Home › Guides › Dodge › Electrical System
Dodge electrical recalls: blank displays, stalling engines, Hornet battery fires
⚠ 1 carries a park-outside (fire risk) advisory.
Dodge's electrical recalls fall into two families plus one outlier. The larger family is the instrument display: 2019 Charger, Challenger and Chrysler 300 clusters may not properly illuminate driver warnings, the 2021 Challenger lights its safety indicators too dimly to read in daylight or at night, and a software error can blank the instrument panel entirely on the 2024-2025 Charger EV. The second is the powertrain control module on 2018 cars — Charger, Challenger, Durango and Journey among them — where one recall can leave cruise control unable to disengage and another can stall the engine without warning. Standing apart is the 2023-2024 Hornet plug-in hybrid, whose loose 12-volt and high-voltage battery cables can overheat and cause a fire.
Warning signs to watch for
- Dashboard warning lights that never come on, or are too faint to read
- Instrument panel display goes completely dark while driving
- Engine quits without warning while you are driving
- Cruise control will not shut off when you cancel it
- Burning smell, smoke or heat near the battery area on a Hornet plug-in hybrid
Is it safe to keep driving?
No recall here orders you to stop driving, but one changes where you park: Chrysler tells 2023-2024 Hornet plug-in hybrid owners to park outside and away from structures until the cable connections are inspected, because a fire can start whether the vehicle is parked or moving. On the 2018 cruise control recall, do not use cruise control until the software flash is done. The 2018 stalling recall sets no driving limit, but the engine can quit without warning, so schedule it quickly. The cluster and display recalls are safe to drive.
What the free repair involves
All repairs are free. Dealers inspect and tighten the Hornet's 12-volt positive and high-voltage connector cables, inspect and flash the engine or powertrain control module software for the cruise control recall, replace the powertrain control module outright for the 2018 stalling recall, and reprogram instrument cluster or instrument panel software on the Charger, Challenger, 300 and Charger EV.
Severity at a glance
| Severity | Recalls |
|---|---|
| critical | 1 |
| high | 3 |
| medium | 1 |
| low | 1 |
Models affected most
Every recall in this group
| Date | Recall | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-23 | Dodge Charger EV and Jeep Wagoneer S display failure | high |
| 2023-09-07 | Dodge Hornet loose battery cables can cause fire · park outside | critical |
| 2021-08-26 | Dodge Challenger dashboard warning lights too dim to see | low |
| 2019-03-14 | Chrysler 300, Charger and Challenger dash warning lights may fail | medium |
| 2018-08-09 | Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler engine computer may cause stalling | high |
| 2018-05-17 | Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram cruise control may stick on | high |
Common questions
Should I stop parking my Hornet plug-in hybrid in the garage?
Yes. Chrysler advises parking outside and away from structures until dealers inspect and tighten the 12-volt and high-voltage cable connections, because overheated connections can start a fire whether the vehicle is parked or being driven.
Is it safe to use cruise control on the recalled 2018 models?
Don't use it until the software flash is done. If cruise control ever fails to shut off, press the brakes firmly and steadily, shift into neutral, and put the vehicle in Park once it has stopped.
Why is a dim or blank dashboard treated as a safety defect?
Because it hides warnings. These recalls cite federal standards for controls and displays: if the cluster does not illuminate warnings brightly enough, or goes blank entirely, you may not learn about a problem until it has already become dangerous.
A recall applies only to specific vehicles. Check your 17-character VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.