NHTSA Complaint #10567315 — 2004 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN

PERIODICALLY, THE ENGINE OF OUR 2004 GRAND CARAVAN SPUTTERS AND DIES WITHOUT WARNING. TYPICALLY THIS HAPPENS RIGHT AFTER FILLING THE GAS TANK. UPON LEAVING THE GAS STATION, THE VAN RUNS NORMALLY FOR A MINUTE OR TWO, THEN CUTS OUT ALL TOGETHER. USUALLY THIS HAPPENS JUST AS WE ARE PULLING OUT OF THE STATION INTO TRAFFIC. ONCE THE VAN IS RE-STARTED, IT RUNS ROUGHLY FOR A MINUTE, THEN QUITE NORMALLY. THIS FIRST OCCURRED IN LATE 2009 AND HAPPENED INFREQUENTLY FOR A TIME. THE OLDER THE VAN BECOMES, THE MORE FREQUENTLY IT HAPPENS - NOW ON ALMOST EVERY FILL-UP. RELATED TO THIS ISSUE, PERIODICALLY AFTER STARTING THE VAN AT HOME, WITH A NEARLY FULL TANK OF GAS, IT RUNS FINE FOR A MINUTE OR TWO, THEN THE ENGINE SEEMS TO GO INTO IDLE AND COMPLETELY FAILS TO RESPOND TO THE GAS PEDAL. TYPICALLY THIS HAPPENS AFTER STOPPING AT A STOP SIGN NEAR HOME. THE ENGINE RUNS, BUT THERE IS NO ACCELERATION. WE DRIFT TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, BRAKE TO A STOP, WAIT A MINUTE (SOMETIMES SHIFT TO PARK), THEN TRY THE GAS PEDAL AGAIN. THE VAN WILL RESPOND NORMALLY AT THAT POINT AND RUN FOR THE REST OF THE DAY WITHOUT FURTHER TROUBLE. (THIS SEEMS TO HAPPEN MORE OFTEN WHEN OUTSIDE TEMPERATURES ARE BETWEEN 50 AND 65 DEGREES.) WE HAVE HAD THE VEHICLE EXAMINED A NUMBER OF TIMES BY SEVERAL VERY REPUTABLE AUTO SERVICES AND NONE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO IDENTIFY OR CORRECT THE PROBLEM.