— The 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan will get an inspection from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after a petition to investigate an alleged gas tank defect.
Saying it will "evaluate the defect petition for a grant/deny decision," NHTSA says the petitioner alleges a defect in the fuel system of the 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan causes the vehicle to stall.
The petitioner claims the engine stalls without warning after putting gas in the tank. The petitioner further claims the only way to fix the defect is to replace the gas tank.
A Georgia 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan owner told CarComplaints.com the problem was dangerous, and costly to fix.
"The engine bucks and sometime stalls immediately after fill-up, tank more than 1/2 empty. After that the vehicle runs fine. It's a safety hazard as this usually happens right when you are pulling into traffic . This problem is very specific and only happens after fill up. We had five repetitive occurrences. Chrysler wanted to replace gas tank and fuel pump; cost over $500.00."
NHTSA says it will look into the matter not only on 160,000 model year 2007 Dodge Grand Caravans, but also any Chrysler minivans that have similar fuel tanks and systems.
It's not the first time Chrysler vehicles have suffered engine stall after gas was pumped into the tanks. In May 2013, NHTSA opened an investigation into 192,000 model year 2006 Chrysler 300C, Dodge Charger and Magnum vehicles after complaints about stalling engines. As in the case of the 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan, the problem occurred after filling the gas tank.
Chrysler found a defect with the control valve fuel shutoff float that could swell and stick open causing an overfill. Gas then entered the purge line and caused the engine to stall.
Even though NHTSA analyzed almost 1,300 complaints about engine stall in the Chrysler 300C, Dodge Charger and Magnum, safety regulators let Chrysler off the hook. Instead of ordering a recall to repair the vehicles and make sure they wouldn't stall and cause a safety hazard, NHTSA allowed Chrysler to simply extend the gas tank warranty to lifetime coverage.