2014 Dodge Grand Caravan: sudden loss of power

Filed Jan 27, 2024 · Brakes · MD · crash · 2 injuries

On 7/1/2023 my vehicle began to malfunction while driving - power was flickering with EMC drive error flashing. When this happened, I was at a complete stop in traffic, so I put it in park, then restarted. Everything seemed to be fine, but I was cautious. The same thing happened again, so I pulled into a parking lot and went inside a store for a few minutes. I got back in the car, started the vehicle, then before pulling out into traffic, the center console reported a flashing error again, so I put it in park and restarted again, put my hazard lights on, then pulled away. I was consciously trying to stay a few car lengths behind vehicles ahead because I was nervous about what was going on and just wanted to keep away from other vehicles. I made it to an intersection where there was a red light with 2 cars ahead of me. I began braking and decelerated to around 5 MPH and within 30 feet of the vehicle in front of me when the vehicle lost power to the brake. I don’t recall if the steering also went out. I hit the bumper of the car in front of me, and her car was pushed into the car in front of her. Fortunately, I did not sustain any injuries. My airbags did not go off. My confidence in this equipment is seriously affected. How will I know this will not happen again? I could have died or taken the lives of other people. I requested that the company MobilityWorks not make any repairs to the vehicle until they explain the origin of the problem. Instead they replaced parts and stated they could not replicate the problem--it took them 6+ months to return the vehicle to me & the headlights do not even work. They refuse to inform me of what the malfunction was but cite neglected vehicle maintenance. I can document consistent vehicle maintenance. I refuse to drive this vehicle as it is clearly compromised. They aren't being transparent and should be required by law to notify disabled individuals including veterans of this risk. These modified vehicles are death traps!

Filed Jul 17, 2023 · Engine · IA

Ignition module failed, causing van to stall while driving. The stall forced the vehicle to lose power steering and it had to coast over to the shoulder to get out of traffic, this could’ve resulted in a crash or blocking traffic. This happened twice, once during a very hot day. The van was able to restart after about 30 minutes and finished the short distance to the destination. The second time was at night when temps had cooled 20 degrees and it stalled at approximately the same distance it had traveled the first time. That time it was not able to be restarted and had to be towed to a repair shop, where they tested and replaced the ignition module. No warning lights or indicators went off either time prior to the engine stall. The check engine light did not come on until the second time when it would not start again.

Filed May 23, 2023 · Engine · 140,000 miles · KY · crash

The contact owned a 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated while her daughter was driving at approximately 55 MPH the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that the daughter lost power steering and crashed into a highway barrier on the passenger side. The contact stated that the damage was from the front fender to the rear fender. The contact stated that all the air bags had deployed. The contact stated that the daughter did not notice any warning lights. The contact stated that she had experienced the vehicle stall failure and that failure was intermittent and had occurred while she had been driving on three separate incidents. The contact stated that the police were on the scene and issued a report. The contact's daughter was not taken to a hospital emergency room and was only shaken up. The contact advised that the vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The contact was advised by the police that the vehicle was a total loss. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

Filed Apr 21, 2023 · Electrical, Engine · OH

In October 2022 I was driving down a residential road and slowed to turn into a parking lot and all power was lost. Was able to safely maneuver car and stop in parking lot. Put car in park, turned off the ignition. Restarted car, seemed ok. Mechanic said nothing was wrong. Now it’s happened twice more (April 14th and 17th, 2023). Once when trying to accelerate and merge onto a highway, once when slowing down to turn into a driveway. Both times the van just seemed to shut down and lose power. Steering became very difficult. Both times van restarted and continued driving after the incident. Waiting on word from mechanic to see what may be wrong.

Filed Aug 22, 2018 · Engine · 130,074 miles · CA

My van has a 3.6l pentastar v6 engine. Check engine light came on as I was driving. Car started to shake and lose power at stop light. An obd test indicated that cylinder #2 was misfiring. My mechanic determined that there is low compression on cylinder #2. This is a recurring and commonly known problem with the pentastar engine attributable to a cracked cylinder head on the left side. Chrysler has promised to replace for affected engines at no cost to owners as long as the vehicle is within 10 years or 150,000 miles. I had a similar issue two years ago which was fixed at no cost to me when the vehicle was at 78,000 miles plus.. I am filing this complaint because this time chrysler has refused to pick up the cost of $1,800 plus estimated by the chrysler dealership to replace the cylinder head on my vehicle. I have contacted the chrysler number set up to resolve this issue several times but the official response is that my vehicle has a high mileage of 130,084 and therefore not within the 5 years 100,000 miles warranty window. But instead of issuing a mass recall to address this problem chrysler has issued a public bulletin stating that the company will pay for the replacement of cylinder heads as this problem occurs on the pentatstar engine up to 10 years 150,000.(not 5 years 100,000 miles) I have pointed out this fact and referenced the chrysler but to no avail. In short chrysler has refused to honor its publicly stated commitment in this case. I am writing to request for arbitration or else show me what recourse to take in this david versus goliath case. I feel very much wronged and would very much like to escalate.

Filed Jul 9, 2018 · Electrical · 160,000 miles · NJ

Tl* the contact owns a 2014 dodge grand caravan. While driving 65 MPH, the vehicle lost power and all the warning indicators on the instrument panel illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.

Filed Jul 14, 2015 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 34,520 miles · CA · crash

During traffic at roughly 10pm, the charge indicator light came on. Our vehicle all of a sudden started losing power on the freeway. By the time we got to the next exit, we were losing power with steering, causing us to crash into a fire hydrant. We were able to guide it into a parking spot before losing the rest of the electrical capabilities (windows, lights, etc.). My family was stuck in that desolate are with no way to charge our phone and two sleeping young children. After getting it towed, the vehicle ended up in the shop for a little under 3 weeks for repair to the collision that had occurred. The electrical checked good. The next day, the charging indicator light again went on after being on the road for roughly 18 miles. Thank goodness this time it all happened in the day and we were stuck in a better area. After checking good again at the collision center, the vehicle was transferred to the dodge dealer for further diagnosis. This is when they finally pinpointed it was an alternator issue. Thankfully the vehicle is still under warranty.

Filed Jun 24, 2014 · Brakes, Engine · 17,488 miles · WA

We were driving 55mph on route 100 in maryland when the driver's knee bumped the key and the ignition moved into the off position. The engine turned off. The car lost power steering and brakes. We tried to restart the car while it was still in motion but it did not restore the power brakes or power steering. We pulled over and put it in park and turned off the ignition. We restarted the vehicle successfully. We then reproduced the event by bumping the driver's knee into the key again while parked, with the same results. This was a rental van from enterprise rental car in columbia, md.