Excellent detective work and synopsis.

 

Time for a Class Action?

 

You do realize that class action lawsuits can take years and years for remedy , too funny . Composing a list of a handful of names is lacklustre at best. Two million engines produced with a .001% rate of failure isn’t merit for a judge to certify , there’s specifics criteria that must be met or proven for this . Erroneous thread at best, just saying .

 

OP here. To all who are experiencing this issue, if your user name is not on the list above and you would like it to be, feel free to PM me or post a reply at the bottom of this thread and I will add it. Thanks!

 

Can people also post their model year? I am curious if any 2019s have been reported yet. Also would like to know if anyone with the towing package has the issue since that has a beefier radiator and may help.

@CANADAHYBRIDGUY you have constantly been negative about this whole thing. Yes this forum represents a fraction of owners but a sizeable percentage of this fraction are having the same issue. Something needs to be done.

 

Please add me to the list.

2017 Pacifica Touring 87,500 miles
Cylinder 3 misfire
replaced engine with salvaged engine with 30,000mi after waiting 3 months for a rebuilt.

 

Looking to do this in my 2017 (Cracked block at 190k after several rounds of head gasket repairs) Did you replace with a 2017 or did you get a different year? car-part.com says newer years are compatible with my VIN but I would like to get confirmation before I purchase one. Thanks.

 

As a follow up to my earlier post it looks like Chrysler is starting to realize there is a problem. I just got this email today - pretty strange to list oil change, transmission check (known recall) and spark plugs.

I’ve never had a car manufacturer tell me that they need to check plugs - that’s a big deal on this vehicle with the removal of the whole intake manifold to check 2,4,6. My guess is they are going to start scoping for damage since many of these vehicles will run for a while with the issue already happening - my vehicle was running when those pictures were taken.

 

As a follow up to my earlier post it looks like Chrysler is starting to realize there is a problem. I just got this email today - pretty strange to list oil change, transmission check (known recall) and spark plugs.

I’ve never had a car manufacturer tell me that they need to check plugs - that’s a big deal on this vehicle with the removal of the whole intake manifold to check 2,4,6. My guess is they are going to start scoping for damage since many of these vehicles will run for a while with the issue already happening - my vehicle was running when those pictures were taken.

Looks very routine. Wouldn't read anything into this.

 

I had a number three cylinder misfire and they replaced a spark plug and coil at 60,000 miles ….. light came on again about 3,000 miles later. They replaced some of the lifters and the light has remained off for 6,000 miles sweating bullets because the warranty expires in 2000 miles …… I have had so many things wrong with this van.

 

So if anyone is willing, can we see if this is related to Mexico vs. US engine manufacturing? If you pull up your window sticker, on the bottom right it shows engine country of origin and it will either be MEXICO or UNITED STATES. Just curious if this is specific to a certain plant or not.

To look up your window sticker, just place your VIN after the =(no spaces) in this url: https://www.chrysler.com/hostd/windowsticker/getWindowStickerPdf.do?vin=

 

Werd, thank you for this. I've been wondering out loud on this forum about the same thing. Was right in front of my nose the entire time!

Per the window stickers, the engines in both of our Pacificas ('18 & '21) were imported from Mexico. So far, so good; but the '18 only has 47k miles.

 

Wow this is kinds scary. One of the things that we are experiencing with our pacifica is that my husband says frequently he smells anti-freeze. He has also had to add some but he says the amount he has added is very little. I think the last he mentioned it he said he has added less than a gallon over the last year. Thats actually all he has added since we bought it new in 2019, but he says he has never identified where it is leaking but still smells it sometimes. Hope we aren't going to be added to this list.

 

(2017 Pacifica.) Similarly, I get a light odor of coolant when I open the hood, just enough to get my attention. No visible leaks, nothing on the 710 cap or dip stick.

 

After car has been driven, open the oil cap and look in - if the oil is a light brown froth, the head gasket has blown.

 

Just looked up my window sticker. My engine that failed was from Mexico. I say was because my repair wasn't just the head. I needed a new long block.

 

Please add me to the list.
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Touring-L
Replaced the long block. Failed at 108,000/mi. I'm glad I got the Lifetime PowerTrain warranty. I didn't have my car for 6 months as they were getting approvals, doing repairs and waiting for backorders.

NOTE: The Lifetime Powertrain warranty doesn't exist anymore.

 

Can you please add me as well. The CEL just came on our 2017 at 79, 265 miles P0301 error code. Also noticed coolant levels low.

 

Add me as well! Replaced the engine last year unfortunately at 83,000 miles. Since the repair I am having new issues related to the shifter. Debating on when to move on from my vehicle, so sad as I love it so much.

 

Hello!

To anyone experiencing engine concerns know we are always more than willing to assist alongside a dealer appointment. Send us a private message at any time to start a dialogue.

Hannah
Chrysler Cares

 

2017 Limited 55,000 miles. P0305 code that cylinder 5 was misfiring. Engine needs replacement. AUL will not cover due to signs of overheating!!!

 

Pacifica 2018 Model. The engine light started coming on. The car started shaking strongly at start but gets normal after some minutes. Took it to dealership.

Dealership said same problem you are discussing. Coolant was gone. Head gasket gone. The cylinder 5 misfiring. The engine needs to be replaced.

This problem is affecting just too many owners. Request Chrysler to acknowledge that it is a problem. My car has only done 73000 kms and I have taken very very good care of it with regular maintenance and got it fixed only from flagship dealerships.

Seems warranty just expired month ago. I am the second owner who purchased it at 21K km. The dealership told me that they may not fix it under goodwill as I am second owner. I am left with no options.

Please add my name to the list.

 

2017 Pacifica, bought used with 33k miles on it. Serviced it sooner than suggested for every oil change. At 73k the engine spiked to hot and immediately went back to normal temp. Low coolant. No signs of a leak. Then rough idle with the P303 misfire in #3 cylinder code. Had coil pack and spark plug changed. Kept having to add coolant till we could get it into the dealership. They misdiagnosed it and replaced the reservoir, which wasn't leaking. A few days later we noticed the new reservoir was low. Kept adding coolant every other day till we could get it back into the dealership. They wanted over $1,000 to tear down the motor to find the leak. Our 3rd party warranty wanted evidence. Then they denied our claim stating that the head was warped due to excessive heat. Duh, that was because of the terrible design flaw in the 3.6 motor. We reach out to Chrysler Cares and they denied us since we are 2nd owners. Add us to the list of casualties caused by a terrible design flaw in this motor. We are still fighting and looking at getting a lawyer involved. This vehicle should not have this type of problem when everything has been serviced timely and correctly and we have all the records to show it.

 

Your issues literally mirror mine but my van is at 75k and single owner. I have kept with with all the service. My issue originally started in Nov 24 and I had a coil pack and spark plug changed because the issues were like yours....rough idle and it was rough shifting. My mechanic said it needed to go to the dealership because something else was wrong. I barely drove it out of fear of making it worse. It took a month to get in with the actual dealership and they said I needed a new radiator and no other issues were present and then I got it home and it immediately threw several codes on 2 different readers. My van NEVER overheated as I was watching it like a hawk! The dealership towed it back the second time because I refused to drive it and they have had it for 5 weeks now...saying $600 to break down the engine and check for damage. This is sickening as it doesn't seem to be anything WE did to the vehicles and there is no help! The third party always try to wiggle out of paying and this is a massive expense.

 

for everyone an easy fix for it.
I added the head gasket sealent through a mechanic and now my car is running like as fresh as a daisy with no engine light.
The mechanic took 300 Canadian dollars.
Just take care that you take out heat lines when you add sealent to coolant because sealent can jam the heat lines.

Note: adding sealent is just a temporary solution. Do not know how much it lasts. But still better then changing engine. If sealent blows up then you need to change engine. But even without it you had to change it anyhow then why not first run car as much as you can with sealant

 

I have a 2017 Pacifica Limited and need to have the engine replaced due to an internal coolant leak. The estimate for this repair is just under $13,000.

 

Looking thru all reports and saw 2017 and 2018 models. Any reporting or confirmed case from 2019 or newer? Thx

 

I've seen many 2019+ for sale locally with 60k+ miles on them which makes sense since people/fleets dump them once they get a few years old and are out of warranty. Just waiting to see if we have any confirmed similar issues. Hoping that there was some re-tooling or anything that would perhaps make this not an issue. I am in the market and want to pull the trigger and will get a CPO warranty regardless, but don't want to buy into an inevitable failure.

 

I'm not sure it is safe to assume the issue is a manufacturing problem. We just don't know yet. It could very well be a maintenance problem.

 

Funny thing is my current drive is a ford escape with the 1.5L engine approaching 60000 miles… and I am looking to “upgrade” to Pacifica

 

I have topped off the coolant in both our Pacificas with small amounts of Mopar MS-12106 to keep the level at MIN or slightly above. I do not believe it can be ignored for 100k miles, at least not in Pacificas. Perhaps there is indeed a tiny leak somewhere. That might be another possible explanation for the engine failures.

Edit:
Along the "tiny leak" theory, we must remember the number of cases where oil coolers have failed due to folks overtightening the oil filter cap. But, again, would not that be an issue across all Stellantis models with Pentastars?

 

I am back on Pacificaforums after spending 3 weeks trying to work with Chrysler Cares. I originally posted on "2018 Pacifica Engine Failure at 77,000 Miles", but then Chrysler Cares asked me to contact them privately. They dilly-dallied around for 3 weeks before telling me there is nothing else they can do regarding our engine failure at 77,000 miles. I see they have done the same to others--ask them to contact them privately and then ultimately tell them they won't help. So it appears they just want to get us off Pacificaforums, because there are so many of us who have experienced premature engine failure.

One poster on this site seemed to say a 1 in 100 failure is to be expected, but I don't accept that. If the dealer had told me there was a 1 in 100 chance my engine would fail just outside of the warranty, I would never have bought the vehicle to begin with. And the frequency and similarity of these engine failures makes it highly unlikely this is just some random occurrence. This engine has been a problem since 2010, and Chrysler finally had to acknowledge that for the 2010-2013 model years. But they continue to stick their head in the sand for the newer model years, and hope those affected don't band together and force Chrysler to stand behind their product.

Class action litigation is certainly one avenue, but does anybody have thoughts or experience on filing a Small Claims suit for this issue? In our state (Kansas), the process is quite simple and you are not even allowed to utilize an attorney. Just file your claim and see them in court. Chrysler obviously has deep pockets to fight a class action filing, but what if the thousands of us affected by this inundate them with individual but legitimate lawsuits?

The bottom line is there is an obvious flaw in this engine and Chrysler needs to accept responsibility for it, just like they were forced to do earlier. The question is, what can we do to get them to do the right thing???

 

I am back on Pacificaforums after spending 3 weeks trying to work with Chrysler Cares. I originally posted on "2018 Pacifica Engine Failure at 77,000 Miles", but then Chrysler Cares asked me to contact them privately. They dilly-dallied around for 3 weeks before telling me there is nothing else they can do regarding our engine failure at 77,000 miles. I see they have done the same to others--ask them to contact them privately and then ultimately tell them they won't help. So it appears they just want to get us off Pacificaforums, because there are so many of us who have experienced premature engine failure.

One poster on this site seemed to say a 1 in 100 failure is to be expected, but I don't accept that. If the dealer had told me there was a 1 in 100 chance my engine would fail just outside of the warranty, I would never have bought the vehicle to begin with. And the frequency and similarity of these engine failures makes it highly unlikely this is just some random occurrence. This engine has been a problem since 2010, and Chrysler finally had to acknowledge that for the 2010-2013 model years. But they continue to stick their head in the sand for the newer model years, and hope those affected don't band together and force Chrysler to stand behind their product.

Class action litigation is certainly one avenue, but does anybody have thoughts or experience on filing a Small Claims suit for this issue? In our state (Kansas), the process is quite simple and you are not even allowed to utilize an attorney. Just file your claim and see them in court. Chrysler obviously has deep pockets to fight a class action filing, but what if the thousands of us affected by this inundate them with individual but legitimate lawsuits?

The bottom line is there is an obvious flaw in this engine and Chrysler needs to accept responsibility for it, just like they were forced to do earlier. The question is, what can we do to get them to do the right thing???

For you to succeed in small claims court, I believe you would need to prove what the actual defect is and, as far as I can tell at least, that is still a secret known only by a few who aren't sayin'.

 

Hi Everyone.

On January 19, 2022 I created a post entitled "Let's talk about those few engine failures in Pacificas." On October 26, 2022 I edited the title of the post to remove the word "few."

What follows is a list of users on just this forum who have reported failed head gaskets leading to loss of coolant and, in some cases, the necessary replacement of engines. As of this original posting, the count is 57 115. There are similar horror stories in different groups on Facebook. Most failures occurred after the 5-year/60,000 Chrysler powertrain warranty expired, often just after the warranty expired.
2017Browns
2017cassie
abegottlieb
achoksi
AJW
AmyLynn
AndrewS
Anne Chapmann
Anthony B
apnar
April423
ashishsmith
blutooth
bmcdaniel
BNBott
Bradaclarke
brendenreed1
Brillokc
Bryan5145
btigner12
C Jkson
C-Daddy
califpacifica
Candleholder
carrdoor
Cj18
Conner Lynch
Cpowell71
dadbod
dcloes
ddrewitz
DJLisso
DMD
eronc
Famof4
garik
Gerhart
gmfreak
GmnBrian
jacobhubson
jasontripp1975
jeremu
jimbodude44
JimO
jmorg111
johncweymouth1
jolsbean13
JPRATT 62
Jrr1901
jsandgren10
juancarguhernan
katiepuhr
Kimberly P
KimCoulter
king4trav
KS05
KYTeacher
laspic
lcmrc
Legroom1611
liknepp
lineback79
LisaC
Lynn Hyatt
lynnP27
MarkMM
Mark_R
masteron
Matthew Westra
Meeks306
MerZukerborg
MicheleMoore514
mikepacificasandiego
MLiliana
mm574
mpm808
mrshakenbake
munchers65
ncmitchell7
ngandhi
Nossa
NWChryslerDad
omg3kids
Otterk
Pacifica Brian
pacificalife2022
pacificat
PACS
Peabody
Pbio1
Pthora
Queen.Bee.Ros
Raquelzinha
reyaom
Rliss
Robby rob
rrjnmeyer
Ryankaufmann
sethmeisterg
showtm490
sj1469
Speedy-SRT
spmatus
Steve Poff
svuki
teji.catia
Tjhawk
troopertim
Tpuig83
UTheMan218
vdubpower
Wesg1989
Whatyamacallme02
Zalagator
Z-Fam

If you happen to come across this post and see your user name on the above list, please file a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) if you have not already done so by clicking here. An engine that overheats and becomes inoperable is indeed a safety defect, especially in a vehicle advertised for families with kids.

Hopefully your report, along with the numerous reports of others, will induce the agency to investigate this issue thoroughly and put their pressure on Chrysler to issue a recall or provide an extended warranty to make fixes for free with no deductible or diagnostic fees, and provide reimbursement to all who have had to pay out of pocket for repairs.

@ChryslerCares, feel free to pass this to upper management with the note, "It appears this issue is getting worse by the day and is not going to go away unless we do something meaningful."

Related threads:
Subforum "Chrysler Pacifica News":
Blown head gasket
Chrysler Really Doesn't Care - blown head gasket 58k miles
Blown Motor 2017 6100k

Subforum "New Member Introductions":
2018 Pacifica Limited 65,500 miles Engine block crack. What type new motor should I get?
2017 Pacifica Head Gasket
2018-pacifica-engine-failure-at-77-000-miles

Subforum "2017+ Chrysler Pacifica Minivan General Discussion"
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Cylinder 3 Misfire p303 Error Code
3rd Blown Head Gasket and now a warped cylinder head
Blown head gasket at 50K miles?
Warped Engine Block?!
2018 Pacifica engine issues
2017 Pacifica Cylinder Misfire and Coolant leak
misfire detected - cylinder
Class Action Suit for Motor Replacement
2017 New Engine Needed
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Touring - Gas Car 68K Mileage - Engine Failure
Polling those with Pacifica engine failure
2018 Chrysler Pacifica Head Gasket
P305 Misfire

Subforum "2017+ Pacifica PHEV Hybrid Batteries and Charging":
Ziegler Hybrid Warranty Coverage (this post refers to gas version)

Subforum "Chrysler Pacifica Minivan Issues and Problems":
At 70,000 miles Dealer says new engine
Coolant leaking into cylinders
2018 Blown Head Gasket
Cylinder Misfire Problem (P0305) Suggestions and More Disappointment from Dealership/Chrysler
Rough Idle and Misfire P0303 After Recall Software Update
2017 Pacifica Misfire P0306
New engine recommended at 52k miles = $13k repair
Cylinder-misfire-p0304-aCylinder Misfire (PC0304) and Coolant Reservoir nearly empty
2017 with 45,000 has sludge in engine extended warranty won't cover it
Premature engine failure
2017 Pacifica Head Gasket
Blown head gasket at 68k miles. $4000 repair. Avoid these vans!


Subforum "Engine and Technical Discussion":
Let's talk about those engine failures in Pacificas?
Any Reported 2019+ Head Gasket Issues?
Am I going to be another engine statistic?
Engine/Head Gask
Low Coolant Level....
2018 Chrysler Pacifica Cylinder 6 Misfire



Subforum "Chrysler Pacifica Minivan Recalls":
So over the start/stop feature! Broke again!

Saw my name on the list! Filed a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). I do hope Chrysler does something about this.