Purchased 1996 dodge intrepid in may 2005. Following week had to take car back to dealer re: brakes, to no avail. A mechanic stated brakes will need to be replaced. Was advised that tires were not in such great condition either. Kept hearing strange sounds (rattling noises) from the car. In august, smoke started coming from under the hood. Car would not steer at all. Had to take car to mechanic, who told us fan belt had come off while driving. Power steering pump had to be replaced and power steering line. He also advised that rack and pinion would need to be replaced. Finally, on august 26th, was getting in car to drive and did not get very far, when the car came to a sudden stop and made a loud noise. Got out of the car and found two bolts on the ground. Please help !!! Distressed. Do we have any recourse here? Have receipts, but do not have old parts. *jb *ak
1996 Dodge Intrepid steering complaints
Page 2 of 6: complaints 11 to 40 of 153, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My son was traveling to work on august 10 2005. He was driving a 1996 dodge intrepid. He was turning a corner when his steering control was suddendly and completely lost. His car went over a curb at an elementary school before he was able to stop. No one was hurt. Inspection of the car showed that 2 bolts that connect the tie rods to the rack and pinion steering were completely severed. A picture here is worth 1000 words. If you go to this site : http://www.allpar.com/fix/intrepid-steering.html you will see a clear picture of 2 center bolts that connect the inner tie rods to the rack and pinion steeing. These were the 2 bolts that suddenly broke leaving the car with no steering control. If that had happened a week earlier when I was traveling with my son on a super highway I am quite sure that several people would be going to the hospital or worse. After the incident, I fould on the internet that this is a common problem with this car. I feel that a recall should be done to replace these bolts. His car had 112,000 miles on when the incident occured. You're recall of these cars I feel would save other people's lives. Thank you!
I would first and formost like to report the premature wear of the steering rack on my 1996 dodge intrepid at around 77,000 miles. The rack had to be replaced at a hefty price. I have since learned that this is an alarmingly widespread problem with chrysler lh bodied vehicals, especially dodge intrepids, and has been for many years. I had the rack replaced about three years ago and already my car is showing symptoms of more steering related problems. I drive only a moderate amount so this could not be just "usual wear and tear". In addition to the steering rack, within the last three years I have had to have an axel replaced, all of the breaks due to prematurly warped rotors (the breaks actually went out once and I almost rear ended someone), the multifunction switch had to be replaced, the transmission shifts hard and gets stuck in gear for a mysterous reason no one can figure out, and a loose wire caused the car caused multable drivability problems. (the date below is not accurate, these things occured between 2003 and present)
Have just began having problems apparently with the cernter take off system, have had it at the dodge dealership in kingsport (1‑423‑247‑3155), they put steering bushings on it, costly repair, still did not touch the problem. I have a horrible problem steering the car, apparently there was a report issued to them about the system in 01-31-1999, but they did not notify the car owners. Have thought I had problems with a starter pulley, noticed some engine shake, slightly, a little smoke around the back bumper, the car has 74 thousand miles on it, I have my records and the previous owners records of repairs and oil changes that have been kept up. Online I have read of thousands of people who have wrecked and died because of the faulty center take off system of these cars, (bushings, the rack and pinion geer interface, inner tierod, on the steering gear) failure is unavoidable without a costly repair of the defective steering system at the owners expense. I have also read of engines siezing up at around 40 thousand miles even with proper matinence. I have no choice but to drive this car, I am disabled and cannot afford to buy another or have the factory defects fixed at my own expense. The dealership should have known about the noice of the lh family of cars, but instead have sent me down the road of costly repairs knowing full well that the repairs made will not fix this car. These cars are a hazzard and I cannot believe that the gov does not get involved and protect the consumer and others on the road from the prospect of horrible injuires and possible death due to this big corperation's faulty equipment. Where do I go from here?
Steering is loose, which makes it difficult to control the vehicle. Consumer is concerned that this will increase the risk of a crash. Manufacturer was notified by consumer.
While at a steering wheel locked up. The vehicle was towed. The dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.
Front end of car shook mildly at high speeds. Taken to mechanic, who said struts would need replacing within next 3 months. About a week later, whille pulling onto a busy road, rack and pinion steering system fell apart, one wheel went one way, the other wheel went another way, car thudded to a holt violently. Towed to repair shop, has been in shop 2 months already, have had rack and pinion, water pump, struts, tires, power steering pump, and power steering pump sensor relpaced. Vehicle still will not turn, and is no longer drivable or repairable. Vehicle was purchased from dealer certfied used car 4 month earlier, approx 90000 miles. Total repair costs so far are $1,500 - $3,000 and climbing every day. Old part is available.
Vehicle pulls to the left while driving 25 MPH. Consumer was able to drive the vehicle home. Then, consumer noticed that the bushing was worn out, and steering rack broke. Manufacturer was notified.
The rack an pinion bushing failed had to replace the whole rack and pinion.also the axle had to be replaced the ring for the ABS and tracion control come off the axle.theres a short in the igntion switch, the gauges dont work, and the car wont drive it gos in default.
While driving children to school my wife stated the car "drifted" in the lane a lot without steering input. I took it for test drive, noticed a strange "feel" to the steering and the drift she spoke of. I decided it was unsafe for her to drive and took it to a local repair shop to be checked. The mechanic put it up on the rack and immediately recognized the problem--the left side steering rack bushings were completely gone. He gave us a quote for the repair (it is being done today), and then he pulled me aside to let me know he had seen this type of failure several times before and suggested I contact the dealer to see if they would "goodwill it" (his term) as he says it was his understanding the part was defective as originally manufactured and that a new style bushing was available that did not deteriorate like this one and was much safer. Contacted the dealer in auburn and talked to the service manager, he said car is too old (1996) so we are out of luck and quoted me a repair price almost double the local mechanic.
When the steering wheel was turned to the right, vehicle went to the left. Upon lifting the hood consumer noticed that the steering rod was hanging down off the gear box, and a sheared bolt was laying in the engine compartment that was cut in half. Vehicle was towed to the dealership, who indicated that gear box was in pieces and needed to be replaced.*ak
Car started shaking violently at around 55-65, took it to the mechanic and tie rods had to be replaced. Has much other damage (maybe partly due to the bad tie rods or maybe due to the deficient design) that I can file other reports on if needed.
Thermostat broke twice, check engine light wont stay off, and the steering which is supposedly a common defect stopped responding and is not able to be fixed.
In apirl 1996 I purchased a new 1996 dodge intrepid (VIN 2b3hd56f3th52925) from philips motors in philip sd. After approximately 2 years and 30,000 miles I began to notice a grinding noise and clunking in the steering while driving the vehicle from a "cold soak" condition. After approximately 5 minutes and once the car warmed up, the noise would cease. Over the course of the past 5 years I have taken the vehicle to five different repair shops in an attempt to isolate and repair the problem. Only when I moved to germany (current assignment in the usaf) did a german mechanic discovered the problem; worn rack and pinion steering gear bushing which are allowing the entire unit to shift left and right whenever the steeringwheel is moved. Over the past five years I've lived with this problem, I've noticed a continued degredation is steering crispness and increase noise as described above. Only when I researched the problem on the internet did I find 2 service recalls for this problem (19-03-97a and 19-001-01). The problem has gotten so bad, about 3 weeks ago I nearly lost control of the car in a sharp turn on a country road here in germany. I was able to recover from the turn (with the assistance of the front tire hitting the curb and bouncing me back into the lane) -- no one was hurt and the car (except the tire) was undamaged. I find it amazing that published service bulletins go un-noticed and high risk components such as steering systems go un-recalled despite potentially catastrophic consequences. My particular problem is further exasperated by the high speed nature of german autobahns.
Problems with my dodge intrepid: at 75000 miles I had to replace the rack and pinion steering, then I had problems with the bolts that connect the rack and pinion to the steering backing out and it actually fell out and one wheel was strait and the other was turned. Luckilly I was at a stop sign getting ready turn .had to have towed home. Found out thousands of people are having same problem. At 80000 miles which has been a couple of weeks ago driving down the road car automatically shift into low one. Does this a couple of times. Had new filter and fluid replaced. Even worse now. Find out that thousands of people having same problem. Find out that dodge and chrysler lh with 42le automatic trans are defective. They have used these trans from 1994 to present and they fail. I could believe it. Chrysler even has its own special tranny fluid to help prevent failure problems but it doesnt work. I would like chrysler to be accountable for selling moreless junk. If I were to sell a defective product to consumers, they would come after me to either recall it ,fix it ,or re-emburse the consumers, yet nothing is being done that I know of to get chrysler to help the consumer fix their failing transmission problems. I am now going to spend $1500.00 to replace my tranns with another one that will fail in the near future. I cant afford another car, and I will never ever buy another chrysler product. Can you tell me if anyone is adressing this issue. I got a lot of information from: http://www.daimlerchryslervehicleproblems.com/ I was interested in seing if any one else has had these problems and according to this web page and some of my own research their are thousands of us with problems with our chryslers.
I have a 1996 dodge intrepid I bought in 1998 I have had numerous steering problems with this vehicle and have spent much money to fix this car. The bushings have been replaced,the bearings have been replaced, the power steering pump has been replaced, the steering hoses have been replaced,all this was done at under 55,000 miles and luckily gefore my fiance and my children were seriously hurt in an acident due to steering lose or control. These problems totaled around 2,500.to fix. Now we are having the same problems again with the car having 90,000 miles now the power steering pump is out again and the rack and pinion is out and it is impossible to steer. We are a low income family so trade the car in is out of the question and getting it fixed right away is sometimes not possible. Just by pure luck I was looking for prices of rack and pinions and I just stummbled across this web site and I am glad I did.
While traveling 10 MPH and without any indication two half inch bolts had broke. Dealer has been contacted. *ak the consumer crossed over the rail road tracks when the steering wheel turned completely around without changing the direction of the wheels. The bolts which held the rods to the rack and pinion gear box had broken into two parts. *scc *scc
Defective steering gearbox bushings. Bushings went defective after 70,000 miles, most of which were highway miles. Have noticed knock when first starting to turn wheel progressively getting worse. Have called manufacturer who stated that it is not a defect in workmanship. It is a defect in workmanship.
Two weeks after buying my 1996 dodge intrepid es I felt a strange jolt from my front passenger side wheel when turning corners. This jolt was accompanied by a popping noise. Upon investigation by a professional, I was told that my tie rod was about to come loose from the wheel and that I was lucky I noticed the problem in time. Had the tie rod actually come loose I would have lost control of that wheel, leaving me control of just the drivers side wheel.
While driving the rack and pinion bolts became loose and caused the consumer to lose control of the steering.
Steering issues rampant with my 1996 dodge intrepid. I have already had to have some work done on it and now I have a problem with the steering making a clunking noise when the steering wheel reaches the center point.
Excessive rack and pinion steering noise especially in cold weather, rack and pinion mounting bolt bushings almost completely gone. Car has severe steering shifting when rounding corners or curves. Diagnoses requires new rack and pinion replacement.
While traveling about 35mph on the highway the steering column locked up.please fill in additional information dealer is aware of the problem.
First to go was the brakes and rotors, then the rack and pinion system. Next was the transmission and now the diffentail and tie rods. Dt
Consumer states that vehicle's steering wheel was wandering excessively resulting in loss of complete control. Problem was progressively getting worse until rack and pinion assembly failed while driving. Ts
No description given. Nlm
While traveling on highway heard a noise coming from the front of vehicle. Dealership is aware of problem.*akboth of the inner tie rods and eight bushings needed replacement. The dealer informed consumer that this failure was premature.
I am submitting a complaint about deficiencies in the durability of the inner tie rod bushings and rack and pinion steering bushings on a 1996 dodge intrepid, VIN [xxx]. Premature wear out of these items are a safety concern. On multiple occasions, it felt like I was losing control of the steering on the car. Some of those occasions occurred while driving across an uneven, washboard type asphalt road surface. Other occasions were on a smooth concrete or asphalt road. On all occasions, I had to slow down considerably to regain control of the car. I have had to replace the inner tie rod bushings twice, once in march of 1999 at 49,818 miles and again in august of 2002 at 89,404 miles. The rack and pinion steering bushings were also replaced during the august, 2002 repair. None of these parts should be considered normal maintenance items. Total repairs have cost me $1,071. I have read numerous other postings of a similar nature on intrepids and other related chrysler vehicles and am concerned about the safety of these cars. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
When are you guys going to take some action against this very serious design/part failure. I have searched the database and there are a lot of complaints about steering failure. This will cost someone their life if it hasn't already. Here is the problem. The bushings on the inner tie rod deteriorate. On my car it happened to the passenger side bushing at 30,000 miles. I was able to replace the tie rod(they didn't just sell the bushing). At about 33,000 the other one went out so I replace it. Had I not known what to look for (the wavering to the left and right on a straight road allerted me) I could have eventually sheered the bolts on the gear housing. At 71,000 the stearing started acting up again. Well this time the bushings that hold the gear housing to the frame have deteriorated. Fortunately it was caught in time. What happened here was as you steered left or right the gear housing would move about three inches. As you would oversteer, the steering gear box would go as far one way as it could then it would actually turn the wheels. It is obvious to me that there is a major defect in the design of the steering. Please do something before someone dies and before we have to waste more money paying dodge for something that should break this easy. They sell us a piece of crap and we have to pay them big to repair it. Do something already!
The right side tie rod separated from the rack and pinion, the bolt connecting the tire rod to the rack snapped, four months later the exact same failure occurred again.
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