My 2006 Dodge Caravan with 102K miles shut down completely twice this week while I was driving it. I was able to turn the key and start it up each time and luckily no one rear-ended me.

I took it the the dealer but they could not duplicate the issue. I searched on the internet today and found that Dodge has issues with their cars randomly shutting down. I called the dealership and they explained that they would need to keep the car until they can duplicate the issue. I called Chrysler and they said the same thing. Only problem is that this is my only car and there is no way of knowing how long it will take to find the problem. So I am out the cost of a rental car for who knows how long while they find this defect that is documented and they know exists.

Suggestions on where to turn next? Other than selling the car which I was hoping to keep for a few more years.

 

My 2006 Dodge Caravan 102K miles shut off completely twice this week. No steering, brakes, etc. Luckily I was not rear-ended.

I took it to the dealer and they could not duplicate the issue. I searched the internet and evidently Dodge Caravans shutting down is a well documented probelm. I called the dealership and the main number for Dodge and they pretty much said the same thing, they need to duplicate the issue. The only problem is that this is my only car and I would have to pay for a rental while they tried to find why the car shuts off. Neither offered to help in any way which I don't understand since this is obviously a problem that Dodge is aware of.

Suggestions? Other than buying a new car.

 

Dodge has made Dodge for many years. Which Dodge did you discover has the dying problems?


If you search a sentence or phrase on the internet, you will get the results for that sentence or phrase. If you Google Dodge dying problems, you won't get Honda or Ford dying problems in your results.


People who don't have issues with their car don't post on the internet. In general, it is human nature to expend energy from anger rather than delight.


Everything on the internet is true, otherwise it wouldn't be on the internet. (sarcasm)


How long did the dealer keep your van? If it only died 2 times in a week, how much $$$ would you expect to pay for them to drive your car for a week or until it dies? Especially if there are no trouble codes to start down the trail with. The dealer did not build or engineer your van. It is up to you to decide if you want to go down this road or not. It is their job to exhaust their options in diagnosing it...whatever it happens to be. If the cost gets to be unacceptable to you, then you need to trade it.


The VERY FIRST thing I would do would be to look and see how many starts are logged in the PCM since the memory was reset. If it is very low, I would say your PCM is taking a dump OR a cam/crank sensor is heating up and shorting the BUS (PCM also will lose memory)

 

Check it is not related to the gas tank problem that these vans have. There is a problem with a valve that sticks in the tank. It seems to cause two problems, pump shutting off every few seconds when filling and van stalling out when tank is completely full. I have both problems but am unable to find a replacement fuel tank. The first problem seems to only occur in very cold weather. I have avoided the second problem by not filling the tank completely, leave it a gallon or two short. If you had the stalling issues just after a fill up, I would say that is the problem. If not, then you need to look elsewhere.

 

Larry45 - thank you for the information. I had just filled up so maybe that's what did it. I appreciate your replying to my question!

 

A little info on the valve in question, the On-Board Refueling Vapor Recovery or ORVR valve.


http://www.justanswer.com/dodge/4q53...gear-stop.html