[M0Par]

NHTSA Investigates Transmission Issue Affecting Chrysler Pacifica PHEV - autoevolution

Your efforts have started to see some results for those who reported it!

 

[millerbjm]

I'm not commenting on this issue itself which would be frustrating but the article that was linked claims Whatever may be the root cause for these terrifying failures, there’s no denying that Chrysler could’ve used a better transmission. I would beg to differ until they are able to prove the issue is directly related to the transmission in general and not a defective part or a run of units with defective assembly etc. Outisde this one failure the EVT transmission in this vehicle is one of my favorite features - smooth as butter and lots of torque. I like it better than the 9 speed in the gas van.

 

[Collin]

I've had this issue so many times, and the dealership just says nothing is wrong and sends me on my way. @ChryslerCares doesn't care

 

[M0Par]

I've had this issue so many times, and the dealership just says nothing is wrong and sends me on my way. @ChryslerCares doesn't care

Telling you they don't have a fix without telling you they don't have a fix.

 

[Collin]

Telling you they don't have a fix without telling you they don't have a fix.

Well there are folks here who have had star cases opened and had their cars fixed. Just shows poor accountability, I did see a thread where the customer emailed the CEO, if I had the email I'd send one too. Also wondering if nhtsa will buy a car that definitely has this issue (for their investigation)

 

[lutorm]

I'm not commenting on this issue itself which would be frustrating but the article that was linked claims Whatever may be the root cause for these terrifying failures, there’s no denying that Chrysler could’ve used a better transmission. I would beg to differ until they are able to prove the issue is directly related to the transmission in general and not a defective part or a run of units with defective assembly etc. Outisde this one failure the EVT transmission in this vehicle is one of my favorite features - smooth as butter and lots of torque. I like it better than the 9 speed in the gas van.

Agreed, and there's clearly not anything wrong with "the transmission". The fact that vehicles can exhibit this fault and then start working again clearly indicates that it's a software or electronics issue.

 

[lutorm]

Well there are folks here who have had star cases opened and had their cars fixed. Just shows poor accountability, I did see a thread where the customer emailed the CEO, if I had the email I'd send one too. Also wondering if nhtsa will buy a car that definitely has this issue (for their investigation)

Did you report your problem to the NHTSA? If not, it seems you should.

 

[Collin]

Agreed, and there's clearly not anything wrong with "the transmission". The fact that vehicles can exhibit this fault and then start working again clearly indicates that it's a software or electronics issue.

electronics makes sense, it's complaining that the charging system needs to be serviced. my crude guess is that while the vehicle drives long periods, the battery heats up from charging/discharging and something starts to break in there.

 

[lutorm]

Yeah these things are super frustrating but dealing professionally with software and electronics I'm also acutely aware of how incredibly difficult it is to diagnose problems that happen sporadically and when you don't have direct access to the system. I hope they can figure it out. (I also wished that there was a stronger pushback when companies deliver crappy software and then aren't really feeling the pain that their customers do. It might make them think harder about how much software they'd need to stuff into things that don't really need it...)

 

[Collin]

Did you report your problem to the NHTSA? If not, it seems you should.

Yeah these things are super frustrating but dealing professionally with software and electronics I'm also acutely aware of how incredibly difficult it is to diagnose problems that happen sporadically and when you don't have direct access to the system. I hope they can figure it out. (I also wished that there was a stronger pushback when companies deliver crappy software and then aren't really feeling the pain that their customers do. It might make them think harder about how much software they'd need to stuff into things that don't really need it...)

The top down philosophy should be to keep things simple, with sensors and logging that makes it easy to diagnose the issue, the nhtsa investigation will impact 21k cars, if Chrysler doesn't get this right it's going to be a very expensive recall

 

[Collin]

Yeah these things are super frustrating but dealing professionally with software and electronics I'm also acutely aware of how incredibly difficult it is to diagnose problems that happen sporadically and when you don't have direct access to the system. I hope they can figure it out. (I also wished that there was a stronger pushback when companies deliver crappy software and then aren't really feeling the pain that their customers do. It might make them think harder about how much software they'd need to stuff into things that don't really need it...)

Like how hard is it to poll data with a sliding window time period (2minutes) from sensors (voltages, temperatures, speed, etc) and then save it to persistent storage when the check engine light comes on and slap on a timestamp? Not being able to "reproduce the issue" should not be the excuse this day and age...

 

[lutorm]

Like how hard is it to poll data with a sliding window time period (2minutes) from sensors (voltages, temperatures, speed, etc) and then save it to persistent storage when the check engine light comes on and slap on a timestamp? Not being able to "reproduce the issue" should not be the excuse this day and age...

Cost, my friend, cost...

But I agree. (That's exactly what we're doing at work, without being able to download data after the fact when something didn't work right we'd be working blind. The parts count is insignificant, but it's a significant amount of engineering work, too, so I suspect they simply don't have enough incentives to do it.)

 

[Landshark]

I know for sure the amount of people with transmission and/or loss of power issues with the PACHY is far far higher than 40. A search on this forum and also the facebook group for the PACHY would show an incredibly higher number. Although it appears not everyone is reporting their experiences with the NHTSA (myself included).

For those thinking it's JUST a temporary loss of power, that is incorrect. Myself and many many others have needed full transmission replacements or major parts replaced related to the transmission after having the PACHY completely lose power and then need a tow to the dealership.

From all the reading and personal experience on this, I'm guessing there's more than 1 issue with the transmission in general that is resulting in similar experiences (i.e. loss of power).

 

[CANADAHYBRIDGUY]

I know for sure the amount of people with transmission and/or loss of power issues with the PACHY is far far higher than 40. A search on this forum and also the facebook group for the PACHY would show an incredibly higher number. Although it appears not everyone is reporting their experiences with the NHTSA (myself included).

For those thinking it's JUST a temporary loss of power, that is incorrect. Myself and many many others have needed full transmission replacements or major parts replaced related to the transmission after having the PACHY completely lose power and then need a tow to the dealership.

From all the reading and personal experience on this, I'm guessing there's more than 1 issue with the transmission in general that is resulting in similar experiences (i.e. loss of power).

That would generally be like saying I brought my van in for service so all the people who had service had the same problem . There’s a tad more to loss of power to the vehicle than battery , software , components , harnesses , etc . Disputing power loss isn’t the problem , it’s the cause of the phenomenon, it’s the root cause of such problems that is unique to that vehicle or vehicles . If it was simply software , battery then the attrition rate would be greater . The problem is when your having multiple components that have potential to all do the same thing . So even having 200 out of 30000 isn’t a huge number , frustrating yes , but not overly huge number .

 

[McCain_73]

It would be nice to see people weigh in with their vehicle miles and if they have had no problems to date. I haven't got mine yet - but am assuming that for every issue there are a vast majority without issue. Feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Collin]

I know for sure the amount of people with transmission and/or loss of power issues with the PACHY is far far higher than 40. A search on this forum and also the facebook group for the PACHY would show an incredibly higher number. Although it appears not everyone is reporting their experiences with the NHTSA (myself included).

For those thinking it's JUST a temporary loss of power, that is incorrect. Myself and many many others have needed full transmission replacements or major parts replaced related to the transmission after having the PACHY completely lose power and then need a tow to the dealership.

From all the reading and personal experience on this, I'm guessing there's more than 1 issue with the transmission in general that is resulting in similar experiences (i.e. loss of power).

How did you convince your dealership to make it a star case? I've been shot down after repeat visits with the same issue, even provided video evidence of it happening but they won't budge.

 

[Teo]

My 2019 PACHY has been in the dealer since late April…..the part (module)was ordered in the beginning of may. I still don’t have my car back. Broke down within 1st month we bought it. Anyone have a lawyer they can recommend….. ooo and no communication from dealer. Chrysler opened a case now and are communicating with me. Any help is appreciated. Thank you

 

[MEB]

So it looks like its official

Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Recalled to Fix Engine Shutdown Issue - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports shares details of the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid recall. The gas engine on the minivans might stop while car is moving, which could lead to a crash.

www.consumerreports.org

 

[millerbjm]

So it looks like its official

Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Recalled to Fix Engine Shutdown Issue - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports shares details of the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid recall. The gas engine on the minivans might stop while car is moving, which could lead to a crash.

www.consumerreports.org

I was alerted to this update today by Carfax and when accessing the Mopar site. They have expanded the recall to 2017-2023 MY PHEV it seems at this time.