Mando Mark
Member
Just took my 2019 Bighorn Classic (bought it new a year ago. 5.7 Hemi, trailer-tow package and skid-plate/off-road package) on vacation pulling a 25' RV to the west end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. (I live south of Grand Rapids; we left on Sunday, August 16th.) NO issues pulling the trailer at all; I left home with 13,027 miles and had just turned over 14,000 as the trip went along.
Working our way back from Lake Superior, we camped near Crystal Falls, MI and took a few side-trips (empty - no trailer) to visit some local waterfalls falls and rapids. After one stop, I backed up, put the rotary shifter in Drive and went about 100 feet, and the display flashed "Service Transmission. Continue in D. Do Not shift or Turn Engine Off Until You Reach a Destination. You May Not Be Able to Shift Again Until Serviced." All the shift options above the rotary shift knob were lighted up, as well as all of them on beneath the display.
I was on a gravel road, stopped and found I was 'stuck' in forward (D) gear only. After I got to a paved road, i found it would gradually get up to speed, and my wife found in the owners manual a notice about the transmission going into 'limp mode.' (Felt like it was only using 3rd, 5th and maybe 8th gear; it got normal mileage while running at 55 mph, but wouldn't downshift.)
This was on Saturday the 22nd, so nothing was open. I returned to the campground, and shut it down hoping it would 're-set.' The engine turned off, but the key wouldn't return to anything past the 'Acc' position, so the key was stuck in the truck, with all the dash lights lit up. (Can't take it out unless it's in Park - which of course I couldn't get it into...) When I put it back to 'start' it wouldn't turn over, and then it displayed the above message, along with 'Trailer Brake Module not engaged' and something about 'Park Safety not engaged.' I finally disconnected the battery, and was then able to remove the key. However, after re-connecting the battery, it did the same thing and the key couldn't be removed until disconnecting the battery again.
Chrysler Care's 800 number and the folks I dealt with were great - they got a tow-truck there and advised me of the nearest dealership to have it taken to. Of course, it being a weekend, and me being 460 miles from home, I was stranded. The tow-truck driver's code reader showed an error like 'Cannot communicate with Transmission Control Module.' The dealership can't look at it until tomorrow, had nothing I could rent, nor could I find anything to rent in the U.P. (Chrysler said if I couldn't get a rental/loaner from the dealership, they'd reimburse for a third-party rental if I initially paid for it out-of-pocket. No luck there at all.) After burning two more vacation days while stranded, my neighbor (bless his heart) drove all the way up from our home with his CHEVY to pull my trailer home and haul me and the wife along.
Chrysler Care has an 'Case Agent' working with me and she's leaning on the dealership, and says she'll have more news for me tomorrow. When it got pulled onto the Tow Truck, it had 14,283 miles on it...
I'm lobbying for FCA to a.) reimburse my neighbor for gas and wear/tear/time on his truck for the trip to rescue us, b.) HAUL my repaired truck back down here (it's a 16+ hour round trip to the dealership in Iron Mountain, MI where it is) and c.) get me something to drive - especially if it's not repaired by Labor Day. (Another camping trip planned.)
Anyone else seen anything like this?
Working our way back from Lake Superior, we camped near Crystal Falls, MI and took a few side-trips (empty - no trailer) to visit some local waterfalls falls and rapids. After one stop, I backed up, put the rotary shifter in Drive and went about 100 feet, and the display flashed "Service Transmission. Continue in D. Do Not shift or Turn Engine Off Until You Reach a Destination. You May Not Be Able to Shift Again Until Serviced." All the shift options above the rotary shift knob were lighted up, as well as all of them on beneath the display.
I was on a gravel road, stopped and found I was 'stuck' in forward (D) gear only. After I got to a paved road, i found it would gradually get up to speed, and my wife found in the owners manual a notice about the transmission going into 'limp mode.' (Felt like it was only using 3rd, 5th and maybe 8th gear; it got normal mileage while running at 55 mph, but wouldn't downshift.)
This was on Saturday the 22nd, so nothing was open. I returned to the campground, and shut it down hoping it would 're-set.' The engine turned off, but the key wouldn't return to anything past the 'Acc' position, so the key was stuck in the truck, with all the dash lights lit up. (Can't take it out unless it's in Park - which of course I couldn't get it into...) When I put it back to 'start' it wouldn't turn over, and then it displayed the above message, along with 'Trailer Brake Module not engaged' and something about 'Park Safety not engaged.' I finally disconnected the battery, and was then able to remove the key. However, after re-connecting the battery, it did the same thing and the key couldn't be removed until disconnecting the battery again.
Chrysler Care's 800 number and the folks I dealt with were great - they got a tow-truck there and advised me of the nearest dealership to have it taken to. Of course, it being a weekend, and me being 460 miles from home, I was stranded. The tow-truck driver's code reader showed an error like 'Cannot communicate with Transmission Control Module.' The dealership can't look at it until tomorrow, had nothing I could rent, nor could I find anything to rent in the U.P. (Chrysler said if I couldn't get a rental/loaner from the dealership, they'd reimburse for a third-party rental if I initially paid for it out-of-pocket. No luck there at all.) After burning two more vacation days while stranded, my neighbor (bless his heart) drove all the way up from our home with his CHEVY to pull my trailer home and haul me and the wife along.
Chrysler Care has an 'Case Agent' working with me and she's leaning on the dealership, and says she'll have more news for me tomorrow. When it got pulled onto the Tow Truck, it had 14,283 miles on it...
I'm lobbying for FCA to a.) reimburse my neighbor for gas and wear/tear/time on his truck for the trip to rescue us, b.) HAUL my repaired truck back down here (it's a 16+ hour round trip to the dealership in Iron Mountain, MI where it is) and c.) get me something to drive - especially if it's not repaired by Labor Day. (Another camping trip planned.)
Anyone else seen anything like this?
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