Is my mechanic lying to me, he said that 2000 Dodge Caravan's blow engines easily?

Question

I got another motor put into my van which eventually (after less than 6 months) began knocking very loudly, so they replaced it again. It's a 3.0 liter V6 engine. Now this one has begun knocking not as loud for the first 6 minutes after you start it. They told me my year and model van tends to blow its engine easily. Is that true? This one only has about 72,000 miles on it. I thought Dodge was a good brand of vehicle. Please help, thanks!

Yes it is a non-rebuilt engine. Also- is it normal to knock for the first 6 minutes if the engine isn't warmed up? Thank you for your replies people.

Answer 1

No, this is simply not true. While the 3.0L isn't the best engine dodge has, they are generally good engines. Have your mechanic provide you proof he is actually changing your engine, or is he just repairing the one thats in it. Best way to do this would be to go to your local Chrysler dealer and have them run the numbers on the engine. This will tell you if it's been changed or not. if he hasn't changed it, depending on what the repair bills were, you may need an attorney and take him to court to refund your money. It seems fishy that a car would blow an engine 3 times in one year. i suspect the engine was never changed, and your mechanic did a jerry-rig to make some money off of you.

Answer 2

I agree with the others that it could not have happened that way. However, the garage mechanic may have told you that hoping you would believe it. First there are companies that build rebuilt engines for various makes and models, they take the old one out and pop the new one in. I would not have the existing engine fixed. In a garage you'll pay retail for all the parts, the labor costs will be high. Having said all that $8,000 is ridiculous even if you have a mechanic do the job. Shop around, there are honest mechanics out there. It's not unheard of for the bolt to jar loose a little bit and the oil to drip out slowly. Secondly it sounds like the warranty has expired, so you might want to put in an insurance claim. Even with a deductable of $500.00 or $1,000.00, it is what insurance is for. Blown engines happen for a variety of reasons, it won't be the first claim of this kind the insurance company has heard of. If they ask you to shop around, call or visit at least three repair places and get the quotes faxed or write them down and record the phone number of the place and the person you spoke to along with the quote. The insurance company will pick one that charges a fair price, after all they have to pick up the rest of the tab. If they increase your premiums next time (most won't for something like this because it wasn't your fault) just shop around when it comes time to renew. I had my first accident a few years ago (my fault) and my premiums were not raised. My Dad had an accident the same year, his fault as well. His insurance company jacked up his premiums by $800.00. He called his agent and said the company had been taking his money for 40 years and this was his first claim. He called around, he was up front about the accident and found a company that gave him the same coverage for the same amount. Anyway, some problems are made to sound awful when you talk to some mechanics. But it pays to get a second or third opinion, most mechanics are honest. A "new" rebuilt or rebuilt used engine is really your best option. There are consumer organizations that rate the products of the rebuilders, it is wise to check out the company before you buy. I looked on the internet and found a company that offered for sale a rebuilt engines for a 2000 models. The average price was $1560.00. If your deductable is $1000.00 all you will pay is the $1000.00, if it is $500 or less, then you are laughing. But the mechanic doesn't sound right. Car manufactures stopped using timing belts about 20 years ago, it's all electronic. I don't know if you remember but a couple of years ago a certain foreign pick up truck company had problems with the bolts on the axle assembly cover. All four could be shaken out over time and then in a moment the cover would fall off, some road junk would get sucked in and did all kinds of neat things to the axle assembley. Since pick-up trucks need lots of power, the strain caused other parts to fail and it was all due to substandard bolts. Anyway, if you do decide to use insurance, they will be familiar with the problem and will probably be delighted when you suggest junking the engine instead of repairing it and replacing it with a rebuilt one.

Answer 3

Something is very wrong with this scene. Even the old 2.6 mitsu engine didnt have that bad a reputation for knocking and it had far worse problems than the 3.0 ever did. I would do some very in depth checking, for something is happening or perhaps has not happened (has the engine actually be swapped or merely rebuilt?)

Answer 4

They don't blow any easier than anything else. A rebuilt engine is better than a used in a vehicle such as yours anyhow. A used on should work fine, but they need to check it for knocking before they install it in your van. This isn't that hard to do either.

Answer 5

Most engines only "blow easily" due to severe neglect of maintenance. I don't believe in 6 months you could have neglected enough to do that. Sounds like your mechanic is screwing something up and doesn't want to fess up. If they blew up that easily, there would have been some type of recall.

Answer 6

If it is maintained properly that motor does not go any more than any other. If he is using motors from the junk yard that is a crap shoot and you have a 50/50 chance of getting a tired old motor. If it goes again seriously think about getting a newer vehicle.

Answer 7

I hope you are doing the maintenance on the engine and changing the oil and watching all the fluids. dodge offers a long warranty and they couldn't afford to have engiens blow all the time. did you get a new crate engine when they replaced the engine.

Answer 8

the older models dodge caravans do give people a lot of problems like urs but ive never heard of them blowing engines so easily

Answer 9

its common for blown head gaskets not blown engines if its knocking first 6 minutes when you start it up it losing oil pump prime try differnt oil filter whats knocking motor or lifters tapping makes big difference if its blown 3 times its time to get rid of this vehicle good luck hope this helps

Answer 10

the mech is full of crap the caravan is one of the most dependable cars available he s useing junk yard parts nop it should not know at all when starting up its time for a different mechanic