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So, my car broke down today.

10K views 30 replies 10 participants last post by  Knothead 
#1 ·
Driving into work on the highway, red dash light says, "Service Transmission" and "Service Parking Brake." Car lost all power and i was unable to put it into any gear once i was stopped on the shoulder. Parking brake stuck in the On position. All of this without any warning and none of the rough shifting or other transmission problems mentioned here. Car is currently on its way to the dealer on a flat bed. Will post results and outcomes when I know more. Car has a 4/14 build date and has 4040 miles and I have owned it since June.
 
#3 ·
Thanks. After reading the thread, it doesn't seem to be the same problem. The car would start every time, it just wouldn't go into any gear or release the parking brake. Im waiting on a call back from the dealer now.
 
#7 ·
Well quick service anyway!

I forget Knothead, you have the 3.6 don't you?

Mine's at the dealer since this morning to replace the passenger side lower grill section that surrounds the Safety Tec radar, which is popping loose again, and I also asked them to check the transmission, since I've had the one incident where Drive would not engage after start-up for several seconds and then hung in 1st for awhile after that, and also to top off the coolant again. It will probably be there all day, since they say the transmission tech is "really busy". I'll have to see if they flash mine.
 
#9 ·
Good luck to you too. Your issue is a lot more concerning.

There was an update for the electronic shift module for mine so they reprogrammed that. No service bulletin relating to my one time issue or flash for my transmission. Maybe the shift module update will address it though. Haven't had any other transmission symptoms.
 
#11 ·
Looking harder at my paperwork, it seems they flashed the TCM, PCM, and the Shifter Module which all had fault codes stored in addition to an ABS fault code. Seems my car had a serious freak-out this morning. I work nights, so maybe I wasn't the only one who was grumpy at 230am.
 
#12 ·
Well it did it again this morning. This time i was able to restart and drive after a 10 minute shutdown. Made it to work, but the tranny was shifting weird and had a check engine light on. Back to the dealer it goes. Will update as i learn more.
 
#14 ·
White 200C,

With the few issues that I had with my car so far, do you know what I noticed the most? To me, the dealerships weren't ready to service these cars. I don't know if it is "normal" with a new model that uses such advanced technologies, but, they seem like they don't know where to look when I bring my car in. Other than telling me that they will reflash the tranny, they have no clue what to do in order to fix issues on this car.

My car has been experiencing very rough starts randomly. Everything points to a faulty fuel pump as another user on the forum had the exact same behaviour with his car (videos of the starts are exactly the same) and after replacing the fuel pump his problem disapeared. I've been telling the dealer to replace the fuel pump for 2 months now, showing them the videos (we live in a technology era and we all have iPhones so why not use it to help them) but they won't do it. they are waiting for the car to produce error codes in order to proceed but the problem is no code is produced when the car doesn't start...so we are spinning like dogs chaising their tales and getting nowhere and I still have a car that doesn't start when it feels like not starting.

This is my personal opinion but I really feel like the technicians weren't ready to service this car.
 
#15 ·
The dealer said they would keep the car for a few days. They put me in a Dodge Avenger. Its pretty bad, but better than nothing I suppose. I really appreciate how far the 2015 200 has come in terms of refinement and performance. How they ever managed to sell any of these Avengers is beyond me. I will continue to update as I learn more.
 
#18 ·
My theory is still intermittent failures of faulty wiring harnesses causing most of these "undiagnosable" problems. This would make it very difficult for the dealer techs to diagnose, so I don't really blame the dealer for just flashing the latest updates to see if that cures the problem, as a first step. (Even though unless they have a TSB that says as much they were really just stabbing in the dark.) NOW though it would be nice if they could get someone at Chrysler to take a serious interest in helping them diagnose this. And that is where the dealership needs to take some initiative, not just throw up their hands and send you back out on the road. It's to their benefit that they satisfy the customer, if they want to keep selling cars.

Same goes for Fernboy's issue. It might be the fuel pump, but I suspect that Chrysler won't pay for a warranty replacement unless the dealer can demonstrate the pump is not working. With an intermittent failure this is tough to do. So the dealer needs to be pushing Chrysler hard for help on this too. It seems to me that Chrysler engineering must be undermanned for troubleshooting support to dealers on these cars. It's not simply that the dealer techs are lacking knowledge about a new model, it's that Chrysler apparently lacks the knowledge to give them.
 
#19 ·
I have no idea what Chrysler is doing with training their technicians these days, but the systems on this car are basically the same technology as the Cherokee. They should be able to diagnose starting problems after more than a year with the Cherokee. Most of the problems that I see on these forums are related to poor service by the dealers imo. Clearing codes and giving the car back to a customer without trying to diagnose the issue is very poor service. The same with looking at the codes and replacing a module. Very few problems are due to a module failure, it is usually a connection or a failure with another component that creates the code. Finding a connection problem, which are usually intermittent, takes some diagnosis by the tech and that takes time. It is easier to blame the module and hope that fixes it. Good luck with your problems guys.

Paul
 
#20 ·
Really, re-flash the software on a controller and the dealer thinks it's fixed! Software doesn't go bad unless there are bugs and the new software fixes the bugs that should be tied to known fault codes the dealer has identified. The only reason why the car was able to drive away is because flashing the software just made the controller think it's a new car and for whatever else is wrong with the car is the root failure takes some time for the new software to react the same way the original software did. Good codes with a trained tech should pinpoint the root cause of the failure, perhaps pointing to the failed component. The good news is, this is not a new transmission for Chrysler so there should be some history and debugging already.
 
#21 · (Edited)
#28 ·
Well my car has been at dealer for 2 days. They say it has been throwing all sorts of strange codes (tpms, tranny, parking brake, abs, and a bunch more) and their tech has had it in his bay for 2 straight days. Nothing else to report at the moment and no resolution in sight.
 
#31 ·
Got my car back. They reflashed the TCM with the updated software that became available 10/21/14, and inspected/cleaned/dilithium greased a connector, that according to my paperwork had minor "corrosion from when ZF washed the transmission after manufacture." Dealer did multiple test drives and all is well so far. Time will tell. Good luck to all of you with similar problems. Hopefully some of the info here can help you guys out.
 
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