter, and did the transmission fluid and filter.
 
I have over 300,000 miles on my 2000 Voyager.
The van is partially rebuilt, including literally half the engine.
I expect to get at least another 10-15 years out of it but I also expect to put an engine and/or trans in it during that time.
 
We just crossed 355,000 miles in our '98 GV. We are, however, making plans to get another vehicle sometime in the next 6 months; we drive this van on long trips all over the U.S., but it's definitely wearing out. As a family of five we're finally starting to get concerned about its reliability, so I'm starting to look at newer vehicle options for the first time in 11 years. The current debate is whether we want to focus on an '11 ~ '13 Sienna with <100k miles, or on a '14 ~ '16 GC/T&C with <60k miles. We like the 2nd row bench seat option on the GC/T&C.

- G
 
Sorry I can't take a picture as my instrument cluster went out at 395K+ That was over a year ago. My van, a 1996 3.3, probably has in the neighborhood of 420K now. No clinks, no clangs, no squeaks in the engine. Cranks without hesitation.
 
Sorry I can't take a picture as my instrument cluster went out at 395K+ That was over a year ago. My van, a 1996 3.3, probably has in the neighborhood of 420K now. No clinks, no clangs, no squeaks in the engine. Cranks without hesitation.
Being a 96 vehicle, doesn't sounds like a high mileage vehicle, if well kept, you should be able to enjoy your vehicle for many more kilometers.
 
My '99 Grand Voyager just rolled over 200,000! To celebrate, I gave her a new Continental Elite (formerly Goodyear Gatorback) serpentine belt. I have discovered that changing that belt is much easier if I jack up that side and remove the engine splash cover. Trying to get that belt under the PS pulley, over the tensioner, and back under the crank pulley from the top can really stretch ones vocabulary. Knowhutimean, Vern?
Right now it's 200,017 miles on the clock. Not the best pic, but it's the best my cellphone could do. :eek:
Speedometer Odometer Auto part Vehicle Gauge
 
We're up to 266K miles on our 1997 Grand Voyager SE with the 3.3 engine. As others have pointed out, proper maintenance can make a huge difference in the life of a vehicle. We bought this with only 170K miles and it was on it's third transmission (they kept good maintenance records). When the engine spun a rod bearing one month later it became clear to me that the only maintenance it ever received was the result of a breakdown, no preventive maintenance. Since replacing the old engine with one from a junkyard of unknown mileage it has been fine. In fact this engine has done remarkably well. The transmission has only needed a new speed sensor and I just got it back on the road after replacing all the seals on it. That ATF 4+ is downright expensive and can be hard to find but it's the key to keeping these transmissions going.
 
Good day to all! My 1st thread. Mine is a 2000 Dodge Caravan base with 3.0 litre V6 but fully equiped otherwise with 2 sliding door, A/C, Powerwindows, rear defrost, am/fm stereo cassette! LOL... Has approx. 165500 kilometers or 100,000 miles. Am from Canada. Bought from my grandmother in 2006. Used it of course as a family hauler. My other vehicule is a 2016 Chevrolet Traverse. Love my Caravan! Nice website. I checked in to solve a coolant leak problem. Most probably metal rear heater pipes rusted/busted. Thank you.
 
Welcome to the Forum.
We still have some avid 3rd Generation Owners here, mistypotato coming to mind.
 
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