10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
80,972 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2012 Dodge Grand Caravan engine problems

engine problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2012 Dodge Grand Caravan Owner Comments (Page 3 of 6)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #71

Aug 192019

Grand Caravan

  • 107,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while traveling at 40 mph, the engine ceased without warning. The contact was able to coast the vehicle into a parking lot but was unable to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the residence. An independent mechanic was called to the residence and the starter replaced however; the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with engine failure. The contact was informed that the vehicle should be taken to an authorized dealer to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the VIN was not subjected to a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 107,000.

- Easley, SC, USA

problem #70

Jan 292020

Grand Caravan

  • 120,528 miles
2012 Dodge Caravan loses power while driving without warning! no check engine light. No codes. Shuts off in any condition. Very dangerous! have looked up the issue in Dodge forums and it's a known issue that could possibly have something to do with the tipm on many Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep vehicles. It's an intermittent issue. Had dropped off my kids at school and went to put van into park and van died but on its own came back on. Loses power intermittently while driving on freeway. Can even hear loss of power through the heater/ac unit. Please fix this issue before someone is killed! only way to prove is to let a mechanic/ Dodge drive it around and let them find out the hard way. Issue occurs when going O or any speed.

- Castroville, CA, USA

problem #69

Jan 132020

Grand Caravan

  • 110,000 miles
Over the last 6 weeks, on occasion when attempting to start the vehicle- it will crank without turning over and running. This requires multiple attempts before the vehicle would run. It has become a more frequent event to include briefly running then shutting down. Wthin the last week, the battery has drained without casue- requireing charging. As of today, the failure to start issue persists requireing multiple attempts. This happens on a cold start as well as when the vehicle has been running/is warmed up. Ddiagnostics lead to a failure of the fuel pump relay in the tipm. This is a well documented issue for this engine/tipm however the Caravan has not been included in the recall as the druango and Jeep vehicles have been. The failure of this tipm has been documented to include sudden engine shutdown while in operation representing a significant danger to the public. Based on reviews of other complaints, an ordinary reasonable prudent person would believe that this tipm failure is a iminent threat to safety. The manufacturer should be required to expand the recall and repair to all vehicles equipped with the suspect tipm. Currently, a non recalled vehicle would have the tipm module replced at a significant cost to the owner or, a non dealership installed "recall" repair (new relay) installed that would negate any further/future responsibility of the manufacturer. Authorized service centers should be required to provide the option of paying for the "recall" repair when servicing a vehicle not on the recall list. Knowing this tipm failures potential, I would suggest that, regardless of any class actin settlement- the manufacturer be required to mitigate this issue at the least possible expense to the vehicle owner.

- Richford, VT, USA

problem #68

Dec 022019

Grand Caravan

  • 109,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Vehicle electrical and engine shutdown suddenly while driving 30mph on the road. No power steering or brakes, had to pull over to the shoulder. Was able to restart the car and drive normally after a few minutes. Brought to dealer but no engine codes were discovered. Has recurred more than once in a 2yr period. Related to this electrical (tipm) problem, car often requires 3 or 4 attempts to start. Will sometimes start on its own several seconds after key stopped turning.

- Northfield, MN, USA

problem #67

Sep 252019

Grand Caravan

  • 131,000 miles
This car have 131000 miles on it and gives code P0304 which says cylinder 4 misfire and P0729 gear 6 incorrect ratio which leads to 2 or 3 gear down shift from 6 gear at hwy speed around over 50 mph

- Des Moines, WA, USA

problem #66

Jul 152019

Grand Caravan

  • miles
It cut off while driving

- Macon, GA, USA

problem #65

Jul 262019

Grand Caravan

  • 200,400 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have had it happen several times, I'll be driving and the van just dies. Everything shuts down the longest I believe it has lasted is 2 min then I'm able to shift into neutral and restart the van. It has happened while I was driving down my neighborhood street at 20 mph and it has happened on the highway at 70 mph. It has happened driving straight and it has happened mid turn. It happens approximately 3 times a week.

- Tulsa, OK, USA

problem #64

Jun 072019

Grand Caravan

  • 19,800 miles
I was driving van trying to merge onto highway with my family when check engine came on and van just went limp as I merged we almost got hit from behind thankfully we didn't! this is a known problem with Chrysler and Dodge 3.6 engines I recently purchased a used 2012 Dodge Caravan rt I should have done research on it, also I tried to get emissions to pass inspection and I failed, there is this P06dd code that is affecting the van, I brand van to mechanic and over a week later new oil pump new oil filter housing adapter and over 1K in parts and labor and the problem still exist pertaining to that P06dd check engine code! that code puts engine in limp mode or safe mode, it make van very slow with out any power which is very dangerous trying to get onto highways when you van will not accelerate because of code! mechanic tried everything even with help from a Chrysler technician, andy they can't get rid of that code P06dd like I said oil pump replaced oil filter housing replaced oil pressure switched replaced wires harness computer reflashed, I did research and I see plenty of Dodge Jeep and Chrysler with 3.6 has this issue even vehicles that come out of the dealership brand new has this issue! in my case I'm 7grand into this used vehicle and I can't even register it because of this issue! I can't even sell it trade vehicle because I can't get it passed inspection nor drive the vehicle because it's just flat out dangerous, I don't wanna invest in new engine because I heard of nightmares where Dodge replaced engine and even with new engine this code P06dd check engine light still exist" please help I have a family of 5 I can't afford of just loosing 7K I paid 5500 for van and about 1500 in repairs so far and van is still not working please can anyone help with this and investigate" thanks jason

- New York, NY, USA

problem #63

May 212019

Grand Caravan

  • 116,150 miles
Over the past 2 months our 2012 Grand Caravan has been having an unknown issue. We will be driving along normally then the power and engine will all cut out this has happened in multiple environments from crossing railway tracks to running down a smooth road, thankfully this has not happened yet on the highway, we are left coasting with no power steering or anything until we can safely stop put the van in park and restart the engine. The van restarts every time straight away with no problems. The other day before we took the van to the local Dodge dealership for them to investigate the issue, the console stayed with no power but I was able to start the engine, the fan and radio also worked at this point, after driving 5 to 10 meters the dash console came up with all the gauges working again. It has now been to the dealership twice now and they are unable to replicate the issue or know of a cause. After reviewing forums it seems that other van's from various years are having the same issue. Sometimes when it does it, it catches itself at the last second and the engine stays on and the console comes back up to normal though this is maybe a 1 in 5 occurrence. One of the times it happened we put our fixd in the care and the screenshot attached is what information it showed, the dealership only found 1 of these 4 fault codes.

- Lakewood, WA, USA

problem #62

Apr 222019

Grand Caravan

  • 135,000 miles
My fuel pump kept running when the car was off and the key was out it was the tipm computer that was bad I bypassed the tipm when this was fixed at Dodge now my battery light is coming on its a brand new battery and alternator and im being told its the tipm. It also was effecting acceleration it would ramp up RPM but speed would not change this issue occured while in motion driving on a freeway

- Surprise, AZ, USA

problem #61

Apr 202019

Grand Caravan

  • 100,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

We just bought a used 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan with about 99,000 miles. When I drove it the next morning, I made a turn onto the road when it completely shut off. It alarmed me. I turned the key to the off position and then back on and it started up again. I didn't think much of it until today (2 days later) when my husband called me concerned that the car stopped on him as he was turning onto a different road. He had our 2 yr. Old and 7 month old in the car, so that really concerned me for their safety.

- Melvern, KS, USA

problem #60

Apr 012019

Grand Caravan

  • 115,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan. When the contact applied the brakes, the vehicle stalled. The contact shifted into park and restarted the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but a failure could not be found. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 115,000.

- Arcadia, CA, USA

problem #59

Feb 182019

Grand Caravan

  • 70,000 miles
Van shuts off while driving - 3X in a fifteen minute span. Loss of steering and ability to control the car. Only 70K miles - extremely dangerous. Must put the car in park to turn it back on. Local mechanic cannot diagnose the problem because the diagnostic computer is not sent any kind of signal. Battery has been tested 3X and found to be working normally. Mechanic drove the car approximately 25 miles over 3 separate periods to repeat the engine failure and could not. Says he cannot 'fix' a problem if it cannot be detected.

- Little Elm, TX, USA

problem #58

Feb 102019

Grand Caravan

  • 95,000 miles
Dodge Grand Caravan 2012 stalled in motion while driving on an expressway at the 65 mph speed limit. The following morning I took it out on a country back road and again it stalled in motion while driving 55 mph speed limit. I was able to steer the car without power steering, and apply brakes but the spedometer, gas, and engine all died as I was driving it as if the car was turned off. I am doubtful the rear brake lights were working and am lucky no one was behind me. From looking it up I am told that this is an issue with Dodge Jeep and vans related to the tipm module. If I was aware of this issue before buying the car, I might have reconsidered, it is seriously dangerous and someone could easily be killed if this happens while someone is driving behind you and the van just dies.

- Nunda, NY, USA

problem #57

Feb 052019

Grand Caravan

  • 140,000 miles
My wife was driving our van and turning into a busy intersection when suddenly the car shut down leaving her with no power brakes and no power steering and no way to accelerate to get out of harms way. This has happened to me as well in the same vehicle. When I try to start the vehicle sometimes the car does not start and I have to turn the key a few times before it will actually make a connection. I investigated online about this problem and it seems that this is not an uncommon problem with this vehicle. When I called Dodge the technician told me that it's some kind of relay inside the ignition switch that is faulty so he admitted it himself I am asking that you investigate this before somebody gets hurt or killed. This is my family's primary mode of transportation and my children are always in this car. It is my worst nightmare to lose my family. And I would hate to lose my family over an engineering flaw that Dodge does not want to acknowledge. I fear thatsomebody is going to get hurt or killed over this eventually. The technician at Dodge told me that it typically cost around $800 to fix the problem because I would need two new keys and a new ignition so it's not like they don't know about this. There needs to be a recall on this ignition switch. If you research forums on the 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan you will see that this is a huge safety problem and extremely common. Please hold Dodge accountable before someone gets hurt.

- Olathe, KS, USA

problem #56

Nov 082018

Grand Caravan

  • 165,000 miles
Starter relay in the totally integrated power module is bad preventing car from starting. Car was stationary when this happened. Engine oil pressure went bad resulting in a check engine light, vehicle was moving.

- Charlotte Hall, MD, USA

problem #55

Oct 102018

Grand Caravan

  • 106,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled without warning. Kings Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram (4486 kings water dr, cincinnati, oh 45249, (513) 683-3000) was unable to replicate and diagnose the failure. The contact stated that there was a constant loss of power and reduction in speed. The manufacturer was notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA action number: DP14004 (electrical system). In addition, pertaining to the NHTSA investigation, the contact was uncertain if the failure was related to the tipm, fuel system, and/or engine. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

problem #54

Dec 152018

Grand Caravan

  • 89,500 miles
Saturday 15, 2018 my family and I were driving back from the mall, I was driving at about 55 miles an hour when the vehicle stalled and just died in the middle of the highway without any warnings or signals on the dash. I managed to use the momentum and pulled over to the shoulder, it restarted after 9 times try. Thankfully we were able to make it home. A month before vehicle was parked in driveway and it wouldn't start, towed it to mechanic and replaced alternator. Till now vehicle always stalls when slowing down or coming to stop. This vehicle acts like it have been taken over by supernatural forces and what happened last Saturday was very scary to my family. I have read a lot of the same complaints on this site about this vehicle and it is very upsetting that the maker have not taken responsibility in addressing this safety issue. I wonder how many people will have to die first before they address this safety issue. Let it be clear I will sue, god forbid any happen.

- Bethlehem, PA, USA

problem #53

Dec 072018

Grand Caravan

  • 98,000 miles
Engine requires key wiggling to start 9 times out of 10 no matter where or how its parked, randomly won't start or starts and shuts back off also with no positional correlation, and randomly shuts off while driving without warning or check engine lights, usually at lower rates of speed. Battery drains and have had to replace it 3 times in as many years.

- Palatka, FL, USA

problem #52

Nov 022018

Grand Caravan

  • 130,000 miles
Rod bearing failure due to debri in oil. Recall reference #11V487000

- Hesperia, CA, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »

Not what you are looking for?