This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
While idling and in park, entire electrical system failed. No dash lights. No hazard flashers. No dome lights. Start button unresponsive. Parking brake engaged. Attempt to jump had not effect. While undoing 500 amp positive battery terminal to replace battery, connection restored and vehicle behaved normally. Soon after while driving, dash went dark for less than a second but returned to normal and engine kept running. Moments later when came to stop to back into driveway, repeat complete electrical failure. I disconnected all positive battery terminals, cleaned with wire brush and applied terminal protective grease before reconnecting. Vehicle functioned normally. I had recently replaced the battery myself and I suspect subsequent corrosion in terminals caused loss of electrical continuity. At minimum, I recommend a service alert but had this occurred while I was driving on a highway, I would have had no control of the vehicle at all and likely would have been in a serious crash.
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Touring L First, multiple warning messages started pop up randomly with alarm sound. The speedometer started shaking. The shift gear was unable to change. The engine was unable to start at the parking lot. After dealer mechanic at Envision CDJR West Covina in California inspected, there was no log in obd2 record and they said that it seems communication was failed and returned the car without fixing. A month later, it started again and the engine had completely shut off at the middle of intersection. Called AAA and took the car to the same dealer. They said this time that the electric harness was short and the entire harness needs to be replaced with the latest superseded part which cost $1500. 2 weeks later, the same issue start again. Nothing had been fixed and the car will be towed to the dealer to inspect it tomorrow. I'm risking my life and very scare to drive this car. I really suspicious that this dealer has no ability to detect and fix the real cause of the issue. Please help.
The engine overheated due to a coolant leak and faulty head gaskets that need replaced at 62k miles. A related cyclinder 4 misfire has been occurring since 58k miles. Chrysler refuses to cover the repair under the 60k Powertrain warranty and does not acknowledge the many reports of head gaskets failing between 50-80k miles.
My sliding door came off the hinge and shatter my backwindow. The door was hesitating and would not close it stood stuck. When I pulled it the back window shattered. I have no warranty it's now an out of pocket expense. My airbag light is on when I took it to the dealership for a diagnostic they said I was missing a piece that I actually found and when I told them I found it they said it's damage and they can't do anything to help.
- Deltona, FL, USA
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My Pacifica suddenly will not start. I ended up jump-starting the van. Then whenever I stopped, it needed a jump start. This whole ordeal is from a single day. Driving back on the high-way, suddenly van acted weird, all electronics going haywire, various instrument "unavailable" messages started coming, and on the highway Van all systems failed, power steering locked, I pulled over and battery icon (red) came on as well. Car died. I re-jump started it and then drove again with seeing the battery fluctuating between 10.2 v to 16v. Then when we exited the highway, this time, the van stalled right in the middle of the road. No warning, nothing. I feel this is a single point of failure that if the battery is having an issue, (though it seems alternator) was charging it, it could have caused two crashes. I am really concerned. I have had dead batteries in my other cars but nothing like that where all instruments start acting weird. Also few other weird things happening during this time: passenger windows will come down automatically again and again and again while driving. All different security features sporadically say unavailable, airbag, esc, ACC, FCW etc.. This needs to be looked at as a "Single Point of Failure" issue.
Started the van up, and when I tried to turn the shift knob, it was locked in place, and would not turn, van remained in Park. The center display (where the speedometer is) said "shifter service." I turned it off, opened the door, closed the door, and started it up again. Momentarily displayed the message again, but this time I was unable to put it into gear. I headed straight to the dealer. Turned out to be failure of the shifter module. it has been in the shop 5 times.
VEHICLE COMPLETELY FAILED(SHUTDOWN for the lack of better term). ALL electrical system turned off. THIS IS VERY SERIOUS ISSUE. NO warning message was issued on the dashboard.
Issue started June 25, 2022. Initially, the shift knob would intermittently lock in park while the engine was running and foot on the brake, unable to shift out of park. Eventually problem cleared itself. Was advised by local auto parts store to replace aux battery and issue should clear. I replaced the auxiliary battery myself the dealership installed the main battery on July 6. Dealership was unable to diagnose. No issues for about 1 week. Problem started again. Check engine light came on along with Service Shift Sensor error message. We made an appointment for the dealership and returned with it on July 19 and told them we needed it back by July 21 end of day. We got the car on July 21. Dealership was unable to service. On July 22, we pulled into parking lot and all systems and vehicle shut down. Multiple error messages. Finally got the car started again and had to wait several minutes for the shift knob to "unlock". Was able to reverse out of parking space but after shifting the knob into Drive, the transmission remained in neutral leaving me stuck in the middle of traffic lane unable to drive. That cleared after a couple minutes, and I was able to get it home. I opened the hood and the battery terminals were loose. I tightened them. The negative terminal on the main battery would not tighten down. I replaced the neg terminal with OEM part from Mopar auto. The error cleared up for several days. On August 1, my wife was driving the car and the transmission shifted into neutral on it's own and then slammed into park in the middle of traffic without warning or shifting the knob. This was a very dangerous situation! We made an appointment for Aug 8 with another dealership. The vehicle had 84 error codes tied to this issue. They determined the vehicle needed a new Electronic Shift Module which they replaced and TCM was reprogrammed. We got vehicle back Aug 12. Shift knob still locks in park. Still not fixed and will not drive due to danger.
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power after coming to a complete stop, along with several instrument gauges fluctuating. Additionally, the passenger's side front window inadvertently rolled down while driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V348000 (Electrical System) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
WE PURCHASED A 2017 CHRYSLER PACIFICA. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE FROM A RED LIGHT, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO ACCELERATE AND THE ONBOARD COMPUTER DISPLAYED A TRANSMISSION CODE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE MECHANIC STATED THAT THERE WAS NO TRANSMISSION CODE AND THAT THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO THE CONTACT FUELING THE VEHICLE WHILE THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING. WHILE THE CONTACT WAS TURNING LEFT AT AN INTERSECTION AT 10 MPH, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO ACCELERATE AGAIN AND STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION. AFTER 5-6 SECONDS, THE VEHICLE JERKED FORWARD AND ACCELERATED AS THE CHECK ENGINE INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AGAIN, BUT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE OCCURRED FOUR TIMES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE issues. Passenger side rear door opening and closing repeatly. Steering stiff and steering cloud locking and jerking the car to the right. Fail to accelerate. Lurking forward, .
While trying to accelerate after stopping at a red light, engine turned off and a warning message appeared on dashboard saying go to park. Car only re-started after several attempts.
Car stalled while driving with warning to service electrical module. Upon restarting, no power steering. If this occurred on a busy road, it would likely lead to an accident because the stall was sudden, and without being able to steer properly. After letting car rest for a while, it struggles to start, but power steering works now.
The vehicle will randomly lose power when going from a stop or low speed and attempting to accelerate. For example, if I am stopped at a red light and start to accelerate once the light turns green, the vehicle will not gain speed. I have to let up off the gas pedal and then I will feel a "jolt" and then the vehicle will pick up speed. The safety of myself, my kids and others were put at risk because I cannot maintain a safe speed while driving. If I am stopped to make a turn, my vehicle has lost power or wouldn't gain speed as I was turning into or merging into oncoming traffic. Also, and the most dangerous, was when I had the vehicle in reverse to pull out of a parking spot at a store. When I attempted to turn the dial knob to "Drive", the vehicle turned itself off and the dashboard flashed with a message stating I need to put it in park and restart the engine. It was very scary to have the vehicle cut off on me like that. I have taken the vehicle to the local Chrysler dealership and an independent service center. The Chrysler dealership claim they were not able to reproduce the problem but stated they would have to break the engine down to the point of failure to diagnose the problem, a minimum charge of $750. The independent service center stated they could reproduce the problem and that it was the camshaft sensor which I had replaced for $400 but the problem continued not even an hour after I picked up the vehicle. They kept the vehicle an extra day but stated they were unsure of the problem and suggested it could be transmission related and that I take it to a certified transmission repair shop. The engine light came on when the problem first began but since having the vehicle serviced at the Chrysler dealership and the independent service center, the problem continues without the engine light appearing.
The vehicle stalled on the road in the middle of an intersection and then again in a turn lane a few hours later in the same day. The car was in drive, rumbled near the front of the vehicle, lurched forward, and then the engine cut out and would not restart. Trying to start the car again made a REVVVVVV-putta-putta-putta noise and there was not any control of the ignition on my end. It revved up and then hovered around 1/2 of 1 RPM on the dash then it would cut out and ask me to put it in park and start again. Hitting the engine start button did nothing and the dash electronics seemed to cut in and out. Each time I went to restart the car, it went from being in drive to stalling to needing 5+ minutes before it could be driven again, this happened without warning. My family and myself were in the car when we were first stuck in the middle of an intersection. If traffic had been heavier there would have been no warning and I would just be stuck with no way to move the car out of the way quickly. AND with electric systems malfunctioning I'm not confident that the airbags would deploy effectively in the event of a crash should we be left stranded at another intersection after the car stalls. I drove the car to the dealership and on my way a very similar incident occurred, i used my phone to record the incident this time and while the car started right up in the dealer's driveway, I was able to say "NO it literally stalled on my way here, look at this video" The video is just 5 minutes of me sitting at another intersection with people honking and cursing at me as they drive by. The car starts up, revved up then dies immediately. Earlier, the AUTOSTART light came up, but the second time the CHECK ENGINE light was on and off again. The vehicle is at the dealership now and we are hoping it will be repaired, but (looking over other complaints here) I'm very worried about the safety of my family and other drivers with these vehicles on the road.
The battery constantly dies. If we go 1 day without driving, we have to jump it. The screen will malfunction and black out. The sliding doors will not close requiring us to close them several times before they actually close properly. We-??ve had issues with the emergency brake automatically engaging after some of the battery issues as well without indicating the parking brake is on. We-??ve replaced the first battery after roughly 3.5 years, and still the battery that is less than 1 year old dies constantly. We-??ve had 2 garages do diagnostics and replace parts (1 being a dodge/Chrysler dealer) and even after thousands of dollars spent to fix the problem, a week later the battery is dead again. It-??s an endless cycle. We-??ve also experienced jerking from the transmission while driving that did not go away after software fixes. The dates and info below are for the most recent time the battery died, which is probably the 50th time it-??s died in the last year.
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while reversing two days after purchasing the vehicle, the electronic shifter was placed into DRIVE however, the vehicle would not move. The warning message "Service Shifter" was illuminated. The contact continued to engage the electronic shifter until the vehicle responded. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred and the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the vehicle was purchased. The dealer then towed the vehicle to an authorized Chrysler dealer, where the vehicle was diagnosed with an electrical wiring failure. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken back to the dealer again to be repaired. The dealer repaired the vehicle; however, the failure reoccurred while driving. The contact stated while driving at 60 MPH on the highway, the vehicle suddenly stalled, almost causing other vehicles to crash into the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was purchased and then the vehicle was taken to a second Chrysler dealer; Frontier Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Fiat (5801 TX-327 Spur, Lubbock, TX 79424). The second Chrysler dealer diagnosed the failure as an electrical failure. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the second dealer who notified the manufacturer of the failure. The manufacturer advised the dealer to replace the battery. The battery was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the second Chrysler dealer but was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 73,000.
Our Pacifica plug-in hybrid intermittently wouldn't start beginning in October, 2021, each time displaying a "Service Charging System" message and Check Engine light. In one case, it was on and would not shift into Park, and we got stuck ~30 miles from home, with kids, and had to arrange for pick up and transportation. After many attempts, we were able to start it and drove it to a dealership in Plymouth, MI on November 15th. It has been there since; the dealership wanted to replace the high voltage (hybrid) battery under warranty. Chrysler would not authorize this part to be ordered and directed the dealership to replace the Onboard Charging Module. That did not resolve the issue and they eventually (on December 27) ordered a new HV battery (which still has yet to arrive).
On July 26 when starting the car the entire dash lit up and all possible dash lights began to flash, the RPMs would go up and down, speedometer would move up and down. It literally looked possessed. Turned the car off. Later that day went to start the car again (to bring it in if possible) and the car started fine. Started driving towards the dealership. At 30mph the car began to accelerate on its own. Thankfully no cars in front as I slammed the breaks and pulled over. The dash lights again went haywire. Pulled over and shut car off. Turned back on and drove the mile home (13 miles to dealership). Next day we again brought it into the dealership and the car made it. They were unable to duplicate and stated there were 100's of codes and they don't know where to begin. The dealership sent me home. Almost a month later exactly the vehicle went crazy. This time I grabbed my cell phone and recorded it. Turned the car off and had it towed to the dealership. It did not do it again. They have had it now going on over two weeks and are unable to duplicate the issue. Again, they stated there are 100s of codes and don't know where to start. The car is not safe for driving. Once the dash goes crazy all control is lost. We have an extended warranty. We love the features of the car, but with five kids we do not feel safe driving it on the highway until they look into this. I have read at least two others with similar issues, but the dealership says they only work with Chrysler Engineering and don't look at other websites. VERY FRUSTRATED.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Burke, VA, USA