2012 Dodge Charger: loss of power steering

Filed Jul 12, 2023 · Electrical, Engine · NY

I am experiencing the same issue as identified with the federal safety agency ID NUMBER: 11525511, June 5, 2023. Dodge has a known issue with the wiring for the fuse for the a/c located in the front PDC. Technical Service Bulletin NUMBER: 08-040-14 REV. A. On or around June 2020, I took my 2012 Dodge Charger to my local dealership during the COVID pandemic for an issue with my AC not working. I had the car inspected by numerous mechanics who indicated there was an issue with the fuse for the a/c clutch (#12), They would replace the fuse numerous times, the AC would come on and blow warm air or cool air, but mostly warm. Replacing the fuse numerous of times did not resolve the issue. Neither did replacing all the cooling system and radiator and fan as well. My auto shop had a mechanic who specializes on the computer for cars take a look at my Charger and found technical service bulletins NUMBER: 08-040-14 and NUMBER: 08-040-14 REV. A which directly describes the issue I am experiencing with my vehicle. The mechanic has even placed a small nail in the cavity next to the fuse to hold it in its place and my AC is blowing fine and cold air until that fuse is moved or touched. This also caused issues with the fuse for the steering wheel on the car which the Dodge dealership addressed when I lost steering power on my vehicle. They did NOT repair the issue with NUMBER: 08-040-14 on my vehicle. I paid the $199.00 diagnostic fee just for the shop to put a new fuse in (which I repeatedly told them was not the issue at that time) and I am still having the same problem. I would like Chrysler/Dodge to contact Armory Dodge and authorize not only a refund for the $199.00 diagnostic fee I paid to have the issue identified (which they did not) and also authorize the repair needed as instructed on the TSB NUMBER: 08-040-14. The dealership has informed me that they do not even have the repair kit needed Part No. 68235388AA (wire harness kit) and would need to do a workaround to repair the issue.

Filed Oct 2, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · WA

My 2012 Dodge Charger was bought used and it had been recently repaired and recalls performed on it. (The dealership was nice to point that out to me.) in Dec 2020 Wa. state. I have had nothing but problems with it. About a month later I had smelled smoke. I had my car scanned and it said camshaft needed to be replaced. So I did. It has stalled and seized up without warning. I was only going 40 miles an hour when the steering went hard( could not move or control it) The dashboard went black and I tried to pull it to the shoulder. The engine was still on. I would put the gas on ... but it had died. There was one other vehicle on the road at that time following me. He went around just in time. This not only happened once but two times. Since the car was a dodge i went to that dealership. A couple of times telling then the problem. They just wanted to scan the vehicle for $85.00 PER SCAN. The young man that was helping me keep looking at the computer screen . I asked if I could have a copy of what he was looking at and he said "yes". This sheet of paper was called the VIP Summary report. I was not the VIP the dealership was There was a WARNING MESSAGES in bold print. It read ATTENTION "This vehicle may have had 9 visits, 42 days down and 7 repeat repairs. Service personal should contact management and engage FCA service parts resources ' This was at 5:09pm I left. I noticed a very well dressed man sitting in his car looking at me... HUMM... LEMON LAW PERHAPS

Filed Nov 19, 2020 · Steering · LA

Power steering went out wheel is hard to turn

Filed Aug 3, 2019 · Steering · 78,260 miles · FL

My power steering went out again! This is now the 3rd time! I was backing out of my driveway and my steering wheel light came on, this made my steering wheel hard to turn! This has been a complete inconvenience to keep having to deal with this

Filed Feb 1, 2018 · Steering · 49,000 miles · AZ

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 dodge charger. While driving 45 MPH, the steering wheel seized and made it impossible to steer. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the power steering assist failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The failure mileage was 49,000.

Filed Aug 23, 2017 · Electrical · 80,918 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 dodge charger. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering ability and the battery save mode message illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact had to maneuver into a parking lot and had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the 180 amps alternator failed and needed replacement. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised the contact that the 180 amps alternator was not under a recall, only the 160 amps. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 80,918.

Filed Jul 18, 2017 · Steering · 50,000 miles · TX

On several occasions over the course of maybe a week, while turning through an intersection from either a dead stop or slow roll the car would either stall or have a power surge causing a loss of steering. One evening after starting the car you could smell smoke and the information light came on indicating a problem with the charging system. I researched the symptoms and found an article about the 3.6 l dodge alternators so I called dodge. They brushed it off so purchased a new alternator the next day and installed it. Since then I have had no issues with the car stalling and loosing steering.

Filed Jul 14, 2017 · Electrical, Fuel system · 74,000 miles · NY

I was driving my 2012 charger sxt, and the car suddenly went into battery saver mode. I had pulled over to google it on my phone, and my car was starting to display the symptoms in the p60 recall. The battery light came on, the traction control, ABS, check engine lights, they all came on. Then as I was pulling into a parking space at dodge the center screen shut off, I lost power steering, the car shut itself off. Somehow the windshield wipers ran a few cycles. The dealership informed me that my car had a 180 amps alternator, that it was not part of the p60. My car had just reached 119000km (74000mi), and the average mileage of chargers with 180 amps alternators appears to be around 106000km (66000mi). The road that I was on, it followed the a winding cliff. If the problem had been more severe I would certainly have died, either gone into the rock face, off the cliff, or into oncoming traffic. The replacement alternator was over $800 cnd, that's before the inspection, before labor, and if the battery fried in this ordeal, it doesn't include that either. It doesn't cover the rental car I had to get. Obviously, chrysler-dodge-fiat had to do a massive recall with one alternator, is it really a stretch to think that the other alternator that they installed in other vehicles were defective as well? I looked up the cost of a replacement online according to official dodge specifications for the chrysler 300 / charger - they're listed at about $200-250 cnd, why is the one dodge selling me over $800? Is it because they realized they have to put in something of much higher quality and output so that this doesn't happen again? There had better be a recall about this - people will get severely hurt because of this.

Filed Jul 3, 2017 · 71,000 miles · NE

I was driving home from a family reunion last night at 11pm on the highway which is 65-80mph and no street lights whatsoever, with my two year old son and fianc in the car and out of nowhere the vehicle had completely went haywire and shut down. My lights went out including exterior lighting and the gauges went black and wipers and heat were going crazy. I then panicked because I had never seen such a thing and tried to get off the highway as soon as I could without being hit by the semi that watched my car go dark and tried to prevent an accident by puting on his hazards and following me. I had no breaks no traction control and no power steering, making it extremely dificult to finally get the car at rest. I was terrified for my family and I's safety as my cars malfunction could have caused a terrible accident and deaths...I then began to look up why my car had done what it did and it seems that multiple people are having this problem with this model and still nothing has been done for any of us who had went through this distress. I hope to get all of this figured out asap. No car with these problems should be on the street. My two year old should never had witnessed something for terrifying.

Filed Dec 1, 2015 · Steering · 82,000 miles · FL · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 dodge charger. While driving 5 MPH, the steering became difficult to control. The vehicle was able to be parked and all the warning lights illuminated. While parked, smoke appeared from the vehicle and then disappeared. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 82,000.

Filed Sep 18, 2015 · Electrical · 64,000 miles · MN

I was driving to work and my car collision sensors and alarm started going off randomly. Shortly after, my car shut down while I was in motion and there was no electircal power and no power steering so it was difficult to get out of traffic. I could not get my car to restart and could not even get my hazard lights on. I had my car towed to the repair shop and they determined the alternator was the issue. They replaced the alternator and my car works perfect now. I am disappointed to learn that there was a recall on alternators for the v6 version only of my car. I have read that my car has the same alternator as the v6. Luckily I was able to avoid an accident. I can't imagine what would have happened with my car suddenly shutting off on the freeway. Why would my v8 car not have been recalled.

Filed Oct 23, 2014 · Airbags · 12,000 miles · FL · crash · 1 injury

Operating my vehicle with seatbelts employed, I was struck offset head-on from my left at the drivers front headlight from an oncoming vehicle who's driver failed to yield to oncoming traffic, making a left turn, crossing into my lane causing the collision and subsequent events. My speed was accelerating and was approximately 35 MPH when hit by the other vehicle, reportedly accelerating to an estimated 15 MPH. Despite these energetic collisions, none of my airbags ever did deploy. After the initial vehicle collision, my car was subsequently slammed to the side and off the road. With continued forward momentum, "standing" on the brakes and with no steering control, I struck a fire hydrant in my path followed by a large tree head-on. The tree collision was significantly energetic enough to cause total front end damages resulting in repairs approximately $20,000. In all three collisions, none of my airbags deployed. I sustained head trauma and was unconscious when ems/police arrived. I was diagnosed in the er with closed head injury and other mva- related trauma. Mechanism of injury: after the initial vehicle/vehicle collision, my head collided with the upper inside driver's doorframe where there's a handle. When my car subsequently collided with the large tree, my neck snapped forward and I struck my forehead on the steering wheel. It's my opinion and that of others, that the driver side airbags should have deployed in at least one of the collisions and had they deployed correctly, my injuries could have been prevented or, at minimum, been less severe.