[blueknigh7]

Hi Friends

Note: If you haven't had a failure (yet), then don't answer the poll. EDIT: I added an option if you haven't had a heater failure (thanks for the suggestion).

In short, I'm curious if battery heather failures are correlated with its use - or use in colder temps.

There's been an uptick in threads and symptoms featuring the failed electric coolant heater as winter has arrived to the northern hemisphere. It makes sense - electric batteries have an ideal operating temperature (IE, not too hot or too cold). Generally speaking, below 40F is bad for batteries. We know PacHybrids will use the ICE if below 40F (4.4C) to try and bring the temp up faster, or you can precondition the car.

For comparison, all manufacturers of EVs have similar engineering decisions regarding EV behavior in cold weather.

As someone who's on the California Coast, the average low I generally see is 45F (7C), so the battery coolant heater kicking on is not something I will often experience. However, I'm curious if the cooler failure issue is correlated with colder temps (IE, the coolant heater is used more often), or just a defective part which we all may see replaced at some point.

This is just for my own curiosity. The supply shortages are affecting many parts, but the coolant heater backorder could also be a symptom of a broader issue.

Feel free to chime in with thoughts. I don't even know if my answers count as cold. (Whether or not you had a failure is a different question).

 

[ThisSuckersElectrical]

Why did you not add "Haven't had my heater fail"?

 

[blueknigh7]

Why did you not add "Haven't had my heater fail"?

....because that would be an excellent idea, and I'm fresh out.

Kidding, added it to the poll, but then I typoed it (sigh). I guess we don't allow edits. So use the 2nd option. Maybe a mod has the capability to remove the error? (@stop-eject)

 

[ThisSuckersElectrical]

 

[ThisSuckersElectrical]

Did your's fail recently?

 

[cptcrunch]

Temperatures here are between 28F and 50F when it has "failed". That said, we still have cabin heat, just no or very limited battery usage (less than 5% on most trips) when it is cold out. Past weekend was in the upper 50s and we were able to use the battery some, but was about 50/50 ice to battery usage. Service appointment for Thursday morning.

 

[SteelCloud]

We didnt know about the 40 degree trip for ICE.. SoCal doesn't have much need for it but lately we have gotten some cold for us which was enough to trigger the ICE during my wife's commute and freaking her out a bit. We got the PacH used so we are still learning some of the subtle details of ownership

 

[stop-eject]

My van had the code twice, both times it disappeared by itself. The heater kept working even while the code was active.

 

[Eugemac]

My van had the code twice, both times it disappeared by itself. The heater kept working even while the code was active.

Mine did the same but after another cold spell, if I remember the overnight temp dropped to 28 (I live in Maryland, garaged car)
Finally took it in. I tried to take it in with the 2 temporary check engine lights but was told not to when the light spontaneously went off. My Pacy is about 8 months old. It took a month for the part to come in.

 

[Drjudyo]

I thought I was going to spend the whole winter without cabin heat while the parts were on backorder to fix my P0E15. On a long drive, the defrost turned out to be working. Whew! Part finally arrived, being installed mañana. Dec 17. Will post again if problem comes back.

 

[cookid]

I also doubt in the correlation. My battery heater failed (CEL on) in a hot day (end of Sept). So I even didn't noticed that there was no heat.

 

[jamesrskemp]

Just got mine back earlier this week (dealership kept it after confirming the code I pulled and issue).
Failed when Wisconsin still had warmer weather last month.
Drove it around for less than 50 miles while we waited to get it in, and didn't clear up by itself. Less than 20k on it.

 

[Vango]

2021 Pachy, 14,000 miles. Showed a check engine light on the way home from the store. Had dealer run code and they said they didn't understand these cars. Oh boy. Had the code ran at the Autozone and it showed a POE 15. A little research showed the heater wasn't doing it's job. Shows 0 kw on climate. ICE runs all the time and it fights with the electric part because it shows 100% charge. Hope they have a part on hand. Hope they even know what to do with it. Lithia Dodge in Kennewick WA. Not holding my breath. They only kept it for 21 days to change the radio.

 

[ThisSuckersElectrical]

2021 Pachy, 14,000 miles. Showed a check engine light on the way home from the store. Had dealer run code and they said they didn't understand these cars. Oh boy. Had the code ran at the Autozone and it showed a POE 15. A little research showed the heater wasn't doing it's job. Shows 0 kw on climate. ICE runs all the time and it fights with the electric part because it shows 100% charge. Hope they have a part on hand. Hope they even know what to do with it. Lithia Dodge in Kennewick WA. Not holding my breath. They only kept it for 21 days to change the radio.

Why did they keep it for a radio change? Did the radio immobilize the vehicle?

 

[Vango]

Why did they keep to for a radio change? Did the radio immobilize the vehicle?

It started with the left speakers going out. They had to talk to STAR and go through updates, resets, reboots etc. Then they didn't work on it all the time I guess. Then another STAR person would work with them and tell them to do the same things. They had to do all this before they could just get a replacement radio which is what they finally did. I suppose I could have gotten the car back from them in between tries at getting fixed but just leaving it at the dealer was the best option. I'm not impressed with Lithia Dodge in Kennewick WA.

 

[Manny Van]

It started with the left speakers going out. They had to talk to STAR and go through updates, resets, reboots etc. Then they didn't work on it all the time I guess. Then another STAR person would work with them and tell them to do the same things. They had to do all this before they could just get a replacement radio which is what they finally did. I suppose I could have gotten the car back from them in between tries at getting fixed but just leaving it at the dealer was the best option. I'm not impressed with Lithia Dodge in Kennewick WA.

I'm in Richland, and I'm not surprised to hear that you also aren't impressed with the dealership in Kennewick. Unfortunately I just made my appointment for this issue and I look forward to them replying with the an impartial shrug. I haven't checked all my fuses yet, I'm hoping for a miracle that I can fix this myself for the price of a fuse. The only unusual thing that happened before my electric coolant heater quit on me is that one of my demon spawn had turned the rear blower motor up to 7. I didn't really notice if for a few days. I read on a different thread that increasing the blower setting will kick on the electric coolant heater when it's cold (if not already on). Probably not related though, since this seems to be a failure prone part to begin with.

The manual wasn't helpful in pointing me toward a specific fuse. Does anyone happen to know which fuse I should check? (I know, I'll just check them all)

 

[Vango]

I'm in Richland, and I'm not surprised to hear that you also aren't impressed with the dealership in Kennewick. Unfortunately I just made my appointment for this issue and I look forward to them replying with the an impartial shrug. I haven't checked all my fuses yet, I'm hoping for a miracle that I can fix this myself for the price of a fuse. The only unusual thing that happened before my electric coolant heater quit on me is that one of my demon spawn had turned the rear blower motor up to 7. I didn't really notice if for a few days. I read on a different thread that increasing the blower setting will kick on the electric coolant heater when it's cold (if not already on). Probably not related though, since this seems to be a failure prone part to begin with.

The manual wasn't helpful in pointing me toward a specific fuse. Does anyone happen to know which fuse I should check? (I know, I'll just check them all)

The heater is out, and the new one is 45 days out. And the speaker got messed up in the snow storm between here in Portland so it’s not in yet, or perhaps it is and they will just do everything all at once. Meanwhile the car drives with the engine on all the time.

 

[ThisSuckersElectrical]

First time.

This morning went to town. OD temp 28F. I noticed about 5 miles in the engine was not shutting down and the battery was still at 100% as others have described. Checked hybrid info 0kW to climate.

Got to my destination shut the vehicle down and was back in about two minutes. Turned the vehicle on for the return trip and everything was back to normal. The climate was pulling 7kW. Coolant and other systems were already heated at this point. Money light never turned on. Plugged in BlueDriver and scanned for codes. ICE stayed off as normal.

Like I have stated before, I believe this is NOT a hardware issue but a software issue. When certain parameters are not met within a specific time frame (secs/millisecs), the system completely disables the battery coolant heater and starts the ICE. I believe this will be addressed with a software update recall in the future. I DO NOT believe dealers throwing parts at this will fix anything.

The owners of my previous 2018 recently had this same issue a few days ago. It had never happened before when I owned it for over two years. BUT it happened AFTER they got the PCM, HCP, AHCP, and ABS modules updated two weeks ago. It is running the current software for these modules as the 2021/22s are.

I have not updated my poll from "My Heater Hasn't Failed" as my part has technically NOT failed at this point.

 

[blueknigh7]

Like I have stated before, I believe this is NOT a hardware issue but a software issue. When certain parameters are not met within a specific time frame, the system completely disables the battery coolant heater and starts the ICE. I believe this will be addressed with a software update recall in the future. I DO NOT believe dealers throwing parts at this will fix anything.

I think if it was purely a software issue, then ALL Pac Hybrids would fail as soon as it got cold enough, but that doesn't seem to be the case (or maybe we're just not cold enough). I'm inferring a bit, but it would seem people here were fine on sub 40 mornings, and then the next day they experience this issue. Maybe your engine (and battery) were "warmed up" (and above 40) when you got to your destination and restart? It definitely seemed like your car restart cycle triggered something. I'm sure you'll report it as the situation develops!

I know cars can also log events of a time period to throw codes (IE. pending codes over X miles before clearing or throwing). So maybe this is something that can develop over a few days. If a code is thrown, I'm curious if clearing it works around the issue, assuming the vehicle is above 40 weather.

I think it would be great if it was software related, but it could be a combination of check parameters and performance, and possibly also an undersized/underperforming heater. EV batteries can be used sub freezing, but you definitely don't want to charge them when they're frozen. In all cases, I would definitely say safety is paramount.

Given the parts backorder and people on this forum, I would say Chrysler Engineers are well aware of the problem and likely know what the issue is by now. The question is what is the "fix" going to be - if they're just replacing the part (as needed) or other steps.

Does anyone know what part it is from the replacement order? I found this: https://store.mopar.com/oem-parts/mopar-battery-warmer-68438720aa

 

[392DCGC]

First time.

This morning went to town. OD temp 28F. I noticed about 5 miles in the engine was not shutting down and the battery was still at 100% as others have described. Checked hybrid info 0kW to climate.

Got to my destination shut the vehicle down and was back in about two minutes. Turned the vehicle on for the return trip and everything was back to normal. The climate was pulling 7kW. Coolant and other systems were already heated at this point. Money light never turned on. Plugged in BlueDriver and scanned for codes. ICE stayed off as normal.

Like I have stated before, I believe this is NOT a hardware issue but a software issue. When certain parameters are not met within a specific time frame (secs/millisecs), the system completely disables the battery coolant heater and starts the ICE. I believe this will be addressed with a software update recall in the future. I DO NOT believe dealers throwing parts at this will fix anything.

The owners of my previous 2018 recently had this same issue a few days ago. It had never happened before when I owned it for over two years. BUT it happened AFTER they got the PCM, HCP, AHCP, and ABS modules updated two weeks ago. It is running the current software for these modules as the 2021/22s are.

I have not updated my poll from "My Heater Hasn't Failed" as my part has technically NOT failed at this point.

I think you're onto something. I thought it was strange that my electric heater just stopped working at 700 miles, but I could have swore it was preconditioning (Pittman) just fine before I left the house (the EVSE was drawing 6.6 kW with a fully charged battery before I left). I will have to check codes and test the heater while plugged in to see if I can find anything to confirm... or maybe it'll start working again after I leave this restaurant! Somewhat doubtful though since it didn't work this morning either when my wife went to Chick-Fil-A. Maybe yanking the 12V battery cable and forcing a system reset is a temporary solution?