Wiring problems of the 2012 Chrysler Town & Country

The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler town and country. The contact stated that the vehicle lane departure system, navigational system, and the rear back up camera failed. A few weeks later, the contact noticed smoke coming from the rear passenger side tail light. The vehicle was taken to kimberly car city (625 w kimberly road, davenport, IA 52806, (563) 391-8300) where it was diagnosed that the rear bumper, modules, and wiring harness caught fire due to water exposure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. A Chrysler engineer inspected the vehicle and concluded that the failure was not due to a manufacturer defect. The manufacturer provided case number: cair31876429. The failure mileage was 83,000.

In October 2014 (approx. Mileage of 40k) the blind spot monitoring system stopped working. Did some research and determined I had a bad radar sensor but they cost $900 each so we turned off the blind spot monitoring system. February 2016 (mileage of 53k) the backup camera and bumper sensors quite working and we noticed a hot wire smell. Pulled out the driver¿s side blind spot monitoring sensor and found it badly corroded and the sensor separating at the seams also found fuse blown. Replaced the fuse with the bad sensor disconnected and put a new fuse in. Camera came back on for about ten seconds before going black again when fuse blew again. Had smoke coming out of passenger side rear blind spot sensor area. Found the wires melted on the connector and I had to snuff the wires out with water and cut the sensor cable to get the hot components out of the vehicle to prevent a fire. I then removed the passenger side sensor, terminated the loose wires with wire nuts and put a new fuse it. Camera and bumper sensors are working fine now but blind spot monitoring is not functional due to the two bad sensors. I see two issues, first the blind spot sensors which are sold as safety features failed at 3 years of use not just one sensor but both indicating it is a poorly engineered part not a defective part. Secondly is the fusing size or wiring correct for this circuit. As the fuse should blow before wires start to melt. To buy a new wiring harness and the two sensors will cost $1700 and the sensor will fail again in 3 years if no modifications are made to the sensor. Internet searches show many complaints about sensor failure and complaints entered in nhsta database.

Having had this problem before and being told by the dealership ,they could not find a problem, I thought maybe it was they key fob so I paid to have a new one made. Then the problem still continued and progressed: now not only would the car go crazy with all lighting and power inside turning off and wipers going crazy, but now whenever the new key fob was used from the outside it would not unlock the doors but the dash would light up. The uconnect also stooped working completely! dealer diagnosed: key failng fault stored for key in system that is failing,1 56046708ae trasnmtr-integrated key fob ,cut new key and program to vehicle. 15 amp fuse blown, checked wiring g and found listing for 20 amp fuse. Replaced fuse and test operation. (since I never replaced any fuses, I don't even know where they are. I have to assume the wrong fuse was put in either during manufacturing or by a dealership) note: this did not solve the problem vehicle went back yet again. See additional complaints.