New to the forum but struggling to resolve an issue that popped up with my Magnum. It stalled on me at a stoplight one day out of nowhere. Luckily it was right in front of a tow/service shop and they were able to quickly identify the issue as the alternator and replace it. Great. They said the battery was bad too thanks to the alternator but I had it covered under warranty at my usual shop across town and was able to limp it there. Also great. Unfortunately the issue wasn’t fixed just yet as it stalled out on me at 30mph (not fun but was able to yank it over to the side of the road despite losing power steering). Went to ask first shop if they gave me a bad alternator, they used some device to show me it was “good, but not holding charge.” Pointed to the shaking tensioner and said that may be the issue. When that wasn’t quite enough he ended up replacing the serpentine belt and then the crank sensor too on recommendation from his buddy that seemed familiar with Dodges. Was cheap so I didn’t mind, but the only the problem was it still didn’t seem fully fixed. Still would stall if I turned it on and waited for a minute. Back to my regular shop.
My normal shop seemed kind of lost on the whole thing, they chased a couple wiring issues and repaired the wire harness but I was still seeing the stalling shortly after turning the car on. It was giving me clear signs now, as the RPMs would slowly drop until it gave up and turned off. The second time I tried to replicate it the engine, ESP, and throttle control warning lights came on. Shop recommended I take it to a dealer for diagnosis since it was throwing a lot of potentially expensive codes. Dealer took two hours to tell me some wiring on the crank sensor was loose and plugging it in resolved the codes. For reference they were codes for computer (would probably total car), crank sensor, and evap system leak (checked and found no leak or restrictions). They test drove car and claimed solved.
And yet the stalling still happens. It does seem better than it was at first, but if I leave it in park for 3-10 minutes the car consistently shuts off (no lights, no dropping RPMs now though). It doesn’t stall in 20 minutes of stop-and-go traffic nor if I leave it sitting still in drive for 10-15 minutes. The only other thing I’ve noticed that I don’t recall happening before this fiasco is that I feel a very slight hitch when the car changes gears. I’ve noticed it a few times now at stoplights and while letting off the gas to coast as the dealer recommended testing it for the weekend.
If anyone has any solid ideas I would much appreciate it. I’m nervous that the stalling could get worse again, but I’m not in the best spot to run out and buy a new car this instant. I’ve tried to Google some but there seems to be a wide range of possible issues from a simple EGR valve clean to a transmission overhaul.
My feeling (a.k.a. guess…) is that you need to clean the throttle body since this problem only seems to occur at an idle. Another potential cause which may go hand in hand with the throttle body is the possibility of a vacuum leak. The car is 17 years old and leaks can pop up due to aged vacuum hoses and so on.
I don’t like to bad mouth someone without being hands on the vehicle, but I think you are the victim of a fair number of bad guesses. When I hear things like repaired the wire harness along with replacing the crank sensor followed by crank sensor wiring loose which was then followed by plugging it in which resolved the codes comes across as suspect to say the least.
Did they actually point out to you where this wire harness was actually damaged and repaired?
To be fair, I am a little wary about the first shop (that did the alternator and crank sensor). It’s a towing place that I wasn’t even sure was actively operating much less doing car work. My usual shop (that was chasing wiring issue) did not actually point it out to me as I was out of town, but I am willing to believe there was some damage or corrosion. The dealer actually mentioned seeing evidence of wire harness repairs (I took it to them blind on recommendation of the shop so as not to prompt them to fix more than necessary).
I will inquire about cleaning the throttle body and maybe checking for vacuum leaks that the dealer might have missed in their test. Thanks for the input!
Suggest as first priority, ask a different well recommended shop do a battery/alternator test. Worth a repeat test, given the above description of the problem. Ignition system just won’t work correctly without proper power supply voltage. If you want to try something yourself & know how to work a DVM, before first start of the day battery should measure about 12.6 volts; then immediately after starting engine, 13.5-15.5 volts.
First two codes could be caused by loose crank position sensor connector. Keep checking for those codes, b/c engine will never run correctly w/intermittent crank position sensor signal. P0441 indicates a possible purge valve problem. Evap canister stores fuel vapors from gas tank refilling etc until it can be later burned in engine. Only a certain amount of fuel vapors are supposed to flow from evap canister to engine, and only in certain driving conditions. A failure with that system can cause engine to misbehave, and is usually fairly easy for a shop to fix. If P0441 returns, ask your shop to investigate possible purge valve failure. In other words make sure igniton system and evap system are working correctly before considering more complicated problems as the symptom source.