2011 Dodge Grand Caravan steering problems

Filed May 23, 2025 · Engine, Steering · 130,000 miles · OK

The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, there was an abnormal whining sound coming from the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the water pump was replaced. The contact stated that several months later, while driving 65 MPH, the steering wheel seized without warning. The contact used excessive force to steer the vehicle to an independent mechanic, where a power steering flush was performed; however, the failure persisted. The mechanic replaced the steering pump, which seemed to correct the failure. The contact then stated that the whining sound returned without warning. The vehicle was taken back to an independent mechanic, where the contact was informed that the valves inside the engine connected to the fuel injector were defective and needed to be replaced. The contact stated that after the diagnostic tests, the vehicle failed to start up after several attempts. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline to file a complaint. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

Filed Jun 6, 2023 · Electrical, Fuel system · CA

The TIPM failed which caused a loss of power to the vehicle and power to the fuel pump. I was driving at approximately 60 MPH when the vehicle lost all power and the steering wheel felt locked. I was unable to turn the steering wheel as the Dodge Grand Caravan came to a quick stop as if it was out of gas. Luckily I reacted quickly and was able to avoid an accident. After approximately 10 minutes of trying to restart the vehicle and drive to a safe location the vehicle restarted. This happened again when I was driving and came to a red light at a major intersection and the vehicle stalled out as if out of gas and the steering locked. I again tried to restart the vehicle intermittently for 15 minutes; after which it finally restarted, and I was able to drive and get out of the intersection without an accident. I was lucky that this didn't cause an accident. The other times the defective TIPM and power to the fuel pump caused the vehicle to fail to start and left me stranded. I have had the vehicle diagnosed and the TIPM repair price is quite expensive. The vehicle did not have any check engine or warning lights before this occurred. I have read many similar complaints of this occurring with others driving Dodge/Chrysler vehicles. I feel that there is evidence that the TIPM and the fuel pump on the 2011 Dodge Caravan are safety concerns. Every experienced mechanic I have spoken with is aware of the common issue with the TIPM, and power to the fuel pump and vehicle. Although I avoided an accident there is a concern for everyone's safety.

Filed Sep 14, 2021 · Electrical, Steering · NJ

Driving at about15 m.p.h. I had trouble steering and noise was coming for under the hood, I pulled over and I look under the car it was leaking lots of oil. I had it towed to the dealer,the problem was a hole in the tubing on the racken pinen steering .if it was on a highway or on a faster road it would have been a very bad accident with oil leaking and could not steer the van. I was very very lucky.there was no warning light. I have a picture of the hole. I reported to chrysler. Consumer stated metal that was replaced rusted.

Filed Jul 25, 2019 · Airbags, Electrical · 14,800 miles · OH

My vehicle was at jeff wyler chrysler, dodge and jeep in batavia, ohio for a week plus a few days. In all of that time that this vehicle was having its transmission issues diagnosed and inspected, the service department failed to address the open recall of the federal safety agency recall #17v‑376, fca recall #t33 for the steering wheel wiring. The dealership knows about open recalls and, yet failed to perform the repairs on this vehicle. Instead, it allowed my vehicle to be towed from its lot back to my home address, despite knowing that it failed to address the recall. Dodge customer care representatives informed me of this recall while I was on the phone with them and still the dealership did not even make mention of this. They failed to repair the potentially dangerous or fatal issues with the vehicle and dodge failed to ensure that the vehicle recall was completed during all of my conversations with dodge and dodge executive office personnel.

Filed Jan 9, 2019 · Body, Electrical · 126,000 miles · CO

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 dodge grand caravan. While driving various speeds, both of the sliding doors on the driver and passenger side opened and the power steering seized. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to diagnose the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The dealer was not notified. The failure mileage was approximately 126,000.

Filed Dec 12, 2018 · Engine, Fuel system · 91,000 miles · OH

Apparently this is a widely known problems with dodge and related chrysler vehicles according to our mechanic. Basically the tipm--totally integrated power module is bad and this causes among other symptoms: vehicle not starting, issues with electric controls(lighting), issues with fuel system(fuel pump or relay) our vehicle had issues starting. Especially during wintertime this happened. And having replaced the battery new and also having ensured sparkplugs are new, those issues were ruled out. Starter issue also were ruled out both by obvservation and mechanic. The vehicle continued to have difficulty and intermittent successes in starting, up to the point that it didn't start anymore on 12/10/2018. The starter is turning but engine doesn't start. So took it to the mechanic and learned that the tipm is the issue. Prior to it totally failing to start., in the past 4 months, the vehicle had stalled 4 to 5 times while driving it on the thread going about 30 to 40 miles an hour with traffic. I realized that this is a safety issue because basically the car stops all of a sudden while driving on the road--with traffic. When this failure happens, apparently no fuel goes into the engine that the vehicle comes to a halt. There is no power steering and radio or other--as if the power was just totally disconnected. Luckily we were able to steer the vehicle to the side off the road, using its momentum. And after a couple times turning able to restart the vehicle. Again the sudden engine stoppage occurred around 5 times and I was able to restart it after a couple of tries. Until the vehicle would no longer start at all from a parking lot. The repairs cos $1300+ for the tipm which had to be dealer ordered and reprogrammed.

Filed Nov 20, 2018 · Engine, Steering · 62,000 miles · UT

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 dodge grand caravan. While driving various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart and had to be jumpstarted to drive. Also, the vehicle would fail to start when the contact attempted to drive. The vehicle was taken to larry h. Miller chrysler jeep dodge ram sandy (located at 1525 n university pkwy, provo, ut 84604, (801) 734-9791) where it was diagnosed, but a failure code could not be located. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer contacted the manufacturer and was informed that there was an open unknown recall regarding the steering column. The steering column was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 62,000.

Filed Nov 18, 2018 · Acceleration, Electrical · 89,000 miles · MD

Driving down the highway at approximately 55 MPH battery light came on then all lights on the panel lit up. Car rapidly accelerated was able to get car off the road and stopped shut off car due to it randomly accelerating then the key was locked in the ignition. Doors will not work and car will not start now

Filed Sep 3, 2018 · Electrical, Engine · 76,000 miles · TX

Severe electrical issue with engine shutdown while driving on highway, stalls at intersections after dash lights "go crazy," no-start, all dash lights on/off, wipers randomly going on, doors and windows inoperable, killing new batteries, brake light sporadically functional, and A/C in rear randomly changes settings. These incidents occur at random periods with no specific causation.

Filed Oct 8, 2017 · Electrical, Engine · 165,000 miles · VA

The vehicle stops running without warning. It has occurred on three occasions: once at a slow speed (25 MPH) on flat terrain, going uphill at 57 MPH, going down hill at 45 MPH, all in good weather conditions and traveling in a straight line. The car cannot be immediately restarted, but after a period of minutes will restart. The engine seems to be in good condition and has plenty of power. There appears to be no engine/mechanical reason for these events. The events leave no trace or error message that can be obtained by our mechanic. If this power outage occurred when in the passing lane, crossing a rode at an unprotected intersection or other condition where stalling out randomly would leave us or others in a life threatening situation it would be terrible. We have been forced to stop driving the vehicle for fear of injury or worse.