2008 Dodge Nitro: sudden loss of power

Filed Jul 10, 2019 · Electrical · 91,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge nitro. While driving 65 MPH at night, the windshield wipers activated, the horn sounded, wiper fluid sprayed onto the front and rear windshields, and the headlights failed. Also, all the warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact was able to coast the vehicle over to the side of the road. The vehicle lost power and failed to restart. The contact called aaa and had the vehicle towed to his residence. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the mechanic informed the contact that there was a recall on the 2007 models. The vehicle was later taken to sierra chrysler dodge jeep ram (located at 1305 mountain ave, monrovia, ca 91016, (626) 739-5400), but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 91,000.

Filed Apr 1, 2019 · Brakes, Electrical · 120,000 miles · CO

Vehicle lost power, brakes & steering, all warning lights lit up, wipers and pump running continually, horn blaring continually, and fan motor running even with keys out of ignition. This happened in rush hour traffic on the way to work and I barely got it off the road and out of traffic before coming a stop against a curb! Replaced the tipm & battery within the last 4 months and it's only gotten worse!

Filed Nov 12, 2018 · Airbags, Electrical · 175,000 miles · CA

I was driving my 2008 dodge nitro and felt a jerk then air bag tried to deploy and vehicle lost power while driving down the road. It did this twice and air bag on drivers side is trying to deploy with light and dinging every time driven. The gas cap will not seal causing check engine light to stay on and there has been contant electric issues. Head lights and tail lights have to now be constantly replaced and air bag light is always coming on with dinging noise. I believe I'm having issues with the drive train and several other issues that are all recalls in this year of dodge nitro.

Filed Mar 16, 2018 · Brakes, Electrical · 110,000 miles · KS · fire

...so, I left my house, got about a block down the street and all of a sudden my horn starts blaring, windshield wipers started moving, the windshield wiper fluid sprayed, all of my interior and warning lights starting blinking in and out and my nitro started sputtering. At this point I had lost power steering and power brakes but I managed to pull it over to the curb and the car dies. I'm sitting there thinking to myself, "what in the hell?!" I was already startled from the horn randomly blaring, so I'm in the middle of swallowing my heart when heavy, thick smoke starts coming from under the hood. ...and it stinks like smoldering wiring. I snatched my keys, popped the hood (which probably wasn't too bright in hindsight) and ripped the wiring off of the battery terminals. It was hot under that hood and I'm glad I had the wherewithal to disconnect the battery. I realized then that the car was never going to start again, nor would I want to. I had a friend tow it to his shop and he had a look. The tipm, wiring harness/wiring and surrounding plastic was all destroyed. He said the wires got so hot that it would all have to be re-run throughout the vehicle, a $3500 to 4000 estimate. Forget that noise. My biggest concern is that the car was moving when all of this happened and had I not been in a quiet neighborhood this could have been much, much worse, especially considering the power steering and power brakes failed.

Filed Aug 12, 2017 · Electrical · 126,000 miles · MO

Two times our vehicle has lost all power while driving down city streets. We had no brakes or power streering.... Thank goodness we weren't in heavy traffic and were able to get off the street without having an accident. The horn started honking and the wipers started going with the washer fluid pouring out. My husband opened the hood and banged on the tipm and was able to get it to stop. We were then able to restart the engine and drive to our home. We had the vehicle checked and was told it is the tipm and that it will be at least $1200 to replace. We are afraid to drive it anywhere for fear that it will happen again in the middle of traffic causing an accident. There are reports of people who have had their tipm replaced in their nitros and the same thing happened again after replacement. We are undecided at this point what we're going to do but we will think twice about purchasing another dodge/chrysler product .

Filed Nov 23, 2016 · Electrical · 140,000 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge nitro. While driving 60 MPH, the vehicle lost power. The contact stated that the tire pressure warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the technician diagnosed that the alternator and battery were defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired; however, the alternator was previously replaced three times. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign number: 07v291000 (electrical system); however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

Filed Aug 11, 2015 · Electrical · 124,000 miles · OH

The tipm (totally integrated power module) is malfunctioning. Several electronic features (blower motor, power locks, and A/C outlet) in the vehicle stopped working at the same time. I have read that this is a common problem with nitros but for all kinds of different electrical problems stemming from the tipm and nothing is being done about it. Every electrical feature comes through this box including power to the ignition. I would hate to lose power while driving down the road with my kids in the car.

Filed Jan 16, 2011 · Electrical · 62,000 miles · WA

My 2008 dodge nitro 4.0 loses electrical power. As I searched the internet to troubleshoot this problem, I discovered there are quite a few dodge nitro drivers who are having the same electrical problem. According to blogs and self help sites many people are being sent away from dealerships without assurances because the condition cannot be replicated. You see, after the power goes out inexplicably it will come back on. People have been stalled at intersections with others losing all power while driving on the highway. I personally have had several outages. I have replaced the battery under the assumption the battery was defective on this two year old car. I have not lost power while driving but I have lost all electrical power while moving from a parked position. As well, on several occasions I have entered my car to find that the clock needs to be reset as though the battery had died. I would say I have had five incidents of power loss since I bought my car approximately two years ago.