CarComplaints.com Notes: The first year of the new Dodge Dart had a rough start, with owners reporting a disproportionate number of engine and transmission problems.
For transmission, the main complaints are transmission failure & rough shifting. So far, average mileage for transmission failure is 25,000 miles. Not good.
For engine problems, it usually starts with the engine light coming on for any number of reasons: bad sensors, ignition coil replacement, bad wiring, faulty gas cap ... dealers are replacing various components with varying degrees of success, or telling owners they can't duplicate the issue.
Had similar problem to the other complaints. It has happened twice now, that I drove somewhere, parked and had the car off for a very short time....only a few minutes in each case. Turn the key it won't start. Doesn't try to start.
The first time I got out of the car and opened the hood to check the battery. At that point I heard the hydraulic pumping noise that I'm used to hearing when I open the door. Once I got back in, the car started.
I assumed it had to do with re-charging the hydraulic system or whatever that is(starter?). The second time it happened(today) I tried opening and closing the door. Nothing. Opened the hood, nothing. This time I solved it by locking and unlocking the doors using the fob.
As a note, the check engine light has been going off and on quite a bit in recent days. It has always done it sporadically but seems to be more common now. I've also switched from cheap gas to mid-grade gas recently. Doubt those are related but I mention it anyway.
I like the suggestion of the other guy that maybe this is a glitch in some anti-theft feature of some sort. Seems like that.
I accidentally bumped the car key with my hand while waiting at a busy intersection for the light to change. The car shut off because the key came out. I put the key back in, attempted to restart, but no engine cranking occurred. All other lights came on as normally do when you start. I tried many times to restart by twisting the key over and over again, to no avail. I called home to tell my wife that I am stuck and explained it all to her, while the car rested for three minutes. I then tried to start it again and it started.
I made an appointment at Healey Brothers in Beacon, NY. They had the car for three days, but first they just could not find the time to look at the problem, then second, when they finally did scan the TCM system for communication faults, they could not find anything wrong and could not verify that there was a problem. My guess is, that it is not a TCM problem. Curiously, below the floor shifter, where the P/R/N/D letters appear, normally only one letter is red at a time and all the other letters are white. But during this episode, all the letters are red! I believe that there is an issue with Sentry key lockout to prevent auto theft, because all these symptoms resemble other older Dodge issues. What do you think?
Update from Dec 1, 2015: It happened again, but under different circumstances. I drove into my parking garage on 70th street in Manhattan, rolled down the window, and shut off the car and put the keys on the dash, as always. They always re-park the car, but when the parking attendant immediately climbed into the car, it would not restart. The guys at the car park had to push the car into the parking space. There was no indication of a low battery or anything else. When I came back to the car at lunch time to see if the car would start, I started it with the remote key with one attempt, as though nothing was ever wrong. The check engine light was lit, however. I ignored the light at 3pm when I drove home, and it soon went out.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I have only had the car for 11/2 years . I am LIVID!!!!!
- evelynfoster, Lindenhurst, IL, US