2003 Chrysler Town and Country fuel system complaints

Filed May 20, 2005 · Fuel system · CT

I have a 2003 chrysler town and country limited with approximately 44,000 miles. On three occasions, when pressing the accelerator to the floor to pull out or pass, the engine accelerated more than anticipated and for a longer time. When the accelerator was released, the engine remained at high speed for an instant longer than normal then would not slow below a fast idle until the car was shut down and restarted. When taken to the dealer, the dealer, scully motors of windsor, ct, was able to replicate the problem, possibly even worse, and investigated. They have reported to me that the plate inside the throttle body was disintegrating and causing the throttle to hang open and told me the car was unsafe to drive. They told me there was no service bulletin on the problem, and when I called chrysler customer service they also told me they had no other record of a similar problem. However, chrysler is out of stock on replacement throttle bodies and reportedly many sites within chrysler have the part on back order. This would indicate to a layman that the problem might be more widespread. Since the service personnel considered it such a threat to my safety that I should not drive the car, and since this does not seem to be a routine type of breakdown on a relatively new car, I believe it should be considered for review as a safety defect. I have requested the dealer to save the replaced parts for me.

Filed Dec 21, 2003 · Fuel system · 400 miles · AZ

Fuel mileage in town 12.3 on the road 15.3 this is terrible gas mileage is what it supposed to be as of point of view 16/26 the sticker in the beginning at 400 miles they told me wait till 10000 miles b4 they can do anything but now they say they never said it, also chrysler will not talk to me about this problem I bought the top of line for a hefty price and they did 3 mileage tests and they all came back with the same mileage. Do you realize a motor home gets better then my car . But the new owners of xchrysler also do not want to here this because they have my money and will not help the sales manager said sue us I need this van for my wifes wheel chair since she does not walk and I had dodge vans for over 30 years but I guess this will be the last one.

Filed Nov 16, 2003 · Fuel system · 13,182 miles · MO

I own a 2003 chrysler town & country van. During a recent trip we ran over a piece of tire lying on the highway. The impact from the small piece of tire caused a rupture in the fiberglas gas tank, along an exposed seam. The dealer in durango co said they were told that there were five other incidents of damage to the same gas tank that week, necessitating a lengthy wait while a tank was shipped from detroit. We were told by the dealer that when the dealer called chrysler for information about the tank, they were told to "impound" the car because it was unsafe to drive. When posing this to chrysler, they deny that there was ever any impounding and that we were merely "advised" not to drive it. It was much more severe than that. It was, in fact, impounded and would not be released to us. We can produce witnesses to this statement who were in the dealership at the time, even though the dealership now says that is not true. Clearly, they don't want to interrupt a relationship with chrysler. While we certainly would have little interest in driving an unsafe vehicle beyond getting it to some place where repairs might be more reasonably priced ($738 for a gas tank seems excessive), I am more concerned that the tank can receive such significant damage. It seems that any of several options would have prevented this problem. 1) if the tank was made of something other than fiberglas, it might better withstand an impact. 2) if the company is going to use fiberglas, a protective shield in front of the exposed area would prevent this type of damage. 3) a seam should not be exposed to the road surface. The split in the tank was at a seam on the underside of the tank. If such rupture can be prevented, it should be!