Dodge Grand Caravan spongy pedal problems

Filed Jan 16, 2020 · Brakes · 39,877 miles · PA

I was in allentown and my brake pedal drifted halfway to the floor while at the stop light. I was at pep boys and they bleed the brakes. That seemed to do the trick. Here we are two weeks later and the brake pedal is getting spongy and drifting again. Therefore no fluid leaks any place. There have been similar complaints on online boards. I paid cash for this van july 1 2019 . I should not have this problem. This is a manufacturer defect and is a safety hazard for myself and my passengers. Not to mention other people on the road or crosswalks.*dt

Filed Dec 15, 2016 · Brakes · 53,000 miles · MI

My wife was driving our 2014 dodge grand caravan with our three young children in the car. When the brakes went spongy. It severely impacted her ability to brake safely. She was driving on a city road at about 45 MPH when this happened. I took the van to golling chyrsler, dodge jeep dealership hoping that they would cover it under warranty. The van is not even 3 years old but it has 50,000 miles on it so there reply was you should've bought and extended warranty. Their diagnosis was the power brake booster went bad and needs to be replaced. Now the dealership and when I called chrysler and they said the same thing basically I should've bought an extended warranty. All of the independent shops I called around for quotes said it is extremely rare for a brake booster to go bad and all said they've never seen one go bad on such a new vehicle. I did some research and looks like fca issued a recall on 2011-2014 dodge durango and jeep grand cherokees for bad brake boosters. Coincidence? I think not from what I can find it is the same part!!!!!!! Being from southeast michigan I try to buy american with the big 3 but time and time again I am let down. Should've bought a honda.

Filed Sep 20, 2016 · Brakes · 190,000 miles · MN

Tl* the contact owns a 1993 dodge grand caravan. While driving 30 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed, but hesitated to respond. The ABS warning indicator illuminated. The brake pedal stiffened and traveled to the floor before the vehicle stopped. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the technician stated that the ABS pump failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the vehicle was previously serviced per the federal safety agency campaign number: 96v099000 (service brakes, hydraulic). The failure mileage was 190,000.

Filed Nov 18, 2011 · Electrical · 15,500 miles · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 dodge grand caravan. While driving approximately 70 MPH the vehicle suddenly stalled. The brake pedal became stiff on two occasions and the instrument panel did not illuminate. The contact stopped the vehicle on the shoulder and was able to restart it. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The federal safety agency recall campaign id number: 11v139000 (electrical system:ignition) may be related to the failure. The manufacturer stated the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 15,500.

Filed Apr 26, 2011 · Brakes · 26,500 miles · IL

The brakes on our 2008 dodge grand caravan sxt completely rusted at 26,500 miles. As of 5/26/2011. Prior to that (05/27/2010) the brakes rusted and locked at 19,844. The car had to be towed on a platform truck because tires, wheels assemblies were completely locked at that time. Brakes have been pulsating and started to make harmonic sounds in the most recent incident. Brakes were spongy with the pulsating creating vibration in steering wheel. Have formally filed a complaint to chrysler. Clerk at chrysler indicated unusual number of calls but no detail, just that they're experiencing problems with the brakes involving dodge caravan and town and country. Van is at dealer being repaired at this time.

Filed May 27, 2010 · Brakes · 8,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge grand caravan. The contact stated that the brakes felt very spongy when the pedal was applied and would fall further onto the floor board than usual. The dealer replaced the front brake pads and rotors under the factory warranty. The rear brakes began to exhibit the same failure and the dealer stated that a diagnostic test had to be performed before repairing the vehicle at the owners expense. The manufacturer advised the contact to have the dealer perform a diagnostic test and repair the vehicle. The contact assumed that the manufacturer would assume liability for the repairs; however, he was advised that the repairs would be made at his expense. The contact declined to have the vehicle repaired. He stated that the rear brake pads and rotors should have been replaced when the front brakes were repaired. There were no related recalls. The failure mileage was 8,000 and the current mileage was 24,200.

Filed Jul 17, 2009 · Brakes · 16,762 miles · PA

Brakes had to be replaced and rotors cut at 12,832 miles. Vehicle started shaking while braking and brakes are spongy. I took it to the dealer with 16,762 miles on it. They told me the rotor needed to be replaced. They tell me this is due to heating from the brakes.

Filed Apr 25, 2009 · Brakes, Electrical · 25,034 miles · NC · crash · 3 injuries

02/23/2009- purchased 2008 dodge grand caravan- on day of purchase I asked why brakes made a barking sound,was told because it sat in parking lot for a while. Odometer-19230the next day the van shut itself off while driving down the road. I could steer and the engine was running but I couldn't accelerate and all instrument lighting was off.I called sale auto mall the place I bought it and they said call back if it happened again. Sometime in march took it because the steering keep pulling me towards the curb. The service manager of sale auto mall test drove it with me in it and detected nothing wrong. 4/01/2009- took it in for oil change. 04/06/2009 brakes failed coming back from moorehead. Called sale auto mall, they referred me to dodge dealership in greenville, called them and asked for tow, they refused, they told me to bring it as far as I could. When I got there they said it wasn't under warranty and that it would be $370 to fix, I refused and they charged me $35 for looking at it. 04/08/2009-took it to boyd's he repaired brakes and rotors for $150. 4/20/2009- brakes spongy and sinking call boyd's referred me to dodge dealership in new bern, see them, service manager starts the test drive with me goes ten feet and hits brakes,stops car says I knowwhats wrong it's the master cylinder,asked me to get out,says he wants his brake man to check it out. Then thirty minutes later sends a man to tell me the part has to be order, he gives me my keys and tells me they'll call me when the part is in.4/23/09- dealership called me said part was in, could I come in today, told him I was at work, when could I come in he asked,I told him monday, he said fine. 04/24/2009- coming home from work going 40 on arrlington blvd.see a line of cars in front of me start to slow down, suddenly all cars in front slam on brakes to a dead stop,I slam on my brakes,but they go all the way to the bottom of floor and the rate of speed doesn't change.I hit the SUV in front of me at full speed. Help!

Filed Apr 1, 2009 · Brakes, Transmission · 1,583 miles · 00

I am writing to chrysler canada because we are very unhappy with our 2008 dodge grand caravan, one that I would classify as a runaway vehicle creating a potential safety hazard. Current odometer reading 25347 this vehicle went for its first service february 9, 2009 to a vehicle check-up peace of mind inspection. Primarily with an inquiry to check the brake system since the brake pedal felt somewhat spongy when applied. The inspection indicated the brakes pulsated because of a warped disk. The warped disk is most likely caused by high heat generated from prolonged braking. This appears to be in contradiction with the instruction in the 2008 dodge owner's manual page 334 under note: to select the proper gear position for maximum deceleration (engine breaking), simply press and hold the gear selector lever to the left (-). The transmission will shift to the range from which the vehicle can best be slowed down. This is clearly not providing the desired result. To assist the vehicle in maintaining control downhill, shifting the automatic transmission into 3rd gear (at 60 kph.) should enable the vehicle to maintain control without having to 'ride the brakes'. This is not the case; the electronics controlling the shifting system in the automatic transmission drops out of low gear (3rd) into high gear (d) under the slightest downhill momentum, thus making it impossible to control the speed of the vehicle. Page 337 in the 208 dodge owner's manual specifically warns that riding the brakes can lead to brake failure and possibly an accident. As we have experienced to our horror on numerous occasions driving on the west coast (vancouver island), while trying to maintain vehicle control on a downhill stretch of paved road, this 4 speed electronic transmission system is incapable of providing any engine braking assistance whatsoever. The only alternative is to ride the brakes to maintain vehicle control.

Filed Apr 13, 2004 · Brakes · 148,000 miles · MA

Complete brake failure due to malfunction of ABS system control module. I brought this vehicle to roberts chrysler for diagnosis of a complete brake failure. They diagnosed the control module bad as well as the left front ABS sensor bad. They charged me $96.00 to diagnose this problem (2 hours labor). They estimate $1411.00 to repair. At the time of the failure the ABS light and the brake warning light illuminated , the ABS pump stopped functioning, the brake pedal became hard as a rock and I effectively lost all braking function on this vehicle. The pump has since begun to function and normal braking has again taken effect with no repairs made to this vehicle. The ABS pump was replaced on this vehicle under recall in 1998