First off this is my first Dodge. We have had our fair amount of issues with this Van. AC will not work, dust comes in through rear vents, brakes wear quickly and rear caliber issues. No heat on passenger side and so on.

Our current issue seems much more serious. Engine light comes on and flashes, then Van is not very responsive and for a couple of seconds it feels like we are going over rumble strips. Happened to us on a major Highway. Quite unsettling.

Any ideas? Thanks

 

1 ac....the rear hvac evaporator or thermal expansion valve are common leak areas for the air conditioning system. if you follow the ac tubing where it enters the bottom of the floor you will see ac dye. replacing eh txv valve and seals usually fixes it.
2 dust...for cabin pressure to equalize...it must exit out a body vent. the vent door works like a drier vent on the side of you house ...air pressure forces it open and then it seals shut when the pressure equalizes. if the vent louvers are stuck open or not sealing...dirt will enter the vehicle.
3 brakes...calipers with incorporated ebrake levers are common problems...no way around it. deal with it and replace the part.
4 the blend door linkage can break and cause the no heat on the passenger side
5 the engine is misfiring. have the code read to find out which cylinder it is. try swapping a spark plug and coil from another non misfiring cylinder to see if the code follows the plug/coil. if yes..replace the parts. get this fixed pronto...driving it with a misfire will damage the catalytic convertor.

leafs suck...habs rule

 

Thank-You very much for the detailed reply. I was kind of on a rant about issues and only expected a reply on this BUT all the info is very helpful

My question is will an engine miss fire really cause the extreme shudder or shake like going over rough rumble strips? Its pretty intense. Thanks again.

Since you are so helpful I'll ignore the Habs comment.

 

Yes it can.