[mark402001]

Hello all! Thanks for letting me join the site. I have a 2012 Charger SE with the standard V6. I took it in a couple months ago and had all the recalls did. Not sure what they all were I know one was the alternator, headlight wiring and the seatbelt wiring. I am not sure what the others were. Anyway a few days ago the yellow light stayed on. The one showing a car with the squiggly lines under it. Made a short trip and shut the car off. Did not come back on. A few days later it was back on and has not gone off since. This past Saturday we were out and about. We stopped for lunch and when we got back in the car I cranked it up and it started fine then it started saying the key bob was not present. I shut it off and restarted it and that went away. However the yellow light stays on all the time. I have pressed the traction control button for different lengths of time with no change. I have checked the fuses in the PCM and did not find any blown. While checking the fuses I was looking around and saw that the boot for the steering column on the firewall side was missing. Stealer ship told me I had to buy the lower half of the steering column to get the boot. While I was pulling into a parking space I was applying the brakes and turning left and I heard what sounded like ball bearings rolling around in the glove box. I also noticed that the transmission does not always upshift properly. It seems that it don't always up shift through the full range of gears. So I guess I have a whole lot more issues than just that yellow light. The motor runs good and the car only has about 50,000 miles on it. So where do I start. I am going to raise it up and check the brakes on the passenger side to see how they look. Oh and when I had the recalls done they told me I had a bad shock on the rear and the front strut supports were real bad. The last problem is a clicking sound coming from the rear end. Sounds like a CV joint or U joint going out. I can hear it with the window down and my head out the window at idle speed. The dealer said they could not find any thing wrong back there and that the clicking was coming from the front strut supports. I been working on vehicles for my self most of my life and can do anything other than alignments. Due to lack of equipment. I know what I am hearing. It is just the fact that the drive train has a 100,000 mile warranty and I don't want the wife to get stranded because some cluck don't know what he is doing in that shop. This is her daily driver so I don't get to drive it too often. So if anyone knows or has had any of these problems and has a solution I would appreciate your advice.

 

[Shots]

I'll start with saying that it's not a lemon, and couldn't be considered one, because it's used. There's no way to know what the previous owner did or didn't do to it. It's very possible some or all of your issues are related to use, misuse, neglect or abuse from the previous owner. With that out of the way...

I'm going to assume the previous owner didn't exactly take care of the car. Those recalls (especially the wiring harness) are old. If they've never been done, that tells me the previous owner never took it in for service, even when that service was free. Not a good sign. What the recalls are. The alternator wiring harness was recalled because there was an issue with the coating or something like that. In some instances they would melt and the resulting short could (and at times did) cause a fire. The seatbelt wring recall likely addressed the side curtain airbags. If that's it, the sensor was found to be too sensitive, and they made an adjustment to dial it back a bit. I'm not sure what the headlight recall is about. You can check all three of them by going to NHTSA's website and searching recalls for your specific vehicle.

The light you are seeing is the traction control light. The light turns on when the system is deactivated. So if you push the button to turn it off, or the system senses an error and it turns itself off, the light will stay lit. The light will blink when the system is actively intervening to assist with traction control. If your light is staying on, there is possibly a sensor reading an error, which is turning TCM off. I wonder if maybe this is related to the noise you're hearing in the rear. Sensor broke loose, some stabilizing component is loose/broken, etc. Could also be unrelated, but it's hard to tell without actually driving/hearing the car.

Regarding the missing boot. Sounds like the previous owner was doing a little custom work and trimmed it, or forgot to put it back on. Custom work could also be what is causing the sound you're hearing from the glove box. Very possible the previous owner dropped a screw, nut, misc, into an area where he/she couldn't retrieve it, and now you're hearing that dropped thing roll around.

Regarding the shift. Being a '12 V6, it should have the 8 spd transmission. If you're not used to it, that transmission feels weird at first. If you've already gotten used to the shift patterns, and it feels different than it used to, I'd take it in. You've got the 100K warranty, there's no reason to ignore a transmission issue, or try to diagnose it yourself. Let them fix it if there's an issue.

FWIW, it sounds like the issues you're having are just the bugs you need to work out when you buy a used car. I've done it, and it's always a pain to find what the last guy did, but you should be able to eventually figure it out.

 

[mark402001]

Well this is what I have did since posting. I replaced the front lower strut bars. The were extremely loose. as in I could twist them and with the wheel and tire on I could move it slightly. So I replace the strut bars. As far as the clicking in the rear, it turned out to be that fake plastic chrome hub cap is loose. I can live with that. I a code P0730 improper gear ratio. Not sure what that means. I can only guess it is related to the transmission not shifting properly. I have an appointment scheduled with the dealer on Monday. I am curious as to what they find and tell me. Will keep yall updated.

 

[Shots]

Yeah, that sounds like the problem. If it's reading an improper gear ratio, it sounds reasonable that it would disable your TCM, and cause shifting issues.

 

[mark402001]

Ok so I went to the dealer Monday. This is what I found out and what I did. They told me I had a bad right rear sensor and a bad gear shifter. They said they had the sensor but did not have the shifter and would call me when they found one. So they did no repairs to my car and sent me on my way. (No charge either) I ask them to give me a copy of all the codes they found. This is the list as it is printed out. TCM U140C Active Implausible Right Rear Wheel Speed Signal Received. ABS C003A-1D Active Right rear wheel speed sensor circuit current out of range. ABS C2100-16 Stored Battery voltage low circuit voltage below threshold. ABS C003A-62 Stored Right rear wheel speed sensor signal compare failure. EPS U0415-00 Stored Implausible data received from ABS. ESM P0931 Active BTSI Control circuit high. I think the ESM is for the shifter. SCCM U0002-00 Stored Can C buss off performance. TGW B221E-00 Stored Radio Internal. I am not sure what all these codes mean but I went to another dealership since I could not find the wheel sensor at Oreilly's or Autozone without having to order it. Yes I paid twice as much for it but I am back on the road. Oh and the noise I was hearing that sounded like ball bearings in the glovebox turned out to be the shifter. I put my hand on it and while making slow left hard turns it would clatter and I could feel it in the shifter. I guess the lack of voltage to the right rear sensor cause the high voltage on the shifter as the codes stated. I think the dealership I went to for diagnostics was just trying to get deeper into my pocket by telling me I needed to replace the shifter too or they are a bunch of parts changers with no common sense instead of true mechanics. Wont be going back there again. I replaced that one wheel sensor and the yellow light went out after pulling out of the driveway and starting down the road. Trans seemed to shift good with no issues at all. I can now turn the traction control on or off as normal. I am now having other issues in the front end that I can not seem to find. I guess I should start another thread on that. Anyways I hope that the info I found out about my car helps someone else with there issues.

 

[Shots]

......... or they are a bunch of parts changers with no common sense instead of true mechanics. Wont be going back there again.........

Finding a good shop is tough. Be it a dealership or independent, when you find a good one stick with them. Smart decision on your part to check around.

PS, glad you got it straightened out.