01-07 Gen Chrysler minivans with 3.3 & 3.8 engines

Rack and pinion steering gears: On the rare occasions I met one that didn’t leak, it’s because the rack has already been replaced. They leak through the end seals of the rack and slowly fill up the bellows boots. Every now and then, you just won’t see the leak until you’re pulling the boots to replace inner tie rods.

Power steering fluid reservoirs: There’s an ultra fine filter screen built into these reservoirs that eventually gets plugged up by contamination from normal wear. The most common symptom for a plugged reservoir is the van will start up nice and quiet and normal and within a minute or so, develop a power steering whine. The power steering pumps themselves are very reliable components so always try replacing the reservoir and fluid first before thinking about condemning the pump. I used to see this chronically in a taxi fleet, and while much less common in personal vehicles, it still shows up on occasion.

Water pumps: They usually start leaking through their weep hole. Once in a great while, part of the impeller will break in the housing causing an overheat problem. The shrapnel that broke off the impeller tends to disappear somewhere into the engine. I’ve never had any problems with that shrapnel finding its way back into the pump housing to damage the new pump though.

Transmission solenoid packs: There are too many weird transmission symptoms to tell you about here so I’ll simply say that many of them can be solved by replacing the solenoid pack. The one symptom you’ll probably see most often is “limp mode”. You get second gear and that’s it until the problem is solved. Do get it accurately diagnosed though. Failed input and output shaft sensors aren’t entirely uncommon and they can cause no shift and bang shift conditions.

Auxiliary heater core lines: From 01 through about 05 of this generation, any van with secondary heat in the rear had steel lines from the factory to feed that rear heater core. They run across and then down the firewall and under the van on the passenger side. They’re very well exposed to the weather at the bottom and are very prone to rusting out. The replacement lines are always aluminum; both by dealer and aftermarket. It was either 06 or 07 when they finally started installing the aluminum lines from the factory. Those of you living in hot and dry climates probably won’t have a clue what I’m talking about here.

Rear AC systems: Most of your AC leaks that I’ve seen in a front and rear AC system come from a leak between the H-block and the thermal expansion valve attached to the rear evaporator. You’ll generally wind up replacing both of them every time. The H-block is exposed to enough weather and dirt under the van that the studs holding the two pieces together break when you try to turn the nuts off. I’m sure this is one more instance where you kids in Arizona are pretty sure I don’t know what I’m talking about. You might be on to something there, but we’d have to discuss some other subject matter first.

Fuel injector wiring harness: Early on in this generation, the harness sat too close to an exhaust pipe and it got all kinds of burnt and melted. Even later on in the generation after some revisions, I’ve still seen wires starting to melt and fuse together in those harnesses. If new plugs & wires didn’t solve your P030X codes, that harness might be a good place to look next.

Cracked flywheels: Almost forgot this one. A cracked flywheel can get you odd knocking/rapping noise and power loss problems. The crack goes all the way around the mounting bolts and then the flywheel can shift and get itself wedged a few degrees from where it should be. With starting and stopping the engine, the flywheel can shift and wedge itself back to where it started letting the van run fairly normal again.

Power sliding door failures: There’s a plastic chain that houses the wiring harness for the power door option. The wiring typically breaks at the rear end of that chain from everyday use. I recommend getting the OE harness. I recall aftermarket chains having fitment problems that could ultimately lead to the harness just pulling itself apart.