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Engine & cooling

2009 Dodge Challenger Engine problems

Owners have filed 39 complaints about the 2009 Dodge Challenger's engine & cooling with NHTSA - 29% of all its complaints, most recently on April 2, 2023. They describe 2 crashes, 2 fires and 0 injuries. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.

Complaints
39
Recalls
0
Crashes
2
Fires
2
Injuries
0
Deaths
0

Engine complaints

Electrical systemEngine & coolingFuel system

Three times now the throttle has gone to wide open and sticks for about 5 seconds. Scares the living crap out of you.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11514983
Engine & cooling

Recall issues and manufacturers dont want to fix it.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11444274
Transmission & drivetrainAirbagsEngine & cooling

I took my car to the dealer for recalls they didn't fix anything they left my car out in the rain the hood up and Choppa had my car for a whole month did any nothing they were very courteous no customer assistance nothing

Filed Incident Power train · Air bags · EngineNHTSA 11424269
Electrical systemEngine & cooling

Vehicle stalls randomly while coming to a stop. Oil light illuminates car losses all power steering and breaking. This happens while driving straight or turning as well. Primarily while turning. This has happened to me on a city intersection and in my residential neighborhood. I am scared that I am going to wreck because of this and hurt myself or others. *Tr

Filed Incident Electrical system · EngineNHTSA 11327485
Engine & cooling

Car just stalls no warning hi way speed your turning cant steer the car or stop it gives no codes stope or driving it will just lose power and stall not safe .Very random never know when it is going to happen

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11153536
Engine & cooling

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 dodge challenger. While driving 30-70 mph, the vehicle stalled. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer (ron carter chrysler jeep dodge, 3005 fm 528 rd, alvin, tx 77511, (281) 331-8111) where it was diagnosed that the rotors and ball joints needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11122162
Engine & cooling

When driving and slowing to make a right turn apply pressure to the break the car just stalls I have all dash lights put the car in park and it restarts back up this has happened six times now that I owned the car has 65.0000 Miles on it need info on what to do the dealer said they never heard of this going on this takes place at any speed slow or fast turns

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11114466
Transmission & drivetrainEngine & cooling

My car lost complete power while turning in a residential area. The vehicle is dead and will not start. The vehicle shut down with no warning. This has happen several times. The local dodge dealer had it 2 weeks an could not determine why

Filed Incident Power train · EngineNHTSA 11013493
Transmission & drivetrainEngine & cooling

Sudden engine stall at stop sign, at idle and also while on highway at speed. Oil light comes on intermittent no codes , oil level checked , gas was good . Many on every challenger forums are having this issue "stalling" , even brand new cars right off the lot. Dodge rejects there's an issue, from dealers to the top. Please help! We don't trust our cars!

Filed Incident Power train · EngineNHTSA 10925449
Electrical systemEngine & coolingFire

Tl* the contact owned a 2009 dodge challenger. While driving 15 mph, all the warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. In addition, the gauges displayed incorrect readings and the radio failed to function. The vehicle was taken to an auto part center, but was not diagnosed or repaired. Also, while driving 15 mph, the vehicle stalled and the engine compartment caught fire. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire. A police report was filed. No...

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injuries were sustained. The vehicle was towed from the scene to a salvage yard where it was completely destroyed. The manufacturer was not notified. The vin was unavailable. The failure mileage was 135,000.

Filed Incident Electrical system · EngineNHTSA 10910740
Electrical systemEngine & cooling

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 dodge challenger. While driving 80 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 80,250. Updated 11/29/16*lj the consumer also stated the vehicle would shut off in the midst of a turn and at start up. Updated 12/13/16.*Jb

Filed Incident Electrical system · EngineNHTSA 10887432
Engine & coolingCrash

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 dodge challenger. While driving at 65 mph, there was an abnormal noise coming from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle stalled and was diagnosed by an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the timing chain tensioner fractured, which caused the connecting rod and piston to exit the oil pan and the side of the engine block. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be repaired; however, the dealer refused to repair the vehicle. The vehicle was included under fca recall p01 (engine, timing chain and chain guide). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 63,000. .....Updated 03/15/16 *bf updated 05/24/18*jb

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 10825473
Engine & coolingCrash

The engine failed on the highway while driving at 65pmh due to the timing chain failing. This caused the piston and/or connecting rod to come out through the oil pan and side of the engine block. The engine failing caused the power steering to go out and the vehicle to hit a snow pile with the front causing damage while trying to get off the road. The unit had to be towed from the location and looked at later to find the cause. I have contacted chrysler about the issue and found they have a "customer satisfaction...

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campaign" for the timing chain issue on this vehicle. They called it recall p01. The vehicle will be going to my local dealer for the engine repairs which chrysler is alleging they will pay for, but that is unknown at this time. The front end damage caused by this engine failure and loss of steering is undetermined at this time also. I'll be asserting that chrysler pay for the body repair as it was due to the engine failing, steering going out, and getting the unit off the road.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 10820720
Engine & cooling

While driving, my 2009 dodge challenger randomly cuts off. I can barely turn my steering wheel. The engine was off. My stereo, lights were all still on and never cut off. I never had any kind of warning that anything was wrong. My car at least once a week does this at any given time. My car never indicates anything is wrong. I have taken my car to auto zone and had a diagnostic ran to see if it would tell me what could be wrong with my car. Nothing turned up. *Tr

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 10669694
Electrical systemEngine & cooling

I took car into dealership because it didn't sound right. It was determined that is was the alternator and therefore the battery. This car had less than 40,000 on it and the alternator should not have gone out. After some research I found that later model dodge vehicles had recalls because of the alternator and I feel the recall should go back to my model. *Tr

Filed Incident Electrical system · EngineNHTSA 10668316
SteeringTransmission & drivetrainBrakesEngine & cooling

Engine quit with no warning. Steering and brakes compromised. Shifted into neutral while in traffic.Has been occurring more and more frequently. Dealer reports cannot replicate. Sounds just like the recalled gm's. *Tr

Filed Incident Steering · Power train · Service brakes · EngineNHTSA 10650890
Engine & cooling

Engine stalls while I am driving. Lose power steering and power brakes when engine quits. Have to shift into neutral while driving and restart.Dangerous in intersections ,merging, passing, in wet weather, and in the winter. *Tr

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 10639195
Engine & cooling

Engine failure stalls and loose steering while driving, restart the vehicle an car dies out multiple restarts attempts before car restarts. *Tr

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 10616529
SteeringElectrical systemEngine & cooling

In 2009 I purchased a dodge challenger srt 8. Since I have had the vehicle it has stalled many times. Every time it's when I slow down and make a left or right turn. While turning the vehicle stalls and you loose steering and brakes. Last incident was earlier this week, my wife slowed down to make a left turn into our subdivision and he vehicle stalled in the oncoming lane and she was almost struck. She had to put the vehicle in neutral and restart the vehicle to exit the roadway. I have called the dealership many...

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times and they say there's nothing wrong with the vehicle. I looked online for a fix and there doesn't seem to be any, although there are a lot of dodge vehicle owners with this problem. *Tr

Filed Incident Steering · Electrical system · EngineNHTSA 10597460
Transmission & drivetrainAcceleration & cruise controlEngine & cooling

I was driving normal at about 70mph and was exiting highway and the car just died. I pulled over and tried to crank it and nothing. Called a wrecker and they took me to the parts house to get a code checked and it said camshaft position sensor. I bought one and took it home and replaced it and still nothing. You could see that the timing chain had broke through the hole where the sensor went. Over a few weeks I had to replace the timing chain, plastic guide and tensioner (they gave me metal parts as a replacement),...

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hsd to remove the heads and replace all valves because they were bent, had to find and replace broken a valve guide. This was caused from what I was told by the plastic parts wearing out and chrysler is quietly replacing them as people bring them in, I fixed my own and kept receipts and all broken parts. They are also saying it is a harmonic issue with the mds either way I called and made a claim with chrysler and they tried to deny it was common. I have found that it is way more common than are saying and they just don't want to have a recall. I was also yelled at by a manager at freedom dodge when I mentioned this in front of other customers, he said "dodge never does a recall unless its a safety issue!" I said," if I'm going 70mph on the highway and the motor dieing wasn't a safety issue I didn't know what was." He went to the back and was mad and then another employee that was getting my parts whispered to me it more common than they want to admit. I feel like I got ripped off and they are advertising a product that doesn't last, the car only had 70k and hasn't been driven very hard. I spent a little over $1000 to fix this and that was cheap, dodge wanted $7000 to do it and I am not a mechanic, thank goodness for good friend and the internet. *Tr

Filed Incident Power train · Vehicle speed control · EngineNHTSA 10558495
Electrical systemEngine & coolingFuel systemFire

The vehicle caught on fire while driving. The fire started in the right front side of the engine compartment and quickly consumed the vehicle completely. The vehicle was not presenting any problems before the incident and no warning lights came on. The vehicle stalled and caught on fire. It was extremely difficult to come out of the vehicle. The estimated travel time before the accident was approximately 45 minutes. One important fact is that the vehicle received a service at the local dealership flagship...

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chrysler of toa baja pr 00949 under service order # 129395. The service included a 20 point inspection, the change of fluids to include transmission, differential, power steering, service the injectors, and efi throttle system. The dealership released the vehicle from the service department on 4 nov 2013 and caught on fire on 10 nov 2013. *Tr

Filed Incident Electrical system · Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 10555764
Engine & cooling

My husband who is a state trooper was driving my car to home depot. He had trouble keeping it started in our driveway. Once he got out onto the road it was fine until he let off the gas. The car shut off completely. He coasted to the side of the road almost getting rear ended. He cranked it back up and this happened 2 more times on his way to home depot and back. He said everytime the engine would just shut down. We called dodge and they claim there has been no reports of this. *Tt

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 10537667
Engine & cooling

There seems to be issues with the 5.7 Ltr dodge engines failing at highway speeds. My first occurrence was sept. 8Th, 2011 with 33,358 miles on engine, my second occurrence was on feb 01, 20122 with 43,872 and my third occurrence was aug 9, 2012 with 59,600 miles. Timing chains failure on all occurrences and this is happening to more and more 2009-2010 dodge challengers with automatic transmissions. My concern is that these occurrences are happening at highway speeds greater then 65 mph and eventually will cause...

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serious harm and or death when car shuts down in the middle of rush hour traffic on interstates. This will be my third new engine total of four that will be put in this car with no upgraded parts to prevent these failures. All they keep doing is putting them back together with the same parts that are failing. Something needs to be done to correct these problems before some one gets seriously hurt or killed! I can provide more info on a number of challenger that are having these same failures if you request it. *Tr

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 10470220
SteeringEngine & cooling

My 2009 challenger has stalled twice when making a right-hand turn. 4/11/11 - I was driving between 30-35 mph. I started braking so I could turn right into my office parking lot. As I started to turn right, the engine just turned off - there were no idiot lights on the dash. I restarted the car, but I could not get it to move - drive would not work - reverse would not work - still no idiot lights on the dash. I turned the car off and restarted it again - and was able to drive the car. 7/27/11 - Same...

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right-hand turn - I was driving between 30-35 mph. I started breaking so I could turn right into my office parking lot. As I started to turn right, the engine just turned off - there were no idiot lights on the dash. I restarted the car and was able to drive the car with no problems. Gas gauge showed a little above one-quarter. There were 16,630 miles on car on 7/27/11. My husband's 2010 challenger with low mileage, has stalled twice - most recently on 7/25/12. *Tr

Filed Incident Steering · EngineNHTSA 10467817
Engine & cooling

Car suddenly dies/stalls - warning lights come on (various speeds from 20 to 70 mph) most often associated with a small bump in the road restarts easily, but occasionally with difficulty has happened many times (50+) have been to dealer 4 times in the last several months - reprogrammed once, but problem persists and the dealer says cannot duplicate - this is a dangerous loss of control and power. *Tr

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 10465181

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Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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