[EvanP]

Hi all, new member here. I just purchased a 2021 Hybrid Limited in October. I've absolutely loved the car, but encountered an extremely concerning issue yesterday.

My wife and two kids were driving on the freeway when all of a sudden an error light on the dash appeared reading "Service Charging System," the accelerator no longer delivered power, and the car began quickly slowing down. Luckily, my wife was able to coast to the side of the freeway.

The Pacifica remained on with all systems working (radio, lights, etc), but the car accelerator would not deliver power and the car could not be turned off. After several minutes the car was able to be turned off and after sitting for approximately 15 minutes on the side of the road it started again and was driveable. We were able to drive the car back home, but the same issue happened again on our street. We were able to push the car into the driveway, where it sits now while I try to find a dealership that can take the car in a reasonable amount of time given I am unwilling to drive it until the issue is diagnosed and addressed

Searching these forms I see that others have had this same issue. Once the problem is identified, I'll update this post, which hopefully helps others. If this is a pervasive issues, I hope Chrysler addresses it soon, as this could be extremely dangerous given the sudden loss of power to the accelerator.

 

[CANADAHYBRIDGUY]

I would start with the small battery test first

 

[SKPacHy]

See some of the other forums here..take it to a dealer, and message @ChryslerCares. Seems like many have needed a transaxle and PIM replacement. That seems to fix the problem.

 

[ChryslerCares]

Hi all, new member here. I just purchased a 2021 Hybrid Limited in October. I've absolutely loved the car, but encountered an extremely concerning issue yesterday.

My wife and two kids were driving on the freeway when all of a sudden an error light on the dash appeared reading "Service Charging System," the accelerator no longer delivered power, and the car began quickly slowing down. Luckily, my wife was able to coast to the side of the freeway.

The Pacifica remained on with all systems working (radio, lights, etc), but the car accelerator would not deliver power and the car could not be turned off. After several minutes the car was able to be turned off and after sitting for approximately 15 minutes on the side of the road it started again and was driveable. We were able to drive the car back home, but the same issue happened again on our street. We were able to push the car into the driveway, where it sits now while I try to find a dealership that can take the car in a reasonable amount of time given I am unwilling to drive it until the issue is diagnosed and addressed

Searching these forms I see that others have had this same issue. Once the problem is identified, I'll update this post, which hopefully helps others. If this is a pervasive issues, I hope Chrysler addresses it soon, as this could be extremely dangerous given the sudden loss of power to the accelerator.




View attachment 48668

Hi EvanP,
We're sorry to hear you're experiencing this! Feel free to send us a PM, we'd be happy to provide additional assistance in getting this sorted.

Sarah
Chrysler Cares

 

[Jwadz626]

Hi EvanP,
We're sorry to hear you're experiencing this! Feel free to send us a PM, we'd be happy to provide additional assistance in getting this sorted.

Sarah
Chrysler Cares

Hi all, new member here. I just purchased a 2021 Hybrid Limited in October. I've absolutely loved the car, but encountered an extremely concerning issue yesterday.

My wife and two kids were driving on the freeway when all of a sudden an error light on the dash appeared reading "Service Charging System," the accelerator no longer delivered power, and the car began quickly slowing down. Luckily, my wife was able to coast to the side of the freeway.

The Pacifica remained on with all systems working (radio, lights, etc), but the car accelerator would not deliver power and the car could not be turned off. After several minutes the car was able to be turned off and after sitting for approximately 15 minutes on the side of the road it started again and was driveable. We were able to drive the car back home, but the same issue happened again on our street. We were able to push the car into the driveway, where it sits now while I try to find a dealership that can take the car in a reasonable amount of time given I am unwilling to drive it until the issue is diagnosed and addressed

Searching these forms I see that others have had this same issue. Once the problem is identified, I'll update this post, which hopefully helps others. If this is a pervasive issues, I hope Chrysler addresses it soon, as this could be extremely dangerous given the sudden loss of power to the accelerator.




View attachment 48668

Exact same scenario / error happened to wife this AM on the interstate. Any details around root cause? Waiting to get towed in to the dealership.

 

[ThisSuckersElectrical]

Exact same scenario / error happened to wife this AM on the interstate. Any details around root cause? Waiting to get towed in to the dealership.

Could be you need your 12-volt battery replaced.

 

[Jwadz626]

Really? 22K and 9 months old. That would be disappointing.

 

[ThisSuckersElectrical]

Really? 22K and 9 months old. That would be disappointing.

Yeah, a lot of times the dealers charge and test these batteries and they test good and a few weeks later it happens again and they test bad even though they were bad the first time around.

Have you had your PCM, HCP, AHCP, and BCM updates done? If not that could be a cause as well.

You can check to see if you have any outstanding here. If they have been completed they will not show up.

Fleet - Recall/Rapid Response Inquiry

 

[SKPacHy]

Exact same scenario / error happened to wife this AM on the interstate. Any details around root cause? Waiting to get towed in to the dealership.

Be sure to put in a complaint to NHTSA.

 

[Jwadz626]

Just got of the phone w/ dealer - they are beginning the troubleshooting process but will also ensure I file with the NHTSA as the scenario is extremely dangerous. Love the van and have had a great ownership experience to date but cannot have this issue unresolved and send my family out in it.

 

[Jwadz626]

Yeah, a lot of times the dealers charge and test these batteries and they test good and a few weeks later it happens again and they test bad even though they were bad the first time around.

Have you had your PCM, HCP, AHCP, and BCM updates done? If not that could be a cause as well.

You can check to see if you have any outstanding here. If they have been completed they will not show up.

Fleet - Recall/Rapid Response Inquiry

Had it in for service and a firmware upgrade in late November. Based on detail available do not have any recall or outstanding updates pending. Will share what is found but since we have went under 25 degrees F (Green Bay, WI) the vehicle will start with the gas engine even when 100% charged for the first couple miles and then switch to battery and stay with battery until charge is consumed. I assumed that was purposeful and had something to do with conditioning of the cabin or overall systems in terms of heat. Vehicle is stored inside when home and garage is heated (50 degrees) but regardless of coming from garage or after sitting outside behavior is consistent on starting in 'gas' mode. This started after the last service maintenance in late November which also coincided with winter arriving here in the North so I assumed it was winter and not the service. In terms of total loss of power the incident appears to have happened when it attempted to switch to battery (100% charged) after driving @ 2 miles in 'gas' mode which has been the behavior we have experienced since the temp change / last service which again were basically the same time frame.

 

[Jwadz626]

Be sure to put in a complaint to NHTSA.

Thank you - complaint filed

 

[SKPacHy]

Thank you - complaint filed

Thanks. The only way to ensure this gets properly fixed and maybe proactively mitigated for other owners is to get regulatory eyes on it. And the NHTSA and Transport Canada safety review processes are about the only way for owners to be heard.

 

[Jwadz626]

NHTSA tracking number is 11446843

 

[Jwadz626]

For those in similar position - update from the dealer this AM is working with Chrysler engineering and no definitive root cause but they have been able to recreate multiple times and issue is in the transfer from combustion engine to battery. Dealer has had a similar scenario recently which resulted in transmission replacement which given 22,000 miles on the vehicle made my stomach turn - glad I purchased the extended warranty when I bought the vehicle given I normally do not do that but with the new model thought it was a good insurance policy. Will share definitive details as they settle out and actual diagnosis / fix is confirmed.

 

[Jwadz626]

Wanted to provide an update - the vehicle has been with the Dealership since January 8th and they have been working with Chrysler engineering on root cause resolution. Was informed on January 25th that engineering directed the service tech to replace the HV cables (as described to me the cables that run from the Hybrid battery to the cooling pack). That was executed yesterday and just received an update that it did not resolve the issue. So looking at day 28 without the vehicle and essentially back to square one.

 

[totyab]

I have the same issue on my Pacifica Hybrid 2021. 5k miles I’ll bring to the dealer tomorrow

 

[tomcat68]

Same and following.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

 

[GWBPacifica]

I had the same thing happen to me this morning. My car died about 8 times before it finally didn't turn on anymore and I had to call for a tow truck to take the car to the dealer that I bought it from and has done all of the regular maintenance on it since new. My Pacifica Hybrid is a 2019 model year and it currently has 40,429 miles on it. Up until now it has been wonderful but this failure is very concerning as it is a SERIOUS safety hazard and you could easily get killed if your car looses power suddenly like it does with this problem.

Just to be clear I want to state that I am a Mopar brand enthusiast. I am only joining this thread with my comments because I hope that Chrysler will take this problem seriously and make sure that our cars are fixed properly and permanently from this problem. I would love to communicate with the Chrysler Cares rep regarding my problem privately and I will be talking to the dealer tomorrow to find out what they have learned about my car so far if anything at all since it was left with them today around 11:30 AM.

I will update everyone when I have more information.

 

[SKPacHy]

I had the same thing happen to me this morning. My car died about 8 times before it finally didn't turn on anymore and I had to call for a tow truck to take the car to the dealer that I bought it from and has done all of the regular maintenance on it since new. My Pacifica Hybrid is a 2019 model year and it currently has 40,429 miles on it. Up until now it has been wonderful but this failure is very concerning as it is a SERIOUS safety hazard and you could easily get killed if your car looses power suddenly like it does with this problem.

Just to be clear I want to state that I am a Mopar brand enthusiast. I am only joining this thread with my comments because I hope that Chrysler will take this problem seriously and make sure that our cars are fixed properly and permanently from this problem. I would love to communicate with the Chrysler Cares rep regarding my problem privately and I will be talking to the dealer tomorrow to find out what they have learned about my car so far if anything at all since it was left with them today around 11:30 AM.

I will update everyone when I have more information.

Be sure to register a complaint with NHTSA. That would be a big help to everyone else. We need to make sure there are regulatory eyes on this failure as many people have experienced it.