I got a 2003 SXT in July and it has already been in the shop twice and will have to go back a third time for the same problem. I took it to my local Dodge dealership and they seemed to think that the problem was in the ignition switch so they replaced that and within the first 5 minutes of me driving it the same problem occurred. They then tested the battery and said that there was a part of the battery that was going bad. This fixed the problem for about 2 months but now the problem is back. I don't want to throw more money into this car if I don't have to.

Here is the problem as good as I can describe it.
While driving, the car will lose all power. Sometimes it could just be the clock/radio and other times all of the gauges will go out and the doors will unlock but then (usually) it will all come back on by itself. There has also been multiple times where the car will shut itself off and it will do this anywhere...it's happened in a drive-way and on the highway at night (the car is black) and when it happened on the highway it wouldn't start right back up and there was no power at all. I had no form of lights, not even my hazards. After about 15 minutes then, it started up again. When all of the power goes out and comes back on it is almost like the car can't tell which gear it is supposed to be in (it's an automatic) and it will jump through all of the gears, jerking the car around, until it finds the correct one. I am getting really tired of this and hate being stranded...and help would be much appreciated!!

 

I think you need a new alternator sounds like what my 04 did awhile back and when I put a new alternator in everything was fine.

 

check all of your cable connections. including the one from underhood fuse box to battery. if nessecary change the one wire to a bigger gauge. My 02 was doing something similar to your problem. I changed that wire, added a bigger ground from battery to body. And have you alternator checked.

 

Mine was doing that and it was the battery. Have the battery and the alternator tested. Parts stores will do it for free.

Not all new parts are good. Defects happen. The world isn't a perfect place.

 

I actually had someone suggest the alternator the first time this happened and when I took it to the Dodge dealership they informed me that there was "no way" the problem could be caused by the alternator...but I think I'm going to have them check it out anyway...after the post I made, what...8 hours ago...the car has acted up 2 different times, the second time it shut itself off (luckily I wasn't moving this time...)

 

Pretty sure you need a new alternator thats the same thing that happened to me late summer and it was the alternator. You could have your battery checked at a autozone if you have one around or actual any autoparts store to see how your battery is. You can actually take out you alternator and have that checked mine was fried. Having both tested sure will save you money if you need one and not the other . I would never take it to the dealership they are always lousy at finding stuff. Go check the battery and alternator at an autoparts store.

 

we're gonna get both the battery and the alternator tested...the battery that's in there now is only a few months old though, so if that's the problem I'm certainly not gonna be too happy about it but if it fixes it...then I'm all for it!

 

What brand battery is it? When was it made (usually there is a dot or something with the month and year)?

 

It's an OEM battery but there isn't a date stamp on it.

 

here's another place where I have seen connection issues.

Flip over PDC and look for lime disese on the wires/pins on the backside.
I Had one that had corroded away at the terminal but the wire being held by all the other wires stayed pretty much in its position, but with driving would intermittently disconnect.
Frickin "Ghost in the machine" that car was!!!!

Battery and alternator can be checked out in 2 minutes All you need is a battery load tester and a multimeter.
Or as Darthroush said auto stores will test em for free

withe the car running grab harnesses and wires/plugs and give em all a wiggle test.
if the car craps out while doing this its a good hunch whatever you touched has the bad connection

Oh and they reason it acts so strangely once you do restore power from a dead state, is that the PCM has lost all power and the power in the caps have bled off, erasing its memory. so the car is in Relearn mode for the next while and stays like this for a predetermined length of time( off the top of my head i forget what the criteria for the neon is but its usually #of drive cycles, or something like that).
what im trying to say is the way it acts when it comes alive again is normal, you just gotta find out where the losss of power/ground is.

do you live in a place with snow or sea salt? if so id have a gander under that power distribution center, test the battery cables, and heavier power supply and ground cables.