The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated while driving on the highway at 70 MPH, the vehicle stalled, and the instrument panel turned black, and the steering wheel seized. The contact stated that the failure had occurred temporarily, and the vehicle restarted independently. The contact stated that the failure recurred intermittently while driving. There was no warning light illuminated. The local dealer was contacted and advised the contact that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
Chrysler Town and Country steering lock-up problems
88 of the 13,494 owner complaints about the Chrysler Town and Country describe steering wheel locks up, most of them for the 2010 model year.
- owner complaints
- 88
- worst model year
- 2010
- typical mileage
- 83,000
Is there a fix? There are 5 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Engine failure 22Stalling 19Warning lights 3Loss of power 3Steering noise 2Power steering loss 2Key fob 2Check engine light 2
What owners say
Has had some issues trying to turn on after sitting over night. It will just kill the battery but it just started to die while driving and the entire system shuts off. All the lights, the steering wheel locks up and gas goes out. All you can do is brake and hope that you can stop in a good spot before it dies fully. This has happened a few times with my kids in the car and now I just don’t dare to drive. The tipm needs to be recalled.
In the middle of driving the vehicle steering wheel seized up and the engine shut off in the middle of driving. This is extremely dangerous and I had my two children in the car
The vehicle totally turns off while driving. The steering locks and brakes don't work. It has something to do with the key or ignition. It's not an engine stall. It's loss of everything as if the key was turned off. This is very dangerous.
Vehicles is shutting down while driving. No codes shown. Mechanic can find reason. It's been happening for a month. Steering wheel locked when of. I'm able to restart it right away after putting it on neutral.
I was driving along in motion, an all of a sudden the car just completely shut down. The steering wheel locked up and the brake got tight. Thank god I was on a slow street so I was able to stop the car and put it in park and the car started right back up again. This happened to me once in october and once again a month later in november. In november I was on a regular street in traffic and the car shut down. I was able to put it in park and start it back up again. This is so scary and a safety problem. Thank god I didn't cause an accident.
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 chrysler town and country. The contact stated while attempting to park across the garage door with the accelerator pedal depressed, the vehicle suddenly violently accelerated. The contact turned the vehicle to the right but was unable to move the vehicle back to the left. The steering locked up and crashed into someone's garage, and the vehicle shut off. The air bags did not deploy. The shoulder seat tightened up. There was no injury. However, the contact was taken to the emergency room for observation. A police report was filed. The vehicle was damaged and was towed to the dupage chrysler dodge jeep ram dealer, located at: 433 e north ave., glendale heights, il 60139 where the technician repaired the front end of the vehicle. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.
Driving along and all of a sudden the car turned off, steering became tight, and steering wheel locked. After checking into the situation, the ignition key was in the off position, upon trying to restart the engine it says bad key and vehicle would not start, wheel wouldn't turn and vehicle was disabled.
Danger! While in motion, three or 4 times since buying town & country in dec 2009 the power steering froze & I had to muscle the wheel to complete the turn. Now that my daughter is driving I am scared to death for her. I took the car to service & they found no codes & nothing wrong.
At any random time while driving the electronic stability control light comes on, car engine fails, breaks and steering lock up and your just stuck where ever you happen to be. Turn car completely off wait a few minutes turn back on and car sometimes will run fine for days and sometimes immediately do the same thing all over again! This is very dangerous for a family vehicle, had happened on the highway, in the middle of intersections and in heavy traffic! There's no warning or no way of knowing when it will happen. Multiple cars just like my chrysler town and country have this same exact issue and nothing is being done to fix it!
Related recalls
Steering: column
- What is wrong
- Chrysler is recalling certain model year 2011dodge journey, jeep wrangler, chrysler 200, chrysler 200 convertible, dodge avenger, dodge nitro, jeep liberty, dodge caliber, jeep compass, jeep patriot, dodge grand caravan and chrysler town & country vehicles. Some of these vehicles may have been built with a missing or incorrectly installed steering column pivot rivet.
- Risk
- A missing or incorrectly installed rivet could compromise the ability of the steering column to support the occupant loads in the event of a frontal crash, decreasing the effectiveness of the frontal impact safety system. As a result, the condition may increase the potential for injury in a frontal crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect for rivet presence and alignment and repair the steering column pivot as required, free of charge. The safety recall began on july 4, 2011. Owners may contact chrysler at 1‑800‑853‑1403.
Recall number 11V315000 · Recall details
Steering: hydraulic power assist: hose, piping, and connections
- What is wrong
- On certain minivans equipped with 3.3 or 3.8l v-6 engine, the upper power steering cooler hose may split and cause a fluid leak.
- Risk
- Power steering fluid leakage in the presence of an ignition source can result in an under hood fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the upper power steering cooler hose. This recall began on september 27, 2004. Owners should contact daimlerchrysler at 1‑800‑853‑1403.
Recall number 04V386000 · Recall details
Steering: steering wheel/handle bar
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: mini vans equipped with 2-spoke luxury wheels manufactured july 1992 through june 1993; or equipped with 4-spoke sport wheels manufactured from july 1992 through september 1993. The steering wheel armature stamping can crack and separate from the center hub attachment to the steering column.
- Risk
- If the steering wheel separates from the center hub attachment to the steering column, loss of control can occur increasing the risk of an accident.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the steering wheel for cracks and any wheels with cracks will be replaced. All other vehicles will have a reinforcement plate installed to prevent steering wheel separation in the event cracking occurs.
Recall number 00V305000 · Recall details
Steering: steering wheel/handle bar
- What is wrong
- The steering wheel armature stamping can crack and separate from the center hub attachment to the steering column.
- Risk
- If the steering wheel separates from the center hub attachment to the steering column, loss of control can occur increasing the risk of an accident.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the steering wheel for armature cracks in the center hub attachment area. Any steering wheels showing cracks will be replaced. All other vehicles will have a reinforcement plate installed to prevent steering wheel separation in the event cracking occurs.
Recall number 96V229000 · Recall details
Steering: steering wheel/handle bar
- What is wrong
- The zinc plating operation performed on the upper steering column shaft coupling bolt caused hydrogen embrittlement and breakage of the bolt.
- Risk
- Fractures of the upper steering column shaft couplingbolt result in a lack of coupling load on the shaft and loss of steeringcontrol.
- Remedy
- Replace the zinc plated bolt with a phosphate plated bolt.
Recall number 92V015000 · Recall details
Questions about the Chrysler Town and Country steering lock-up
Which Chrysler Town and Country years have steering wheel locks up problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2010 (17 complaints), 2008 (15 complaints) and 2001 (6 complaints).
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