What did they DO to my van! I took it in to have filler neck and EGR changed. Now it is harder to start (“throat clearing noise”) where it was fine before, suspension has gone all mushy, too much steering free play (it was great before). It is a 2000 Grand Caravan v6. I don’t want to go back there and btw garage is for sale, so I doubt I’d get much recourse anyway. What could mechanic look for? I was really hoping I could get another 6 months out of this vehicle anyway; not looking good right now. Also they put it up on the suspension cause the points are a bit rusty.
Oh, and I put new shocks on it last year, and had major work done on the struts last year too (great job by this guy who worked on race cars normally)
It may make sense to just bring it to the guy who did the struts. I can’t possibly imagine how the suspension could have been affected by the work they did…unless those “points” that “are a bit rusty” are a clue that the chassis is rotted out and the lift broke through the rust?
A filler neck and EGR change has nothing to do with the complaints you have. The only one that may have any substance (and it’s a real grasp) would be if you tied an EGR/hard starting problem together. Based on the noise you describe, it sounds like a worn out starter motor.
This van appears to be a worn out rust bucket and you’re simply trying to lay the blame on someone to cover the tab.
It’s beyond ludicrous to blame mushy suspension and loose steering on a filler neck/EGR repair.
As far as your suspension being mushy and having too much play in the steering wheel, that makes me think your strut towers may have rusted out. For some reason, '96-'01 Chrysler minivans are prone to this. I see them on the verge of rusting through all the time, but have yet to see one where they have gone all the way through yet. I can’t think of anything that would cause a hard starting problem with the noise you describe, but I would definitely check the strut towers under the hood to make sure they haven’t rusted all the way through and broken on you, which it sounds like they may have.