Suggestions for good Dodge Caravan Forum?

Looking for the Hearth equivalent for Dodge Caravan's as I'm having a few issues w/ the GF's 2000 Grand Caravan - and would like to be able to get advice on some of them beyond what the shop she usually has work on it gives...

Current issue is the hood release cable - it has gotten stiff to the point where pulling the lever in the car takes a great deal of force to make it pop, and then it doesn't go back in, so the hood won't latch closed... I had to charge the battery this evening (My fault; I'd left the key on when moving the car while snow-blowing :red: ) and in order to get the hood closed, I had to unbolt the hood latch, and pry the cable back into the normal "latched" position, then bolt the latch back into place again... Definite PITA, and I'd like to find out how best to fix it, before the cable breaks completely. The shop wanted around $300 to fix it - including about $200 for the cable, and I'm sure there has to be a cheaper way...

Gooserider

EatenByLimestone said:

It's not something you can just clean and lube up? Most of my issues like that have been related to years of road grime. Unless the cable has rusted I wouldn't replace it. Don't forget to spray a little lube down the end of the cable also. If it's not a simple degrease/regrease job I'd hit the junkyard. The latch, which I can't see wearing out, is probably a $10 part.

Matt

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The cable isn't visibly rusty, but it also is anchored down at each end, and doesn't have any way that I can find to do a clean and flush job. I've tried spraying with lubes and cleaners several times, and it has not helped significantly. I suspect it's a combination of 10 years of road-grime, corrosion, and a design that doesn't allow lubing the inside of the cable...

Gooserider

stephenmoore said:

I agree with limestone, hit the junkyard and try to get the part cheap there. If they are anywhere near as hateful as the spare tire release cable, it's just a headache worth avoiding. 1999 Caravan with a 42" Greenlee fully loaded with tools. One 10 point buck down after the first week, but 200,000 miles on the original transmission..... Best riding minivan of them all!

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It was a bit of a challenge, and definitely a shocker... There are a bunch of parts places on the web, and all seem to use the same database / interface - which shows a picture of the hood related components, including the cable, but doesn't give any listing for it... :-S I called one place, and they looked it up - MSRP is 89.75, they sold it for $65.16 plus $10 S&H - :gulp: Got the part #, and tried another place, they said $63.54, so it seems like a consistent price... Tried the local NAPA - they don't do the part.

At that price, it looks like it's worth trying to dismantle and do a thorough lube...

Gooserider

BTW, thanks for the link Struggle - seems like a really nice site, I've registered there, and they have been very helpful...

EatenByLimestone said:

When you get it all apart a helpful hint is to drop the latch assembly into a pot and boil it with some dish detergent. It'll clean it up so all you have to do is put a quality lube on it. The lines of dirt on the minivan itself help to line it up. Painters tape also works if it'll stick.

Matt

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Will give that a try, though the latch doesn't seem to be in bad shape at all - a bit of surface corrosion, but it moves quite freely... Also didn't seem like there was a lot of adjustment to it when I had to take it off the other day - it has two bolts that hold it in place, which just have holes, not slots, and there are a couple of keying "nibs" that stick out of the part it bolts to and lock it pretty solidly in place... This is a good thing, as I was working by flashlight when I was dealing with it the other night, and didn't even thing about alignment when I took it off...

Gooserider

EatenByLimestone said:

How does the cable look? Did it stretch?

Matt

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The cable looks fine on the latch end, and the cable sheath looks fine - it doesn't appear stretched, as there is no significant slack on either end when the hood is closed and latched. It is just next to impossible to get the cable to move through the sheath, either to release the latch in order to open the hood, or to "un-trigger" the latch in order to get the hood to latch when closing it...

Flammam - thanks for the link to RockAuto - but they don't carry the part, per the live person after I couldn't find it on the website...

We have also been having some problems with the cruise control cutting out at random intervals, which people seem to say is either a leak in the vacuum system or the clock spring in the steering column - we found that there is a recall out on the clock spring that has never been done on this van, so the GF called the Dodge dealership that we bought the vehicle from (used) and they said it was no charge to get it fixed. She asked how much extra it would be to have them deal with the cable at the same time, and they said they'd have to look at it... She is going up to get the clock spring dealt with tomorrow, will see what they say about the cable. Figure I'll decide what the next step is based on that...

Gooserider

Holding off on it for right now... The GF took the van to the Dodge dealer to have them replace the "clock spring" in the steering wheel, in hopes that it would cure the intermittent issues we were having with the cruise control... They said it would cost $45 for them just to "look" at the cable, so she decided to hold off for now. They did spray some stuff into the latch mechanism and end of the cable, which may help, and certainly can't hurt... I figure that further attention can wait until she gets another job and / or the weather improves enough to not be miserable to work in outside...

Gooserider