My wife drives a 2006 Dodge Charger with 130,000 miles on it. Recently, randomly the car has shut off on her, mainly during acceleration from a stopped position or reverse. The car shuts off, power steering is lost, radio and air remain on. The car is easily turned back on once placed in neutral and may not happen again for some time. Rarely does the check engine light come on, and if it does, by the time I get it to the shop it is off and they tell me, "we can't see anything without a code."
The only real complaints during driving is some minor hesitation upon acceleration, this is only felt when driving at speeds under about 35mph. It feels like the car is struggling to accelerate at times.
I have also noticed an odd smell coming from under the hood with no noticeable leaks upon inspection and no puddles. The smell I can only describe as warm, hot air--not anything like gas or oil.


Does anyone have any idea what may be going on? My only concern is her driving with the kids and the car stalling during a left turn or something. Please let me know if you have any clues, thanks!!

 

Your best bet is to spend $40 on a Code reader, and pull the code when the Check engine light comes on. Like the Shop tells you, can't do much without the Code. But the could be a Problem since it is not ur car.

What engine do you have? 3.5l V6?
Maybe the Waterpump took a crap, and the Timing Belt jumped. The smell you get from under the hood could be coolants. If the Timing is off by a little, you will feel hesitation on accel.

Check coolant level,
Open the Radiator when coolants are "Warm" (cold enuff where u can grab with Upper Radiator Hose by hand), with Cloths Wrap around ur Hand and Radiator cap, see if it is holding any pressures. Open it, listen for "Hissing noise"

Usually The Check engine light will Store the Code for ur Mechanic even if it goes off, Maybe Some sensor is shorting out the PCM and erasing the Code when the car dies. But still, when that happens, you should be able to pull codes from other Computer that says something like "Lost communication with PCM".

Take it to the Dealership?

 

+1 on these parts. Hard to tell anything without a code and if you aren't taking it to a Dodge dealer, maybe the code reader they are using won't pull up stored codes.

What I have to add to this is regarding your tune up. When was it last done? If the answer is never or maybe around the 30k mile area, you might have bad plugs and wires. 130k miles is a lot for the electrical system and chances are your plugs are dirty and not sparking, or barely sparking.

The second thing that I can add is there might be something with a grounding issue. I had a problem with a truck of mine a few years back. It would stall when I was going slow. Not all the time, maybe once a month. I couldn't pin point it but the dealer did. I had a bad ground, and under certain conditions (bumps, hard turn, etc), the car would lose ground and cut off. It would start right back up too. So that might be something else to look into.

 

Was your issue ever resolved because I my 06 Charger is doing the same and there are no codes coming up.( I took it to TWO Dodge dealerships)

 

My 06 Charger "Hemi" shuts off randomly as well. This issue has been ongoing since I purchased the car in 2008. I have taken the vehicle to several auto service centers including Dodge and they all tell me the same thing. Basically, they cannot find out what the problem is. The check engine light never comes on and the codes are always fine.

However, the oil light comes on when the car shuts off.

It's almost like the security system shuts the car down like it is a "Bait Car."

Any chance it could be the security system? Again... This happens randomly. It has happened at least 7 times since I have owned the car.

 

Check the driver side fuel pump if it' a hemi.

 

I have a 08 charger with police package and the ABS light is flashing all the time replaced the module and it's stuck in the relearn mode any help

 

You need a Chrysler enhanced Scanner to program the module.

 

I have found out the problem maybe either the coil packs or the wrong spark plugs. Or both. I have ran into this problem on some of our 2006 thru 2008 hemi's.

 

I too have a 2006 Charger RT and it shuts off at will with no warning Mostly at low speeds or at stop lights. I have heard every one changing out computers to modules to fuel pumps and a whole host of other things and still having the same problem and Dodge dealers don't seem to have the answer either. So what am I to do? I love the car but I am at wits end with it.
Neondave