it's one of the chronic problems with the 3.3L V6. The tensioner fails,
in my case on a '98 Grand Caravan the bracket bent out of alignment at
37,000 miles, causing belt slippage, glazing, squealing and a ratcheting
sound at start-up. Can eventually throw the belt. There is a
replacement tensioner that fixes the mounting/alignment issue. Sad
commentary on "Chrysler engineering".


Jim Candela wrote:

>Hi,
>
> My 1999 Caravan has been wonderful for 82,000 miles. My only real
>complaint was about the brakes until last week. While taking my kid to
>school in the rain, the serpentine belt popped off. It was original, and
>still looks pretty good to me. I replaced the belt anyway, and learned a few
>things:
>
>1.) The AutoZone de-tensioner that they rent is a POS, and I did better with
>a ratcheting box end 15 mm wrench with a cheater bar over the other end. The
>trick is to get the tensioner retracted enough before the tool hits an
>obstruction. The AutoZone tool could not do that.
>
>2.) The internet is full of Dodge hating folk that lose their serpentine
>belts whenever it gets a little wet. Apparently there was never a recall,
>and all a dealer will do is replace parts where the fault appears to be in
>the design. The only sure thing after servicing the problem is the bill will
>be stiff.
>
>3.) I have run across some references concerning a bracket used in snow
>states, and some other guy that uses GM parts to fix the problem. The
>bracket part number was not a good one, and the GM guy wants money to make
>it worth his while.
>
> So far the new belt is staying on. I can however see that the tensioning
>idler is a little bit crooked, and I guess this is the crux of the problem.
>Many folk seem to trade the van off because they won't dare let the wife or
>daughter drive it around because they fear that they will get stranded.
>
>I wonder how widespread this problem is, and what the folks on this group
>have been doing about it?
>
>Regards,
>Jim Candela
>