Questions and Answers

Dodge Intrepid DTC 12 And 66 Q. Dear Mr. Ciulla: I have been driving my car for about a year. A few months ago I noticed that the car would occasional "jolt" while driving, or take a while to shift when I accelerated rapidly, or so I thought. I also noticed the car would take slightly longer to turn over on ignition. The car had been sitting around for about a year with a full tank of gas before I had started driving it, and one of the oxygen sensors had to be replaced.

So I thought I was either having fuel injector problems from gum, or transmission problems. I had the fuel injectors cleaned but to no avail. The problem became more apparent over the course of about a month and the car started to surge forward from a stop when I would press the accelerator.

Conversely, when getting on the freeway I would have to floor the car to get it to go 45 mph and then after about three seconds it would suddenly kick in to 70 mph.

Just last week, while driving in the rain, it started jolting severely. The engine would start to lose power and then surge back to life. At the same time the windshield wipers started to act erratically, and the ABS light and Air bag light came on and flashed erratically. The power elsewhere in the car did not fluctuate. Thinking it may still be the battery, I turned off the windshield wipers but they refused to fold all the way down.

I had the car towed to the mechanic, who ran a diagnostic which said the alternator was bad, so we replaced the alternator. He also recommended that I replace the battery. I drove the car home just fine and replaced the battery the next night.

Immediately on starting up the car the problem came back times ten. The windshield wipers went on spontaneously and the engine could not idle steadily. The tachometer and speedometer started to spike, accompanied by sounds of the engine actually revving up and slowing down, and the ABS and Airbag light started to flicker.

I attempted to get codes from the OBD but came up with nothing. I decided to shift the car into drive to see if it would actually accelerate on it's own while the instruments were surging, and to my amazement the speedometer, tachometer, and engine stabilized. I shifted back into park and the speedometer Immediately surged up to 120 mph.

I had the mechanic pick the car up the next day. He could not reproduce the exact problem but said the windshield wipers would come on occasionally. After a few more days in the shop he couldn't find the problem and recommended taking it to the dealer.

Ever since I picked the car up again from the mechanic, the problem has only manifested as a very slightly unstable tachometer, and the check engine light is now on. I tried to get codes again and came up with code 12 as expected, and code 66.

I have read 36 pages of the 46 question and answer pages on this site and the problem sounds similar to some involving the PCM and BCM. Additional input would be very appreciated. I am a poor engineering student and can only afford about an hour of the dealer's time, so if this is something I can fix myself with a little advice and direction, I'll do it!

• 1996 Dodge Intrepid Sedan
• 3.3 liter engine
• Automatic transmission
• 77,000 miles

A. DTC 66 is "No CCD Message From TCM" and "No CCD Message From BCM". This means the Transmission Control Module (TCM), Body Control Module and the Powertrain Control Module (TCM) can't talk to each other so one doesn't know what the other is doing and everyone is confused as hell. The CCD Bus is what networks all the control modules and allows them to work together. The Airbag System and the Antilock Brakes also use the CCD Bus. Since the car has been sitting for a while, I'm almost willing to bet a critter got in there and chewed some wires. So the first thing to do is to check all the wiring harnesses for damage. There are other tests that can be performed on the CCD Bus, but you will need a service manual to perform them. You can get the information from the Public Library in the Reference Section. It could also be a bad TCM or PCM, but I think the critter theory is the most promising.