OEM 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan Piston

2000 Dodge Grand Caravan Piston Parts and Q&A

• Q: How to Properly Remove and Install a Piston in an Engine on 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan?

  A: Take off the negative wire from the battery, remove the cylinder heads and then the oil pan to get the piston out. Remove the top ridge of the cylinder bores with a strong ridge reamer, covering the pistons as you do this. You should remove both the pistons and connecting rods from the cylinder head, so that when you turn the crankshaft, every connecting rod is positioned in the center of the bore. It may be necessary to identify and mark each set of connecting rods and corresponding connecting rod caps with cylinder numbers. After taking off the cap, add connect-rod bolt protectors to the original bolts and push the piston and rod assemblies carefully out of the cylinder bore, taking care of the crankshaft journals. Once the joining has been removed, put the bearing cap onto the mating rod. Be sure to stagger the gaps in the compression rings and make sure the oil ring expander ends are butted with the proper gaps in the rail. Coat the piston and piston rings in clean engine oil and then use a ring compressor to hold them together, making sure not to move the rings during tightening. Stick connectors on the rod bolts, turn the crankshaft to position the connecting rod's journal inside the cylinder and fit the rod and piston into the bore as you lead them over the crankshaft's journal. While hitting the piston down with a hammer handle, guide the connecting rod into its proper place on the journal, so the notch or groove on top of the piston aims toward the front of the engine. After installing the rod caps, screw on nuts on the oiled and cleaned rod bolts, tightening them to 54 Nm (40 ft. lbs.) and turning the nuts an extra 1/4 turn. Do the same steps for all piston and rod installations, then fit the cylinder heads and oil pan, add the correct amount of oil to the engine crankcase and attach the negative cable to the battery.