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Chrysler Town & Country 2001 3.8 L
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MerchantSC
New User
Jan 15, 2011, 9:51 AM
Post #1 of 2
(1741 views)
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Chrysler Town & Country 2001 3.8 L
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I may have a belt problem on my van. It's just my guess, but let me describe what happened and maybe you can help me virtually diagnose this....
Last night the car started to act funny. A typical light squeak I always hear stopped. I was idling waiting for my daughter so I wasn't moving at the time...
Then the battery light came on. But my battery is only a couple years old and it was running so I thought that was odd. As I pulled forward I noticed my power steering was no longer working. Made me nervous, but it was cold and we had to get home so I drove the 5-10 minutes home. The trip home was just as interesting. The car started to heat up too much (a warning light came on, but the temp dropped) and the electronics in the car started to act funny. I've always had some issues with the car's electrical stuff acting odd, but this was more than normal.
I tried starting it last night but got a rapid clicking and nothing turned over so I let it sit.
When I tried this AM it started. I had the hood open and I noticed that a belt that was not moving - it's the one that goes over the alternator, under some wheel and i think wraps around the power steering and a few other things. Shut the engine off and I tugged the belt a bit and it seemed pretty loose, didn't know if it should have that much give or if it's supposed to be snug. That made sense to me, but I'm just guessing.. if it helps with power steering (lost that) and battery (alternator) it could account for some of the failures....
i believe that's some sort of timing belt and if that's a problem, how hard is it to change? Seems like a tight fit to reach in there and it wraps around a lot of things. I don't exactly have a lot of tools at my disposal, but I'm willing to try. I can afford a big repair bill and I think my car is doing this to torture me. 
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Loren Champlain Sr
Veteran
/ Moderator
Jan 17, 2011, 6:31 PM
Post #2 of 2
(1730 views)
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Re: Chrysler Town & Country 2001 3.8 L
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Merchant; This engine uses a mechanical belt tensioner. Keeps the serpentine belt tight. Very common for the tensioner to take a dump. Seeing that this post is two days old, you've probably figured this out, already???
Loren
SW Washington
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