Well, the new gig-mobile did a number on me this weekend. I was camping with friends/bandmates at a music festival this past weekend... a fantastic jam broke out that lasted until well past midnight.
Still wide awake, and just an hour away from *my* bed, I loaded up to head for home. No dice. This little red lightning bolt icon pops on, the engine idle is very rough, and the gas pedal does *nothing*. (see... before we had fly-by-wire cars, you could give the gas pedal a good stomp and cure most ills like this - not so with Electronic Throttle Control) So I figure to just deal with it in the morning, grab a blanket and pillow out of the back (having learned long ago - NEVER, EVER leave home without overnight contingency plans/provisions) and sack-out in the passenger seat. The next morning, I ran through a couple reset checklists to no result. Finally, just when I'm about to call a wrecker, one more twist of the key and the engine fires up, the light goes out, and it runs like a scalded dog.
(?!?!)
So I headed home, cruise control set at 75 mph... it didn't so much as sputter once, even after I stopped for gas at my exit. Hasn't done it since.
(?!?!)
Some online research indicates the most likely culprit is the throttle body itself. Apparently this problem is common to the three models of Chrysler cars that use the same part. Aftermarket products it turns out, appear to be superior to the OEM part. Luckily, the part itself wasn't too expensive ($136 w/shipping) and it looks to be a pretty simple job to install.
Not too happy about this, but I guess it could be worse. Heck, it might be worse and I just haven't realized it yet. I'm gonna' wait a few more days before I put the coveted Alembic logo sticker on this one.
