1998 GrandVoyager: How Much is All This Going To Cost Me?

[Kristalrose]

1st off, let me say that I absolutely love my minivan. I never thought I could love the standard car of mommies everywhere, I like to think of myself as more of a rock and roll, trans-am, mustang kind of Mom. But I have had this van for 3 years and cannot picture life without the old "gal". "She's" a 1998 model GrandVoyager with almost 85,000 miles, V-6 engine, mainly driven short distances in town, like to work, store, school, ect.

Now, It seems that she is falling apart all at once. I think that she has given me little hints here and there that she was "sick" but now I'm really starting to be concered about driving my minivan! If anyone can give me some good advice, please do so. I may be a girl but I'm not a total idiot about cars.

1. There is a sour burning smell coming off the engine. At 1st I thought it was oil, but now I'm concerned it's anti-freeze. There is no sign of anything leaking on the ground, and the engine does not overheat.

2. The "Service Engine Soon" light has been coming on, and today started blinking as I was sitting in traffic. When I started moving again, the blinking stopped and the light stayed on steadilly.

3. The AC and Heat both stopped working. (That actually was the 1st sign of trouble, and I put the repair off because I was told by a friend that it was probably a compressor and that the dealership would charge me more than $1,000 to replace it! I figured it was summer and I could just use the old 2-55 AC, you know, roll down 2 windows and drive 55?)

4. It's hard to start in the mornings and has a noticable "chatter" for the first several blocks, like valves clacking. Then it warms up and drives fine.

The van has plently of power, and I have not noticed a drop in gas mileage (If you ever could with these vans, they are gas-guzzlers in town!) Please help! Thank you so much!

[GTP Dad]

It certainly sounds like you have multitude of problems with this van. First, take it to a garage and have them look the van over including a computer diagnostic. They will be able to tell you what is going on with the van and then tell you what you need to fix first. If you don't have the money to fix the little things then get only those things done that affect the drivability of the van. Obviously there is a problem or the service engine light would not be coming on. Second the smell coming from the engine could be from a leaky hose or water pump that will cost less than $200 to fix if it is the water pump. As far as the valve chatter, when did you last change the oil? Dirty oil can cause this problem and it is relatively inexpensive to fix. You are probably due for a tune-up anyway. Wires and plugs at least. Have the PCV valve replaced and the idle air control motor cleaned. Cost about $12 for plugs and $35 for wires, a PCV is a couple of dollars. Labor will cost about $60 depending on the labor rate in your area. After you have had it diagnosed let me know what they find and I can give you some more advice. I hope this helps. PS. If you don't understand what they are telling you about the van ask questions. If they won't give you a good answer, post again and we will try to sort it out for you.