[John Wood]

We just got back from a vacation to New England. I took the 96 Grand Voyager and took it from about 218,000 miles to about 223,000 miles. For the most part, the mini performed well and used about 2-1/2 quarts of oil on the trip. Average mileage was about 20.5 MPG. I can get 22+ on the country roads going about 50-60 MPH and it seems to get about 20 on the Interstates when we are going 75.

I had only one problem. Occasionally, when pulling away from a rest park after the vehicle was parked for about 15 minutes, I get some momentary cut-out or hesitation, sometimes followed by a lean backfire. By the time I'm near the end of the acceleration lane, all is back to normal power. No codes are ever indicated. It never does this in stop or go traffic, but only with a 15 minute (approximate) rest after high speed driving.

I know it is not the EGR valve since I replaced it before the trip. I'll probably replace the engine coolant sensor. The TPS was replaced about a year ago with a Wells after market unit so that is also a possibility. The spark plugs, wires, rotor cap, and distributor were all replaced before the trip.

The vehicle is a 96 Grand Voyager with the 3.0 and a 3 speed. This is a very comfortable and smooth riding vehicle which is great for long trips.

 

[John Wood]

Doug, On the way back we stopped at a few historical places. After Gettysburg in PA, we went to Montpellier (near Orange) and Monticello near Charlottsville. This is after we stayed at Skyland in the Shenandoah NP. For those historical places, we did not take the expensive tours. It now costs $48 for 2 people to visit Monticello. We were there in the 70's and it was just a few bucks to get the tour and walk the grounds. We stuck around the visitor centers and probably learned as much as a full tour (my wife is a history buff). That put us on the west side of VA. As we headed south, we stayed in S Boston, VA and worked our way down to the Raleigh NC area before hitting the Interstates again (I 40 to I 95 and S to Jacksonville). We often like to get off the Interstates and enjoy the country roads when we have the time. On the way up to New England, I went up I 95 and cut over to I 81 via I 64 (trying go by memory here), so I was probably near where you live.

The trip was a bit complicated with me taking off on my own and driving straight to Vermont (27 hour drive), parking the vehicle in Killington for a continuation of a backpack hike on the Appalachian Trail. Later (10 days after I got there), my wife flew into Manchester, rented a car and stayed with a couple of friends in Maine. After 14 days on the trail, I called my wife to pick me up near Gorham, NH. After a couple of days in the area,including the trip to the top of Mt Washington (in the rental), we drove back to the parked van in Killington, VT and caravaned the two cars back to Manchester to return the rental. The rest of the vacation which included some camping in the good weather, and some motelling when it looked like rain was all continued in the 96 mini-van with the back seats out and all our camping gear in the back. It was a truly adventerous trip that we won't forget, but we did a similar trip last year. I'm trying to finish the entire Trail within a couple more years, so we will do it again next year. I will be well into Maine on the trail.

My wife is getting a little leary of the high mileage on the mini for these trips so there is a slight chance we could be buying a newer vehicle some day, or perhaps just rent one for the entire trip.

Ray... its the same vehicle we were both interested in back in the early 2000's. I have put over a 100,000 miles on it since I bought it. I can say that the 3.0 is a solid engine even if it is a PITA to work on at times.

Cass.... We want the the stow and go version too! The occasional strange cutout occurred through a few fill ups so I don't think it is bad gas in my case. I'll probably do the coolant sensor since it is cheap and easy and then move on to the TPS if necessary. I'm also going to spray all the connectors with contact cleaner and inspect the wiring harness. It is pretty weird situation that this only seems to happen with a slight cooling of the engine from fully warmed up.