2007 Dodge Grand Caravan

AFTER FUELING THE VEHICLE, PULLING OUT FROM THE GAS STATION, THE VAN STALLS VIOLENTLY: LOSES POWER, LURCHES & SURGES. THIS HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY SEVERE, MOST RECENTLY NEARLY CAUSING A COLLISION WHEN THE VAN STALLED OUT AS WE WERE LEAVING THE GAS STATION IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. THE PROBLEM IS THE VAPOR/LIQUID SEPARATOR VALVE LOCATED AT THE TOP OF THE FUEL TANK. THE VALVE IS DESIGNED TO PREVENT LIQUID FUEL FROM ENTERING THE CHARCOAL CANISTER/EMISSIONS SYSTEM. WHEN THE VALVE FAILS, LIQUID GAS CAN ENTER THE LINE AND FILL THE CHARCOAL CANISTER. AFTER REFUELING THE PCM ON THE VEHICLE DETECTS A CHANGE IN FUEL LEVEL. THEN, WHEN THE ENGINE MEETS CERTAIN TEMPERATURE AND DRIVING CRITERIA, THE PCM ISSUES A PURGE COMMAND TO THE CHARCOAL CANISTER TO REMOVE THE STORED GAS VAPORS. IT?S AT THAT POINT THAT ALL THE LIQUID GAS IN THE LINE GETS SUCKED INTO THE CHARCOAL CANISTER. THE PCM EXPECTS TO SEE GAS VAPORS ENTERING THE INTAKE MANIFOLD AND IT IS PREPARED TO ADJUST AIR/FUEL MIXTURES TO COMPENSATE. HOWEVER, IT IS NOT PREPARED TO SEE LIQUID GAS COMING INTO THE INTAKE. THAT?S WHAT CAUSES THE ENGINE TO STALL. UNFORTUNATELY, THE ONLY FIX IS TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE GAS TANK. CHRYSLER DOES NOT SELL THE VAPOR/LIQUID VALVE AS A SEPARATE UNIT. WE ARE NOW AT NEARLY 100,000 MILES, AND THE PROBLEM PERSISTS AND CONTINUES TO GET MORE SEVERE. I HAVE CALLED DODGE, BUT THEY SAY THERE IS NO EXTENDED WARRANTY ON THE FUEL TANK/EVAPORATION CANISTER. *TR

DEAR SIR/MADAM: MY 2007 DODGE MINIVAN MANUFACTURED BY CHRYSLER HAS A DEFECTIVE ENGINE. THE 3.8L ENGINE BURNS OIL AND OIL CONSUMPTION TESTS DONE PROVED THE SAME. I WAS MADE AWARE OF THIS ISSUE BY MECHANICS OUTSIDE OF DEALERSHIP SERVICE WHICH WHEN NOTIFIED BACK, RELUCTANTLY ACCEPTED THE ISSUE AND WENT ON TO STATE THAT I HAD TO PAY TO FIX THE PROBLEM RELATED TO WORN OUT PISTON RINGS. REPAIRS OF THIS NATURE ARE EXPENSIVE AND ON BRIEF RESEARCH ON INTERNET, OTHER CUSTOMERS HAVE EXPERIENCES THE SAME PROBLEMS. WHEN VEHICLE WAS UNDER WARRANTY, I ENCOUNTERED MANY ENGINE RELATED SYMPTOMS LIKE SLUGGISH PERFORMANCE, ENGINE WHINING OR HISSING NOISE AND SUCH. IT'S MY BELIEF THAT CHRYSLER SERVICE FAILED TO DO NECESSARY TESTS TO DETECT THIS ISSUE. *TR

FOUR SEPARATE INSTANCES OF AN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION OCCURRED WITHIN 5 MINUTES WHILE TRAVELING AT LOW SPEEDS (5 - 15 MPH). EACH OF THESE INSTANCES IS DESCRIBED BELOW: 1. WHILE TURNING RIGHT OUT OF A GAS STATION AT ABOUT 5-10 MPH, THE CAR LURCHED FORWARD AND THE POWER STEERING SYSTEM SEEMED TO FAIL (I.E., THE CAR WAS STEERING RIGHT AND IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO KEEP FROM CONTINUING RIGHT INTO A CURB). THE BRAKES WORKED FINE AND PREVENTED A COLLISION WITH THE CURB. I HEADED FOR A FRIEND'S HOUSE LOCATED NEARBY. 2. APPROXIMATELY 500 - 1000 FEET LATER, WHILE TURNING LEFT AT 15 MPH ONTO A SIDE STREET, THERE WAS ANOTHER UNINTENDED ACCELERATION AND THE STEERING WHEEL WAS 'LOCKED' LEFT (I.E., THE POWER STEERING SYSTEM AGAIN SEEMED TO FAIL). THE BRAKES ON AND THE CAR COLLIDED WITH THE CURB AT A LOW SPEED (1-3 MPH). HAD TRAFFIC BEEN COMING DOWN THE ROAD, A CAR HEADING TOWARD ME WOULD HAVE HIT THE SIDE OF MY CAR. 3. APPROXIMATELY 500 FEET DOWN THAT STREET, WHILE TURNING LEFT ONTO ANOTHER SIDE STREET, THE ENGINE REVVED AGAIN FOR A SECOND, AND RETURNED TO NORMAL. THE STEERING AND BRAKES WERE NOT ADVERSELY AFFECTED. 4. I PROCEEDED SLOWLY DOWN THAT STREET FOR A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 200 FEET AND WAS SLOWING DOWN TO PARK ALONG THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE STREET. WHILE GOING ONLY ABOUT 2 MPH, THE CAR REVVED HARD AGAIN, AND LURCHED FORWARD ABOUT 3 FEET UNTIL I COULD STOP THE CAR. I STAYED AT THE FRIEND'S HOUSE FOR 3 HOURS. 5. A SERVICE STATION WAS NEARBY AND I DROVE SLOWLY TOWARD IT. THE CAR MADE A TOTAL OF 3 RIGHT TURNS AND 2 LEFT TURNS WITHOUT INCIDENT. HOWEVER, WHEN JUST STARTING TO MAKE A 4TH RIGHT TURN, THE ENGINE REVVED AND THE POWER STEERING SEEMED TO FAIL AGAIN. I STOPPED THE CAR AND TURNED OFF THE IGNITION. I PROCEEDED A HALF MILE TO THE REPAIR STATION (WITH 3 LEFT TURNS AND 1 RIGHT TURN), WITHOUT INCIDENT. *TR

I TURNED THE IGNITION ON, PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE AND BACKED OUT OF A PARKING SPACE. I PUSHED ON THE BRAKES AND PUT THE CAR IN DRIVE. THE CAR BEGAN MOVING FORWARD FOR ABOUT 10 SECONDS AND THEN IT LOST ALL POWER WITH NO WARNING, JUST STALLED. THE CAR'S HEAT SENSOR GAUGE WAS NORMAL JUST BELOW HALFWAY AND I HAD A HALF TANK OF GAS. THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT. IT DIDN'T FEEL LIKE THE BRAKES WERE WORKING EITHER. I PUT THE CAR IN PARK AND THEN STARTED IT UP AGAIN WITH NO PROBLEMS. IT DROVE TO MY DESTINATION WITHOUT ANY FURTHER PROBLEMS.

MY 2007 GRAND CARAVAN IS BURNING OIL. CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH OIL CONSUMPTION TEST WITH DEALER. CAR IS BURNING APPROX. 1 QT. OF OIL EVERY 1000 MILES. CHRYSLER SAID IT IS WITHIN ACCEPTABLE LEVELS OF USAGE.CAR ONLY HAS 44,000 MILES.NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO CORRECT THIS OBVIOUS DEFECT,EVEN THOUGH I BOUGHT AN EXTENDED WARRANTY FROM CHRYSLER. *TR

REAR EVAPORATOR LEAK -AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK- EVAPORATOR AND ALUMINUM HOSES ARE 6" FROM REAR TIRE - THE EVAPORATOR WILL BE DAMAGED AND/OR CORRODE/OXIDIZE AT SOME POINT AND LEAK - IT WILL COST BETWEEN $800 - $1500 TO REPAIR FOR AN OBVIOUS DESIGN PROBLEM - IF IT HASN'T LEAKED YET IT WILL FROM THE ON-LINE COMPLAINTS THAT I'VE SEEN. *TR

I BROUGHT MY 2007 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN TO A DEALERSHIP FOR AN INSPECTION. FRONT AND REAR BRAKES WERE REPLACED AND AN EGR VALVE WAS REPLACED IN ORDER FOR IT TO PASS INSPECTION. BEFORE THE REPAIRS WERE DONE I WAS GETTING APPROXIMATELY 20 MILES TO THE GALLON. THIS ALSO SHOWED UP ON THE INTERIOR ELECTRONIC INFORMATION CENTER. AFTER THE REPAIRS WERE DONE, MY INTERIOR ELECTRONIC INFO CENTER INDICATED I WAS GETTING APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES TO THE GALLON. I CONFIRMED THIS BY THE "OLD FASHION WAY" OF FILLING THE TANK AND DRIVING THEN FILLING IT AGAIN AND DIVIDING THE MILES BY THE NUMBER OF GALLONS. THIS CONFIRMED THAT I WAS GETTING APROX 10 MILES PER GALLON. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND TO THIS DATE HAVE HAD NO RESPONSE. I'M ALSO CONTINUING TO KEEP TRACK OF THE MILEAGE AND AMOUNT OF FUEL I'M USING. THE SAME THING HAPPENED WITH MY WIFE'S DODGE JOURNEY. THE WEB SITE, WWW.FUELECONOMY.GOV SHOWS THAT I SHOULD BE GETTING APROX 20 MILES PER GALLON EVEN WITH THE NEW 10% ALCOHOL ADDITION AND THESE WERE THE APROX EPA STANDARDS WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS SOLD. I AM CONTINUING MY RESEARCH IN THIS MATTER TO BRING IT TO MY SATISFACTION. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON WHENEVER THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN FOR MORE THAN ONE OR TWO HOURS. THE VEHICLE ALSO BEGAN TO LOSE POWER. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE A LOCAL MECHANIC WHO STATED THAT THE CODE IDENTIFIED THE FAILURE AS EMISSIONS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE EMISSIONS WAS RELATED TO THE ERG VALVE FAILING WHICH CAUSED OIL TO ENTER INTO THE ENGINE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 78000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 85000.