This morning I got in the car like any other day, but the dash was not lit up like it usually is when I open the door. It didn't do ANYTHING at all when I pressed the brake pedal or pushed the start button. It is clearly not getting any power. It ran just fine yesterday. The only difference is I didn't go into my office to work yesterday, so I just drove the kids to school and came back home, so the battery was only down to like 89% when I plugged it back in to charge it up. I also know it was getting power as late as about 3pm yesterday afternoon because I had to put some stuff inside and the power sliding side door was working fine at that time. I gave up trying to figure out what could possibly be causing the problem after about 15 minutes and finally called roadside assistance to take it to the dealer service center, which is where it is right now. Hoping it's something stupid. I will post back here once they tell me what they've discovered. This is definitely not a good way to start my ownership of this vehicle. We are supposed to be going out of town tomorrow for a mini family vacation and I can't help but think about how horrible it would have been to be out in the middle of nowhere and have this happen.
<30 Days and My Hybrid Pacifica Is DEAD
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My guess is the car battery (not the hybrid) was run down. Since the car sat awhile I wonder if an interior light or something else was left on. You can have a fully charged hybrid battery and if the volt battery is low or dead, the car won't start or do anything.
Using the power door without the car running would make it worse since that drains the 12 volt battery.
Get some jumper cables.
I never considered it could actually be the 12 Volt battery because that seemed like a non-factor. Of course I'm new to this hybrid thing, so I ignorantly assumed most of the electronics were powered by the hybrid battery. I only opened the door a couple of times so I can't imagine that would have drained it enough for the battery to be drained in <24 hrs, and there us almost zero chance a dome light was left on... and even if it were would that seriously have drained the entire battery in only one day? I've actually accidentally left one of the doors open all night once and the dome light just turned itself off and I had no battery issues or problems starting the car that morning.
And THANKS FOR THE TIP about jumper cables.
And THANKS FOR THE TIP about jumper cables.
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3,337 Posts
Hi Martoch,
Sorry to hear about this! Is your vehicle still at your local dealership? If you'd like to PM our page with your VIN, contact information and dealership's name I'd be happy to open a case for you and escalate it to a team who will be best able to assist you further.
Andrea
Chrysler Social Care Specialist
I got it back yesterday afternoon. Everything is working now, but they were not able to tell me what caused the problem. They said they have run all diagnostic tests and everything is passing and reporting no issues. So basically my instructions are to hope it doesn't happen again.
Yes, the battery was drained but was otherwise fine. There was something that caused the battery to drain to zero charge, but there was nothing they could identify that caused this to happen. I know I'm just a nobody, and there is no reason to believe anything I say since no one knows me, but I know there was nothing I did, or neglected to do, that would have caused the 12V battery to drain. I've seen that other people seem to be having 12V battery issues as well but I haven't seen any explanation yet as to what's causing it.
Hi, I'm a former Fiat 500e driver. This happens very frequently in the 500e (well, not every day for most of us, but it did happen to me once in my 3 years of driving), and from what I can tell, the Pacifica Hybrid seems to have many of the same basic systems.
From what everyone can tell, the issue is that the car's electronics fail to "go to sleep" when the car is parked due to a communication glitch. As a result, the 12V battery is drained down to zero. I know it sounds strange, but indeed the car runs most of the electronics off of the 12V system, just like a standard car -- and the load of all of the computers in the car is actually quite high. When the car is being driven, or when it's actually charging, the PIM down-converts voltage from the traction battery to the 12V battery, performing the function of the alternator in a gasoline car. However, once charging is complete, then this circuit goes off and the battery can be drained. Thus, you get the ridiculous result of an electric car with a flat 12V battery while sitting on a few kWh in the main battery and plugged into 220V.
Just so everyone knows, you can indeed jump-start this car if this happens - I've done it with the 500e. I never tried it, but I theorize that you could jump it with 10 D cells taped together -- it's not going to take much current, you just need to bring the voltage up above 12V so that the computer kicks on and the car will turn on and enable the 12V charging circuit. I know it's a PITA to jump-start your car, especially an electric one with a giant battery sitting at 90% charge, but it's a heck of a lot better than waiting for a flatbed tow to the dealership.
Anecdotally, in the 500e this seems to happen most often when the car gets "confused" from being plugged in too quickly after parking. The 500e mantra is "wait for the clunk", the sound of a big solenoid disconnecting the HV battery that indicates the car is fully shut down, before plugging into the charger.
Good luck!
From what everyone can tell, the issue is that the car's electronics fail to "go to sleep" when the car is parked due to a communication glitch. As a result, the 12V battery is drained down to zero. I know it sounds strange, but indeed the car runs most of the electronics off of the 12V system, just like a standard car -- and the load of all of the computers in the car is actually quite high. When the car is being driven, or when it's actually charging, the PIM down-converts voltage from the traction battery to the 12V battery, performing the function of the alternator in a gasoline car. However, once charging is complete, then this circuit goes off and the battery can be drained. Thus, you get the ridiculous result of an electric car with a flat 12V battery while sitting on a few kWh in the main battery and plugged into 220V.
Just so everyone knows, you can indeed jump-start this car if this happens - I've done it with the 500e. I never tried it, but I theorize that you could jump it with 10 D cells taped together -- it's not going to take much current, you just need to bring the voltage up above 12V so that the computer kicks on and the car will turn on and enable the 12V charging circuit. I know it's a PITA to jump-start your car, especially an electric one with a giant battery sitting at 90% charge, but it's a heck of a lot better than waiting for a flatbed tow to the dealership.
Anecdotally, in the 500e this seems to happen most often when the car gets "confused" from being plugged in too quickly after parking. The 500e mantra is "wait for the clunk", the sound of a big solenoid disconnecting the HV battery that indicates the car is fully shut down, before plugging into the charger.
Good luck!
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18 Posts
It makes senses....but who wants to try it first?
Robz - thanks for sharing - your explanation is logical and sensible.
Fingers Crossed I will not have to use this knowledge!!!
Robz - thanks for sharing - your explanation is logical and sensible.
Fingers Crossed I will not have to use this knowledge!!!
Sounds like having one of these on hand is a good idea...
NOCO Genius G1100 6V/12V 1.1A Pro Series UltraSafe Smart Battery Charger - Battery Warehouse
NOCO Genius G1100 6V/12V 1.1A Pro Series UltraSafe Smart Battery Charger - Battery Warehouse
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18 Posts
interesting, but it requires a power source (plug in) to work, right? Not much use if away from an outlet when the issue occurs
This one seems to be have an enclosed battery... may be a better solution.....
Genius Lithium JumpStarter GB40 - Battery Warehouse
That's the type of charger I meant to link to, lol.
I experienced a similar problem.
My PacHyb died basically within ONE DAY of purchase.
Picked-up my Van on a Saturday. It had the engine light on AND the Hybrid battery signal drained about 1% per minute while in PARK at the dealership while reviewing the features. We were not driving and radio and lights off....
I mentioned this to the dealer. She said it would be fine. Maybe the battery was not fully charged, it is new, its cold out....etc. She also said the Engine light should go off once it is driven. (regardless it should not drain that quickly). I agreed (my Honda Odyssey had the engine light go on - was an emission issue - minor).
Drove home (about 75km away). Light stayed on. Did not drive until the Monday.
On Monday - car would not start. Once 'started' the dash lit up with messages:
- Hybrid system Error
- transmission problems
- wrench light
- engine light (still on)
Would not drive, would not go into Drive....
Chrysler roadside could not start it, had to call a 2nd towing company to get vehicle.
Now back at Dealership
Very Concerned that after spending 60K .... have a large paperweight [email protected]#
Andrea ... please PM me.....
My PacHyb died basically within ONE DAY of purchase.
Picked-up my Van on a Saturday. It had the engine light on AND the Hybrid battery signal drained about 1% per minute while in PARK at the dealership while reviewing the features. We were not driving and radio and lights off....
I mentioned this to the dealer. She said it would be fine. Maybe the battery was not fully charged, it is new, its cold out....etc. She also said the Engine light should go off once it is driven. (regardless it should not drain that quickly). I agreed (my Honda Odyssey had the engine light go on - was an emission issue - minor).
Drove home (about 75km away). Light stayed on. Did not drive until the Monday.
On Monday - car would not start. Once 'started' the dash lit up with messages:
- Hybrid system Error
- transmission problems
- wrench light
- engine light (still on)
Would not drive, would not go into Drive....
Chrysler roadside could not start it, had to call a 2nd towing company to get vehicle.
Now back at Dealership
Very Concerned that after spending 60K .... have a large paperweight [email protected]#
Andrea ... please PM me.....
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173 Posts
Let's get back to the OPs problem rather than focusing on the above thread hijack.
@Martoch
I too had a dead battery in my gas Pacifica - like you there were no symptoms aside from the main battery being down to 5V i.e. very drained. It took a while to bring it back to life but since then the van has been fine. I've seen other reports of the 12V battery randomly draining and in the latest UConnect update (Feb) there was something about battery drain and the radio system. Do you have the latest update? You will know if you do as the splash screen has the Chrysler logo in addition to the SiriusXM logo added at the bottom.
John.
@Martoch
I too had a dead battery in my gas Pacifica - like you there were no symptoms aside from the main battery being down to 5V i.e. very drained. It took a while to bring it back to life but since then the van has been fine. I've seen other reports of the 12V battery randomly draining and in the latest UConnect update (Feb) there was something about battery drain and the radio system. Do you have the latest update? You will know if you do as the splash screen has the Chrysler logo in addition to the SiriusXM logo added at the bottom.
John.
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2,787 Posts
@matthewsjl, this thread is almost one year old. @Brownie, we understand your frustration, but writing about it all over the forum only creates a confusion.
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