Replacing the Starter in Dodge 3.6 Engine
It’s that time again. The wife’s lovely Dodge Grand Caravan strikes again today, leaving us and our four kids stranded with a no-crank, no-start. In the past, it was the alternator that failed and left her stranded. You can read about that experience and learn how to replace the alternator in a Grand Caravan with the 3.6 by reading that post.
In this post, I’m going to show you the easiest way to replace a starter in the Chrysler 3.6 Pentastar engine. I did it on the ground on a Sunday and I had the bad starter out and the new starter in within two hours using this method to change the starter. I’m going to show you how to do it step by step but first I want to mention a couple things to check before you just go and buy a starter.
What to Check Before Replacing the Starter
Starters are not cheap for the 3.6 liter engine. I paid $160 for the one I installed and it wasn’t top of the line. If I had more time to spare, I would have looked around at some of my favorite online parts stores. What I’m getting at though is, before you shotgun a starter at your Grand Caravan, check the following things to make sure it actually needs a starter.
- Check the fuses and relays associated with the starter and starter solenoid. I used my Autel PS100 to check the fuses in my Grand Caravan but a regular test light would work too in a pinch.
If you haven’t heard of the Autel PS100, I would recommend it as an alternative to the Power Probe brand probe testers. It’s priced lower and has better functionality. If you buy it here, it comes with a hard case for less than $100.
2. Check the starter cable for power and ensure the battery voltage is normal. You can do this with the Autel probe tester also. Just hook the terminals up and touch the probe to the starter cable where it mounts to the starter. It should have 12-13 volts.
3. If you can remove the solenoid wire, you should check that it has continuity (the probe will light up green) and you should also try to crank the engine and see if it changes to battery voltage.
Once you have done all of this to properly diagnose a bad starter on the Grand Caravan, you should ho ahead and follow the steps outlined below to remove and replace the starter.
Steps to Remove the Starter in a 3.6 Grand Caravan
Because Dodge used this engine in a ton of different models ranging from cars like the Dodge Avenger to SUV’s like the Journey and minivans like the Grand Caravan and Town & Country, the process to remove the starter may vary slightly. Here’s how to remove the starter out of a ‘14 Grand Caravan specifically.
1). Jack up or lift the vehicle safely.
When working on anything that requires you to get underneath it, the first step is always to either jack up or lift the vehicle safely. If you aren’t sure and you need help learning how to properly lift a vehicle, here’s a good resource to help you. I suggest if you are not sure how to lift a car the right way, you check it out.
In the case of this starter replacement job, I used a three ton floor jack on the left side control arm with a jack stand under the subframe. Always use jack stands when working on the ground. Do not simply trust that the jack you are using will not fail. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Remove the Battery Terminals
After you lift the vehicle or before, you need to remove the battery cables so the starter wire is not powered. This is an important step because Dodge vehicles are notorious for electrical issues and arcing power wires could cause significant damage to the electrical system. Trust me when I tell you, it’s best to be careful with Chrysler electrical systems.
2). Remove the Front Engine Mount
After you have the vehicle raised up and you have plenty of room to work, the next step to even see where the starter is on a Grand Caravan is to remove the front engine mount as shown in the picture below.
Once you are under the Grand Caravan, you will see this engine/transmission mount. It is located directly in the middle on the front of the engine. It has three bolts mounted to the engine and transmission that can be removed with a 5/8” socket. As you can see in the photo, it also has a bolt in the center and it also has two more on the underside of the subframe. Here’s a photo of those:
Once you have all of these bolts removed from the engine mount, you will be able to see where the starter is on the Grand Caravan.
Once you have removed the engine mount, you can fully see where the starter is and which bolts to remove. I’ll show you in a minute the location of the three bolts that need to be removed to replace the starter.
3). Remove the starter bolts
The next step to removing the starter is finding where the starter bolts are. In this case there are three bolts that hold the starter on the transmission. In the picture below, I have pointed to which bolts need to be removed to take the starter out of your Grand Caravan.
Now that you know where the starter bolts are on the Grand Caravan, there are two ways you can proceed.
- Take out the three starter bolts and then remove the starter cable wire and solenoid connector.
- Remove the starter cable and the solenoid wire first and then remove the starter bolts.
I recommend doing it this way. First, remove the nut holding the starter cable on the starter. Second, remove the three bolts from the transmission that hold the starter in place. Third, wiggle the starter out enough to get room to pull the solenoid wire off the starter. This is the easiest way to remove the starter and all of its components on a 3.6 liter engine.
It can be done the other way, removing both wires from the starter before taking it out but the solenoid wire is very hard to get to with the catalytic converter in the way.
Above is what it looks like with the starter removed. I used my EZ Red neck lights to make the job easier. I highly recommend you check them out if you don’t already have a set. I practically live with mine around my neck.
4). Wiggle the Starter Out
We skipped by this step a little bit, but it’s important to note that taking the starter out of a Grand Caravan takes a little bit of work. If you didn’t know how hard it was to take the starter out, you could easily be tempted to give up. With a little bit of wiggling and moving, the starter will come out.
Putting the New Starter In
Once you have removed the old starter from your Grand Caravan or other 3.6 liter engine, it will be fairly simple to install the new one. Like most repairs, installation of a starter is the opposite of removal on the 3.6 engine. There is really just one part that will give you some trouble and I’ll explain that.
Installing the Front Engine Mount
Once you get the point of installing the front engine mount back on the vehicle, there are some tips that will be helpful. The reason it’s harder to install the engine mount than it is to remove it is because the engine will shift forward once the mount has been removed.
In order to make it easier to install the front engine mount on the Grand Caravan, you should first hand tightened the five bolts holding it on and not the center bolt that goes through the rubber. The reason for this is so you can put a jack under the engine and move it around enough to line up the center hole and the long bolt that goes through the rubber.
In the photo above you can see I’m wrapping up the starter replacement in my wife’s Grand Caravan by tightening up the bolts with my old faithful Milwaukee M12 cordless ratchet. If you don’t have one, it’s something else I highly recommend. For the price of it, you simply can’t beat the time it saves on jobs like this one. Amazon has the best price on Milwaukee cordless tools. Here’s the one I would recommend.
A Couple More Pictures I Took While Replacing the Starter
I want to add a few more pictures that I took during the job in order to help add more context and hopefully make the job easier. Here they are.
I didn’t mention it earlier, but now that I uploaded the picture, I’d also like to recommend spraying all of the bolts and mounting surfaces with Fluid Film. The stuff is gold when it comes to lubrication and it really helps combat rust and other corrosion that causes parts and bolts to stick together. If you keep the Grand Caravan long enough, you may have to take those bolts out again. It will be much easier if they are coated with Fluid Film.
I hope this guide to the removal and installation of a starter in the Dodge 3.6 liter engine was helpful. It’s always my intention to help my readers by sharing my own learning experiences so you guys don’t have to deal with them,
Author- John Green
If you purchase through a link on my website, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. All posts are well researched and meant to find you better tools at a cheaper price.
