Caravan

1999

Dodge

SE

Cypress Green

Sport

Original owner; regular oil changes; mechanical repairs by pros, as needed (new water pump, coolant hoses, and maybe other stuff) ... until I became a single mom after Hurricane Katrina. Still kept up with regular oil changes, air filter replaced maybe once, and it started going down hill. Since I wasn't paying attention to regular maintenance for gasket replacements and such, I ended up with blown gaskets and leaks everywhere causing an engine full of grime and a whole lotta catching up to do. With no one to help, no money to replace the van, and the expense of bringing it to a shop being more than the van is worth, I learned how to fix it myself from YouTube videos. It now has new valve cover, upper and lower manifold, EGR, and some smaller gaskets here and there. Tranny fluid, filter and gasket changed, vacuum line connectors and lines replaced, fuel injector O-rings replaced, and a lot of cleaning that didn't do much good in the plenum, lower manifold, and under valley gasket. Changed the oil when I was done with that and the gasket blew. A "car-knowledgeable" friend replaced the oil pan and gasket a little over a year ago, used RTV on a Fe-Pro dry gasket. He also replaced the struts after his wife had a minor accident while driving it and helped me replace the power window motors and switches, front D & P sides. D sign window switch button broke off after only a little more than a year. Serpentine belt will also be changed soon. My concern right now is coolant leaking into the oil pan, which was one of the very few things that wasn't wrong with it before I changed the gaskets, so I'm hoping I just forgot to put the RTV on the one spot it needs it. If not, I guess the head gasket will be next.