2008 Braun Town & Country: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Jun 8, 2011 · Brakes · 26,500 miles · MI

2008 chrysler town & country, 26,500 miles. I was driving down the highway and when I parked my vehicle there was smoke coming from the drivers side rear brakes. The brakes had been stuck on for an unknown amount of miles. There was excessive heat and smoke coming from the area which could have LED to a possible fire. I took it to the dealer and they told me there was no warranty or recall for this problem.

Filed Oct 19, 2010 · Brakes · 20,487 miles · NY

I took the vehicle to dealership service department on june 16th to diagnose a "howling" noise, which began a few months before as an occasional noise, and was now occurring almost continuously. I said I thought it was coming from the rear brakes. The noise occurred while driving, not while braking. They found nothing wrong with the brakes, and said the noise was due to the wear on the tires. I did not have the tires replaced at the time, and continued to drive it with the noise. During the next few months, I occasionally noticed a burning smell. Also getting very poor mpg; 14.3. I applied and released the emergency brakes while parked, and the noise stopped for a few days. The noise eventually became less frequent, and was almost completely gone, when the brake indicator light came on. Took it back to the dealer service shop on sept 19, 2010. This time, they found that the rear brakes pads were completely worn out; the brakes were inch worn into the metal. The front brakes also needed to be replaced, and were covered by the extended warranty (less $100 deductible). I filed a complaint with chrysler, and was told they would reimburse cost of replacing back brakes & rotors this time. The dealer did not replace calipers, only "clean/lube caliper slides & apply brake quiet". Dealer insists that the calipers were not stuck or causing problems -said if they get stuck, they stay stuck. My brother and I each bought new vehicles in jan 2008; he got a 2008 dodge grand caravan ,and I got a 2008 town & country. He was having the exact same problems. He took his back brakes apart to diagnose the problem. He found the calipers were a new design; the pistons "screw" in & out, rather than the usual clamp & release, or pinch design. The pistons were sometimes not releasing, which caused the brakes to be applied even while the vehicle was being driven for long periods on highway, which caused the noise & bad gas mileage. Chrysler needs to recall/replace caliper design.

Filed Jul 29, 2010 · Electrical, Locks · 14,000 miles · NY · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler town & country. The contact was in his residence when he heard the vehicle alarm sound. Within seconds, there was smoke and flames coming from under the hood near the driver side. The fire department was called to extinguish the fire. A fire report was available. The manufacturer investigated the vehicle and found that the fire was caused by the relay box. The vehicle was destroyed. There were no prior warnings of the failure. The current and failure mileages were 14,000. Updated 10/13/10*bf the consumer also stated the driver side sliding door was inoperative. The door would close 1/2 way and then open back up intermittently before the incident. Updated 10/14/10

Filed Jul 2, 2010 · Brakes · 20,000 miles · MI

2008 chrysler town and country brake squeaking, the car is only 2 years old, also smell burning back brakes near left rear tire, chrysler requires customers to pay to fix brakes, no recall yet despite many consumer complaints read online.

Filed Jun 23, 2010 · Brakes, Steering · 38,500 miles · MI

1998 town & country brake problem...at less than 12,000 noticeable squeaking of brakes and vibration of steering column when brakes applied...never had this happen so early in a car before...kept complaining...front pads and rotors replaced at approx 22,000 at my cost...at 30,000 squeaking and vibrations started again...at 38,500 rear brakes have seemed to literally "burn out" terrible metallic burning smell from rear driver tire area...tire is fine...rim extremely hot and terrible smell...speeds of approximately 35-55 MPH and steering column vibrations are excessive...it is clear chrysler has a major problem...will the federal safety agency wait until a crash, fire and/or death occurs before taking this seriously...every chrysler dealership service department knows there is an issue (almost seems like an inside joke), but hide behind chrysler corporate...please make chrysler fix this issue...most minivans on the road carry families and/or children...including mine!

Filed May 2, 2010 · Brakes · 28,150 miles · MI

While driving 2008 town&country on expressway experienced vibration from rear wheel and began to smell something burning. At this time I immediately slowed the vehicle and took first available exit. Checked rear tires, both ok,smelled strong burning odor coming from rear driver wheel. Rim was extremely hot, could see smoke coming from rotor & brake caliper area. Brake caliper seemed to be stuck. Had happened on previous instance approx 2months before. On previous instance dealer cleaned brake said could not find anything. This instance dealer claimed corrosion between stainless steel clips and brake pad material caused brakes to seize. I personally asked dealer to inspect parts. Stainless clips were shiny no sign of corrosion between dis-similar metals as dealer stated. Dealer stated they have witness this happening very often and admitted component design as defective, however stated chrysler corporate offices advise not to cover under warranty as defect. Dealership replaced brake pads, but I am sure this did not fix the root cause of the issue as there were no signs of corrosion as dealer stated which would cause sticking. Also had front brakes wear out at 14k miles with rotors completely worn as well. Dealer also admitted defective but stated not covered under warranty. I am mostly concerned with the seizing of the re brake as I feel I have now 2 times been given band-aid solutions by 2 different dealerships and true root cause not established. I am concern for the safety and welfare of my family and other with regards to the seizing brake incidents and feel that expressway speeds with such an event loss of control is possible which could result in a crash. Also I have concern that this event could have potential to cause a fire as I have witnessed a burning smell and seen smoke in the area when the event had occurred. I would appreciate if this matter could be properly investigated as chrysler is not giving it the proper attention it deserves.