[Dadcap832]

Hi,

We experienced the same problem. Car went completely dead like a brick. Total blackout. If a car was in front of us, it would of been an accident with all my kids and wife in it. Shortly after the interior lights started flickering like an alien spaceship. The car came to a stop stuck in traffic with nowhere to pull over. After 5 minutes the car started and now has a yellow "A" symbol with a arrow circled around it. Now when the car is in drive, there is a message on the dash that says "shift to P". There is no way I'm putting my family back in this death trap. I cannot believe Chrysler hasn't done anything about this? Need someone from Chrysler to reach out with me immediately with this concerning issue. Wouldn't you know it, my 3 year warranty expired a few months ago. All recalls have been performed by a Chrysler dealer including one recently within the last month. We love our Pacifica, please help us. Thanks!

Model: Pacifica
Trim: Touring L Plus
VIN: 2c4rc1eg3jr116584

 

[Jeremy M.]

Hi,

We experienced the same problem. Car went completely dead like a brick. Total blackout. If a car was in front of us, it would of been an accident with all my kids and wife in it. Shortly after the interior lights started flickering like an alien spaceship. The car came to a stop stuck in traffic with nowhere to pull over. After 5 minutes the car started and now has a yellow "A" symbol with a arrow circled around it. Now when the car is in drive, there is a message on the dash that says "shift to P". There is no way I'm putting my family back in this death trap. I cannot believe Chrysler hasn't done anything about this? Need someone from Chrysler to reach out with me immediately with this concerning issue. Wouldn't you know it, my 3 year warranty expired a few months ago. All recalls have been performed by a Chrysler dealer including one recently within the last month. We love our Pacifica, please help us. Thanks!

Model: Pacifica
Trim: Touring L Plus
VIN: 2c4rc1eg3jr116584

Similar thing happed yo mine died at a stop light had to shift to park to restart. With the yellow A warning (ESS error). Replaced the small AUX battery 1 year later no more issues. This is a very common issue. These vans eat batteries.

 

[Dadcap832]

Similar thing happed yo mine died at a stop light had to shift to park to restart. With the yellow A warning (ESS error). Replaced the small AUX battery 1 year later no more issues. This is a very common issue. These vans eat batteries.

Sounds unrelated, but I am aware of the batteries which I had to have both replaced at the 2 year mark. After the car shut off, and it was a dead stick gliding, the cars wheels locked up once we hit 15 mph as if the car put itself in park. Couldnt do anything. The shift knob could not be turned until after sitting there for about 5 minutes.

 

[kentlarue]

The recall is showing up for my VIN on the mopar web site.... but it also says:

INCOMPLETE BUT REPAIR PARTS ARE NOT AVAILABLE

Yes, that's what it says and if you look further you'll see that the fix (when available around March 8 2023) is not to replace the connector that may short, but rather to upgrade software to warn the driver that a sudden power loss is imminent. That seems inadequate to me.

 

[johnathancampbell]

Hello. I am newly registered but have had my 2020 Pacifica limited hybrid since 2019. I had this issue yesterday 6-4-23 two times. Once on the freeway at 70 mph, 4 seconds or so before total car blackout except blinkers. Same day an hour later about 200 yards from home same thing. I had already brought it in for the recall 'fix' and was told everything was fine. I feel everything is, in fact, not fine.

 

[sailorbrown]

Yes, that's what it says and if you look further you'll see that the fix (when available around March 8 2023) is not to replace the connector that may short, but rather to upgrade software to warn the driver that a sudden power loss is imminent. That seems inadequate to me.

We have a 2022 Pacifica Hybrid and got the software upgrade that you describe that warns the driver. I think it may also put the car back in all electric mode so you can "safely" drive to a safe place. The beginning of May, our Pacifica engine stopped on an Interstate, I got the warning message, and was able to drive off the exit that luckily I was right at. We were 200 miles from home and the local dealer wouldn't touch a hybrid. So we chose to drive home, and had no problems. I immediately took it to my dealer, who said it was unsafe to drive. They said that to repair the shorting connector, they have to install a new transmission, so they kept my car and ordered a transmission. That was over a month ago. They tell me that the transmission may not be here for at least another two weeks. This car is our family vacation car, and we have an upcoming family vacation. What gives with Chrysler and this long known about issue? Are they taking this issue seriously? This issue will eventually cause problems that will certainly lead to lawsuits.

 

[kentlarue]

Hopefully they'll load up on transmissions in anticipation of need

 

[Badge56]

I have the Harbor Freight extractor that hooks to an air compressor. I like that it has an indicator that shows exactly how full the tank is. I actually have two: one for oil only and the other for other types of liquids (coolant, etc.). I originally bought the first one because oil extraction is the only way to change oil on a Yamaha Waverunner.

Mercedes tech, huh? Here is a YouTube video made by a Mercedes tech (your friend?) where he illustrates an extractor works better, at least on a Mercedes.

work just fine on my Pac 207 and pachy 2022. NEVER had a oil change for the bottom.

 

[sedonahotyoga]

I have had this problem three times. The first one happened in November 2019 when my sister was driving the vehicle. I was in the hospital

While driving our Pacifica hybrid a week ago, the gas petal just stopped working and wouldn’t drive.
No lights came on, no check engine, nothing. It just stopped working.

It has 16,000 miles on it. It has been in the shop for various issues 6 times already.

a few weeks earlier the check hybrid electrical system light came on and we took it in and they said it was low on battery coolant and that they fixed itX however a week later it just stopped while driving, very dangerous.

the shop said that it was a faulty coolant battery sensor and replaced it. However just 30 miles later it did the exact same thing. Shut down while driving on a busy multi lane road with my children in the car. We were stranded and scared.

theChrysler dealership said they have never seen this and they are shooting in the dark trying different fixes until the hopefully eventually get it right. We specifically spent more money to buy this van to have a safe and comfortable vehicle to take our children to Mexico in. We have the whole vacation paid for, but now we cannot take this unreliable vehicle that is stuck in the shop and we cannot rent a car to take across the border, so we are losing thousands of dollars on an un-refundable vacation, and worse our children are going to miss out on the vacation we have been planning amd saving for years. We are beyond disappointed and need some guidance.
@ChryslerCares

 

[ThisSuckersElectrical]

While driving our Pacifica hybrid a week ago, the gas petal just stopped working and wouldn’t drive.
No lights came on, no check engine, nothing. It just stopped working.

It has 16,000 miles on it. It has been in the shop for various issues 6 times already.

a few weeks earlier the check hybrid electrical system light came on and we took it in and they said it was low on battery coolant and that they fixed itX however a week later it just stopped while driving, very dangerous.

the shop said that it was a faulty coolant battery sensor and replaced it. However just 30 miles later it did the exact same thing. Shut down while driving on a busy multi lane road with my children in the car. We were stranded and scared.

theChrysler dealership said they have never seen this and they are shooting in the dark trying different fixes until the hopefully eventually get it right. We specifically spent more money to buy this van to have a safe and comfortable vehicle to take our children to Mexico in. We have the whole vacation paid for, but now we cannot take this unreliable vehicle that is stuck in the shop and we cannot rent a car to take across the border, so we are losing thousands of dollars on an un-refundable vacation, and worse our children are going to miss out on the vacation we have been planning amd saving for years. We are beyond disappointed and need some guidance.
@ChryslerCares

If you are going to a dealer that is throwing parts at it, you better run to a dealer with competent hybrid techs.

Throwing parts at something when you don't know how to fix it can make the issues worse. When they break more things, throwing random parts at them can possibly cause more damage to other components.

It sounds like your reliability issue is not the vehicle but the stupid techs working on it.

 

[holmerica]

2017 Pacifica Touring with 89K miles.

Was driving to school drop off and as I was driving no more than 5 mph turning from the stop sign when I got the "Shift to P to start" message and the blue light above the D on the shifter knob was blinking. Sounding like exhaust/vents were still on and blowing but no engine power.

Thankfully was able to pull to the curb immediately, put it into park and start again with seemingly no issue. Still, was very troubling and could've been a much more dangerous scenario.

What's the best next step based on people's experiences?

 

[ThisSuckersElectrical]

2017 Pacifica Touring with 89K miles.

Was driving to school drop off and as I was driving no more than 5 mph turning from the stop sign when I got the "Shift to P to start" message and the blue light above the D on the shifter knob was blinking. Sounding like exhaust/vents were still on and blowing but no engine power.

Thankfully was able to pull to the curb immediately, put it into park and start again with seemingly no issue. Still, was very troubling and could've been a much more dangerous scenario.

What's the best next step based on people's experiences?

12-volt battery issue or possibly this.

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