Dodge - Caravan :: 2003 - Rough Idle And Burning Smell
Jun 8, 2015
Was driving home just now when my car (2003 Dodge Caravan SE) started acting strange. Stopped at a light, it started going back and forth a little, like the transmission was stopping and starting. As I drove I noticed that it kept doing that when I had the accelerator pressed slightly. When I pressed the accelerator more fully, the problem seemed to mostly (not completely) go away.
When I got home (after driving like that for about 2 miles), it seemed worse. When I stopped the car and had it idling in Park, the engine died. I was able to restart the engine, but it seemed like it was having trouble staying on (though it did for a minute or two until I turned it off).
When I got out of the car, I noticed a bad smell coming from the engine, like burning. Also noticed a loud sound, like knocking. My first thought was that I didn't have any oil. So I checked the oil and the transmission fluid. Both were fine. After about an hour I restarted the car, and it wasn't doing it anymore. Maybe because the car had cooled down?
What this might be or what else I can check?
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I have a 2005 Durango with the 4.7L engine with 140,000 mile and there is a burning oil smell coming through our vents. I also smell it when stopped at a light or drive thru and when the hood is raised. Our mechanics can't find anything. We've changed the plugs and wires, replaced the valve cover gasket and water pump recently, and can find no leaks or evidence of leaks. It uses oil a little, but mostly over a long period of time or on long trips.
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I just had my van inspected and tires rotated...van sits for a few days then travels 20 miles and am now smelling something burning and smoke is coming out from front right tire. Other discussions say calipers/pads and that's ok BUT my question is since my van only has @24,000 on it, did the mechanic do something when he rotated my tires? I am a senior citizen and only use my van once a week.
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My 2003 F150, 5.4L has been having some rough idle/misfires issues both at idle and under load.
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The noise occurs again, when I shut the engine down.The engine performs and runs smooth and normal otherwise. No stalling, stumbling, or bad gas mileage to report.
I can "feel" the noise with my hand, when I put my hand on the ac compressor bracket, or the intake manifold, or the valve cover. I've tried the listening through the stick method, and it seems to be coming from the front area of the engine. But I can't be sure. It is something internal. Let me describe:
I thought it was my AC compressor or clutch going bad. The fact that my AC had stopped working well, and was making jet engine noises at high rpm supported me decide this. I replaced the compressor. The AC works great now, and the jet engine noises went away. But the grinding noise is still there. As described.
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The noise is loud and obnoxious at idle when under load. It just can't be good. I've read theories about similar sounding problems, saying they could be loose timing chain, bad oil pump, slapping pistons, crank journals, flexplate/flywheels cracked.
I'm going to try doing an oil system flush, and then I'll change it out with a little thicker oil. See if that makes any difference in the noise. Currently I'm running 5w-30 Mobile 1. I think. I'll let you know if it changes anything. I'm also thinking I want to make a short video of the car idling and making the noise for my video camera. I'll post that on youtube and link it here.
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When my car is stopped/idle I smell burning. However when it is in motion the smell goes away. Other than that my car runs fine. What could this be? My oil change guy told me to just add Lucas Oil Stabilizer and that would eliminate the smell but it has not worked.
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2012 dodge caravan. Bought it used last year with 27k miles. Day after I bought it, it threw a misfire code. They said the spark plugs got wet when they washed the under carriage. Dried it out, cleared the code.
For the next month the car went from a slight shimmy during idle...progressed to strong shaking (its shakes, pauses, shakes...etc.) Finally another misfire code. Took it in and this is what the report says.
"Cylinder misfire on #4. Performed compression test found #4 cylinder compression at 100 PSI. All other cylinders at 150 PSI. Recommend to replace front cylinder head. Has burned exhaust valve seat. Replaced left cylinder head assembly."
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Now, car still shaking. Its minimal on start up, gets worse the longer I idle. I can only feel the shaking while in idle. If I restart the car it goes back to minimal before progressing again. Took it back in. They verified the shaking, hooked it up to a computer, no codes or anything. Told me its normal. It CANT be normal, right? I neglected to check the coolant level before I took it back in. I left it with them saying they will look it over, but they don't think anything is wrong. This is exactly how it progressed when they ended up replacing the cylinder head. I have 1k miles left on the warranty, and am moving in 2 weeks 1500 miles away. I don't have time to wait for another code.
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I have a 99 Dodge Stratus 4 cyl 2.4L, automatic.
It has been idling rough for a few months now. It feels just like it is misfiring. Tach confirms quick dip in rpm then return to normal idle. It has never actually stalled, just a quick rpm dip and subsequent shuddering, then recovers for a few seconds.
Also runs very rough, at 47-48 mph under light "cruising" load. Sounds crazy, but it does (did, see below) not happen at 45 or 50, just in the 47-48 mph range. Again, it feels like bad misfiring, with the car losing a lot of power and shuddering until I accelerate/decelerate away from this speed range.
NOW, over the last few days, the rough riding has gotten a lot worse, and occurs at all speeds. It is worse under load (mild acceleration, hills). Still feels like misfiring. Loss of power makes it hard to maintain speed up hills, at any speed. Also, today for the first time in its life the car backfired while trying to accelerate up a hill from a stop, at a speed of about 15 mph.
When idling, I can occasionally smell gas.
So, the coils are 2 years old, spark plug wires are 2 years old, spark plugs are 2 weeks old and air filter is 4 days old. Check engine light is NOT on and there are no error codes as of yesterday. Fluids are all good, except I am about the kick the stupid thing until it bleeds. Parts store suggested Idle Air Control Valve, but I am dubious, as this now happens at all speed.
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Sone water from the air conditioner drains on the carpet on the right side of the car. The drain hose is open and water in draining from it. Where could I look to find the problem? It is a 2003 caravan
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This is my first new car, but I am assuming the idle should be pretty smooth. I feel my idle and it feels sort of rough. Almost like there is a slight misfire but not that intense.
One more question, car burning oil?
@ 7500 miles I was down a little more than a quart and now @ 14,100 I am down almost a quart. That is slightly alarming.
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I have a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan and while I was driving it stopped on me. It will turn on but once you put it in gear it will turn off and wont turn back on. I have replaced the fuel filter and fuel pump.
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My 2003 Dodge Caravan instrument and radio/heater lights stopped working. I don't see any bad fuses or fusible links. Odometer and other service lights work fine.
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I smelled it this morning and when driving home and it almost smells like wires burning and its pretty strong. I looked all around the dash and can even smell it under the hood. And by the way the cruise control recal was done on it so it shouldn't be that. Hopefully my truck doesn't catch on fire over night.
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I have a 2003 dodge grand caravan with about 111,000 miles on it. Overall it has been a reliable car. In the past month we had to replace the ECM because the computer died on the car. Now, very intermittently, while driving at about 60 mph the car will suddenly drop to 40 mph then shoot right back to where it was at 60. This only happens for about a second and then its fine.
Its quite startling but it has only happened to us 3 times in the past two weeks, so its very hard to replicate. There are no engine codes and it seems like the tachometer does not change during this sudden drop, although to be honest I wasn't paying that close attention to it when it happened.
Could it be related to the recent ECM replacement? The dealer "reprogrammed" the computer so I'm assuming all parts electrically have been checked.
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