I would love to find a decent one in reasonable shape. Even though 30 years old, it could be brought up to "modern" conveniences with add ons without the associated problems of BCM's/BCM's etc.

 

I would like to see the turbo one. With some mods it can do a 12 second quarter mile:Wow1:.

 

My brown 1985 has 38K miles on it, was towed and then stored, then my first I ever owned, the cream 1985, bought by me twice has 230K on it

 

I own Dodge Mini Ram Van (royal) in Czech republic, EU. Bought it two years ago, wasnt moving and stood for about 9 years. Me and my GF have replaced engine and restoring it, hoping for driving it soon as a daily driver for commuting and/or towing horse trailer.

 

We have a 1990 "Woody" with 132,000 miles 3.0 V6. The AC still blows cold and the cruise still works.

 

I just picked this up yesterday at an estate sale.

1990 Dodge Grand Caravan LE with 3.3 V6. 82,000 miles. Needs some work, brakes, exhaust, probably suspension. But not terrible, I picked it up for $1000. Might keep it, that was the original intent, but might flip it. I don't know. I don't want to destroy this thing.

It looks better in pictures then it really is.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hemipwr70/sets/72157644107125422

Ryan

 

I could imagine that cruising down the street, with the Beach Boys playing, wooden it be nice! :wink:

 

Devil: wow, this thing looks great! Keep it. At least until I get to USA and then sell it to me :-D

 

lol, well we shall see. I will start the brake work tomorrow. Once I am able to drive it more then a few miles I will see how I like it!

 

I have a 89 Caravan LE turbo with the factory sunroof. In the process of putting it back together

 

I have a 1990 3.0 LE maroon one with "wood" panels. A/C was not working when we bought it used in 2002 and we never fixed that. I have replaced brakes, c/v boots & half shafts, timing belt, tensioner & water pump, front wheel bearings (after someone gave me an arbor press) a few starters & an alternator, radiator(with cap), t-stat, serpentine belt shocks & struts, and other small stuff. The headliner is propped up into place with flexible poles so it doesn't sag down far enough to touch our heads. Now I'm troubleshooting why the intermittent function on the wipers doesn't work. Only works on high. While cleaning grease & dirt off back off wiper motor in preparation to remove it, I inadvertently nudged a wire, heard a click and now the intermittent function works again. Nice. Must have been a loose wire/bad/gunked up connection. Also, my automatic tranny doesn't want to shift into overdrive on very cold mornings. The tranny was replaced twice before we bought it. I haven't had any work done on that - just changed out the fluid and replaced the gasket a few years ago.
I recently stopped a gusher of an oil leak by replacing the failed oil pressure sending unit mounted on the side of the oil filter housing. Cheaper than buying another vehicle and I know it so intimately I hate to get rid of it. Don't know what I'll do if tranny goes. Engine smokes some and uses about a quart of oil a month. Seeps oil from everywhere but gaskets and seals are too hard to replace unless I decide to do an engine rebuild (never done that on any vehicle). It gets my wife to work and kids to school and useful for hauling stuff when we take the seats out. Flasher for 4 way hazard blinker is mounted to the rear of the fuse block up near where your feet normally are and it doesn't show up in the Haynes manual. Fun, fun.

 

1990 Caravan SE. Bought it brand new. 3.0 Engine . Smokes like all the rest like the one above.........But I just love this Vehicle. The 3.o litre Mitsu is running unbelievably strong as it did when new and now has 160 k miles on it.
This is not my daily driver but serves me well when I need to haul odds n ends.

Two weeks ago after doing the rear brakes the Rear Axle Tube broke as I was Jacking it up to release the Jack Stands. It was rusted through paper thin. Luckily I found a replacement at our local Pick N Pull and the van is now back as strong as ever.
Good thing this happened in the Driveway as opposed to on the highway.

On hindsight I wish I had flushed the cooling system especially the Heater Core every couple of years. Getting only half the warm air it used to put out. Guess its time for the heater core. Not looking forward to it.

 

hello, the heater core should be made of copper so you can clean it using Sodium hydroxide (NaOH). I did it with mine and it worked like a charm! just connect two hoses to the heater core (it can be installed in the vehicle), put NaOH in one of them, pour hot water in it. Put the other hose in a bucket and wait a few minutes. Then you can use compressed air to flush the core. You should repeat this process until the water looks clean or cleaner.

WARNING! Sodium hydroxide reacts agressively with H2O so pour the water slowly and use eye protection.

 

Thank you so much for your helpful information. Is there any concern that sodium hydroxide eats the metal in any way? You do mention a few minutes. Is that meant as maximum?

Thanks

 

hello again!

AFAIK sodium hydroxide should NOT get in contact with aluminium (some cars do have aluminium heater core such as my father-in-laws Kia Carnival (Sedona) but all voyagers I had did have Cu core). It should not do anything to Cu core but after a minute or two the reaction stops and it does not matter how long the substance stays within the heater core, nothing more happens. You can hear it quite well, believe me that you won't need to ask once you try it don't worry, though, nothing really dangerous happens.

I have put about 5 tea spoons in hose, used compressed air to move it to the core a bit, then I poured the water. Waited until the reaction got slower, flushed it with compressed air and started again. I did about 4 cycles and then I switched in/out hoses, don't know whether it is necessary, though. When I was done, I flushed the core with clean water in order to save my aluminium heads and coolant radiator from NaOH.

Sodium hydroxide is used as waste pipe cleaner here in europe. You might get it in general goods store in Canada, as well.



P.S.: I hope you understood me well. I had to write an essay in English for my final exams last Friday

 

(some cars do have aluminium heater core such as my father-in-laws Kia Carnival (Sedona

Yes.......I checked one of our online parts suppliers Rock Auto and my heater core is indeed Aluminum.

: I hope you understood me well. I had to write an essay in English for my final exams last Friday

Yes you did very well

From what I learned now from professional Radiator people is that the most effective cooling system maintenance is to change the coolant often and flush with water. Which of course I did not do. But I learned my lesson.

There is nothing that can be done in retrospect for a neglected cooling system regardless of chemicals used. Once the small passages are filled with crud......they must be physically cleaned by rodding each passage.

No amount of Air pressure or chemicals will make a difference unless it is performed as a Preventive maintenance along with frequent coolant changes.

 

I still have my 1989 Grand Caravan LE. 158k miles. Excellent interior. Exterior paint (Charcoal Metallic) shot. No rust. A/C has a leak I had time to track down. Been a great car. Debating on whether paint it and get another 5 years out of it. I've had the third seat out it and stored for many years.

 

I am sorry to hear your heater core is Al. Mine was Cu for sure.

as for chemical cleaning, mine core in 95 GV was not entirely plugged (water flowed through it) but the air coming from vents was not hot enough to warm the car even in this mild winter we had here this year (yes, our winter was VERY mild this year, wonder what was going on that EU and America switched their weather pattern ). I used the chemical substance I was talking about earlier and now I've got heat! It was much, much better afterwards. I would have to wait for about 50kms (app. 30 miles) to get at least something out of it, now it is hot after 8-12kms.

 

I rescued this bad boy from the crusher last year. It's a 1989 Caravan C/V with barn doors. Interior was disgusting, engine was disassembled and laying in the back of the van. I'm almost done with it now, tho, having added about every factory option from various Caravans I've scrounged the past 12 months, including an engine/transmission from an '88 with only 70k miles on it.

I had a longer story attached, but it went bye-bye while trying to sign in. Stay tuned!

-Jim

The pic was from the day I brought it home. Pretty gross looking!

 

Anybody have any advice as to replacing or restoring the wood trim upper and lower?

 

My mom's first minivan looked pretty much like that one.

Then she went through about 4 white ones in a row until all of us kids were out of the house.

 

Did a little fixing here and there. Next week she gets new struts and shocks. Still has the original ones! New hood ornament even.

Saw this on my way home today, might try to find a set of those mirrors.

Ryan

 

It is Dodge Mini Ram Van, similar to mine. I also do have these mirrors on my Mini Ram but I do have to get another set to replace them.

 

1990 C/V 3.3 L 253,000 miles Does anyone know how to replace ignition key switch w Tilt wheel? Thanks

 

You stick the key in, turn it to "unlock" (first click forward), there is a hole underneath the cylinder collar, use an allen key or metal rod to press the button in it and the whole cylinder should pull out. I did mine 8 years ago. Was very simple. The new one goes in the reverse way. Do you have a HAYNES manual? My only regret was not to "key" it to match the doors, so I now have 2 keys for the van. Make sure you periodically WD40 the door locks, so they don't wear out, too.

 

Tranny rebuild time (3rd time)

Does anyone know if any of the newer trannies match up with the 1990 3.3L and mounts? I've consistently gotten only 80,000 miles per rebuild on this model. Went out first time at 80,000, then 160,000, will soon be coming up on 240,000 in about 18 months, so want to be ready with options.

Does anyone know if the "European Diesel/tranny" combination will drop into the GEN 1 body? I've heard they get more MPG than the gas engines do (?). :ask_wsign

Still getting 20 - 22 MPG highway (pending which way the wind is blowing).

 

Joined a little while ago. I own a 1990 Voyager LE 3.0 Woody w/167,000 miles. Bought it used about 10 yrs ago with 99,900 miles. Previous owner put 2 new trannies in and a/c not working. I never fixed a/c but tranny has held up ok with a fluid & filter change once. Sometimes won't shift into high gear on really cold days. Quite a few oil leaks and have replaced starter twice & alternator once. Motor mounts, shocks, struts, brakes, water pump & timing belt, oil temp sending unit (was source of squirting oil leak!) & radiator all replaced on my watch. Tires & routine maintenance, too, along with some rusted out rear wheel well metal. Hauled heavy canoe on roof rack for first time recently (needs two people and do one end at a time - use ratchet straps good and tight). Burns some oil & I think about replacing valve guide seals but don't like thinking about tearing engine apart.