NHTSA Complaint #11349978 — 2000 DODGE DURANGO

CAR GIVEN TO ME BY A FAMILY MEMBER IN NOV 2019 WITH 135K MILES, WAS THE ORIGINAL OWNER, VEHICLE WAS VERY WELL MAINTAINED. APPROXIMATELY FEB 2020, DRIVING 70 MPH DOWN INTERSTATE, CAR ACTED LIKE IT DIED-LOST ALL POWER FOR ABOUT 10 SECS, THEN IT CAME BACK TO LIFE. IT WAS ABOUT A MONTH LATER, IT DID IT AGAIN. MECHANIC REPLACED THROTTLE BODY POSITION SENSOR(?). SOON AFTER, VEHICLE STARTED TO JUST DIE WHILE DRIVING. NO NOISE, RATTLES, NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS, JUST WOULD SHUT OFF LIKE THE KEY WAS TURNED OFF. DIDN'T MATTER THE TERRAIN OR SPEED, JUST WHILE DRIVING. INITIALLY IT WOULD IMMEDIATELY RESTART. IT SEEMS TO HAVE GOTTEN WORSE SINCE THE HOTTER WEATHER. AND IT SHUTS DOWN AFTER DRIVING ABOUT 20 MINS WHEN THE ENGINE HAS REALLY WARMED UP. I FINALLY NOTICED A NO BUS MESSAGE ON THE ODOMETER-WHICH FROM RESEARCHING MEANS THE COMPUTER ISN'T COMMUNICATING. MECHANIC UNABLE TO PULL A CODE, SAID IT'S CLEARING ITSELF OUT RIGHT AFTER IT THROWS IT. TODAY WENT IN, AND WE GOT LUCKY AND HOOKED MACHINE WHILE CAR WAS RUNNING AND IT DIED. AND THE SCANNER WOULD NOT RECOGNIZE NOR COMMUNICATE WITH THE PCM. NUMEROUS ISSUES WITH DODGE/CHRYSLER VEHICLES FOR THIS EXACT SAME PROBLEM. AND IT DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE A SINGLE FIX FOR IT. SOME A NEW PCM WORKED, SOME OTHER SENSORS, ONE SAID JUST LOOSENING THE SCREWS ON THE PCM WORKED FOR HIM, SOME NOTHING WORKED. THIS IS SO DANGEROUS, CAR JUST SHUTTING OFF WITHOUT WARNING WHILE YOU'RE DRIVING. I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS HASN'T BEEN A RECALL ISSUE AFTER 20 YEARS. I SEE A LOT OF THIS MODEL OF VEHICLE ON THE ROAD STILL, BUT IT DOESN'T SEEM LIMITED TO JUST THE DURANGOS EITHER. IT ALMOST SEEMS AS IF SOMETHING NEAR THE PCM OR THE WIRES TO IT ARE GETTING TOO HOT AND CAUSING AN ISSUE OR EVEN BURNING OUT THE PCM. DID A RESET BY UNHOOKING BATTERY CABLE, AND THE CAR RESTARTED THIS LAST TIME. THIS IS DANGEROUS FOR EVERYONE.