New member with some basic questions

[zechirian]

Greetings all! My family and I just purchased a used 97 Grand Caravan SE with a 3L V6 and 130k miles on it. I don't know much about cars so I figured i'd post my worries on here to see what kind of feedback and advise i could get.

First off when we start it in the mornings we notice some squeaking on the right side of the engine, I figure these are the belts that are doing this. The squeaking goes away after you press the gas just a little bit. After about a good 10min ride or so the belts stop making any sounds and its fine for the rest of the day. Keep in mind i live in WA State and it gets cold and moist over nights here

Second would be while driving I notice that the steering wheel likes to just jiggle a very very tiny bit. It doesn't take away from any control of the car and is just a minor annoyance.

Third and finally I was worried when I bought it about a possible oil leak. Well today when I brought it into the garage i decide to get underneath and found that there was a drip or two on the floor, I had just drove it in and let it sit for about 5 min. I put my hand underneathand it seems to be around the oil plug area.

I do have to say other than these hopeufuly "little" things the car is fantasic and my little family of four love it to death. Smooth ride, nice quiet interior and perfect paint job. Thank you in advance for any advise or concerns about whats going on. I am taking it to a dealership mechanic who is my brother-n-law tommorrow to have it looked at, so be quick with the advise heheheh

[digimon]

Promblem#1 This sounds like the serpenteen belt, these belts seem to wear out just alittle faster than normal on these vans. You can also use alittle belt dressing on your old belt and get some more time from it. Spray it when it is running. Just alittle spray is good enough. If the squeal stops you know its the belt, but if it comes back too soon replase it. Use a Gates brand belt I get more miles out them them the other ones. If it still is squealing it may be the water pump a more exspense repair. Problem #2 The steering wheel giggle may be sign of wear in the front end after all it does have 130k on it. Have your Brother In-Law check this out. Make sure that he checks all the boots if these are cracked even just alittle have them replaced because all kinds of road grit can get into the joints and distory your front end. Anyway have him at least tighten and greese it up real well. But the boots are a must to replace if they are cracked (big repair bill if you let them go). Probiem#3 This sounds like the drain plug may just not be tight try tighting it. Also it wouldn't be a bad idea to tight up the whole oil pan at this time. Then wipe the whole oil pan and trany clean, when you park it over night at your house put a large piece of cardboard lets say about 2 foot by 3 foot under the van and center it on the oil pan. The next morning check the cardboard right where it is to see if th van is still leaking oil and where it is leaking oil. Try to see if the oil is brown or red (brown is engine oil not too bad, red is trany oil much worse). If you haven't already done so it's a good idea to have the trany completely servised as soon as you can these van are notroious for transmission failure. Also if you don't know when the antifreeze was changed have it changed and the motor oil if it is dark brown have it and the filter changed. The air filter is next if it is dirty or feels heavy replace it, it can rob you of gas mileage. Plugs, if you don't know when they were changed then you do it. I know that this seems like alot but preventive mantenence is much cheaper than having fix some of these things if they are left unchecked and you have to replace or repair them if they breakdown. Because knowing that you have done all that you can to prolong the life of your "New To You", van can give you great peace of mind when you driving it or your wife is driving it with the kids by themselves..
"Long May She Run", Neil Young". Ride On, digimon

[zechirian]

Ok well I did put the cardboard down last night and it was a brownish color. Almost positive its engine oil. I also went back to the dealer i bought it from and got a carfax report which said it was a local car and only had one owner thank god. Also got a copy of the saftey report they did on it and it says that the front and rear seals are leaking a little bit of oil. I have no clue where these seals are at. I was thinking about purchasing some of that "STOP OIL LEAK" stuff from Auto Zone. Also should I do a full oil change on it and what Oil should I use.. Like I said before I know very little about cars. I focused on computers growing up.. not cars lol.

[digimon]

Well the oil that I like is Castroil and since you live in the north use 5-30 wt. Dodge says thats the only wt to use. Not 10-40 Or 20-50. By the way there is only one kind of oil change a complete one 5 qts and a filter. Every 3000 miles or less, this is more important with a high mile car. As for front and rear seals if your Brother in Law just can't tell how bad they are take it to the Dodge dealer in your area and have it checked out " not where you bought it. It sounds like you got it from a used car dealer since most new car dealers don't normally sell high mile cars. But they all give a 30 day 1000 mile warrentee. So make sure that you have it checked before it runs out. If it is real bad you could hold them responsible. When I bought my 96 Chrysler T & C with 93k on it I found out that it had a cracked fiywheel and bad speed sensers ( about $I000 repair bill and I had the dealer fix it on his dime) I had said to clean off the oil pan and trany so you could see where it was leaking and what color the oil was by touching the drips with your finger and than looking at them to see the color. A small oil leak may not be too bad of a problem but they could be signs of bigger problems to come. If I can't tell what the problem is I take it to someone who can. "Stop oil leak" be careful of these products they can really gum up your engine. They are for really bad problems if you can afford to repair it. If you've had a car for a long time and are trying to get another six months out of it, I wouldn"t start out with it because you just bought it. Try to do it the proper way. Ride On, digimon

[MegaMax]

Another thing you can do is go to your local Parts store and pick up some De-Greaser (2 cans should do the trick)
Find a local SELF carwash and with the engine ON and it warmed up pop the hood and spray the cleaner go nuts with it and even get under the front (where Oil pan is)
Then rinse it all off (follow instructions on can)

With it all NICE and clean drive home, if the Leak(s) is bad by the time you get there you should see where it's leaking from.

If it's the plug replace it should be under $5.00 at your local dealer.

As mentioned above when I bought my van with 149K here is what I did...

Bought the cheap motor oil (whatever was on sale of 5-30 wt) and changed it every 1000 miles two times. WHY: I didn't know when it was done last and how frequent it was done, by doing this it "flushes" out whatever tiny debris may be at the bottom of the pan. Then I bought a bottle of Slick50 High Mile formula and again changed the Oil and added that to the mix... This stuff like any Oil Additive is NOT great for your car. Search on line and you can find tons on articles on it a quick note on it... If it's designed to "coat" your engine to "Protect" it... that means it's thicker than the conventional motor Oils. when your parts need lubrication the most is fist thing when you start it, the oil pump has not been running and the oil that was on the parts has run down to the bottom of the Pan overnight... still with me... OK now you have this COLD (from lower night temperatures) thicker (from adding this "great product") motor oil in your Oil pan... Well because it's colder and thicker it will take longer for it to get to operating temperature and fully recoat your internals. (I hope I didn't loose ya there)

Anyway, I left that in the engine for a whole 2000 miles and then I switched to Castrol SYNTEC BLEND 5-30 and the X-2 filter and now change it every 5K miles.

I also changed the Air, PCV, and Fuel (wait to ya see the price on this one) filers Plugs and wires. Personally I went with the 4x Plugs offered at Pep-Boys.

Finally because of what I read about the Transmission on our vans I bought a Trans-oil cooler and new Tranny filter and did some preventative MAINTENCE there as well.!

Next for me are all of the hoses and vacuums on it. It's TOO cold out for me to work on the cars now so I haven't done them yet, but I plan on flushing out the radiator and replacing the hoses on it.

Most of the above things you or anyone can do, simply get your Chilton's or Haines manual whatever one you buy and look up the task you want to do and get to it.