While driving, the engine shuts off, leaving the driver with no power steering or power brakes. All power is off. There is no warning or error messages on the dash of any kind. No warning at all. The last time this happened, I was able to coast to the side of the road to a stop. Once stopped, i can put the transmission in Park, restart the vehicle and continue. This time, I drove directly to my service shop to have the computer checked for codes. There were none, like the event never happened. They could not reproduce the problem. This has happened 3 times since August 2025. The wireless ignition module was replaced in 2015 under the recall notice 14V373000. That recall was for exactly this situation. So far, I have been fortunate to avoid hitting another vehicle or other objects. This is not a safe situation, especially knowing it might happen tomorrow.
Dodge Grand Caravan power steering loss problems
281 of the 13,443 owner complaints about the Dodge Grand Caravan describe loss of power steering, most of them for the 2010 model year.
- owner complaints
- 281
- worst model year
- 2010
- typical repair cost reported
- $800
- typical mileage
- 90,000
By model year
Often reported together
Loss of power 137Stalling 45Won't start 15Overheating 15Wipers 10Engine failure 10Check engine light 10Fuel pump 9
What owners say
While driving on major (multi-lane) city street (40 mph) the vehicle began to slow, steering became difficult and a single amber caution for the traction control was illuminated. Tachometer indicated 0 RPM. After pulling over, the vehicle was restarted and driven without further issue. Recall on the ignition switch was addressed in 2009. Unexpected engine shutdown could have significantly reduced safety margins in heavy traffic. No third party inspected vehicle after incident. Owner notes that key fob does not have anything hanging of it that could aggravate unwanted movement of ignition switch
While driving around 30mph, the van completely shut down. With nowhere to pull over on the right, and to avoid an accident, I turned left onto a side road. I quickly realized I had no power steering or brakes. I had 2 children in the vehicle and school had just let out. Luckily there was no accident. With no brakes, I just coasted until I came to a stop on the side of the road. I wasn’t able to move the shifter into park. After a few minutes, everything came back to life. I was able to shift to park, start it up and drive away. No warning lights came on. No check engine light. This situation could have become really bad, really quick.
As I was driving home on a city street, the entire car locked. I had no steering control. My brakes didn’t work the Entire vehicle locked. In the middle of the street. I turned the ignition off, put it in park and restarted the car only then did it work properly. This is the second time this vehicle has locked. This is very dangerous as I had a child in the car with me and I was in traffic. My brakes didn’t work, I had to use two feet really hard then I was able to stop the vehicle. The steering wheel didn’t work. Nothing worked. I don’t know What’s the problem. The very first time this happened, while dropping the child off at school, I put the car in park, I was not able to get the shifter out of park. The car locked. I sat in my car, wondering what to do decided to go on the web and check out problems with this particular vehicle, then I noticed there is a little door leading to the shifter to change it manually. But when you are in traffic, there is no time to look for a screwdriver to open the door to do anything manually. This is a safety hazard and I really don’t know why there is not a recall on this vehicle.
Travelling at the speed of 55 miles per hour the vehicle seemed to completely shut off on its own, thus causing immediate loss of power steering and power brakes. I was able to very carefully bring the vehicle to a complete stop after a half a mile or so. Fortunately, I was travelling on a long straight county road without any surrounding traffic. Once I turned the ignition totally off and back on again at the side of the road, everything seems to operate as normal. No check engine light, no other warnings came on thereafter. After doing some research online I found customer complaints experiencing the very same issues with certain Dodge Grand Caravan vehicles, however Dodge doesn’t seem to have any sort of recall for this extremely hazardous issue. It seems like it may be a faulty ignition switch problem!
The van shut down from the sudden. No steering or power. Did it twice on a parking lot and big street
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.
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.
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.
When driving the car will randomly shut off losing power. When trying to start it randomly it will turn on then shut back off. When it turns off as I’m driving it’s always under 50MPH but I lose steering. Very scary.
Related recalls
Steering: column
- What is wrong
- Chrysler is recalling certain model year 2011dodge journey, jeep wrangler, chrysler 200, chrysler 200 convertible, dodge avenger, dodge nitro, jeep liberty, dodge caliber, jeep compass, jeep patriot, dodge grand caravan and chrysler town & country vehicles. Some of these vehicles may have been built with a missing or incorrectly installed steering column pivot rivet.
- Risk
- A missing or incorrectly installed rivet could compromise the ability of the steering column to support the occupant loads in the event of a frontal crash, decreasing the effectiveness of the frontal impact safety system. As a result, the condition may increase the potential for injury in a frontal crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect for rivet presence and alignment and repair the steering column pivot as required, free of charge. The safety recall began on july 4, 2011. Owners may contact chrysler at 1‑800‑853‑1403.
Recall number 11V315000 · Recall details
Steering: hydraulic power assist: hose, piping, and connections
- What is wrong
- On certain minivans equipped with 3.3 or 3.8l v-6 engine, the upper power steering cooler hose may split and cause a fluid leak.
- Risk
- Power steering fluid leakage in the presence of an ignition source can result in an under hood fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the upper power steering cooler hose. This recall began on september 27, 2004. Owners should contact daimlerchrysler at 1‑800‑853‑1403.
Recall number 04V386000 · Recall details
Steering: steering wheel/handle bar
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: mini vans equipped with 2-spoke luxury wheels manufactured july 1992 through june 1993; or equipped with 4-spoke sport wheels manufactured from july 1992 through september 1993. The steering wheel armature stamping can crack and separate from the center hub attachment to the steering column.
- Risk
- If the steering wheel separates from the center hub attachment to the steering column, loss of control can occur increasing the risk of an accident.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the steering wheel for cracks and any wheels with cracks will be replaced. All other vehicles will have a reinforcement plate installed to prevent steering wheel separation in the event cracking occurs.
Recall number 00V305000 · Recall details
Steering: steering wheel/handle bar
- What is wrong
- The steering wheel armature stamping can crack and separate from the center hub attachment to the steering column.
- Risk
- If the steering wheel separates from the center hub attachment to the steering column, loss of control can occur increasing the risk of an accident.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the steering wheel for armature cracks in the center hub attachment area. Any steering wheels showing cracks will be replaced. All other vehicles will have a reinforcement plate installed to prevent steering wheel separation in the event cracking occurs.
Recall number 96V229000 · Recall details
Questions about the Dodge Grand Caravan power steering loss
Which Dodge Grand Caravan years have loss of power steering problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2010 (39 complaints), 1996 (33 complaints) and 1997 (26 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix loss of power steering on the Dodge Grand Caravan?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $800 (median of 21 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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