www.caranddriver.com
It’s a little puzzling to me. The problem is a connector that can get shorted and the resolution is a software update. Doesn’t make sense.67,000 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Minivans Recalled in U.S. over Potential Engine Stall Issue
About 67,000 U.S.-market Pacifica Hybrids from 2017 through 2022 model years could have a problem that could cause the engine to shut down unexpectedly.
Looks like they found the source of the shutdown-while-driving issue and have a fix! See the article for full details.
As mentioned in the recall document, the fixed connector is not ready yet.
Unlikely they are just going to replace every transaxle. The remedy fixes the sudden shutdown and that’s it. If you have this problem the transaxle will need to be replaced.
So there is a connector inside the transmission that fails sometimes and causes the vehicle to shutdown. And the fix is to not really fix the problem by replacing a connector that has been known to short out. The fix is for the software to ignore the problem for long enough that you can safely pull the vehicle over. That translates to, the problem is rare enough and difficult enough to fix that we don’t want to do the right thing and fix it properly so we’ll just take away some of the danger involved with the failure and only fix the ones that actually fail.
You're failing to explain it properly. The connector DOES NOT cause the vehicle to shut down.
Right. The failure of the wiring harness is obviously not traceable by looking at build tracking data. It wasn’t just a “bad batch” of harnesses. The failure must not be predictable either. It could be a problem with the harness itself or something that happens to the harness during operation of the vehicle. So FCA is voluntarily planning this recall to fix the immediate safety problem of an unexpected loss of power. And then will just replace any transaxle that have this fault. The fact that it’s currently voluntary doesn’t preclude the regulators ordering more down the road. But the regulators must think that the fault will be rare enough to not warrant a complete recall of all the transaxles.
If you get this fault your transaxle will be replaced. You won’t just be stuck with the software fix. If your transaxle never gets this fault then there is no problem. I wouldn’t be surprised to see either an official or unofficial extended warranty program on this transaxle for this fault.
Same!
Ok. That sheds a little more light on things. At least I now know that the connector is for a sensor.
The connector failure CERTAINLY DOES cause the vehicle to shut down. It just doesn’t directly cause it.
So the worst scenario for us is that the software fix will move the problem from a "safety critical issue" to a "regular failure" and we'll be on our own once the warranty runs out.
That is definitely the big question. It appears the transaxle may be covered under the Hybrid system warranty in the USA. I'm not sure about how it works in Canada. But now that they know there's a potential flaw in the internal connectors of the transaxle I would hope there would be a warranty extension on this fault. I guess you could take them to court if they tried to say it wasn't covered.
