The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
My car did something wierd this morning.
Rius
Globex CEONobody ever says ItalyRegistered User regular
Globex CEONobody ever says ItalyRegistered User regular
Ok, so I have a 2008 Dodge Charge SE with cool (and perhaps relevant) things like electronic stability control, anti-lock disc brakes, brake assist, etc. While driving to work this morning, I was headed toward an intersection as the light turned yellow. I was at perhaps 30 mph and would have continued through (being about 4 car lengths from it) when someone in the oncoming left turn lane floored it.
Deciding that I'd rather stop instead of T-bone him, I hit the brakes. I didn't slam on them, just applied more pressure than usual. My car decelerated quickly and then the brake pedal shuddered a bit, followed by what sort of felt like the front of the car shuddering, followed by silence as I came to a complete stop. Worried, I eased off the brakes and the car didn't idle forward. I had to shift into park, turn my key to off and then restart the engine, which happened normally and after that I drove to work without any problems at all.
I just had my car into the dealership for an oil change and tire rotation, general inspection, etc, and it came back clean, so I'm not sure what the deal is here. Anyone have an idea?
Deciding that I'd rather stop instead of T-bone him, I hit the brakes. I didn't slam on them, just applied more pressure than usual. My car decelerated quickly and then the brake pedal shuddered a bit, followed by what sort of felt like the front of the car shuddering, followed by silence as I came to a complete stop. Worried, I eased off the brakes and the car didn't idle forward. I had to shift into park, turn my key to off and then restart the engine, which happened normally and after that I drove to work without any problems at all.
I just had my car into the dealership for an oil change and tire rotation, general inspection, etc, and it came back clean, so I'm not sure what the deal is here. Anyone have an idea?
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
Rius on
0
Posts
Even in an emergency stop (which this doesn't really sound like) the car should not have done what you describe. Sounds unsafe, I'd take it to the dealer to get it checked out (it's under warranty right?).
Chrysler transmissions in general have been pretty bad, this just seems to highlight it.
Do you have someone beside the dealer who could look at it, like a trustworthy mechanic? Ask your family if they are in the area.
Now that I think about it some more, I think I may have tried to hit the gas just a little bit after realizing the car wasn't idling and that didn't give me any power either. So I would assume that the engine was off after I stopped.
About anti-lock/ABS brakes; Over the past winter (Chicago) my brake pedal would automatically flutter (presumably from some combination of brake assist/ABS brakes) whenever the car detected wheel slippage. This didn't feel like that at all, though, and for sure the engine area shudder wasn't like anything previously experienced.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
It could be an engine stall, but I'd have expected the check engine light (or some service light on the dash) to have gone on. A combination of heavy braking, crappy transmission, and bad gas?
For safety reasons I'd probably not try to replicate the issue, though having a good description of events might help the mechanic replicate it.
This sounds like exactly what happened. I've driven several cars with automatic transmissions that have a lot of trouble downshifting quickly.
That's your ABS engaging, which you probably already knew.
That's your engine lugging heavily and finally dying, which will feel very strange and not at all like ABS. It will also be a strong enough sensation to overwhelm the ABS. Why did this happen? Well, that's a tough question. Modern cars are frustrating that way.
I don't know anywhere near enough about Chrysler cars to make sweeping statements about their transmission engineering, but I will say that in my experience some late-model Chrysler vehicles (and other manufacturers as well, just to be fair) sometimes have problems with the way the computer coordinates the running of the car.
Essentially everything to do with a modern car's power/drivetrain is coordinated via onboard computer these days, and there is literally no end to the list of things that slightly buggy software is capable of fucking up. Valve timing, fuel/air mixture, engine idle speed, transmission shift logic... all of these things are at the mercy of onboard computer control. During your emergency stop, a chip somewhere did or did not do something and the car reacted poorly to that decision.
If you're lucky, and you take it in to the dealer (still under warranty, I hope?), there is a small chance that their diagnostic computer will find a defective piece of hardware on your car. Swap out the offending chip and you're golden.
Otherwise, you may have found an undocumented bug in Chrysler's code. Congratulations!(?)
~V