2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN Complaints

WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED, THE RADIO ABRUPTLY SHUT OFF WITH A LOUD POP AT THE SAME TIME THE DASHBOARD CLUSTER IE: FUEL, SPEEDOMETER AND TEMP GAUGE SUDDENLY DROPPED AND THEN CAME BACK UP TO THERE PREVIOUS LEVEL. THE ODOMETER WENT BLANK AS WELL AND CAME ON AGAIN. THE CAR WAS STILL RUNNING BUT IT WAS QUITE DISCONCERTING TO LOOK AT THE DASHBOARD AND SEE ALL THE GAUGES IN THE SAME POSITION AS IF THE CAR WAS OFF. Y WIFE HAS TOLD ME THAT IT HAD HAPPENED PREVIOUSLY BUT SHE COULD NOT RECALL THE DATE.

ALL THE LIGHTS IN CAR LIGHTS FLICKERS, RADIO SHUT OFF AND ON, GAGES GO COMPLETELY AROUND AND CAR DIES OUT INSTANTLY. I HAD CAR REPAIRED UNDER WARRANTY BACK IN 2012. I HAD TO HAVE THE SAME ISSUE REPAIRED IN MARCH 2015 AND NOW ITS AUG 2015 IT IS OCCURRING AGAIN...

TURNED VEHICLE ON, VEHICLE WOULD NOT TURN OVER AT FIRST, LIKE IT WASN'T CATCHING. UPON SECOND TRY TO TURN OVER ENGINE IT DID FINALLY TURNED OVER AND VEHICLE WAS RUNNING. THAT'S WHEN I NOTICED A STRONG SMELL OF GAS ON THE DRIVER'S BACK PASSENGER SIDE. INSPECTED UNDERCARRIAGE AND NOTICED WHAT APPEARED TO BE FUEL HAD RUN DOWN TANK AND WAS SLOWLY DRIBBLING. THERE WAS A SMALL PUDDLE OF FUEL ON GROUND DIRECTLY WHERE DRIBBLE WAS. THE FAMILY WAS ON THE WAY HOME FROM BEING OUT OF TOWN AND WE DECIDED THAT WE WOULD DRIVE IT HOME BEFORE DEALING WITH ISSUE. ONCE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT HOME I PULLED FUEL PUMP OUT OF GAS TANK AND NOTICED SMALL HAIR LINE CRACKS. THEY APPEARED TO LOOK LIKE DIRT OR DUST HAD JUST SETTLED INTO A "SEAM" OF WHERE THE TWO PARTS OF THE PLASTIC/MATERIAL MET, BUT WAS IN FACT A HAIR LINE CRACK. THE FUEL PUMP WAS LEAKING. THE NEW FUEL PUMP HAS CURRENTLY BEEN ORDERED AND I WILL REPLACE IT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. THE MILEAGE ON THE VAN IS AT AROUND 137,000 MILES. THIS JUST SEEMS TO BE PRETTY IMPORTANT AS IT'S LEAKING FUEL WHICH IS A POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD.

AFTER FILLING THE FUEL TANK UP, THE VEHICLE STALLS, STUTTERS, OR SHUTS DOWN AFTER ENTERING INTO TRAFFIC. AFTER IT DOES SHUT DOWN, IT IS TYPICALLY DIFFICULT TO RESTART. THE TYPE OF DRIVING ENVIRONMENT DOES NOT MATTER - CITY/COMMUNITY STOP AND GO TRAFFIC OR HIGHWAY SPEEDS FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME. AFTER THE VEHICLE IS RESTARTED, WE DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM AGAIN UNTIL THE NEXT TIME THE VEHICLE NEEDS TO BE REFUELED. THE GAS TANK, FUEL FILTER, AND FUEL PUMP WERE ALL REPLACED BY THE DEALER PRIOR TO 100,000 MILES TO ELIMINATED A HIGH PITCHED WHINE COMING FROM THE FUEL TANK AREA EVERY TIME THE FUEL LEVEL DIPPED BELOW HALF A TANK. MOST OF THE TIME, THE VEHICLE DECIDES TO STALL OR SHUT OFF AS WE ARE ACCELERATING TO JOIN TRAFFIC - LEAVING FROM THE GAS STATION. ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS WE HAVE ALMOST BEEN HIT FROM BEHIND BECAUSE THE VEHICLE JUST STOPS. THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD, CATALYTIC CONVERTER, UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM O2 SENSORS HAVE ALL BEEN REPLACED WITH OEM/MANUFACTURER STANDARD PARTS.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH WITH THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS ACTIVATED, THEY SUDDENLY BEGAN TO MALFUNCTION. THE WIPERS TOUCHED AND WOULD SEIZE TOGETHER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WINDSHIELD. THE CONTACT PULLED OVER AND DISCOVERED THAT THE PASSENGER SIDE WINDSHIELD WIPER COVER HAD NEARLY DETACHED. THE FAILURE RECURRED ON THREE OTHER OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 06V067000 (VISIBILITY). THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 139,049.

THE POWER LOCKS STOPPED WORKING. NEITHER THE REMOTE NOR THE ACTUAL INTERIOR LOCK WOULD WORK TO LOCK ALL THE DOORS AT ONCE. WE NOW NEED TO INDIVIDUALLY LOCK EACH DOOR.

ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS WITHIN THE PAST MONTH, THE ENGINE ON MY 2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN STOPPED RUNNING WHILE I WAS DRIVING. ON BOTH OCCASIONS, IT WAS WITHIN A MILE AFTER FILLING THE GAS TANK. ON ONE OCCASION, IT OCCURRED WHILE I WAS MAKING A LEFT TURN ACROSS ONCOMING TRAFFIC; I WAS LUCKY TO BE ABLE TO COAST OUT OF THE INTERSECTION WITHOUT BEING BROAD-SIDED. SINCE THE ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING, ALL POWER ASSIST ALSO STOPPED, SO THE CAR WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO CONTROL. I HAVE SINCE READ ONLINE THAT THIS IS A RELATIVELY COMMON OCCURRENCE WITH DODGE CARAVANS, PARTICULARLY WITH OLDER CARS. AFTER FILLING UP THE GAS TANK, THE ENGINE MAY SUDDENLY STOP RUNNING WITHIN A SHORT DISTANCE OF THE GAS STATION. APPARENTLY IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE GAS TANK VENTING, AND THE ONLY REMEDY IS TO REPLACE THE GAS TANK. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION; IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED. THERE SHOULD BE AN ALERT AND A RECALL TO CORRECT THIS PROBLEM. UPDATED 9/25/15 *LN

MY ELECTRICAL SYSTEM HAS A DEMAND. IT STARTED WITH POWER SLIDING DOOR NOT OPENING THEN THE LOCKS WOULD NOT UNLOCK IF I DID NOT SLAM THE SIDE DOOR SHUT THE FLASHERS WOULD COME ON AND I COULD NOT SHUT THEM OFF THE REAR WINDOW WIPER STARTED MOVING I COULD NOT SHUT IF OFF ALL THE DASH LIGHTS STARTED FLASHING AND INDICATED I HAD NO GAS. THIS IS A HANDICAPPED MODIFIED VAN AND I USE A WHEELCHAIR TO AMBULATE. I HAVE TAKEN OFF WORK FOR FULL DAYS AND PARTIAL DAYS TO GET THIS PROBLEM DIAGNOSED AND FIXED. AFTER A $2,488 DOLLAR BILL TO EXCISE THE DEMAND THE DOOR STILL WILL NOT OPEN AND THE WHEELCHAIR RAMP WILL NOT DEPLOY. I HAVE TO WORK AND I AM ALMOST OUT OF LEAVE. DODGE SHOULD COME TO THE RESCUE AND ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE COMPUTER PROBLEM THAT THEY ARE AWARE OF AND RECALL THESE VEHICLES TO HAVE THE COMPUTER PROGRAM PATCH TO ALL OWNERS. MY PROBLEMS STARTED AT 38,000 MILES.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FUEL TANK WAS CRACKED AND CAUSED FUEL TO LEAK OUTSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. AS A RESULT, THERE WAS A STRONG FUEL ODOR INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THERE WAS A HAIRLINE FRACTURE THAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 132,000.

THE 2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN AND 2005 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY HAVE A KNOWN SOFTWARE BUG FOR THE BODY CONTROL MODULE THAT CONTROLS THE POWER LOCKS ON THE VEHICLE. ONCE THIS OCCURS ON YOUR VEHICLE, THE OWNER IS UNABLE TO LOCK THE VEHICLE REMOTELY OR FROM THE POWER LOCK SWITCH OR WHEN THE VEHICLE EXCEEDS 10 MPH AUTO LOCK FEATURE. KNOWN SERVICE BULLETINS ARE: 08-028-05 AND 08-040-04 TO PERMANENTLY FIX THIS ISSUE WITH THE LOCKS THE OWNER CAN TEMPORARILY FIX THE PROBLEM BY PULLING THE POWER TO THE VEHICLE AND LETTING TEH BODY CONTROL MODULE RESET. THIS IS ONLY A TEMPORARY FIX AS THE PROBLEM HAS RE-OCCURRED 3 TIMES SINCE THE ORIGINAL ISSUE CAME UP. THE PERMANENT FIX FOR THIS KNOWN SOFTWARE ISSUE RESULTS IN THE CONSUMER/OWNER OF THE VEHICLE TO TAKE INTO A DEALERSHIP FOR DIAGNOSTICS AND REPAIR A MINIMUM OF $130+TAX. I BELIEVE THIS A SAFETY ISSUE FOR THIS VEHICLE (THE AUTO LOCK AT SPEED DOESN'T WORK), AND IT IS ALSO A THEFT ISSUE IN THAT THE OWNER CAN NOT PROPERLY LOCK THE VEHICLE.