Caravan Engine Choices

[rdolan]

I could use some help understanding the 3. 3 and 3. 8 liter V6 engines available in the DC minivans. History / evolution of the engines, reliability, durability, real world experiences, etc.



Grew up in a GM family and worked 5 years in a GM dealership, so I am sort of familiar / comfortable with the evolution of all their engines. I have no such base for the 3. 3 or 3. 8 DC minivan engines. (did the 3. 3 orginally come from Mitsubishi?)



Returning to the States in Feb-Mar 2003, and will be purchasing a CTD and a minivan (DC owns our company now, so I should fly the corporate colors).



Thanks in advance

 

[RedRam1]

rdolan,



I bought a new Grand Caravan Sport with the 3. 3L motor back in '98. This motor has nothing in common with the 3. 0 Mitsubishi, it is a pushrod motor & the Mitsu is an ohc. The 3. 3 & 3. 8's don't appear to be derivatives of the Mopar small block V8's either, they are definitely not just 6 cyl versions of the small block. I'm relative certain this is a Chrysler design though, the rocker arms and some other stuff looks very similar, but not identical to the V8's.



The 3. 3 has been a pretty good motor, however it does have a few annoying problems. In 100K miles, I have replaced two serpentine belt tensioners - they get weak & the belt starts squealing, new belt does not help, you have to change the tensioner. It is a pain to have to shell out sixty bucks or so for the tensioner, and around 20 bucks for a belt every 30 - 40K miles.



The other problem is related to the exhaust system. These rigs have a crossover pipe that runs from the front exhaust manifold to the rear. The exhaust pipe is connected to the opposite end of the rear manifold. The problem is with the crossover pipe, it has a section of flexible, corrugated tubing in the center that acts as a compensator to account for expansion as the pipe heats/cools. I have had to replace 2 of these - first one went just out of warranty at 37K miles! They start leaking at the joint between the pipe and compensator. Like the tensioner, this part is easy to replace, trouble is it costs a little over two hundred bucks.



As for the motor it's self, I have no complaints. It still runs good as new, and does not use any oil.

The 3. 8 appears to be just a bored and/or stroked 3. 3. The accessory drive & exhaust appear to be identical as well, so I would expect the same performance from the tensioner and crossover pipe as with the 3. 3.

 

[rdolan]

Thanks RedRam1



What are you getting for fuel mileage? And how's the rest of van holding up?

 

[RedRam1]

rdolan,



The van gets pretty good mileage, around 26 MPG highway and 20 or so around town. Other than the two nagging problems I mentioned the van is holding up great. It's still feels tight, and does not have any rattles at 100k miles. I have heard rumors about automatic trans problems on these rigs, so I have religiously changed the fluid/filter every 30K. So far, the trans works good as new.

My only other complaint is the front brake pads. they average about 15k per set. I got some lifetime guarantee Performance Friction pads from Autozone. They never give me any grief about replacing them, and it's a 30 min job, so I can live with that I guess.

Another curiosity is the paint, mine is Forrest green, same color that was, and may still be available on Rams. The paint on the van is at least twice as tough/chip resistant as the paint on my truck.

 

[78repowerwagon]

My mom has a 3. 3 in her 94. It has been great other than the fact that the rear of the van attracts other vehicles. She purchased it as a prior salvage that was hit by a truck in the rear. Since she has owned it it has been rear ended four times.



As for the motor they are a Chrysler motor. Moms has 140K with 1 tensioner replaced at 120K Head gasket at 120K. No crossover trouble and no trans trouble. Trans was changed religiously every 100K whether it needed it or not. Actually I am not sure on trans service prolly 70 105 and 140(not near enough). It has towed alot with 500-1500lbs.



The 3. 8 is a longer bore and stroke. Another engine sharing the same lower end is the 3. 5. It is a bigger bore 3. 3 with hemi heads and 24 valves.

 

[parcher]

The 3. 5 is NOT related to the 3. 3 and 3. 8! The 3. 5 has belt driven overhead cams. The 3. 3 in my '93 Concorde has given me 148,000 trouble free miles and shows no sign of letting up. On a new van you'll probably have no engine choice within the same package level, a Carvan may come with a 3. 3 while a Grand Caravan (lwb) may come with a 3. 8, a Chrysler Town And Country will almost surely have the 3. 8. Chrysler was going to put the 3. 5 from the LH cars (Concorde, Intrepid, 300M ) in the mini-van but cancelled the plan. A lot of vans were built with the belt routing decal showing a 3. 5 but no vans were built with that engine.

 

[78repowerwagon]

You are correct, the 3. 5 does have belt driven SOHC 24 valve heads - buy they are related. The 3. 3 and the 3. 5 share the same 81mm stroke and the 3. 5 and the 3. 8 share the same 96mm bore. The 3. 5 was designed from the 3. 3 sharing alot of the bottom end similarities but beefed up for the added power and rpm. Above the block everything is different.

 

[The patriot]

I recently bought a 92 Plymouth Voyager. It has the 3. 0 (I'm told not as desireable as the 3. 3) and about 90K miles on it. Got it from the original owner.

I got it cheap... . for an around the town beater.

It runs good, and gets 18 or so around town. We've gotten as much as 23 on the highway, however we drive it fast.

It has a few rattles and scratches, but is basically sound.

What do you want for just over a grand?

Eric

 

[RichR]

Hey Patriot.

I had a '88 and if the design is the same with cam plugs in each head on the drives side change the PCV often or RTV them in. Ours popped them out. Once the wife drove it without oil. It got trade a year later.

RichR