While driving the van at 65 MPH while on rt.23 on my way to findlay, ohio, the windshield wipers cycled a couple times, the gauges went to zero, the radio turned off and the warning alarm went off a couple times. This occured twice while I was driving to findlay and twice on my way back home. Each time, the van continued to run. At the time both hands were on the steering wheel. I know the date because I was headed to my son's soccer game at the university of findlay. It was a very un-nerving experience. On other dates the wipers have run by themselves and even sprayed windshield cleaner for a brief period. I have noticed that other people have reported the same behavior on their vans. I wanted to make sure my experience was noted. It appears the situation can become much worse.
2008 Dodge Grand Caravan acceleration complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 28 of 28, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Slowly driving through mcdonalds parking lot and van accelerated for a second. Pulled out into the street and did it again, this is the first time this has happened. Several times van would not start but electrical works. Wipers not turning off twice. Door locks won't lock or unlock. Worried that this small acceleration is another sign something is bad. Googled, reading tipm is faulty. This is our family van and only vehicle, we have a daughter with down syndrome and medical issues and now I'm scared to drive.
I was driving eastbound on the 10 fwy , about 40mph and in the first lane because I had just got on freeway about 1 1/2 ago and while I was driving I felt the peddle lose power so I tried to accelerate by pushing a little harder and I felt the car gaining no speed only slowing down then I look at gauges and all gauges were non functional as if the car was off, it was then that I noticed I had no control in steering either the car was just completely died. As I coasted to a stop just a little between the first lane and emergency lane I was able to put the car into park, quickly, and turn the key back to the on position as then I also noticed the key was not in on position. Very scary and that's the whole reason I started to look into this matter and found out about this recall. I will provide VIN number upon request if needed. Feel free to contact me at the number provided below.
The van dies while turning at slow speeds, typically in traffic. Van will easily restart after putting in park/neutral and cranking. Has happened 3 times in the past few months.
Vehicle started accelerating unintentionally with engine going to high RPM. Driver was driving at 45 MPH as vehicle randomly took off. Vehicle reached close to 85 MPH with the brake pedal pressed to the floor. Driver avoided a near collision with another vehicle. Driver turned the ignition off in order to stop the vehicle. Vehicle had two people inside during the incident and two witnesses following the vehicle behind, in another car. Witnesses described seeing the dodge caravan take off suddenly beyond the legal speed limit, with smoke pouring out from the brakes and the brake lights on. Driver described that he felt the throttle pedal physically stuck and the vehicle's RPM increasing, even while pressing and pumping on the brake pedal. After this incident and doing some research, we have found numerous complains online with similar situations. The dodge caravan, in this incident, does not have any aftermarket floor mats as dodge claims to be the cause of unintentional acceleration in similar occurrences that have been reported to dodge. The driver, passenger, and the witness are willing to make a statement, if necessary.
While driving at low speeds the vehicle loses power and shuts off resuling in loss of power steering making manuevering and controlling vehicle difficult. Mechanics unable to diagnose problem. Have driven and experienced problem but have no solution.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge grand caravan. The contact stated that while driving approximately 54 MPH, the vehicle suddenly accelerated to 80 MPH with the illumination of the electronic throttle and traction control warning lights. The contact attempted to stop the vehicle but the brake pedal could not be depressed. The contact was able to stop the vehicle and discovered that the accelerator pedal had become stuck. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the defect but no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 96,000.
As I was driving on the interstate in atlanta, my vehicle ABS eps bas and esp light came on. At this time I was unable to use cruise control. Now it comes on intermittently and slows my vehicle down at odd times. I have taken it to the mechanic and they say they don't see anything wrong with it. I travel a lot and would hate for this to happen to me again especially with my children with me.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge grand caravan. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the horn, lights and windshield wipers would activate independently. Also, the contact mentioned that the power steering assist malfunctioned. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the portal integrated power module was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 75,000 and the current mileage was 80,000.
When we were going 50 MPH the accelerator stuck down to the ground would not stop and we almost crashed in an intersection. We had to turn off the car to slow down. Something need to be done about this!
I was going 70 MPH on a highway, with my two young children, and I came upon an area where I needed to reduce my speed to 60 MPH. As I was putting my foot back over from the brake to the gas pedal my shoestring was suddenly caught on something. I could not move my foot so I quickly used my other foot to take my shoe off. Thankfully I was then able to use my bare foot to get in control of the pedals again. I stopped the van to see what happened and found that there is a clamp of some kind to the right of the gas pedal and my shoestring was caught in it. In my opinion this is a major safety issue because if I had been bumper to bumper in the city when this happened I would have likely rear ended someone. This was a very scary experience and something needs to be done to remove or replace this clamp on these vans.
Tl*the contact owned a dodge grand caravan xlt. While the vehicle was parked the contact noticed white smoke coming out of the hood of the vehicle near the windshield. A passenger attempted to move the vehicle and black smoke was on the outside and inside of the vehicle. Fire was on the ground and the flames were 5 feet tall. She was able to extinguish the flames with cans of soda. The consumers husband jumped in the vehicle to back it up and as he did, the vehicle lost all power. The passenger stated that four trees and the grass caught fire. The fire department was called and the vehicle exploded. A neighbor extinguished the fire in the trees and grass; however, the vehicle continued to burn. A sheriff and fire department report were filed. The contact stated that no one was injured. Since she had a heart condition, a paramedic came and gave her oxygen. The vehicle was destroyed. The approximate failure and current mileages were 25,000. Updated evoq 09/20/10 prior to the fire, the air conditioner cruise control and read passenger door stopped working. Updated evoq 11/09/10
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 doge caravan. The contact stated that when attempting to accelerate, the accelerator pedal would sporadically become stuck in the open throttle position. In order to dislodge the accelerator pedal, he would shift into neutral and as the speed would reduce to 40 MPH, the accelerator pedal would release. The manufacturer advised taking the vehicle to the dealer to be diagnosed. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 42,000. Updated 08/13/10. *lj the consumer stated the van has been fixed. Updated 08/23/10
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 dodge grand caravan. While driving 45 MPH, the vehicle began to accelerate. The contact had to apply the brakes with force and the vehicle failed to slow down or stop. The contact was only able to stop the vehicle when he shifted into neutral gear; however, the rpms continued to rapidly increase. The failure mileage was 16320. The current mileage was 16330.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 dodge grand caravan. He stated that when activating the cruise control between 25 MPH - 55 MPH, the engine revs up to 5,000 RPM's. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and a technician replaced the thrust bearing. Immediately after the repair, the failure resurfaced. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer. The technician concluded that because they could not identify the cause of the failure, they could not provide a remedy. The failure mileage was 22,000. The current mileage was 24,000.
While at a stoplight in small city traffic in connellsville, pa, on 31dec2008, I decided to see how my enterprise rental vehicle, a 2008 dodge grandcaravan, would accelerate. Pulling away from the light, I floored the pedal and got up to about 45 MPH, then let up. No reduction in acceleration occurred. I took my foot from the pedal and the engine continued to race. I was still gathering speed, so I pushed the brake pedal with lots of gusto. The vehicle's brakes then worked against the engine for perhaps a quarter mile. The vehicle speed was reduced to about 20 MPH, but when I did a test lift off the brake pedal, the vehicle once again started to accelerate. Back on the brake, I swerved into a large, empty parking lot. I tried neutral and the engine then took off wildly, so I switched off the ignition. Pausing a few seconds, I restarted the vehicle and found everything back to normal, except that the esp warning light that had come on with my intense braking was still on. I drove a few minutes and the light went off. I then returned the vehicle to the enterprise agency, where I shared my experience with the manager.
Driving on i96 near coopersville michigan, with my cruise control on. A slower vehicle was ahead of me so I had to brake to stop the cruise function. It did not dis-engage. I had to pull out in front of a faster vehicle to my left, in the fast lane and accelerate. At that point it fully accelerated. Could not stop vehicle from accelerating. Heavily applying the brake did not dis-engage the cruise control or stop the throttle from being fully engaged. Pulled vehicle to shoulder, 7,000 RPM. Turn off key to shut off. Police in coopersville witnessed the incident. Dealer currently has vehicle in ontario waiting for parts to correct problem.
Car was put into drive, as I started to drive, I noticed the engine racing. I looked down and saw it was in first gear. I shifted to neutral and the engine raced, I engaged the transmission again and it slammed into drive and spun the wheels for a moment then drove normally. It has been accelerating while in drive on its own also.
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