My college son’s 2014 Charger V6 has developed three issues since he purchased it used in late May. The cruise control has stopped working and the anti lock brake and traction control lights are constantly on. Any possible cause? He bought from CarMax and the nearest center is 3 hours from him at college. The local Dodge dealer says three to four week wait for appointment to service. Your input appreciated.
i hope the best, check the fuses might be a good suggestion, but I fear there is a bigger issue.
Yes, there are possible causes. But someone will need to look at it to find out what they are.
The ABS system and the trac control system both use the wheel speed sensors. A problem with a wheel speed sensor would cause malfunction indicator lights for both systems. That can be easily checked at any competent shop.
The cruise control probably uses the Vehicle Speed Sensor that monitors the transmission output shaft speed. I’d expect a VSS signal problem to affect other things too, such as the speedometer and possibly engine operation. Like the other problem, it needs to be looked at hands-on.
If there is a fault detected by the ABS/Stability control module the cruse control will be disabled so the vehicle may only have one problem. You will need a professional scan tool to read ABS codes and perform diagnostic tests. If ABS/stability control is important for your son see if the dealer will allow your son to drop off the car for the next available opening, car down situations usually get mixed in with the appointments.
That’s quite the backlog for service. I’d hate to have that dealer as my local dealer. Regardless, as the car can still be driven now, I’d make the appointment and take it in.
Is there any other dealer within a reasonable distance? Maybe your son wouldn’t mind a roadtrip there.
local Dodge dealer says three to four week wait for appointment to service
Tells me EVERYthing I need to know about Dodge cars! I.e. Don’t buy one, they’ve been infected with Fiats!
LOL, I have nothing meaningful to add to the thread, but I loved the joke!
I assume you mean that the nearest CarMax is 3 hours from him and a Dodge dealer in his college town has the 4 week wait. Is there another Dodge dealer within 50 miles of his college? If so, he might contact all of them and see if he can get a quicker appointment. Is the car still in warranty? If th mileage is close to 36,000, the dealer might just be stalling for it to go out of warranty. If it is just barely in warranty, he should park it until he can get it looksd at.
If he takes it to Autozone or Advance they will read the codes for him. It should be under warranty. Here is something he can try if for some reason the battery was dead or replaced.
If the vehicle is equipped with ESP, once the battery is reconnected, the Steering Angle Sensor (SAS) needs to be calibrated. The SAS requires calibration anytime the battery or an ABS (ESP) component has been disconnected for any length of time. To calibrate, perform the following:
- Start the engine.
- Center the steering wheel.
- Turn the steering wheel all the way to the left until the internal stop in the steering gear is met, then turn the wheel all the way to the right until the opposite internal stop in the steering gear is met.
- Center the steering wheel.
- Stop the engine.
Your son should at least be able to verify the fuses aren’t causing the issue. If he finds no trouble there then hopefully he can find a local shop or AutoZone that can check the ABS codes for clues to the trouble.
Are the brake lights working as they should?
I don’t have much to add other than if the car is still under warranty, I would not mess with it and just take it in. I am baffled by the wait time in the Dodge dealer. I guess as long as Fiat/Chrysler is around, there is job security for mechanics.
Did All 3 “Issues” Occur At The Same Time? I Believe It Might Be Only 1 Issue With 3 Symptoms.
First, check the brake lights as Keith suggested! Are they on all the time? A brake light switch could be bad or out of adjustment.
As suggested by The Same Mountainbike, a hardware part such as a wheel speed sensor/bearing assembly could be faulty. The measured speed output of each wheel is used to properly operate the ABS, traction control, and cruise. I suppose a software problem in a control module could be at fault, but I’d bet a DTC (diagnostic trouble code) is set, implicating a wheel speed sensor.
How many miles on the Charger and is there any “road noise,” possibly a noise that grows louder or diminishes with turning the steering wheel in a curving road or lane-changing situation or while braking? It’s not necessary to hear a noise in order to have a faulty speed sensor, but the two often go together, especially near or beyond 100,000 miles.
I’d call around and (as suggested by Cougar) find somebody/some place that can plug in a scanner and read DTCs, not just “powertrain” codes, but “body”, codes, as well. Some scanners won’t read ABS codes, etcetera.
CSA
No one else seems to have caught this… WHY is a less-than-2-year-old Dodge being sold from CarMax? It seems odd that a 1 year old car was sold (dumped?) on CarMax. Serious unsolved warranty problems? Lemon-in-the-making?
@Mustangman
I Caught It. However, I’m Not Going To Condemn This Vehicle Or CarMax.
You Could Be Correct. However, Also Consider…
The car can actually be just over 2 years old. It could have been a former “fleet” vehicle or in some other situation that put on quite a few “highway miles” in a hurry. That’s why I asked if it was near or over 100,000 miles. It is often routine to put these cars out to pasture at a certain age or miles limit. Many sales lots sell many of these fairly new, previously owned vehicles, some with relatively high miles, but otherwise in great shape.
This could be a perfectly fine vehicle, but without knowing any of the details, I wouldn’t assume it was dumped because it’s no good.
Something like a bad sensor or switch can show up even on a brand new ____________ (fill in the blank with the name of the vehicle you feel is most reliable.). It happens.
CSA
Dodge has had issues with fuse blocks/body modules in recent years. We sold a charger last year and had one fail a week after we sold it, it took 2 months to get the car fixed by dodge due to parts being on backorder.