In the end, it turns out the information below was all related to the TIPM.
Van Documentation
11-22-13, 80000 miles, I do have video of this occurrence.
(I’m guessing on the mileage for this complaint since I didn’t document it at the time.)
I went into my garage to leave for work. I hit my unlock button on my fob. I do not have an automatic starter, but my van suddenly was running, the lights were on, the windshield wipers were going, the horn was blaring, and the doors locked. My fob was unable to communicate at that point, so I had to manually unlock the door with the key. Upon entering the vehicle, I attempted to turn on and off the wipers and lights without response. I put my key in the ignition and attempted turning it on and off, but it did not change anything. I had to call the police because it was such a noise disturbance and I could not get it to stop. I didn’t know what to do! After a half hour or so while a sheriff’s deputy and I walked around it trying to make it stop, it petered out and stopped. I started the car and it appeared to be working completely fine. Just had a freak out… until the next time it happened, which I will report on my next complaint.
3-17-15, 100000 miles
(I’m guessing on the mileage for this complaint since I didn’t document it at the time.)
I work at a school, and as I attempted to start my car, it didn’t respond. I figured my battery had somehow died. a co-worker brought her car around to jump mine. As soon as the jump started, my 2008 Chrysler Town and Country’s horn started blaring, windshield wipers started going, lights turned on, and motor started running. I could not turn anything on or off with my key or ignition. A couple people from the nearby appartments came over to try to help. One man was swearing at us for the disturbance! Eventually, we were able to remove a fuse and replace it which resulted in the horn, wipers, etc stopping, and I was able to drive home without further incident… until the next time, which will be in my next complaint…
1-28-16, 122487 miles
I left work, hit my fob’s unlock button, the windshield wipers started going. The car was running, and the horn’s had burned out from a previous “episode,” so I drove it about 4 miles before it stalled. I pulled over, lifted the hood and fiddled around with the fuses like someone else had done in the past. After 5 minutes, the windshield wipers stopped, and I was able to drive it home, but this time the engine light came on and stayed on. I made it home and planned to bring it into the dealership/service center in the morning.
The following morning while I was on the phone with the service personnel at the dealership, my car went bzerk again. Never had the problem occurred in the middle of my drive, but this time, the windshield washer fluid started shooting out at me while I was driving! I barely got the van pulled over before it stalled on me. I took the key out, but (as everyone knows who has also had this problem) the car kept going. Once again, a few minutes passed, and I was suddenly able to start up again. I was able to drive my van to about 2 miles away from the dealership before she died – except the windshield wipers were still going, of course! Because I was only 2 miles away, my tow bill was “only” $77.
Here’s the annoying part, when I was on the phone with the service representative, she said, “Do you have a town and country?” after I told her the symptoms, so it is obvious this is a typical problem. She knew before I told her. She said it sounds like a recall we have on the vehicle. The recall she referred to was the Ignition Module replacement.
I had the module replaced, and all was well, until 5 days later, which I must file in my next complaint!
2-3-16, 122600 miles
Considering that my van had been towed and supposedly fixed 5 days prior to this, I was shocked when I was driving along to work and suddenly my windsheild wipers were going and my wiper fluid was shooting out at me AGAIN! What, I just had to have my car towed on Friday! Okay, I wasn’t that surprised because this problem just keeps happening!
On Friday, 5 days prior, they told me it was a recall for the ignition module. They’ve seen these symptoms before. Today, after having my car towed again (this time a farther distance), I received a call that this has nothing at all to do with the ignition module replacement and I must pay $966 to get a new TIPM. I tell them that sounds awfully weird considering the same exact thing happened to my van on Friday and it was covered by a recall, and now it’s not. They tell me those 2 modules are not at all connected, and this needs to be replaced if I want to be sure I won’t stall out again. I ask how this is my fault and what could I have done to prevent it, and his only response was that this is not covered under a recall or a warranty, so I will have to pay.
I called the Chrysler Customer Service line and they said the same thing about it not being covered but their “systems were down” so they couldn’t even pull up the VIN or any recalls at that time.