This is the letter I sent to chrysler corporation. I am reporting the occurrence of unexpected engine shutoff and loss of power for my 2009 chrysler town & country minivan. This has occurred 3 times over the past four months with the first occurrence on 30 november 2013; the last occurrence on 11 march 2014; and another time between those occurrences. The below description characterizes each of the incidents: - without warning the engine shut off - there was a complete loss of power steering and brakes - it took extreme force to stop the vehicle and turn the vehicle off the road out of the traffic flow due to the loss of power steering and power brakes. - the console remained lit - all the loss of engine cutoff incidents occurred without warning I have contacted the local dealership service shop about the problem. I was told that they have no information about the problem, and would have to try to recreate the problem to address the solution. I contacted the chrysler corporation customer service (on 28 march 2014) and was told that they have no knowledge of any service bulletin associated with this problem. This of course is a very scary situation given that another loss of power can occur again without warning. This clearly will put the riders in danger. I was fortunate during the last three occurrences, but that may not be the case the next time. I know from internet searches that this problem has occurred with other town and country vans. This is a problem that the chrysler corporation should investigate. It is potentially a life threatening flaw in the vehicle that can only be addressed by a corporate level investigation, analysis, and solution. Note: this problem is the same issue that was the subject of your recall for 2010 minivans (the federal safety agency recall: 11v139000).
2009 Chrysler Town and Country electrical complaints
Page 16 of 16: complaints 431 to 453 of 453, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chrysler town & country. The contact stated that while traveling at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The contact also stated that none of the electrical components functioned. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage and VIN was not available. Updated 5/27/14
I was driving along a smooth road, not accelerating or stopping when the engine shut off. This has happened 3 times. I was able to get off the road one of the times, the other two I could restart the engine without having to stop. This makes driving this car a hazard to drive. All I get from the dealer is I can trade it in if it bothers me.
Driving down the road the car turned off. Don't know if my knee hit the key chain to turn off the car or if the car just turned off. I was driving straight and turned the car back on and it was ok. If I would of been on a curve it might have been different. I have since then bought a quick release lock so my keys are not attached to the key for the van. Haven't had any problems as of yet. But I just bought it. Just think the design of the car could be different to have the key placement somewhere else or change how the key fits into the car to avoid this from happening.
On around november 18, 2013, about a week after trip to chicago and during an overnight cold snap (about 25 degrees from 45), was pulling out of driveway when I put my foot on gas pedal it made a sound as if the gas wasn't reaching the necessary area to make it move forward--the esp/bas lights and the traction light lite up. I pushed gas pedal again and it made the same sound but the car moved a little faster as I rolled onto the street. The lights from esp/bas and traction stayed on. Drove about 10 miles to work. No other incident with gas pedal but lights stayed on. On december 2, the same incident happened with the gas pedal, but only after I had driven about a mile. I put my foot on pedal and gas gurgled and the esp/bas and traction lights came on while the car seemed to want to use it's traction even though there was no snow or ice on the ground. Took to dealer and was told that the angle sensor needed to be replaced and that the clock spring was defective. Stated not under the life time power train and no recalls.
The doors randomly open on their own. The car will be turned off, no one has the key, and the door will come open. I have had two new batteries within the last year and the car constantly will not start especially if it is cold out. While driving, the hazard lights will flash.
My wife was driving our 2009 chrysler town and county down the road when the vans engine completely turned off as if she shut the ignition down. Thankfully my wife was able to coast into a parking area where after some time she was able to restart the van and proceed on her way. Numerous times I have tried to start the van and the engine would not turn over until the key was taken out and flipped around and then it would start. Two days ago the van would not start at all but all if the key fob functions worked and all of the electrical gauges came on. After the van was towed to the dealership I was contacted and told that a new win module and key fobs would have to be purchased costing approximately 800 dollars.
Driving down the road and vehicle shut off causing the vehicle to lose power steering and brakes. Was able to pull over, put it in park and started back up again. Dealer advised that appears to be the win module (ignition) and that it is on back order with chrysler and cannot even order the part without contacting chrysler. They contacted chrysler who informed them that part would not be released at this time and would have to wait due to other vehicles ahead of ours being affected. No estimated time it would be received. Wife is afraid to drive the vehicle and rightfully so as this could cause a serious accident if it occurred while driving on an interstate or around a turn.
While driving about 30mph in my neighborhood, all of a sudden, my van's horn started honking, the wind shield blades began wiping very quickly and water was spraying over the windshield. Also, the automatic locks were going up and down and the car lights and blinkers were flashing on and off uncontrollably. It was very scary! I stopped the car and shut off the engine, but everything continued. Luckily I was not far from home and was able to carefully drive it there. Once in the driveway, the only way to get the car to quit was to disconnect the battery. Waiting on repair report.
I was driving on I 94 in indiana and all of sudden the vehicle stalled. Luckily nobody hit me on rear end. I checked online and found out that there a known issue with ignition module. I called chrysler warranty department and the person told me by checking my VIN that my van is not effected by this problem and advised me to take the van to the dealer and get it checked for the problem. When there is a known issue with a bad part that has been manufactured bad. They should include my van and all vans manufactured with this type of ignition modules in the recall and fix them free of cost. These van are hazardous to the occupants and the people drive behind them.
The SRS (airbag warning light) came on my 2009 chrysler town & country during the last week of february 2013. I took the car into the local dealership for diagnostics. They found that the orc (occupant restraint controller) module was giving a fault code b2208 and needs to be replaced by part # 68148358aa (orc module). My own research found a 2011 chrysler safety recall l01 occupant restraint controller module (attached) for 2008 models of the chrysler town & country and dodge. Page 3 calls for replacing the orc module with same part number as the one on my vehicle (68148358aa) and replace with caa3l016ab. Also a k25 recall for a drain grommet kit is called for. Only difference is the recall is for the 2008 town & country. The dealership said that my vehicle VIN [xxx] is not listed for the recall. I called the chrysler group recall assistance center @ 1‑800‑853‑1403 and they basically said the same thing as the dealership told me. Chrysler needs to honor their commitment to customer safety by including my vehicle in this recall. The same part numbers exist on both the 2008 model and the 2009 model. This tells me that chrysler did not improve the orc module in 2009. They used the same. Therefore the same condition exists in the 2009. Safety recall l01 was issued in october 2011. So chrysler continued to use the same orc module and drain grommet kit in subsequent models until enough customer complaints justified issuing a recall. I'm very concerned that the air bag system may not deploy or it may deploy inadvertently until this is repaired. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
My wife was driving the vehicle with my two and four year old children and the dash and headlights went off. She lost power steering and power brakes. She managed to pull the vehicle over to the shoulder without being struck by any vehicles. She turned the key to the off position and thought she had run out of fuel. She than tried to start the vehicle after waiting five minutes and it started like nothing happened. She is petrified to drive my family or herself in the vehicle after this.
This wasn't the first time this has happened. I have taken it to a dealer. He said the total intergrated power module was bad. There must me a number of them bad because he said it would take three weeks to get the part. My warning lights came on and the wipers. I am afraid to drive it because I don't know what else may quit working when this happens again.
My 2009 chrysler town and country 4 liter engine stopped dead 3/4 mile after leaving home in the morning. I was doing 15 MPH at the time. Everything stopped working, I.e., the power steering was unmovable and the power brakes were non-responsive. Because it happened in a curve, I ended up in the oncoming lane on a single lane road. Luckily there was no car in that lane. In addition, the heating and cooling system and the radio also stopped. The dashboard went dark. There was total silence. After about 45 seconds I restarted the car with no problems. I drove the car to the nearest chrysler dealer whose service advisor asked whether or not a check engine light came on after the event so that he could get the failure code. The light did not come on. The dealer's service advisor said that he could not fix the problem without the failure code. I have driven the minivan for the last 10 days with no problems. Now I am uncertain if and when this event will happen again and am concerned about my safety in the future.
I bought the vehicle over 15 months prior with 23000 miles. In less than a year, the vehicle would just shut off upon deceleration and/or coming to a stop - usually after exiting the highway. Since then it just shuts off randomly - usually when stopping at a red light. I took the van to the dealer who could not find any codes. Instead, they charged me $300+ for a flush! When I took it back, they told me that it could be the transmission and tightened the wires. The problem remained. A month later, I took the van to another auto repair shop who could not find the problem until he went out on the road with me. Again, I was told that it was likely the transmission. Approximately 3 months later as the problem continued, the hose blew and I was told to replace the hose as well as the transmission. Now that the transmission has been repaired/rebuilt, the problem still occurs!!!!!!!!!!! This is utterly insane and I do not have the money to keep putting band aids on a problem that the dealer nor other reputable repair shops can identify. I have 3 young children (ages 6, 7, & 8) and no other vehicle. I am constantly in fear of being rear-ended because the van just shuts off. When I contacted chrysler about a potential recall, she was unhelpful. Instead, she directed me to this website to file a formal complaint. Let me add that since I bought the vehicle, there have been 3 recalls - A/C wire (that I did experience), brakes (I had replaced and will need to be reimbursed), and the front-wheel alignment (that I now have to get serviced). This is utterly ridiculous and I am appalled that I have to endure this issue. Something needs to be done immediately!
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chrysler town and country. The contact he attempted to open the rear sliding doors while the vehicle was parked, but the doors began to close unexpectedly after opening halfway. The failure recurred on an intermittent basis. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed that the sensors on the sliding doors were too sensitive. The vehicle was in the process of having its software updated. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency. The failure mileage was 38,000.
My wife was driving her 2009 chrysler town and country two days ago and the car cut completely off again. She was driving along, and the van did the same thing it did last november. It just cut off!! She lost power steering and the brakes became hard to operate. Once she stopped, it started right back up like nothing happened. This van has been to the dealer at least three times before for this failure and the dealer keeps telling her "we can't duplicate the problem". This is dangerous!! It randomly cuts off! In operation. So far, no injuries, but several close calls....
Fire in vehicle caused by an apparent short in rear cigarette lighter while on a long distance trip from new jersey to newfoundland on july 25, 2011, we had a fire in our 2009 chrysler town & country minivan that started in and around the rear cigarette lighter. The wires below the carpet ignited causing a portion of the carpet to get burned and causing a major panic amongst my 3 children who were all seated in the back. There was nothing plugged into the lighter when the fire started.
While driving with my family on 1/1/2011 the truck just shut off, all the lights on the dash came on as if just starting the truck and the truck restarted. I brought the vehicle to the dealer on 1/03 and they diagnosed it no trouble found and returned the truck (they said there were no error codes). On 1/20/11 the same issue happened this time to my wife while merging onto a major highway at 55 miles an hour, the truck (because loss of power steering) pulled to the left, she had my 3 and 6 yr old in the truck, I brought the truck that evening back and contacted chrysler corporate. They saw a fault with a loose battery terminal po884 on ro, and replaced the win. My wife is petrified to drive this truck so I have been driving it since. Today 2/09/11 it happened to me at ~40 MPH at ~8:15 am. I have called chrysler again. This is a major safety issue and I cannot feel safe letting my wife drive this truck anymore nor myself.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chrysler town and country. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the contact smelled an electrical burning odor inside of the vehicle. The contact pulled over to the side of the road to inspect the vehicle and noticed that small flames were coming from the rear area of the passenger automatic sliding door. The fire department removed the door panel and extinguished the fire. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for diagnosis and repair. The contact discovered that there was a recall related to the failure under the federal safety agency campaign id number 09v046000 (electrical system: fuses and circuit breakers electrical system: fuses and circuit breakers). The contact was uncertain if the VIN was included in the recall, and planned to notify the dealer. The failure mileage was 15,000.
While traveling at 60mph on the expressway my 2009 chrysler town and country van stalled and would not restart. The code at the dealer indicated that the PCM module automatically shut down the vehicle. This happened twice. The first time the dealer installed a new PCM. The second dealer noticed that one of the wires to the PCM rubbed through on a factory installed upper radiator hose clamp, thereby sending a message in error to automatically shut down the vehicle. We would like chrysler to check all vehicles for this defect when they come in for service so this very dangerous situation does not happen to anyone else.
2009 chrysler town and country 4-0 liter engine. A unexplained acceleration of the car. Could not de-accelerate. Had to throw the transmission in neutral. Engine continued to race. Finally came back to normal after going to drive back to neutral back to drive. The tires squaled each time the car was put to drive. The car was taken to sternberg chrysler center in jasper, in. Car is still there. Awaiting results. They said first time to witness such an event per this model of vehicle.
Bought this vehicle on friday, 8/14/2009---all electrical equip. Stopped working on the way home from the dealership---no gauges, no power windows or doors, no turn signals, no brake lights, no A/C, no radio---the only thing working were the windshield wipers which came on by themselves and I could not shut them off---all the warning lights on the dash lit up---made it home and called the dealership and set up appt. For monday morning---van has less than 100 miles on it and already in for service---called dealership monday afternoon, they can't find any problems, must be the tipm (totally integrated power module)---they have ordered the part, but it is on backorder until who knows when---van has been deemed unsafe to drive until repaired--dealership provided me with a small sedan to drive until fixed, but this van was purchased by my funeral home to use for body transportation, stretchers, caskets, etc.---sedan is totally useless for my business.
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