2008 Dodge Caravan Transmission and drivetrain Problems

“Car was not running and keys were not in the ignition, they were laying on the dash. No one was in the vehicle. When the passenger's front door was opened the horn started honking and windshield washer started spraying (wipers were not activated).it lasted only a couple seconds and stopped. It also activated the driver's side mirror's auto dim feature. Once I was on the road discovered it also prevented the car from shifting out of first gear. I tried manually shifting and slipping it from drive to neutral but that had no effect. …”

“Chrysler had a recall on many of their minivans built in january 2008, for replacement of the front hubs and wheel bearings. My 2008 Dodge grand Caravan had a wheel bearing go out at 35,000 miles and was replaced under warranty. I have asked why my van is not on the recall. No one seems to be able to explain. I now have almost 50,000 miles and the only warranty is the lifetime power train warranty. It is starting to make the noise again intermittantly. I don't trust this vehicle.”

“This issue has happen several times as my family is driving along,the engine just dies for no apparent reason. This has happened several time and when the engine dies you loose all power, steering,ABS assist with the brakes and it is very hard to turn. This issue ended the other day when my wife was going to school and the engine died on a off ramp on interstate 10 in mississippi. When she got it stopped it restarted but would not move in drive. When she put the van in drive it would die, she put the van in reverse and it backed up fine. …”

“At 1,200 miles I was going 70mph (cruise control on ) up a hill on rt 40 in tennessee and the transmission went into limp mode 2nd gear. Engine light came on. I drove the shoulder at 30mph and took an exit. Roadside assist towed it to helms Dodge. They pulled a p0750 DTC code (solenoid a fault I think) but the transmission had reset and they couldn't make it go bad in 13 miles of driving. I asked them to check fluid level -- they said they would. They said if it happens again to turn it off for a few minutes and it may reset again. But, I made it home to ohio again without incident. …”

“The incident happened on a 2008 Dodge Caravan (3.3l / 4spd) with 115,562 miles (spent its entire life in michigan). During a right-hand turn from a stop there was a loud clunking noise that occurred just after the throttle was pressed and the vehicle was immediately disabled (no more power/torque to the wheels with throttle) followed by a large plume of smoke (from under the hood and came in through the vents). The roads were dry but the weather was cold (~25f). Upon further inspection, it was a right halfshaft barshaft that had fractured/failed and it did so without warning. …”