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2008 Dodge Caliber engine complaints

Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 56 of 56, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2008 Dodge Caliber engine problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Nov 18, 2012 · Brakes, Electrical · 67,000 miles · PA · crash · fire

I was on my way to work, headlights and dash lights started to flicker, all the indicator light on the dash came on. Smoke started coming in the vents into the vehicle went to stop, brakes grabbed for a second then went out completely, even shifting the vehicle to park did nothing. Stopped the vehicle by hitting guard rail called police, within minutes the entire front end was in flames.

Filed Nov 16, 2012 · Engine, Fuel system · 71,000 miles · TN

My 17 yr old daughter was driving our 2008 dodge caliber when acceleration was lost. The car started shaking when she tried to give it fuel and the electronic throttle system like came on. Needless to say, she was very shaken by this ordeal. We have an extended warranty that we purchased through carmax, with a 300.00 deductible, however the warranty company would only pay 144.00 dollars of the 647.00 total bill. The car has approx 70,000 miles so I don't understand why the throttle system would be defective. According to the repair shop, the needle inside the throttle that feeds the fuel was defective. Luckily my daughter was not on the main highway when it went out, otherwise it could have been more serious. I am voicing my complaint on this part and all be ware of the throttle needle going bad. I will also make this a formal complaint with dodge as well.

Filed Sep 21, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 57,000 miles · TX

2008 dodge caliber. While driving at 60 MPH the battery charging light came on. Next day took car to auto store to have battery tested and they replaced the battery. Next morning at 2:00 am while driving my husband to work, all lights on panel started coming on one at a time and car lost power and we coasted to the side of the freeway. The car is at the shop today and mechanics are trying to figure out what happened. They noted the battery was bad, but I just had a new battery put in and they stated the started was not bad. What is wrong so I can get it fixed. Also change oil light always comes on even when I have just had the oil changed; which I do every 3,000 miles. The current mileage on vehicle is 57,000 miles.

Filed Aug 7, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 77,000 miles · MN

Driving the car down the road at approximately 35 MPH and all of a sudden the electronic throttle control light comes on. The car lost engine power will running very rough. Car would not accelerate and became hard to handle. Was eventually able to get the car to the side of the road. I was on a city street. If this had happened on a very busy street or the highway I could have been stuck right in the middle of traffic with no or very little power to get it out of the road. This could have been a very dangerous situation at higher speeds or more traffic. There was no warning other then the light that came on when it happened.

Filed Aug 4, 2012 · Engine · 45,000 miles · AZ

The car has just shut down 3 different times now (while driving) and has left us stranded in the arizona desert each time. We will be driving and suddenly no matter how hard I press the gas pedal the car comes to a stop and will not turn back on until about 10 minutes later. I took it to brakes plus after it happened the first time and they said nothing was wrong. It then happened again a few months ago, and now again today. I am scared to put my family in the family car. Something has to be done about this. I'm going to call dodge and get to the bottom of this. I came on here to see if anyone has had the same issue. Apparently they do. I will never buy a dodge again unless they come up with an answer to this.

Filed Apr 3, 2012 · Engine · 75,000 miles · MO

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge caliber. While traveling 65 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed and no repairs were performed. The current and the failure mileages were 75,000.

Filed Jan 23, 2012 · Engine · 86,000 miles · ND

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge caliber. While driving approximately 25 MPH, the contact noticed that the etc warning indicator was illuminating on the instrument panel on an intermittentl basis. The engine began to exhibit a significantly reduced amount of power and the road performance was extremely poor. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the computerized system was reset. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure was 86,000.

Filed Sep 27, 2011 · Engine · 80,000 miles · NY

Had come to a stop at an intersection for a red light. Green light making left hand turn, car stalled out in intersection, able to restart car. I am at 89k now ever since then the car has been randomly stalling out at stops. I keep up with my vehicle maintenance. By doing some research this problem is a cause for concern, multiple complaints about this problem around the internet. This a safety issue and I believe it should be looked into and corrected. These problems can be prevented.

Filed Sep 10, 2011 · Electrical, Engine · 60,554 miles · TX

While operating the 2008 dodge caliber 2.0l engine at approximately 45mph, the car instantly stopped without applying the brakes. Then the car would go from 7mph to 50mph in a rapid acceleration and then back down to 7mph. This was rather dangerous as I was almost rear ended numerous times despite having my emergency signal flashing lights on as well as driving in the far right lane. The car also experienced excessive back firing and one loud explosion sounded as if it occurred in the catalytic converter directly underneath the car. I was lucky enough to find an auto parts store last night and was able to have the tech there use the odbii reader and it indicated the error p0132 which is the oxygen sensor as the failing unit. The failure of the oxygen sensor nearly resulted in an accident as the dodge caliber was almost impacted by other cars in traffic as the other cars were not prepared for the dodge caliber to rapidly decelerate from 45mph to 7mph. The part was replaced asap the next day with bosch part # 15124 and upon testing for 20 minutes the car operated without error. I called dodge to inquire about a recall or warranty work and they declined both. In regard to public safety, I request that a case be opened to investigate this situation and others like it. The desired outcome is to have dodge recall the o2 sensors as this type of failure can be catastrophic when traveling on the highway at higher speeds with traffic.

Filed Sep 3, 2011 · Engine, Fuel system · TX

I recently purchased this vehicle about three months ago with aircheck. Little did I know I was buying a more defective car than I originally had. About a week ago my A/C goes to crap I ask the dealership to fix it and all he says is I know a guy that can fix it for you for alittle charge. And to top it off the A/C goes out on the hottest freaking day of the month. Then my engine makes this rattling noise my freaking radio doesn't accept cd's what kind of whole did I get my self into. And for this car to be a 4 cylinder it drinks gas as if it where a v8.

Filed Apr 22, 2011 · Engine, Steering · 86,000 miles · OH

I have replaced alternator, drive belt, ball joints, wheel bearings, tire rods on my 2008 dodge. It is making a horrible noise now under the hood. I am one of many who have this same issue.

Filed Dec 19, 2010 · Engine · 56,000 miles · GA

The car starts, drops rpms to 700 when put in reverse, then stalls while driving.

Filed Jun 18, 2009 · Engine · 5,500 miles · AL

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 dodge caliber. The contact stated that the o2 sensors continue to fail and causes the vehicle to drive roughly. The vehicle was taken to a repair shop at least ten times and they keep replacing the sensors each visit. There is no recall for this failure. The failure mileage was 5,500 and current mileage was 18,438.

Filed Jul 22, 2008 · Engine · 4,908 miles · WA

My engine ticks when idling and the gas gauge jumps. The engine did not sound like this when I purchased it. I have taken the car to the dealer twice and have been told that there is no problem, and that all cars sound like that.

Filed Jul 7, 2008 · Engine · 500 miles · OH

2008 dodge caliber r/t with 2.4 litre, 5 speed manual tranny stalls while idling at red lights. Happened twice within 3 weeks.

Filed Jun 23, 2008 · Body, Engine · 1,000 miles · IL · 1 injury

The exhaust pipe protrudes too far from the rear of the vehicle making it possible for small children to receive injury when the vehicle is hot. A small child in our home received a second degree burn when walking around the vehicle to ask a question. In merely walking by, the child was able to come into contact with the vehicle's exhaust pipe causing a burn.

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