2008 Chrysler Town and Country: loss of power steering

Filed Jan 3, 2023 · Electrical, Engine · FL

Multiple times the van will intermittently stall while driving down the road or stopped in traffic. First the dash lights flicker, speedometer and rpm gages go to 0, and warning lights such as esp, traction, abs, airbag, battery etc flicker on and off and occasionally hear almost a spark through radio speakers, then everything shuts off, both electrical and mechanically. When that happens I lose power steering and cannot get my hazards or brake lights to work. One time I could barely press the brake pedal, or steer and it was at night which means the vehicle was completely dark with no kinds of lights at an intersection with my 2 children and myself inside. So very scary! It gives me the worst anxiety to drive it and I'm too scared to sell it as I feel I would be knowingly selling a very unsafe vehicle. Occasionally the sliding side doors do not operate properly. First time the other night while the van was parked I hit the automatic shut button for the sliding door and lost all power to the vehicle and then it popped back in and operated fine. I have had multiple mechanics look at it and nobody can figure it out. Bought the van used in March or April of 2020 and had issues starting just 2 weeks after purchase. The van is now at around 108000 miles. I am out of money, a vehicle and options. Please help from a very scared and desperate mother who otherwise loves her minivan!

Filed Aug 2, 2022 · Engine, Steering · AR

I was leaving my place of residence and was navigating a 90 degree left hand turn while in drive at approximately 10mph. As I began to attempt to straighten the wheel and accelerate out of the turn I realized I had no steering and the car wouldn't accelerate. The engine had stalled and the steering wheel was locked while turned to the left. No warning lights or messages were present even after I started the vehicle back up. I feel incredibly lucky this happened at a low rate of speed instead of at highway speed. It has never done anything like this before and we cannot figure out what caused the engine to stall or why there was no steering when it happened.

Filed May 2, 2019 · Electrical, Engine · 100 miles · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler town and country. While driving various speeds, the vehicle suddenly shut off. After restarting the engine, the vehicle operated normally. The failure occurred on multiple occasions. The vehicle was taken to an unknown dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The contact indicated that the vehicle was previously repaired per the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v373000(electrical system) and the ignition switch was replaced, but the failure still occurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100. *bf consumer stated car shuts off at any speed, any time; it's constant no power steering or brakes; it can be on a turn or coming to stop light, won 4 let anyone in household drive it: thousands of this model especially chrysler.

Filed Nov 1, 2018 · Brakes, Engine · 100,000 miles · NJ

Stalls while driving usually at low speed.loss of power steering and brakes is dangerous. Restarts when turned off and restarted. Same problem has been reported large number of times on auto internet sites .car has 108000 miles and has been stalling this way for many months from time to time usually after cold start. Mechanics have been able to reproduce stalls and unable to correct.

Filed Oct 24, 2018 · Brakes, Engine · 114,000 miles · FL

Car stalls (stops running) randomly at speeds below 40 MPH. This causes loss of power steering and brakes which can lead to a dangerous situation. I've almost run into a tree or off the road on several occasions since this happens randomly. The traction light comes on first and then you realize the engine isn't running anymore. You have to put the car in park and then start it again. It may be fine for the rest of the drive or it may stall again. Totally random as to when it does this. It has not happened at high speeds on the highway as of yet. I've had the car to the dealer several times with this complaint and each time they can't replicate it or it was due to the key fob recall which was performed on my car 3 times.

Filed Mar 30, 2018 · Brakes, Engine · 160,000 miles · OR

As I left my apartment to go to work, and after driving approximately 1 mile, I approached a stop light. As I pressed the brake pedal, suddenly my power steering went out, the "traction" light turned on on my dashboard, and the engine turned off. I put the car in park, turned the key to the off position, then restarted the van. It drove fine after that. Having the engine, steering, and brakes all shut down randomly while the electrical items still work was frightening. If it happens on the highway, I don't know what I will do.

Filed Jan 3, 2018 · Engine · 136,000 miles · VA

The van shut off with no warning at all. My kids mother said that two tractor trailer miss them by a hair pin driving down interstate 95 south in va. She had no steering control and brakes at all. Could not restart the engine after she put it in neutral. Had to come to a complete stop in the center lane of a three lane highway 95s . She very scare afraid that someone was going to plow in back of her our two kids. She had to put the gear shift back in park to restart the van. You educated people know this is happen all across american and you letting people put there life in danger ,why because big chrysler company rules.

Filed Feb 20, 2017 · Brakes, Driver assistance · NY

When driving at 30 MPH esp/ bas/ABS & brake lights appear on the dash,then steering became difficult .we are so grateful it's not on the highway.

Filed Nov 8, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 120,000 miles · OK

I was driving down a city street when the van suddenly died in the middle of the road. It lost power steering and brakes and wouldn't release the key. After a few minutes the van started again. I began to drive home through city streets when about 10 minutes later the van once again died and lost power to the brakes and steering and wouldn't release key eventually the car maybe a clicking sound and allowed me to start car. I took it to the dealership and they could not duplicate the problem and found no error codes.

Filed Jul 22, 2016 · Brakes, Engine · 91,000 miles · PA

Engine shuts down completely causing loss of power steering and brakes. No warnings, just dies. Diagnostics reveal a bad totally integrated power module. Recalls issued for multiple models but not mine. I was told, I have all the symptoms but I don't have the flu ! Now they want almost $ 1000 to fix it ! It's an established, defective part but they'll let me drive away in it unless I can come up with the money. Chrysler said it's the same part as the recalled ones but I don't have a recall on my model. Ant time any where at any speed, it shuts down.

Filed Jul 16, 2016 · Brakes, Electrical · 50,000 miles · ID

Driving down the road at 55 night driving ! Complete loss of power steering engine and braking all hampered by loss of power as I tried to slow vehicle to a safe stop all of a sudden power came back. This was a complete safety issue with no power no headlights no taillights driving 55 at night on a back country highway and the vehicle only has 50000 miles on it.

Filed Sep 25, 2015 · Electrical · 141,645 miles · NY

While driving in town, approximately 25 miles an hour, my engine shut off, and I lost power steering, and brakes due to the engine being off. The horn was blowing constantly, not honking or alarm sounding, but blaring. My wipers were on high, and windshield wash was spraying all over. My reverse lights were on, even though the vehicle was in park. I was able to restart the vehicle after this spell stopped. About 3-5 minutes. The next day, (today) the very same thing happened within a few minutes of starting the vehicle. And the spell lasted about 5 minutes. It has happened twice today. First the horn started blaring, then the wipers turned on high, and windshield wash started spraying, and the engin stalled. Even upon removing the key, and opening the door, the above listed problems continued for 5 or more minutes. Also, the fan, for the heat/AC isn't working right now either. It comes and goes.