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11 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Gates System Solution Micro-V Kit for Chrysler 3.3L May 16, 2007
By Steve Kjonaas
This is a must buy for any Caravan owner. In the past few months, I have become very proficient at replacing the serpentine belt on my Dodge Grand Caravan with the 3.3L engine on the road side in the rain. The belt has come off four times in the last three months, twice in one week and all while my Wife was driving.
Chrysler will not admit to this design deficiency, although much has been written about it in numerous car talk blogs. While you are here, also stop in at the Highway Traffic Safety Administration web site and report it as a severe vehicle-operating safety hazard.
The Gates System Solution kit comes with everything you need. The idler pulley is simple to install, the tension pulley will require you to remove the alternator to gain access to the mounting bolt. Installing the belt is a nearly impossible feat, best left to a mechanic with the special tool for depressing the tension pulley to install the serpentine belt.
My mechanic spent 30 minutes installing the pulleys, but the next hour and half installing the serpentine belt. The pulleys have edges on the sides to help prevent the belt from slipping off; however, the same edges make the serpentine belt installation a bear to achieve. The mechanic charged me $53 for all the work.
The Gates System is the best money I ever spent on this Caravan, I highly recommend this to every Caravan owner.
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Excellent Solution - Installation Tips May 30, 2009
By J. Delahanty
"Aircooled"
We noticed that our tensioner has been angling out for years, and the squeaking was getting very tiresome. We had never had the belt slip off before three weeks ago, but it did so in the rain, and I had to fix it by the side of the road.
Enter the Gates 38379K Serpentine Belt Kit.
This kit is THE solution to serpentine belts slipping off the pulleys. Earlier reviews speak of the problem, I can assure you that this kit is the solution. No squeaking, no misalignment of the tension pulley, just quiet operation. I can't believe what a difference this kit makes. I was hesitant to do the work myself, but was able to track down information, here and on the net, and do it in a few hours. I thought I'd post the info for the next guy. The hardest part, bar none, is removing/installing the tensioner and tension pulley. The second hardest part is installing the new belt. The third most difficult? Believing the difference. It's unreal how much better this works!
Remove the tensioner as follows:
* After disconnecting the negative battery cable and removing the serpentine belt*
1. Remove the windshield wiper tray. On an 1999 model, remove the two wipers (16mm nuts), 6 torx screws and remove the top piece. Four 13mm nuts and 6 13mm bolts inside the tray. Be sure to disconnect the electrics on the right side, the two drains, and the spray line on the left. You now have plenty of room to...
2. Remove the alternator/bracket. First, remove the 15mm and two 14mm bolts from the triangle shaped accessory bracket. Remove the top 15mm bolt from the alternator and loosen the bottom 15mm bolt. Push the alternator to the rear to access the nut for the bottom alternator bolt. The positive cable for the alternator is attached with a 10mm nut...be careful not to lose it. You don't have to remove the alternator, just position it away from...
3. The rear nut for the tensioner. This is a bear. If you look down into the small space you have created by moving the alternator, you will glimpse the shy 15mm nut that is holding the tensioner. IF you have a thin enough 15mm box end wrench, you might be able to get it around the nut. Otherwise, use an open end wrench to loosen, then your finger to spin the nut off. Be careful, and have a magnet handy for the dropped nut. Luckily, there isn't much room below the nut, so it usually falls on the power steering unit. Still, unless you have very small hands and long fingers, you'll need the magnet.
Installation:
The new tensioner mounts fairly easily, but getting the nut on the bolt takes some patience. I needed a piece of thin cardboard cut to hold the nut in place, place the nut down in the space and spin the tensioner to catch the nut. Once caught, position the tensioner, spin the nut on with your finger and tighten it with the wrench.
Remove the idler pulley with a 15mm wrench, and save the bolt and insert. The bolt in the kit was too long for my car (1999), so I reused the bolt and insert on the new idler pulley. You can not use a socket on this.
Once you have the tensioner and pulley in place, reinstall the alternator and bracket.
The belt is very tight to install, but it can be done with a helper: One pulls the tensioner down, one pulls the belt around the air conditioning pulley, spinning the pulley while guiding the belt around. (Tip: If you've removed the rain shield from the underside of the engine, you can use the old belt to pull a 15mm wrench on the tensioner by looping it around and stepping on it.) You'll have to get the tensioner all the way down to install the belt!
Eyeball the belt to see that it's on all the pulleys, if so, start the car and check. Lovely sound, isn't it? No squeal!
Install the tray in the reverse of removal. Don't forget the drains and the squirt tube! When you're finished, be sure to put the sticker from the kit next to the belt diagram, so you can remember the belt size when you have to replace it in 10 years :^)
My wife can't believe the difference, and neither can I. My neighbors no longer wear ear protection when we back out of the driveway! It's like a stealth car! Honestly, this is a great piece of kit, and I recommend it to anyone with a defective serpentine belt system.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Installed on a 98 Grand Caravan SE 3.3L Sep 26, 2010
By A. Bangsberg
So far I'm very pleased with the kit, no squeaking noises!
My Grand Caravan has 202K miles on it, I have never had a problem with the belt but a few weeks ago I started getting the chirping noise when the engine was running anywhere from 2000 - 3000 RPM. After investigation it looked like it was related to the belt and or the tension or idler pulley.
I purchased the kit, and then decided to tackle the job. It took me about 2.5 hours, the hard part was removing the old Tension Pulley and installing the new belt.
Here is a summary and a few suggestions.
1: To remove the old belt, put a 15mm wrench on the Tension Pulley bolt, and turn clockwise (tighten), this will pull the tension pulley down and release pressure on the belt. From there you should be able to pull the belt off the tension pulley and work it loose.
2: Remove the old Tension Pulley. This is the hard part, you need to jack up the van, get underneath and work form the bottom rear to find the 15mm nut that holds the Pulley bolt. It will take some force so make sure you have a breaker bar.
3: Install the new Tension Pulley, again go underneath and install the nut.
4: Remove the old Idle Pulley Bolt. This is easy, you access it from the under the hood, us a 15mm wrench or Socket.
5: Put on the new supplied Idle Pully, washer and bolt.
6: Install the new belt, route it around everything except the Tension Pulley.
Put an 15mm wrench (NOT A Socket Wrench because you might not get it off after you the tension Pulley is moved down into place). Put the 15mm wrench on the Tension Pully Bolt. Add a breaker bar so you can get leverage, and just like you did when you removed the belt, rotate clockwise, and slip on the new belt over the Tension Pulley.
I made the mistake of using a socket wrench and had a heck of a time getting it off the Tension Pulley Nut, I ended up removing the belt, removed the socket wrench, then starting over with the 15mm wrench.
The job was not too bad, and no more Squeaks!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Gates Belt Kit Feb 14, 2010
By Joel K. King
Belt kit much cheaper than from my mechanic. Works well. No more belt slipping off. Solves problem with Chrysler van belt slippage when wet.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Double sided V belt fixed sqealing Dec 29, 2009
By Mick
On a 1998 Grand Caravan 3.3L, the dealer 60k service included an OEM serpentine replacement. Several months later the belt began chirping then permanently squealing. Using belt dressing helped briefly until next startup. Cleaning the belt and all the pulleys did not eliminate the squeal. All the accessories bearings felt smooth and true.
After thorough research I bought the Gates replacement and after installing it the squealing has been completely eliminated.
My one hesitation to 5 stars is that it was a bear to install. There was no way I could get the belt over the idler wheel with full compression of the tensioner. I had to place the belt on the uninstalled idler wheel and then screw in the wheel with the kit-supplied bolt, which was still hard to line up and feel confident of it's torque. The dust guard washer seems sloppy.
The other challenge is removing the tensioner wheel bolt working from under the vehicle. This is not Gates problem but a Chrysler design factor. Be sure to have a universal joint and extension for the socket.
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