2016 Chrysler Town and Country: jerking or lurching

Filed Feb 28, 2025 · Transmission · 19,800 miles · TN

The contact owns a 2016 Chrysler Town & Country. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH or more, the transmission jerked before shifting gear. Additionally, while driving 35 - 40 MPH, there was a grinding metal sound coming from underneath the vehicle. While driving 30 MPH, the vehicle vibrated abnormally, without warning. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The dealer confirmed that the VIN was not included in the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 16V461000 (Power Train). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The manufacturer referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 198,000.

Filed Aug 4, 2024 · Transmission · OH

Vehicle slipped out of gear causing vehicle to jerk suddenly and wouldn’t drive. Vehicle had transmission flushed and now drives but intermittently (frequently) vibrates hard/shakes like it’s coming out of gear while at certain speeds. This make/model vehicle had a recall issued for this issue but my VIN wasn’t part of the recall. It has all the issues the recall listed.

Filed Feb 27, 2024 · Transmission · 117,000 miles · PA

The contact owns a 2016 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly began to shake violently and jerk. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the hydraulic pressure sensor. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who then diagnosed a failure with the transmission pump. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 16V461000 (Power Train) but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 117,000.

Filed Sep 6, 2023 · Transmission · TX

Entered the highway and attempted to accelerate and bring car up to speed to match other cars. Car reached 55 mph but could not go faster and did not shift into higher gear. Noticed a high pitch noised coming from engine compartment. Over the course of a few hours the car would lag when shifting into reverse and would lurch forward when it did kick in. The car was taken to NAPA for a diagnostic where they diagnosed a problem with the transmission and that the car had transferred into "limp" mode. We were informed by Jet Automotive the transmission requires an overhaul.

Filed May 25, 2023 · Steering · TN

My steering went completely out. I took it in to the dealership and they replace the power steering pump, said that was not it and replaced the rack. I got it back, and the pump was loud, was clicking when turning, and steering was still moderately unresponsive. They said they would order another power steering pump and go from there. They replaced the pump after several months, and said they drove it with no issues. It is still unresponsive, and will occasionally jerk in one direction when trying to go straight. I am afraid me or someone else will get hurt in an accident with it one day. I just reached out to another dealer as well as Chrysler to see what my options are. It happens at any speed and is constant.

Filed May 15, 2023 · Transmission · IA

While driving with my children, my 2016 Chrysler Town & Country Limited Platinum van started to make a loud whining noise and then it started lurching forward. I could tell it tried switching gears but transmission was slipping. There was no errors given. This happened suddenly. Vehicle has 88,000 miles. I drove home, but barely made it home as it wouldn't switch gears smoothly. I had it towed to transmission shop. They said the transmission was shot and needed replaced or complete rebuild. Error code give was P0844 loss of hydraulic pump prime.

Filed Mar 22, 2023 · Transmission · MD

When I was driving my children to daycare the car suddenly lost power and was unable to drive over 20 mph. Fortunately, it was early in the morning and the road I usually travel was not as busy as it is later in the day. The RPMs were jumping and the car was jerking around. Luckily, I was able to pull into a residential area and call for a tow. No warning lights came on in the vehicle and I was traveling on a main road with a speed limit of 50 MPH when the problem occurred. I had the transmission replaced and the mechanic said this is a very common problem with the 2016 Town and Country and upon further inspection I read that over 20,000 of these make and model vehicles were recalled for the same exact type of transmission failure. I doubt my mechanic has the old transmission still in his possession but I have receipts of what exactly was repaired.

Filed Jan 11, 2023 · Transmission · 160,000 miles · TX

The contact owns a 2016 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH and accelerating, the transmission experienced hard shifting. The vehicle started jerking and made abnormally loud sounds. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact continued driving at 40 MPH on the highway to prevent the failure from reoccurring. The vehicle was taken to a local Pep Boys and to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the failure was associated with the power train and the transmission needed to be replaced. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

Filed Dec 23, 2022 · Transmission · VA

Owner was driving car and noticed high pitch whir at low speed upon entering the highway, had the radio been on then this noise would not have been noticed. Driver was able to exit the highway. Upon reaching a stoplight the vehicle revved up to 60mph then down to zero. When barely compressing the gas this occurred again. Owner quickly turned off and on vehicle hoping to reset whatever was happening. Upon restarting and barely pressing gas the vehicle lurched forward with high rpm. Driver was in high traffic area at height of rush hour, but was able to cross 4 lanes of traffic to a side street. Car was towed to dealership where it was confirmed that the transmission pump had failed and metal shards had gone through the transmission causing full replacement to be needed. No warning lights went off on vehicle and vehicle had been serviced regularly with no warning of failure. Loss of control of vehicle in heavy traffic was unexpected and dangerous. Vehicle had 49,787 miles at time of failure.

Filed Sep 24, 2022 · Engine, Transmission · FL

Cylinder 3 missfire Loss of hydraulic pump prime. Line pressure low. LC pressure switch rationality. Yes it's available for inspection. Unknown if reproduced by dealer or other Unknown if inspected by manufacturer or other. The check engine light came on a little after 90k miles, at which time it was out of warranty, the mechanic said it had a weak cylinder and the motor needed to be replaced or rebuilt, but it was still drivable. The van would start shaking and loses power under moderate acceleration (like getting on interstate) and begin dinging but eventually gain power back. Around 119k miles, the van made a loud Squealing sound and started loosing speed very quickly in the middle of traffic. I put the car in park and back in drive to see if I could get it out of the road. It then started to roll backwards I barely pushed the gas and it revved up to 6000 RPM and then jerked and quickly accelerated forward. If a car would have been close enough I would have hit them while rolling backwards and when it accelerated forward. Upon inspection, the faults listed above came up. The van is no longer drivable but still starts.

Filed Aug 11, 2022 · Transmission · NH

The transmission fails. When this happens the call stalls or jerks while driving. This was seen by my local mechanic for the pump and the transmission is now being serviced by another independent repair shop. When the issue originally happens there were many lights that went off. once the pump was replaced a few months later we got the check engine light where we found major damage to the transmission (torque converter, solenoid block, and Drum).

Filed May 18, 2022 · Transmission · 67,479 miles · MD

The contact owns a 2016 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated while driving approximately 15-20 MPH, the vehicle revved high several times, started jerking and stalled. The contact veered to the side of the roadway. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle after several attempts. The vehicle was towed the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The dealer also informed the contact that the vehicle could not be repaired under the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 16V461000 (Power Train) because the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist as the VIN was not included. The manufacturer also informed the contact that she did not qualify for Good Will assistance due to the mileage on the vehicle and because she was not the original owner. The failure mileage was approximately 67,479.