rossco

Hi there, from personal mechanic experience the only time people usually experience brakes "grabbing" is usually on the rear due to a dodgy load sensing valve which may not even be fitted to these vehicles... or badly adjusted brake shoes. if the vehicle has none of the above parts fitted I would suggest that the brakes on this vehicle are way more effiecent and therefore more sensitive than the vehicle you usually or used to drive and probably work just fine. i say this as I'm a mechanic and so regularly jump from vehicle to vehicle of which I'm not familiar with, and fairly regularly find myself about head butting the dash as some cars brakes are just way more sensitive than others. You'll notice it most from driving a real old car then a real new one, the brake pedal travel until contact happens can vary by inches hence. Rossco

Check the cv joints. Do you get a clicking noise on full lock when moving? rossco

Uneven tyre wear is an instant give away that your vehicle is having suspension/steering/alignment issues and should always be rectified before fitting new tyres. I personally advise that people have their alignment checked at least annually as it is much cheaper than new tyres and excess fuel burnt over years no to mention tyres pointing in different directions on the same axle pulls your suspension to pieces and makes it drive like crap.

Possibly exhaust heat shielding? You could check the anti roll bar drop links. If not them then check the lower arm ball joints, track rod end ball joints, arm and roll bar bushes and lastly strut top mounts. Maybe even engine or subframe mounts. Get under it and have a poke around.

I would have the rear suspension and subframe bushes checked out for play. Also if 4x4/rwd check the rear diff mount bushes. Is the exhaust maybe hitting the chassis or something? rossco

Hey, is Brembo a brand that's available in the USA? It's a big brand over here and their parts are known to be top quality and last well, I would think at least as good as manufacturers original stuff. Best thing about them being they are usually cheaper than originals and most folk here consider them an upgrade. I fit them to customers cars regularly. Rossco

Sounds to me like possibly a sensor issue. I would inspect the corner where the brake was seized on, may have caused damage to the abs sensor or something. Also with other makes and models hill start assist is often operated through a sensor in the clutch pedal or something. Although I have to say I'm slightly confused as you say no electric handbrake?

Yup second that, first things I would check would be the calliper slide pins for wear and also "if" these cars have springs in the carriers holding the brake pads then check them too as a pad that can move even 1mm will knock/clunk. Bear in mind to release the handbrake and chock the wheels before checking calliper slides for play as if the handbrakes on it'll lock the calliper and slides into place. Can anyone tell me what brake setup is on the back of these? Are they all disc/pad or are some shoe/drum or both? Rossco

Lol matey if the thing always starts in neutral but not ever/usually in park then the park position shift sensor is fubar. This part is sometimes integrated into the shift lever mechanism just under the plastic panel or sometimes on or around the gearbox itself. Im a mechanic in Scotland and yank cars aren't big here at all so not too familiar with what parts where but it'll be in one of those locations. When you try starting it in the video it does sound like a bad earth/live or failing solenoid but the fact it starts in neutral discounts all those things as long as it starts in neutral every time. Rossco

If the isn't gas cap isn't sealing it'll be obvious next time you fill up as there will be a lack of "hiss" noise when you open the cap.

My advise on this topic as a mechanic by trade would be to never just replace a sensor because a code comes up. A decent hand held scanner/diagnostic unit can show you live data in which you can see with your own eyes on the screen what percentage of open throttle is being reported to the ecu from that sensor. Whilst observing this push the gas slowly down to the floor and watch to see if the open throttle percentage climbs as your foot goes down toward the floor. This will confirm or deny the sensors actual operation. The fact is ecus can throw codes at times just because of a momentary brain fart lol and puts the light on. Sometimes a reset is all that's required. On the subject of parts im well with using breaker yard parts over aftermarket as 95% of the time you'll get a manufacturers original part from a car breaker and they do work better/last longer. Always do some investigating before buying anything unless its diagnostic gear lol

It's not just condensation. The catalyst/s turn harmful gases into water and other less harmful gases like co2 in the catalysing process. So even in zero humidity you'll get water of some amount.

Hey, thanks for the tip. This is the first dodge I've ever worked on so it's been interesting. Never knew fiathad picked up the slack lol, though I know them and Chrysler are one or something similar. Should help me get somewhere as I couldn't get anything here for it. Had to get the map sensor from Italy lol. rossco

Would also help I find you would tell us everything that you have had done already so we can stop wasting time making suggestions you've already tried. At this point I would be checking the radiator flow again as something's not right. Just because water comes out the bottom does not mean "it's fine". rossco

Oh and I realised after looking at this one that they don't appear to have a fuel rail pressure sensor so I guess they must follow a map that "assumes" there is a consistent constant fuel pressure so a blocked fuel filter and low pressure will mess up its fuelling etc and easily throw all sorts of codes while the ecu try's to figure what's going on.