Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||||
| 0900704 | 03/02/2004 | 10006455 | Irregular engine snapping sound. *tt | 05/03/2004 | |
| 1800504 | 02/03/2004 | 1802203 | 10005982 | No-start, start & stall malfunction indicator lamp illumination, diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) p0508/p0509. *tt | 04/05/2004 |
| 1802603A | 09/12/2003 | 1802603 | 10003985 | Engine no start (engine will start immediately after cycling the ignition key), malfunction indicator lamp illumination with false diagnostic trouble codes (dtc) p0016, p0116, p0335, p0339, p0340, p0462, p0498, p0499, p0522, p0622, p1604, p | 11/10/2003 |
| 1802203 | 05/23/2003 | 10002400 | Rough/fluctuating idle, no-start, start and stall, malfunction indicator lamp illumination, diagnostic troublle codes (dtcs) p0508/p0509. *tt | 08/27/2003 | |
| 1802603 | 06/27/2003 | 1802902 | 10002044 | Engine no start (engine will start immediately after cycling the ignition key), malfunction indicator lamp illumination with false diagnostic trouble codes (dtc) p0016, p0335, p0339, p0340, p0462, p0498, p0499. *tt | 08/12/2003 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - EMISSION CONTROL | |||||
| 1802803 | 07/25/2003 | 1801002 | 10003419 | Vehicle with properly functioning evaporative emissions system repeatedly sets diagnostic trouble code p0456 when customer regularly commutes on a steep grade. *tt | 10/20/2003 |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 02/07/2009 | 167 | 1 | |
| I have a used 2003 dodge caravan which i recently purchased in december 2008 from a used car dealer in west burlington, ia. during the 3rd week of january, i was driving and the van completely stopped and was not drivable. i was in the middle of a busy street and had to had people help push it into the nearest parking lot. i had it towed to a mechanic and when they went to look at it, they were able to start it up, keep it running and performed a diagnostic test on it and couldn't find anything wrong with it. since then it has been running fine except for today when i was driving down a dirt road and it completely stopped just like the first time. i had it towed to my house because since it's a saturday in the late afternoon, there aren't any shops open to look at it. i know it's not the battery because all of the dash lights work, the heat, interior lights, etc. i also just had it serviced at a different mechanic that the used car dealer works with for an oil change and they checked everything and couldn't find anything wrong that causes that. plus both mechanics that have looked at the vehicle told me that they can't diagnose it if it starts. this is our only vehicle that will fit our family in and it gets us back and forth to work. when we talk to the people that sold it to us, they claim that this has never happened to them when they had it but i'm starting to wonder because i noticed that other dodge 2003 caravan owners are having similar stalling problems. our vehicle has 167,000 miles on it- it had around 163,00 on it when we purchased it. we would like to get this resolved. it's a good running vehicle when it runs. *tr | |||
| 11/10/2003 | 18380 | 3 | 12/24/2002 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2003 dodge caravan. while attempting to turn the vehicle at 5 mph, the contact heard a sound for the first ten minutes of driving, and then it would stop. the vehicle was serviced by the dealer, but the failure persists. the failure mileage was 18,380. updated 05/20/08. *lj the consumer had problems with the power steering, transmission, rear lights that were hanging, the rear wiper came off, the sliding door did not shut properly. the clockspring was replaced. the engine light was on, the water pump was coming apart the valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket were leaking. updated 05/20/08. *jb | |||
| 07/30/2007 | 56412 | 2 | 08/10/2003 |
| Automatic transmission, 56,432 miles, original owner the first time it wouldn't start back up after having it off for 5 minutes. once it was towed it started right back up (about an hour later, in the dealership parking lot). the next day after driving it about 10 miles two different times and having it on/off numerous times and then having it parked for about 45 minutes, i got in and started it no problem. two blocks later it died completely. again everything worked including the a/c, radio and lights with no surge in power. about 1/2 hour later when the tow truck showed up, it started without any issues. weird thing is the lights, ac and everything else work just fine!! it doesn't even seem as if there is a drain on them. when i turn the ignition, it doesn't do anything, no clicks, no starting, nothing!!! also both times it wouldn't start/stalled, it was on an incline. the first time was in a drive way where the front was up higher and the second time was going down a hill. and when it was started it was on a flat surface. it has been at the dealership since last night and of course it is not happening there. they did hook it up to the machine since my check engine light came on the second night when it died, but there were not any messages that came out. it has been at the dealer for 9 days, yesterday was the first day that they were able to get it to replicate the problem. they had already replaced two parts, including the fuse box. the 3rd part they are considering is on national backorder, but supposedly was sent out to the dealership. i believe the 3rd part is the main computer. *jb | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 2 | ||
| 2003 dodge caravan broken wheel studs/bolts customer wants someone to accept responsibility for the ongoing problem**nar**cc the consumer stated last july he purchased replacement tires from costco for his vehicle and then had the tires rotated in december for the same vehicle. then this spring the consumer stated he had the front brake pads replaced and one wheel stud, about a month later the tires were rotated again and the consumer informed the mechanic of the previous problem with the studs. the consumer stated the mechanic informed him they could only rotate 3 of the tires due to the fact of a possibility the studs would break and they did not want to be held responsible for the damage. the consumer stated he rotated the remaining tire which the studs did infact break and were replaced by the consumer. the consumer stated last month chrysler was replacing a water pump and was informed by the mechanic that the studs would have to replaced yet again when the mechanics were removing the studs. the consumer stated the 2 studs holding the water pump in place also broke off while working on the vehicle. the consumer stated he wanted this issue investigated. either poor quality bolts were used by chrysler or costco was careless when tightening the bolts. *tr | |||
| 11/30/2005 | 64865 | 2 | 09/10/2003 |
| Dt: the contact stated vehicle stalled every time tha he applied the brakes in cold temperatures. the dealer and manufacturer have not been contacted. *ak | |||
| 09/02/2005 | 17000 | 1 | 09/06/2003 |
| Heading off to the mall one evening, i dropped off my wife and my son, keeping my other son and his friend with me. as i pulled away, i heard a loud pop and smelled and saw smoke. when i got out of the car, i could see melting plastic and what appeared to be small fire balls dropping to the ground under the hood. i turned the engine off and got the kids out of the car . called 911 and by the time they got there flames were 10-15 feet in the air. there was a re-call on this car about a steering hose i believe that i had done. other than that i have never had any other problems with this car. it was only 2 years old and had only 17,000 miles on it. the car has been totaled.*jb | |||
| 01/08/2003 | 11856 | 25 | 11/23/2002 |
| The consumer had several problems with his 2003 dodge caravan; such problems were a knock in the transmission and 2 brake jobs. *jb the two brakes jobs occurred within one year. the steering wheel knocked (recall campaign #04v386000), the vehicle had broken down at 8k miles, the wheel alignment was off, the gear panel illuminated, and the window had become loose. 80% of the vehicles problems was under 10k miles. the rotation noise continued and the rubber lining around the sliding door was coming off. other problems: when the vehicle would be taken out of park to drive, all of the lights would illuminate, the front rims/hub caps were dirty due to excessive leakage around the brakes, even during normal washing, there was a mild ringing noise in the vehicle, the front door rattled, the rear tail lamp was damaged, the brake light and back-up lights had gone out, the brakes were going bad again, the engine would sputter due to no fuel pressure, the vehicle would pull to the left, when the driver door was shut it made a loud rattle sound, there would be a delay in the transmission when going uphill, when sitting at idle, the engine would sound as if it were revving but the gauge did not display this. *sc *jb | |||
| 08/18/2004 | 17000 | ||
| While driving, the vehicle stalled. the dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. the cause was not determined. | |||
| 07/01/2004 | 1 | 06/01/2003 | |
| 2003 dodge caravan stalling problem. *mr while the vehicle was in motion it died in the middle of the road. the steering wheel and the brake pedal became stuck. incident date: july 29, 2004. *sc *jb | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 09/02/2005 | 1 | 05/10/2003 | |
| The vehicle was driven approximately 5 miles to where my wife and i were to drop off our daughter at a friends house. upon arriving at my friends house, my son and 3 other passengers remained in the vehicle and due to the weather, the car remained running with the ac on. when we entered our friends house, we observed smoke and flames coming from the vehicle. we immediate ran to the vehicle to get our son and the other passengers out. we attempted to extinguish the flames and placed a 911 call to the local fire department. *nm | |||
| 03/08/2005 | 16135 | 5 | 04/30/2003 |
| I manage a fleet that contains 13, 2003 dodge caravans. so far 5 of the 13 vans has had problems with the engine oil sensor. all the problems have occurred between 16,000 and 18,000 miles. the dealer doesn't seem to want to do anything proactive about changing out the other sensors on the other 8 vehicles. i called corporate and they took the same stance, and suggested i contact nhtsa. the problem happens when the car is being driven, all of a sudden the engine oil light will come on. the driver doesn't know if the engine is getting oil or not. sometimes shutting off the engine and turning it back on turns off the light, and sometimes it doesn't. since this has happened to a high percentage of my fleet, i believe it should be looked into.*ak | |||
| 12/23/2004 | 47256 | 0 | 07/31/2003 |
| My 2003 dodge caravan had a faulty bearing in the alternator which required complete replacement with only 47,000 miles on the vehicle. i am a long-time dodge owner, having owned and driven two dodge omnis, two dodge dakota pick-ups and this is my second caravan, the first went 110,000 miles. i have never needed to replace an alternator, and i drive most of my vehicles until they have 150,000 to 200,000 miles. *nm | |||
| 06/23/2003 | 2 | ||
| While driving the vehicle on wednesday june/1//03 vehicle stalled and towed the vehicle to the dealer. dealer replaced a sensor. but on saturday june/21/03, vehicle stalled, and towed again to the dealer. *ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - EMISSION CONTROL | |||
| 6400 | 1 | ||
| Vehicle leaked carbon monoxide. took vehicle to the dealership. 4 days later consumer picked up vehicle from the dealership, and was told that the carbon monoxide leakage would not duplicate itself. *ak | |||