Alternator/generator/regulator problems of the 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan

1st time June 2020: while driving on highway, suddenly warning lights started going on and off and on, van lost electrical power, shutting down all lights, windows, etc. Engine would not switch gears. Luckily, made it off the highway before the engine died. Towed to mechanic, could not find an issue after it was jump started. They tested it for 5 straight days. 2nd time October 2020 pulled van out of garage to driveway, turned it off to load and put grandchildren in car seats. Van would not restart, towed, replaced battery. 3rd time 11/7/2020 while driving on suburban busy road at night, suddenly various warning lights came on and off and on, wipers turned on by themselves, then all electrical power went out. I guided van into the nearest parking lot as the engine died and would not restart. Aaa came again, jumped the car, and while we discussed what to do, the car shut itself off again. Towed, mechanic replaced alternator. I have been very lucky not to be hit by another vehicle in two of these three instances. Current mileage: 102,201 I can provide repair shop bills and proof of the 3 times vehicle was towed in last 6 months!.

Defective window regulators. I work for a federal fleet and we have have several thousand window regulators on Dodge Grand Caravans fail and be replaced, and even some of the replacements have failed. The manufacturer is well aware of this and has reimbursed my agency for some of the costs. The fact that they haven't opened a recall or extended warranty for the general public is complete bs and a total customer service failure on their part.

Battery is not holding a charge for more than 3 hours. I have taken the vehicle to several mechanics and auto-shops, but no one is able to diagnose the problem. When the battery dies, and I get it towed to a shop, they say they cannot diagnose it unless they charge or jump the battery; but once the battery is charged/jumped, the diagnosis comes back clean. Literally, every morning I need to get the car jump started, else I am stranded. This problem has been sporadic for about the last 7 months, but it has become a regular problem with the past 2 weeks. Once the car rests for more than 3 hours, it dies. I have check the alternator check to see if the diodes are leaking; I have had the starting and charging systems check, but no one can find a resolution to the problem. The power drivers seat has also stopped working about 4 months ago, and the ac lights flicker constantly (even though the ac does work normally) I see there was a previous recall concerning electrical problem with the driver side arm rest, but I don't know if this could possibly be a related issue.

Saturday 27 may 2017, I was coming back from a grand junction, iowa cemetery visit northwest of des moines, iowa and driving back on a highway doing 64 in a 65 mph zone, following an iowa state trooper, and the battery light came on - my mileage at that exact time was 45419. I drove to my sister-in-law's home in urbandale, iowa (I drove approx 11 miles to her home after the light came on) where we were staying over the memorial day weekend. Then I drove to an o'reilley auto parts store. They checked my battery, it was ok, except that it was at about 88%. They then checked the alternator and it was not charging the battery. The technician said that I could drive home to harlan, iowa, a 100 mile trip if the battery were charged up fully. I went back to my sister-in-law's home and called stew hansen Dodge, where I bought this vehicle on 29 August 2013, as a new vehicle with 18 miles on the odometer . I told the person who answered the phone that the "alternator" had abruptly stopped working, and asked if I could bring it in. It was Saturday 27 may 2017 at about 1 pm. The service person said they were open until 3:30 pm but they only did oil changes on weekends. I explained my situation of living 100 miles out of des moines, iowa and was concerned about getting home with no alternator. She said she was sorry but they couldn't help me until next week Tuesday. I went back to my sister-in-law's house, charged the battery up and drove home back to harlan, iowa 100 miles west on Monday, 29 may 2017. My mileage now at this time is 45540. I discovered that this same engine with the same alternator in "some Dodge chargers" has the very same problem and has been recalled, but no notifications have been sent to owners. I am going to try to call Chrysler Dodge this morning to inquire if my alternator is recalled.

While driving on the highway vehicle starting losing power. It started shutting down all systems and finally stopped working. Vehicle is 3 years old with 50k mileage. The alternator failed. There is a recall for other Dodge vehicles with similar engines that have faulty alternators. This should be included in that recall. Luckily my kids were not in the vehicle and we could get off to the side safely. Dodge charged me $1000 for a new alternator and a battery in a 3 year old vehicle.

Our 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan alternator and pcs failed at 68000 miles. The failure occurred while driving with my wife and 4 children in the car. Multiple dashboard lights came on and the the vehicle engine was racing but the transmission would not engage. The only reason there was not a crash was that they were traveling downhill and did not need to accelerate as the vehicle was not able to. Luckily they were able to pull the car over without incident. Dodge has recalled this alternator in over 900,000 vehicles on 4 other models with the 3. 6 liter engine but has not in the Grand Caravan for some reason. I contacted Dodge and they were unwilling to help in any way to repair my vehicle to make it operable and safe again. This repair was quoted form my local Dodge dealer to cost over $750.

At just over 36000 my engine light came on, I was told that the car needed to have cylinder heads and another engine part replaced. When I went to pick the van up the check engine light was on- I was told the pcm (power control module) was bad. After approx. 10000 more miles, while driving on a local road, all of my lights appeared on my dash board- the vehicle went into some mode and I couldn't drive over 25 mph. I stopped at a local auto parts store and was told that my battery now had a bad cell, the alternator was bad- I took it to the dealership and I was again told the pcm was bad. Why is the pcm failing? an alternator and battery being bad at going at 46000 miles, just over 2 years old. I see many of the Chrysler products had recalled alternators- what about this pcm? why is continuing to fail?.

Our alternator went out in our 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan at 49,xxx miles. Thankfully we where pulling into the dealership to have it looked at but it was completely bad.

My wife was travelling with our daughter on the highway when all of a sudden the instrument lights started flashing, radio went off, and the car began powering down. Thankfully she was able to safely pull off the highway into a parking lot just as it shut down. The vehicle wouldn't restart. I had to leave work early and meet her with jumper cables. In the meantime I called the dealership where we purchased this car new in October of 2012. The service representative kindly told me that because we had 42k miles on it that it was outside of the 3/36000 warranty. I expressed complete disgust with this because we consider this a new (and our dependable) vehicle that is only 20 months old. I managed to charge the battery and limp the car home. I removed the alternator and found one of the slip rings along with one brushes completely worn down to nothing. It's clearly a defective alternator that resulted in a very dangerous driving situation due to loss of power at 60mph on the highway. Chrysler customer care and the dealership had no sympathy and even after bringing the alternator into the dealership the service manager said they would need to have the vehicle towed to the dealership so they could "diagnose" it and still couldn't guarantee a warrantied replacement. The dealership wanted me to re-install the failed alternator and then get the car to them some 30 miles away in some chance of them covering the cost to replace it. . . . . . So I bought a brand new alternator from another dealership at the tune of $400 and installed it myself. I also have have submitted a claim to Chrysler for a full refund. . . . . . .