D
Deleted member 89374
I have a 2022 Dodge Durango GT Plus AWD (the vehicle in my signature). The incident I'm about to describe happened to me three times during the past month and a half.
This morning, I started the vehicle and got my kids to take them to daycare. I figured it was enough time for the vehicle to run and warm up while strapping the children into their car seats. Then I get into the driver's seat, put my seat belt on, and put the vehicle in Reverse. I did not rush anything. As I lift my foot off the brake pedal, the vehicle usually starts going backward, but not today. So I give it a little gas, and it moves reluctantly. Then I press the gas pedal some more, and instead of getting more power, the engine wants to die. I can see the tachometer repeatedly dip below 500 RPM. Every time it dipped, I didn't have any more throttle control and felt how the vehicle was losing power. Because Stellantis, in their infinite wisdom, programmed these vehicles to go into Park automatically if the engine dies, I hit the brakes every time the vehicle lost power. Then I tried to go back two more times, and the same thing happened. I put the vehicle into Neutral and revved the engine to 3000 rpm. Everything was fine. I put it in Drive, and it moved forward without even touching the gas pedal. Then I put it back into Reverse, and it did the same thing: the engine dipped below 500 RPM and lost power, and when I hit the brakes, the engine recovered. I barely made it out of my driveway. As soon as I did, I headed to the daycare. The vehicle did not exhibit this behavior again today.
The first time this happened was in mid-April, on a Friday. It happened precisely like the incident I described above.
The second time it happened was on Saturday, right after the first incident. I came home from Walmart around 12:45 PM to get my eldest son and take him to church camp. I stopped the engine, went into the house to get him and his backpack, strapped him into the car seat, started the car, and lost power again while backing up.
This was when I learned, the hard way, that when the engine dies, the computer automatically places the transmission into Park. So while rolling backward out of my driveway, I lost power completely, the engine died, and the vehicle stopped with a mild and slow clunk as the parking pawl engaged. I put my left foot on the brake, moved the shifter lever to Neutral, and started the engine. The "N" LED was flashing on the lever, meaning that it was not in Neutral. I moved the lever to Drive, and I could feel and hear how the parking pawl was released. I moved forward, then put it into Reverse, and just like that, I was able to back out of the driveway with
On Sunday, I filed two NHTSA reports regarding these incidents, which probably won't matter anyway, and on Monday morning, I went to the dealership where I purchased the vehicle. They kept it for the entire day, and at 5:00 PM, they called me to tell me that they couldn't find anything wrong with it. There were no computer codes, nothing to diagnose, and they couldn't reproduce the issue. They wanted one of their techs to drive it home and back to see if it happened again, but I wasn't okay with that, given the complications that could result from said tech getting involved in an accident while driving my vehicle.
Back at home, I put the vehicle up on ramps and front and rear axles. I took a powerful LED flashlight and inspected everything. I couldn't find anything loose. I did not see any loose, corroded, chewed through, burned, or otherwise out of place wiring. Everything is nice and tidy under my Durango.
The battery is also fine, and the alternator is charging it consistently.
Between the first two incidents and today, I ran a full gas tank with Liqui Moly Pro-Line Fuel System Cleaner and two more with Red Line Si2 System Cleaner, thinking that maybe I purchased some bad gasoline at one point. Well, apparently, that's not the case.
The Durango has 2900 miles on it.
I don't know what else to do here. I defer to you, BITOG, for your input. Like many of you, I have my day filled with work and family, so problems with a brand new vehicle were one of the last things I needed right now, as the point of buying a new vehicle was to have some peace of mind, at least for a few years. I take excellent care of our vehicles, and I don't put off any maintenance or repairs. Given how expensive transportation has become, I make it a priority to care for our tiny fleet.
Lastly, I scoured the Internet for answers, and even subscribed to Tech Authority, but couldn't find any service bulletins or recalls regarding this issue. The Dodge and Jeep forums (same powertrains) were not much help either.
Thank you.
This morning, I started the vehicle and got my kids to take them to daycare. I figured it was enough time for the vehicle to run and warm up while strapping the children into their car seats. Then I get into the driver's seat, put my seat belt on, and put the vehicle in Reverse. I did not rush anything. As I lift my foot off the brake pedal, the vehicle usually starts going backward, but not today. So I give it a little gas, and it moves reluctantly. Then I press the gas pedal some more, and instead of getting more power, the engine wants to die. I can see the tachometer repeatedly dip below 500 RPM. Every time it dipped, I didn't have any more throttle control and felt how the vehicle was losing power. Because Stellantis, in their infinite wisdom, programmed these vehicles to go into Park automatically if the engine dies, I hit the brakes every time the vehicle lost power. Then I tried to go back two more times, and the same thing happened. I put the vehicle into Neutral and revved the engine to 3000 rpm. Everything was fine. I put it in Drive, and it moved forward without even touching the gas pedal. Then I put it back into Reverse, and it did the same thing: the engine dipped below 500 RPM and lost power, and when I hit the brakes, the engine recovered. I barely made it out of my driveway. As soon as I did, I headed to the daycare. The vehicle did not exhibit this behavior again today.
The first time this happened was in mid-April, on a Friday. It happened precisely like the incident I described above.
The second time it happened was on Saturday, right after the first incident. I came home from Walmart around 12:45 PM to get my eldest son and take him to church camp. I stopped the engine, went into the house to get him and his backpack, strapped him into the car seat, started the car, and lost power again while backing up.
This was when I learned, the hard way, that when the engine dies, the computer automatically places the transmission into Park. So while rolling backward out of my driveway, I lost power completely, the engine died, and the vehicle stopped with a mild and slow clunk as the parking pawl engaged. I put my left foot on the brake, moved the shifter lever to Neutral, and started the engine. The "N" LED was flashing on the lever, meaning that it was not in Neutral. I moved the lever to Drive, and I could feel and hear how the parking pawl was released. I moved forward, then put it into Reverse, and just like that, I was able to back out of the driveway with
On Sunday, I filed two NHTSA reports regarding these incidents, which probably won't matter anyway, and on Monday morning, I went to the dealership where I purchased the vehicle. They kept it for the entire day, and at 5:00 PM, they called me to tell me that they couldn't find anything wrong with it. There were no computer codes, nothing to diagnose, and they couldn't reproduce the issue. They wanted one of their techs to drive it home and back to see if it happened again, but I wasn't okay with that, given the complications that could result from said tech getting involved in an accident while driving my vehicle.
Back at home, I put the vehicle up on ramps and front and rear axles. I took a powerful LED flashlight and inspected everything. I couldn't find anything loose. I did not see any loose, corroded, chewed through, burned, or otherwise out of place wiring. Everything is nice and tidy under my Durango.
The battery is also fine, and the alternator is charging it consistently.
Between the first two incidents and today, I ran a full gas tank with Liqui Moly Pro-Line Fuel System Cleaner and two more with Red Line Si2 System Cleaner, thinking that maybe I purchased some bad gasoline at one point. Well, apparently, that's not the case.
The Durango has 2900 miles on it.
I don't know what else to do here. I defer to you, BITOG, for your input. Like many of you, I have my day filled with work and family, so problems with a brand new vehicle were one of the last things I needed right now, as the point of buying a new vehicle was to have some peace of mind, at least for a few years. I take excellent care of our vehicles, and I don't put off any maintenance or repairs. Given how expensive transportation has become, I make it a priority to care for our tiny fleet.
Lastly, I scoured the Internet for answers, and even subscribed to Tech Authority, but couldn't find any service bulletins or recalls regarding this issue. The Dodge and Jeep forums (same powertrains) were not much help either.
Thank you.