1998 Caravan-tune up help please?

My friend's mom asked if I would do a tune-up on her caravan. Now I'd like to save her the shop fees and do it for her, but I'm a little wary on what all it entails, other than parts. Its a V-6 so I'm afraid I don't have any room behind the engine, and the firewall to get at those cylindars. Can anyone help me out, and let me know whats the fastest, and easiest way to do it? I haven't said that I would yet, but I told her I'd research it to find out if I were able to do it or not.

The least complicated way to do this is to remove the windshield wiper tub assembly. I know it sounds intimidating, but I've done it from underneath, by removing the upper manifold and by removing the tub. The tub is the easiest by far. Start by removing the wiper arms. Lift the plastic cap covering the nut and remove the nut. The arm is fitted onto a splined tapered stud so you may to use a battery terminal puller to get it to pop off. After that, except for torx head screw drivers, you won't need any special tools. Next remove the screws and speed nuts that hold in the plastic cowling, remove the washer supply tube and remove the whole cowling. Once that is off, you can get to the 14mm bolts that hold the tub to the firewall. Disconnect those bolts and lift off the brackets. Disconnect the electrical connector from the motor and lift the whole tub out of the way. That will open up the entire back end of the engine. You can see and reach all the wires and plugs. It is much easier than fighting it from the bottom. Plus, you won't scrape all the skin off your knuckles. To reinstall, just reverse the procedure. Only trick is to get the wiper arms back in the same position. But just keep readjusting 'till you get it right.

Thanks alot...it doesn't sound so difficult now

This website will give you some good free basic info on the process plus gobs more about the rest of the van. Just browse through the main and sub headings on the right column. Unfortunately, not much detail on removing the wiper tray.

http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1a/37/65/0900823d801a3765/repairInfoPages.htm

If you want to keep your friendship, tell her to take it to a competant mechanic.
If it is an easy job, fine go ahead, but if something goes wrong later that you didn't even touch, guess who is going to get blamed.
The 3 F's in life are friends, family, and fellow church memebers.

I'd steer clear of anyone asking me to perform a "tune up" for them, especially friends or family. They most likely have a problem with the way it runs, and instead of attempting to properly diagnose the problem, decide that a "tune-up" will fix everything for them (What does a "tune-up" actually consist of, anyway?) . When it doesn't fix their problem, they'll be frustrated at the person who worked on it - you in this case.

I'd ask them what symptoms they're noticing and try to diagnose the symptoms before touching anything else.

OK...so I followed the advice here to remove the wiper tub, and it was pretty sound advice, but I STILL had to remove the Air Intake Plenum to get to the rear plugs. What a pain in the *** that was.

I'm at a bit of a dilemma, though...It appears that I have lost one of the nuts that hold the plenum in place over the gasket. I have the 2 bolts on the outside, and one of the nuts for the 2 inside. I have another nut that would fit just fine, but I'm concerned because the good nut appears to be some sort of compression nut, with it's own built in washer.

Can I just use a regular nut in it's place, or am I going to have to go to the dealer or a boneyard to find a replacement one?

Once again, though, this forum is a gold mine of information. I couldn't have done this without the help of everyone here. The best price I could find on a tune up for this van was over $200. I spent a little extra on the upgraded wires, and the BOSCH Platinum +4 plugs, and save over $150. Thanks to everyone!!!

another thing that has me puzzled, though...

would Chrysler have used Champion plugs from the factory? I would have expected MOPAR, but...

It's highly unlikely that this van has been tuned up before...I bought it off lease, at 46000 miles, and I've had it since.

just curious.

another thing that has me puzzled, though...

would Chrysler have used Champion plugs from the factory? I would have expected MOPAR, but...

It's highly unlikely that this van has been tuned up before...I bought it off lease, at 46000 miles, and I've had it since.

just curious.
Chrysler has always used Champion plugs . Always use them when you tune up too . I have read too many reports where someone decides they knew better than the engineers that designed the car and they used something else and then the car didn't run or idle right .

For future reference, at least on a 96 with the 3.8ltr, I found it much easier to get the middle and drivers side rear plugs from the bottom. There is a "tunnel" the exhaust runs through providing pretty good access. I removing the wiper tray but quickly saw it did me little good. No need to disassemble anything. Took about 45 minutes with nothing more than a ratchet, socket, and 3 inch extention. I got the passenger side rear plug from up top by rotating the alternator forward. I would think all 3rd generation vans would be simular. I used Autolite platinum plugs only because I couldn't find Champions. No problems after 92K miles.

My father knows about this.He once worked at a Chrysler/Dodge dealership and worked on some that did not run right.Found some with A/C Delco and Autolite plugs and replaced them with Champions.They ran better with Champions installed.Bosch is another plug to stay way from,Chrysler products run like crap with them installed.I did go through this,had a 1996 Intrepid with a 3.3 run like crap after an engine swap was done.Had Bosch plugs in that engine and pitched them.Put in Champions and ran like a watch.

My father knows about this.He once worked at a Chrysler/Dodge dealership and worked on some that did not run right.Found some with A/C Delco and Autolite plugs and replaced them with Champions.They ran better with Champions installed.Bosch is another plug to stay way from,Chrysler products run like crap with them installed.I did go through this,had a 1996 Intrepid with a 3.3 run like crap after an engine swap was done.Had Bosch plugs in that engine and pitched them.Put in Champions and ran like a watch.
i hope I don't have a problem with the Bosch plugs...because I don't want to have to go back and swap them out again.

It's running like a champ right now!