Power steering return line ruptured in cold weather causing loss of steering.
- NHTSA ID
- 11711599
- Incident
- Jan 12, 2026
Owner-reported complaints naming the steering system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming the steering system — racks, columns, power-steering assist and steering linkage. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2015 Dodge Journey submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 39 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 39, in the owner's own words
Power steering return line ruptured in cold weather causing loss of steering.
I was driving to work and after about 15 minutes of driving at around 45 miles an hour my car stopped accelerating when I pushed on the gas. Shortly after that my wheel locked and the power steering went out. Once I got myself on the side of the road the car would not turn off and I had trouble putting it in park. After a few minutes I was able to turn the car off and they called a tow truck to take me to a mechanic. The tow truck driver was able to restart the car and get the car in neutral to tow it to a mechanic.
Was driving down freeway when steering wheel got tight and all the lights on dash started to flash and then the car shut off and wouldn't start, had to have it towed to dealership.
The contact owns a 2015 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate or shift into gear. During the failure, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic dealer, who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Previously, after starting the vehicle, the steering wheel was very difficult to turn, and fluid was present underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was driven to the local deale,r who diagnosed that the power steering fluid hose had failed, causing power steering fluid to leak from the vehicle. The power steering fluid hose was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 95,000.
My traction control light, ABS sensor light and brake indicator dash are on. My cruise control does not work and sometimes the car will not start. I'm afraid to drive it. Thinking that it may turn off while driving it. My mechanic says that it is the ABS Control Module. There is a recall for this part, but not for my vin number. A number of Dodge owners I know are having this same issue.
Today while driving on the highway at about 60mph my vehicle lost power causing the car to surge forward. I was unable to steer or brake for several seconds. The gauges completely dropped. It was as if someone had shut the vehicle completely off. The vehicle then restarted on its own. I was nearly rear ended by a semi and am terrified of driving this vehicle anywhere. I did a google search and came across numerous complaints of this happening. No warning lights prior to it happening or afterwards. We have had no issues with this vehicle until this point. It has approximately 90k miles on it.
Hi I owned JOURNEY 2015 since 2 years all of sudden I noticed some fluids red colour under the HOOD leaking drastically so I parked the vehicle at my Driveway I came to know from my neighbours that they have a recall on there JOURNEY 2014 v4
The car will be driving and just completely shut off in traffic power steering locks up. You can’t get the car into park. The windshield wipers go crazy the screen goes black. It starts doing clicking sounds I had to have the firemen come and get me out of the road my car stopped since the second time this is so dangerous, they cannot figure out what’s wrong with it I replaced the battery @ the dealership, I’ve replaced the alternator at Aamco. I bought this car in 2016 new off the lot. I’ve had many problems with the electrical. This is just the worst .my radio turns on and off at Will .my driver side window will not roll down unless it’s below 30° outside which is super strange, and my air conditioning turns itself on turns itself off, but this was the scariest this is happened before last year and I had Aamco look at the transmission. They said that the transmission had a lot of metal in it that they have seen a lot in these dodges but they cleaned it out for me and it was fine, but this is the same thing that was happening and this is not a transmission Thing this is a power thing it just loses power completely. My car only has 100,000 miles on it I’ve taken care of my car I’m the only owner. All those miles are highway miles from visiting family. I never drive my car anywhere further and then in my neighborhood which is a .5 radius and I work from home so I rarely drive my car so 100,000 miles it isn’t a high number for a car that’s taken care of that isn’t driven often.
Car's check engine on randomly turned on, lost engine power and steering became hard and had to come to an emergency stop. There was no message for the check engine and a couple tries later the car was able to turn back on and made it back home. Could've been much more dangerous situation had we been on a busy road with nowhere to pull over.
Started the car, the check engine light was on and the traction control light was on. Check engine light code said lost communication with steering sensor. The windshield wipers were at full speed and could not be turned off. All controls on the steering wheel were not working. I lost the use of my blinker and horn. Making my car unsafe to drive. It happens at random times and I’m not able to use my remote start.
While driving the steering wheel locked up and the brakes stopped working, the engine was still running. Breaks were extremely hard to press and was not able to turn the steering wheel at all. Was able to coast to a stop and place the car in park. Once I stopped I placed the car in park, turned off the car and restarted it and worked fine.
The contact owns a 2015 Dodge Journey. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle loss power. The instrument cluster warning indicators were illuminated. The steering wheel locked up and the brake pedal was hard to depress. The vehicle was taken twice to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000. Consumer has stated incident has happened twice.
Horn and buttons on steering wheel do not work so guessing that the airbag isn’t going to deploy either.
KNOWING THAT CERTAIN MODELS OF JOURNEY ARE INCLUDED IN A STEERING LINES PROBLEM MINE IS NOT BUT IT'S EXPERIENCE SOME WEIRD ISSUES WHEN YOU TURN RIGHT IN THE STANDING STILL MODE IT OFFERS ABSOLUTELY NO ASSISTANCE FROM THE SYSTEM. YOU START RIDING AND THEN IT'S KIND OF NORMAL.THE PUMP IS NO LEAKING OR MAKING ANY WEIRD NOISES, ONLY WHEN YOU ATTEMPT TO TURN RIGHT IN THE STAND STILL POSITION IT MAKES A FUNNY NOISE FOLLOW BY NO ASSISTANCE WHATSOEVER. THANKS FOR THE ATTENTION
RACK AND PINION STEERING BLEW OUT WHILE DRIVING. WILL COST $1500 TO REPAIR. THE 2015 DODGE JOURNEY HAD A RECALL FOR THIS, BUT THEY SAY SOMEHOW MY VIN IS NOT INCLUDED.
WHILE DRIVING I HEARD A STRANGE ENGINE NOISE WHILE ACCELERATING ,THEN THE CRANKSHAFT,THE SERPENTINE BELT CAME OFF,THE STEERING WHEEL CAME RIGID OR STIFF BEFORE THE BATTERY WARNING SIGN GOES ON WITH A BIG OIL LEAK,THE CAR THEN STOPPED.
OUR CAR HAS A LOSS OF POWER STEERING ASSIST THAT REQUIRES EXTRA STEERING EFFORT, ESPECIALLY AT LOWER SPEEDS AND WHEN TURNING OR PARKING. THE STEERING WHEEL IS ALMOST COMPLETELY STIFF AND CANNOT BE TURNED WITHOUT USING EXCESSIVE FORCE TO TURN THE WHEEL. POWER STEERING WORK FAIRLY WELL ON FREEWAYS (PROBABLY DUE TO HIGHER SPEED). I CANNOT DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE THE RISK OF CRASHING SEEMS PRETTY HIGH DUE TO THE INABILITY TO STEER.
STEERING NOT WORKING; VERY DIFFICULT TO TURN, ESPECIALLY TO THE RIGHT. SINCE 30K MILES THE POWER STEERING HAS INCREASED IN GETTING LOUDER AND LOUDER. WE COMPLAINED TO THE DEALERSHIP IN 2016. THEY CHECKED IT AND SAID EVERY THING WAS FINE, CHRYSLER SAYS IT'S JUST LOUD THAT'S ALL. WE'VE BEEN LIVING WITH THIS HORRIBLE NOISE FOR YEARS. IT'S EVEN LOUDER WHEN IT GETS COLDER OUTSIDE. AS IT GETS LOUDER, THE STEERING BECOMES MORE DIFFICULT TO STEER. YESTERDAY, WHEN PULLING ONTO THE HIGHWAY FROM A STOP SIGN, THE POWER STEERING ALL BUT QUIT TURNING TO THE RIGHT. INTERMITTENT WHEN TURNING LEFT. THE VEHICLE HAS 93K ON IT NOW AND IT IS TOO DANGEROUS TO DRIVE.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 DODGE JOURNEY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE HIS WIFE WAS REVERSING OUT OF THE GARAGE THE VEHICLE LOST POWER STEERING FUNCTIONALITY. CLASSIC CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM OF SOUTH CHARLOTTE LOCATED AT (10724 PINEVILLE RD, PINEVILLE, NC 28134, (888)973-0120, WAS CONTACTED AND INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT REFERENCED NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V273000 (STEERING) WITH THE FAILURE HOWEVER, THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN.
AS I WAS DRIVING THROUGH A GROCERY PARKING LOT, I REMEMBER TAKING MY FOOT OFF OF THE ACCELERATOR TO SLOW DOWN AND TO MAKE A RIGHT TURN UP AN ISLE TO GO TO A PARKING SPOT. ONCE MY FOOT CAME OFF OF THE ACCELERATOR, MY CAR DIED, NO BRAKES, AND NO STEERING. THE ELECTRICAL CONTINUED TO WORK AS MY MUSIC WAS STILL PLAYING AND THE FLASHERS WORKED AS WELL. I PUT THE CAR IN PARK, AND PUSHED THE START BUTTON, NOTHING HAPPENED. I TRIED A COUPLE MORE TIMES AND THEN MY CAR STARTED BACK UP. I DROVE TO A PARKING SPOT, SHUT THE CAR OFF AND TURNED IT BACK ON. I DROVE BACK HOME WITH NO ISSUES AND PUT HER IN THE GARAGE. I'M VERY NERVOUS, TO SAY THE LEAST AS I HAVE TO DRIVE TO WORK TOMORROW. I HOPE THIS DOES NOT OCCURS AS I'M DRIVING 55 MPH.
WHEN THE WEATHER TURNED COLD THE POWER STEERING WAS NOT WORKING CORRECTLY. ONE DAY IT WAS FINE AND THE NEXT IT WAS DIFFICULT TO TURN WHEN GOING AT A LOW SPEED OR REVERSING. IT STARTED OUT AS ONLY THE RIGHT TURN WAS DIFFICULT AND THE ONLY WAY TO GET IT TO WORK IS BY ACCELERATING. THIS MAKES TURNING DIFFICULT AS WELL AS PARKING. WE CHECKED THE POWER STEERING FLUID AND IT WAS LOW. ONCE IT WAS FILLED IT DID NOT IMPROVE BUT THE LEFT SIDE THEN BECAME DIFFICULT TO TURN. IT IS STILL DIFFICULT TO TURN AND HAS NOT BEEN RESOLVED.
HAVE A 2015 JOURNEY. SUSPENSION HAS BEEN REPLACED, COOLING SYSTEM REPLACED, AND NOW TRANSMISSION REPLACED. SEAT BELTS KEEP NOT WORKING RIGHT WITH LIGHTS COMING ON. AIR CONDITIONING WILL NOT SHUT OFF ON IT'S OWN. HAVE HAD IT TO THE DEALER FOR AT LEAST 11 WEEKS SO FAR THIS YEAR AT 5 DIFFERENT TIMES. STILL HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE STEERING WHEEL VIBRATION OVER 50 MILES, AIR CONDITIONER NOT SHUTTING OFF AND VEHICLE HESITATES A LOT. GEARS DO NOT SHIFT CORRECTLY FROM PARK TO REVERSE. *TR
WHILE TURNING THE VEHICLE THE CAR COMPLETELY STOPS HAVING POWER. CAR STALLS OUT BUT STILL SHOWS VEHICLE IS RUNNING, AIR STILL WORKS ETC. NO WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASH AT ALL. . AFTER TURNING THE VEHICLE OFF AND PUTTING THE VEHICLE BACK IN PARK VEHICLE STARTS RIGHT BACK UP. STILL NO WARNINGS OR A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. NO OTHER MECHANICAL ISSUES WITH VEHICLE.
MY VEHICLE IS EXPERIENCING STEERING ISSUES. THE STEERING WHEEL IS VERY HARD TO TURN AND SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE IT'S LOCKED AND IT WON'T TURN AT ALL. IT HAPPENS WHEN PULLING OUT OF PARKING SPACE AND TURNING (ESPECIALLY SHARP TURNS) AT LOW SPEED. THIS ISSUE STARTED WHEN THE WEATHER IS COLD.
REPEATED SYSTEM LOW VOLTAGE ISSUES, VEHICLE STALLS WHILE DRIVING - DOES NOT MATTER THE SPEED - IT HAS DONE IT AT 50 - 60 MILES A HOUR RENDERING POWER BRAKES AND STEERING USELESS. STALLS AT RED LIGHTS OR STOP SIGNS WHILE MOVING OR STILL. IT IS WORSE DURING COLD AND RAINY CONDITIONS. VEHICLE WILL EVENTUALLY START BACK UP AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES OF BEING STRANDED. YESTERDAY DURING POURING DOWN RAIN AND COLD IT STALLED AT A BUSY INTERSECTION REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO START UNSUCCESSFUL FINALLY AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES OF BLOCKING TRAFFIC IN THE INTERSECTION IT FINALLY STARTED AND I WAS ABLE TO MOVE OUT OF THE INTERSECTION. ERROR CODES READ P0562 SYSTEM VOLTAGE LOW AND P0335 CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR A CIRCUIT. THERE IS A RECALL ON 2016 DODGE JOURNEY FOR THE CRANKSHAFT CAMSHAFT SENSOR WIRE HARNESS BUT NOT THE 2015. BEST I CAN TELL THE INTERNET IS RIDDLED WITH NUMEROUS DODGE JOURNEY'S WITH THESE SYMPTOMS! SOMEONE NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE AND FIX IT FOR US! THE EXPENSE THAT CONSUMERS ARE ENCOUNTERING IS UNACCEPTABLE ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY ARE NOT RESOLVING THE ISSUES. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD AND THE LIABILITY THAT DODGE WILL HAVE SHOULD CONSUMERS CONTINUE TO BE HURT BECAUSE THIS CONTINUED ISSUE WILL BE BAD SHOULD CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT COME BECAUSE OF THIS.
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