[Archon85]

7 months and 6500 miles into my new challenger and the most dreadful thing possible has happened. I turn on my car to hear a sound I had not heard before, and immediately noticed the check engine light has come on. Now I'm no automobile technician, and I'd hope anything wrong with it is under warranty, but I'd like some feedback on what the issue could possibly be, because I am observant. The car goes in Monday morning to get checked out. I've noticed the engine sounds and feels a lot "rougher" when idling and MDS did not activate during my entire trip home after the light kicked on (steady speed of 70 down the interstate). I popped open my hood if just to check for foreign objects, nothing out of the ordinary.

any ideas?

 

[itzrick]

If you tell use what the code is we can tell you the most likely cause. I've heard the MDS isn't suppose to kick in if the CEL is on.

 

[Archon85]

How do I determine what code it is?

 

[itzrick]

The easiest way is with the EVIC. It should show you the code when you start the car. If you have a predator just go under Daigs and it will show it or

How to Display OBD-II Trouble Codes On Instrument Cluster
(Works with or without EVIC).​

1. Get in the car, close the door.
Perform steps 2-6 fairly quickly (less than 3 sec's total time).
(The key should not return to the OFF position through this next sequence!)

2. Turn key to 'ON' position
3. then back to 'ACC'
4. then to 'ON'
5. then back to 'ACC'
6. then to 'ON'

If there are any stored codes, they will appear immediately, in place of the odometer.

For instance an "INTAKE AIR TEMPERATURE SENSOR CIRCUIT HIGH" error will set a generic code of P0113.
Many guys forget to hook their IAT sensor up after they install a new intake filter system and crank the engine.
A CEL on the dash instrument display will immediately result.

Once the codes have been displayed, you'll see "-----". If there are no trouble codes, the dashes will be the first item displayed.
After a few seconds, the display changes to "-dOnE-".

 

[itzrick]

Do you have the link for the 100+ tips and tricks? There's alot of good info there.

 

[Archon85]

error codes are 0014 and 0016

 

[Archon85]

I do have that site bookmarked, didn't even occur to me I could pull the code without a computer.

 

[itzrick]

If it had a P in front it should be a timeing problem but that's kind of strange . here's a list of codes if you see it's something else.
OBD-II Check Engine Light Trouble Codes

 

[Archon85]

There were no P's in front of the codes (I don't have EVIC if that makes a difference). This is what I've found (thanks for pointing me in the right direction);

P0016 - Crankshaft Position - Camshaft Position Correlation (Bank 1 Sensor A)

P0014 - Camshaft Position - Timing Over-Advanced or System Performance (Bank 1)

I guess my next question is, is this serious? My challenger is my daily driver (and only car for that matter).

 

[itzrick]

Here's that tip site. There's alot of good stuff there.
100 Challenger Tips and Tricks

 

[itzrick]

If the cam did jumped it could be real serious but that's why I said that was strange. I haven't heard of that on these things.

 

[Archon85]

So I got it into the service center yesterday and they re-synced the cam/crank and sent me on my way within the hour. I thought I was lucky it was such an easy fix until I got to work and the light had returned. I checked the code and it was again 0016 (they confirmed it was P0016, don't know why my car doesn't show the letter) and called them again. They asked if they could keep my car for the day to which I said alright, but can I get a loaner car? Apparently my dealership doesn't have a loaner program...awesome.

So I have someone follow me down to the dealership so I can drop off my car at 7am and get a ride to work only to have them call me back at 10am and tell me they can not get the parts until tomorrow, do I want to leave my car overnight or pick it up and drive it back at 7am the next day. At this point I was a little frustrated as my challenger is my daily driver and only means of transportation. Lucky for the service guy I was in front of a customer myself so I didn't say much and just tried to get off the phone with him as quickly as possible.

About two hours later, after letting the fact that I was going to be without transportation rise to a boil, I called the Salesman who sold me my car and explained the situation. He assured me that if I can't drive the vehicle they would rent a car for me and he would get to the bottom of this and call me right back. Within 5 minutes I received a call from the dealership. It was the service guy again, saying the Cam sensor will be in tomorrow, but the crank sensor is 3 days out. I'm free to pick up my car immediately.

Now I'm angry. I don't like being the *sshole customer, but I spent a good chuck of change on this car, and they're playing games with me now. So I get a ride down to the dealership, my salesman greets me as I get out of the car. He doesn't recognize me, I don't mind. I decide to throw him off balance "You never called me back." He had a puzzled, bewildered look for a moment and finally remembered who I was. I explained to him that I'm driving 20 miles here every time, and 20 miles back. Now I'm having someone else follow me every other time and having them drive me back. A 5minute conversation with the Service Managed lands me in a mini-van until the issue with my car is fully resolved...

I may have gone a little overboard, and my car may be perfectly safe to drive in it's current condition, but they've caused me a great deal on inconvenience and unless I put my foot down, they were going to continue to do so.