Equipment Problems of Chrysler Pacifica - part 1

We bought this vehicle from a local dealer in March (9months ago) in the time we’ve had it… it’s been in the shop for about 6 of them. 1- about 3 weeks after the purchase it shut off while I was driving on the highway. We then took it to the dealership in jasper, GA bc the error code said the pcm needed to be reset. They couldn’t get it to reset so they embarked on a diagnostic that took 3 months to discover the fuel pump was “too small”. The dealership repair guy assured us this was a solve to the issue, they’re tech put 200 miles on it an had no issues. 2- the day we got it back the check engine light came on and while going around a curve to the right, the wheel locked up on me and almost drove me into a mailbox. We turned around and went right back to the dealership. They had it for another couple weeks and told us we needed a new rack and pinion. We couldn’t afford the $6000 they wanted to fix that. So we then called the guy we bought it from and he had a local repair shop take a look and they replaced some parts on the rack and said it was good to go. 3- got it back and the check engine came on again, they code said pcm needed to be reset. We couldn’t get the dealership to call us back so we went to the local shop o’reileys recommended and they deducted some gauges needed to be replaced. 4- within a couple weeks the van was sputtering and cutting off again, we took it back to the local shop and the only thing they could think to do was change the auxiliary battery. 5- we’ve had it for about 2 weeks… 2 days again I went to start it up and it cut off. I had to wait a few minutes to try again and it started. Then yesterday while driving we stopped a red light and something popped and the dash lit up with errors and a grinding noise started. We went to accelerate to turn and started rolling backwards while in drive. We slammed on the brakes, turned the cautions on and put it in park and still rolled backwards. We had to get a tow back to the local shop.

See all problems of the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica 🔎.

Our Pacifica loses power randomly and doesn't always start when we push the start/stop button. The passenger side window rolls down and power controls all go haywire causing a loss of power. The dash flashes a quick message to service the bcm and the check engine light comes on. It's intermittent and sometimes happens in the middle of the road while driving. It's gotten worse now that it's cold outside, but I don't know if that's related. I checked our VIN against recall 19v-348 but it isn't listed.

As I began driving errors popped up engine failure, electrical system and hybrid system errors, the gas pedal would not move beyond 10 miles per hour, the brakes made a weird noise as if were trying to start the car. This happened with no warning.

See all problems of the 2023 Chrysler Pacifica 🔎.

While driving at approximately 65 mph on I-35 in moderate traffic, my vehicle experienced a sudden and complete loss of motive power. I was positioned in the far-left passing lane at the time of the incident. A vague notification message appeared on the dashboard screen; however, there was no accompanying audible warning tone to alert me to the severity of the issue before power was lost. The failure was identified as a malfunction in the hybrid drive motor system, specifically triggering diagnostic trouble code p0a43 (drive motor "a" position sensor circuit intermittent). This sensor circuit failure caused the high-voltage system to shut down unexpectedly. This created a severe safety hazard, as the vehicle was rendered unable to accelerate. I was forced to navigate from the far-left lane across multiple lanes of traffic to reach the exit while the vehicle was effectively crippled, moving at speeds under 10 mph amidst highway-speed traffic. The problem has been confirmed via the retrieval of the p0a43 code. There were no warning lamps, messages, or drivability symptoms prior to the immediate failure; the visual notification appeared simultaneously with the loss of power.

Exhaust (and therefore carbon monoxide) is pumping into my vehicle whenever the cabin air intake is set to pull in out side air (the windshield defogger only works by pulling in outside air). This poses a serious safety concern, as it leaves us with two options: a lose the ability to see out of the windshield by choosing not to run the windshield fan) or b give myself and my children carbon monoxide poisoning. This is a known issue that Chrysler refuses to address because there is no pressure on them to do so, despite the imminent threat to human health and safety.

My care had issue and showing message on dashboard for "service shifter" and was diagnosed by the ferman dealership on us 19, new port richey, FL. After dealership fixed the issue, paid around $800, I picked up the car and drove around and took on freeway, after sometimes I got the message of service shifter again on dashboard and steering became hard and other function were stopped working. It felt like car was driving by itself as it would go up in speed even when I did not have my foot on it. Even after hitting the break it would stop but then again it would go up in speed by itself. I parked my car and waited after 15 to 20 min then started driving normally. I had to drop the car back to the dealership and explained the whole situation. They looked at it again and fixed the issue. After picking it up 2nd time I noticed I had issue with my screen. It started acting on its own like it was a ghost touch screen. It would jump to other setting while listening to music or have my navigation on, it would stop. Also, when backing up the care I noticed my back camera went blank, I could not see anything. Also, other time other cameras went blank. Like a black spot where you can't see anything. Called the dealership again and explained them. They told me to do the resent which I could not able to do it so went to dealership and they did reset the screen but after sometimes on the same day it started acting up again. I dropped the car again and told them to look into it. They did reset it again and told me that due to sun exposure screen has bubbles inside. I have this car since 5 years and did not have this problemthis issue I didn't have it before service shifter message popped up. Now they said there will be additional cost to replace the screen which cost around $1700. This is something that dealership needs to cover since issue started after fixing service shifter problem. And this is a safety issue as when I back up I can't see anything and screen acting on its own.

See all problems of the 2019 Chrysler Pacifica 🔎.

Well driving down the interstate my van slammed on brakes stated safety mode engine will. Shut off soon. Now it will not start. It could have caused us to get in a serious wreck.

See all problems of the 2018 Chrysler Pacifica 🔎.

The internal bearings on the passenger-side sliding door failed. The failure caused the sliding door to come off its tracks, shatter the rear window, and damage surrounding body paint. The vehicle was parked on level ground when the incident occurred. There was no collision or external damage prior to the event. The owner’s manual contains no scheduled maintenance procedure related to the sliding door bearings, hinges, or tracks. This failure appears to be a design or material defect, as multiple other Chrysler Pacifica owners have reported similar sliding door malfunctions. Estimated repair cost is over $3,000. Chrysler customer service was notified. This failure poses a serious safety risk — the door can detach, potentially injuring passengers or bystanders. Please investigate this issue for potential recall or safety campaign.

After taking my car in for the recall on the battery which required a system update, I’ve had multiple errors that the Chrysler service department cannot resolve. Four times in the last two weeks when I get in the car and crank it, it will not go into drive or the shifter does not work at all. I’m having multiple errors on saying service shifter and service electrical battery that had never occurred before the system recall update. I’ve been stranded multiple times in the last two weeks. It must be related to the recall update that was done in my car. It cannot be a sheer coincidence that I never had issues until the update. The service department is not helpful in anyway and returns my car with no answer. Simple google research shows this is a recurring issue after the update.

While driving, the vehicle suddenly shut down completely. All systems lost power: no lights steering wheel locked/stuck hazard lights were non-functional after approximately 2 minutes, the vehicle was able to restart, but an error message appeared: "ecu needs service" I then drove for about 2 minutes and parked. After stopping the engine and waiting for about 5 minutes, I restarted the vehicle. On restart, there were no error messages and the vehicle operated normally.

Backup camera - blue screen or black screen. This has been reported several times and was recalled for the 2021-2023 Pacifica. This is dangerous. The transmission jerks really hard between 2-3 great which has also been reported as a normal occurrence that Chrysler has not addresses.

Despite repairing multiple things on the vehicle, the automatic engine start/stop continues to malfunction.

I am having an issue with the monitor in vehicle. For several months now have and issue with the backup camera some times working and sometimes it doesn't. It will sometimes be gray or black but will show the lane lines but no outside picture. It will also sometimes show the backup camera but it will be froze and does not move with the vehicle. Saturday had and issue where the monitor was ghost touching the buttons on the screen; it was turning the channel and also changing the air conditioner. I had to cut the radio and monitor off so the air would work properly. Was reading online where some people were having this same issue and was saying it was being recalled for software issues, but with my VIN number shows no recalls at all. Just wondering if this is a issue that should be recalled on these vehicles or if there is another reason for it. If it happens again I will surely get pictures or video evidence since there is an option on here for it.

Rear view camera does not work 50% of time since recall was updated. Back seat entertainment games no longer work due to recall “fix”. Service department at Chrysler had no diagnosis besides that the recall has messed up other peoples vans entertainment as well.

See all problems of the 2021 Chrysler Pacifica 🔎.

I have a power problem and could not get my wheelchair ramp down. The manual said to push it manually. This would not work, and my wife and I were trapped in this vehicle where we could possibly burn to death. This is a braun ability modified vehicle. 2 men tried to get it down and couldn't. We called the factory, and they said to pull a fuse at the battery. How can we do this if we are in wheelchairs and beside, we can't get the ramp down to get out.

See all problems of the 2020 Chrysler Pacifica 🔎.

I recently purchased a 2023 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid that did not have a recall listed for the loss of power incident. Within 24 hours of buying the car it died on me while driving. I was driving on a two lane busy road when without warning the vehicle beeped loudly and suddenly I lost all ability to use propulsion. The car illuminated that I should brake and it will shut off soon but soon was immediate and I had zero time to safely exit the road. After dying a little turtle symbol showed up on the dash and the check engine light became illuminated. Once I was able to get the vehicle restarted the check engine light remained illuminated and ai arranged for the car to be seen at the dealer right away. I took it to the dealer within a few minutes of this event and they did the update that was supposed to fix something. Within 3 days it repeated the same event. It is now sitting at the dealership to be looked at again. I had no time to stop safely, had I been on the highway the ability to remove myself safely from the road would have been zero percent chance. How long before the government steps in and holds Chrysler accountable for their poor quality and repairs that fix nothing? I lost power completely. I lost the ability to maintain speed in order to safely remove myself from the road. My family could have been killed. These are family vehicles, out yourself in the shoes of someone with children, would you feel safe putting your kids in a car that could die on you at any moment without any real warning signs?.

Back up camera freezes or shuts off almost causing collision.

Number of days your vehicle is down: indefinitely as of now there is no fix according to the dealership parts are at least 10 weeks out with them not knowing how to do the install once parts arrive number of repair attempts: there is no fix as of now but the vehicle has broken down 4 times parts for the transmission are on back order (at least ten weeks) and they do not know how to install the parts once they arrive first repair attempt date and problem: June 10, 2025 the van showed a message saying pull over as the vehicle will stop while we were on the highway heading to my daughters graduation. Initially. We were able to pull over that time and stop driving before the car turned off. We took the vehicle in and they inspected it for the recall. Most recently, the vehicle did it again on the highway. I was not being able to pull all the way over prior to the vehicle, losing power and stopping in the middle of the highway with my children inside. Voice of the customer / complaint: as of now there is no timetable for us to be able to return driving the vehicle which is extremely unsafe. We purposely got a seven passenger van to transport our entire family, and at this point we have no way to do. So. The dealership says they are unable to give us a loaner for that, and we are getting no assistance with this with no timetable. As far as when the vehicle will be fixed. Therefore, I’m requesting a buyback of the vehicle so that we can get something to transport our family as the vehicle is down. I am still having to pay for the car note without having anything to show for it. I cannot drive it as I don’t know when it will shut off. It is currently sitting at the dealer.

See all problems of the 2022 Chrysler Pacifica 🔎.

Vehicle will start but the shifter will work. It threw a check engine light and check hybrid system code. You cannot get the vehicle out of gear and the shifter will not light up. After shutting the vehicle off and on 3 times it erased and acted like it never happened. This is the third time it has happened. What’s bad you can drive somewhere and be stuck there for hours not knowing if you need a tow or it’s going to reset again. Don’t know if something my happen while driving as well.

Unknown. Steering wheel sticks most days. Happens especially when turning and driving around a curb. Have felt this multiple times a day.

1) a/c in the dash has loud non-stop clicking noise. Was replaced and has started up again. 2) auto start/stop sensor in the cam went out. 3) power steering rack went out when driving. Bought the car used from a Ford/Chrysler dealership with 65,000 miles. We have had the car for 3 months and they have had it in the shop for about 2 months.

The lock actuator on the sliding door does not function correctly. The same exact part in the same designed car (Dodge caravan) has a settlement for this. This should also apply to the 2018 Pacifica. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Had recall 66b software update done for rear view camera not working, did not fix the issue. Backup camera still not working. Need to know what next steps are to get it fixed. Chrysler is saying I have to pay for diagnostics. Can you please help me with this issue. First recall notice was September 2024 but there was no fix at that time.

Since week 1 of owning my brand new 2021 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid, I have had issues of loss of motive power. I have done all of the recall remedies yet my car with a 35day old 12v battery not only died on me, but drained every battery in my vehicle so that I couldnt open my doors. The vehicle was unable to be jumped so that it could be driven, so I ended up paying o or $1000 in towing to get the vehicle to my dealership to be diagnosed,again. That happened on July 12th, I finally had it towed on July 14th to my dealership & it has been there since. Although the pim & battery are under warranty, Chrysler is refusing to reimburse me any of the tow fees & only 20 days of a rental I have now had for a month. The dealership installed the pim which cleared a couple of codes, but not all. They installed another new 12v battery, which was immediately drained. They have ordered another coolant something or other for the battery & here we are. I attempted in 2022 to retain a lemon law lawyer but he gave up very easily once Chrysler just stopped answering him. He said because I had my car updated under the class action lawsuit moran is Chrysler fca et al, I was not able to continue under lemon law. I have not been able to find a lawyer, even one from the class action lawsuit, to assist me in fighting Chrysler to do something to make me whole. My vehicle needs to be inspected in less than 40 days but at this point my 5 yr old vehicle can not pass the PA inspection, so what am I supposed to do? I live in the mountains, have an 8 yrold grandchild that im raising & certainly cant afford to rent cars forever. I still haven't gotten my pension from the coty of philadelphia after 3 years of retiring after getting hurt on the job. I just read an article about the office of drfective products investigating Chrysler in 2022 for exactly the problems I continue to have!!.

Driving at a high speed on the freeway a message stating “pull over safely, vehicle will shut down soon” popped up. As I am pulling over the vehicle lost power and came to a complete stop. I am hoping and praying to get home safely.

I had the recall done on my van for the backup camera. After the update was completed my van continues to not work. The screen does not come on and the backup camera does not come on when in reverse. It does not happen all the time. I took it back to the dealership and all they could say was that I needed a new camera. That does not make sense to me because the entire screen would not come on including the radio or camera.

We were driving on the interstate at 70mph and suddenly the dash displayed a "stop safely vehicle will shut off soon" and slowed the vehicle suddenly. The check engine light also lit up. There were no indications prior to this that anything was wrong. Dramatic slowing like this is dangerous at highway speeds. We were in the left middle lane and couldn't get to the right because of oncoming traffic, so we went to the far left lane and pulled on a narrow shoulder the left, with four lanes of traffic to our right. It was not a safe situation, and I felt in immediate danger of being hit by oncoming traffic. We tried shutting the vehicle off and powering it back up but the message was still there and the car would only proceed slowly. Feeling like we were in immediate danger, we drove it on the shoulder with hazards on to get it to the next exit so we could pull off. It would not let us get enough speed to safely exit the interstate. We had to cross 4 lanes of 70+mph traffic at a slow pace with the hazards on. Once off the highway, we pulled into the nearest parking lot and tried to find answers. It was Sunday so dealers were closed. After about a half hour the car re-started without the warning on the display. We drove it home on back roads rather than the interstate and took it to a Chrysler dealership the next day, July 7, where they couldn't identify anything wrong with it, and there were no active check engine codes. Reddit and message boards are full of similar situations for Chrysler Pacificas and advised reporting the issue here. I resumed driving it after the dealer and it happened again yesterday (July 14). This time I was close to my home so I drove the vehicle directly there. I'm not using it now and I'm trying to get it in to the dealer again. I checked it this morning before I left for work. It did not have the stop warning but it did have a check engine light on. I don't feel safe driving my children in this vehicle.

My son was driving the vehicle down the interstate and attempted to exit. He hit the brakes and the car would not slow down. He had the pedal all the way to the floor and the vehicle still would not slow down. The vehicle went off the exit ramp, through a grassy hill area, across the entrance ramp, and finally stopped when the tire broke off. Even with the tire broke off and the vehicle not moving the engine was showing it was going 30-40 mph. No airbags were deployed. I received a luckily the only injury was my daughter's sprained wrist. The entire front end of the vehicle has been replaced, including the frame, and yet no airbags were deployed. I did receive and abs failure alert on my app but was told that was because of the tire breaking off and not what caused the accident. I have requested the vehicle be inspected since the accident occurred. Insurance stated it would need to be repaired before an inspection could occur. I have filed a case with stellantis who now states they will not have anyone look at it because it has to be done before repairs are made and since insurance has paid for the repairs, they have to request an inspection. We had multiple issues with the tpm system not working properly and had it to a dealership for repairs, that was the only warnings we received. The vehicle is still sitting at the dealership/collision repair shop as they feel it warrants further investigation as well.

Dash message "stop safely vehicle will shut off soon" included a red exclamation mark in the middle with a red triangle and a turtle in the bottom right. A yellow reduced speed type indicator in the top right and a check engine light all at the same time. Also a chime sounded. This occured in town moving around 35 mph. Dealer stated this exact VIN had already received a rebuilt trans around 50k miles from another dealer. Took dealer 2+ months to repair, and had to call many many times to encourage them to push to get it completed. Manufacturer seemed to delay sending parts because they can - no good reason provided. First power inverter module (pim) was replaced, but that did not resolve the issue. Then dealer rebuilt entire transmission. Dealer lead tech stated that a roller bearing near the bottom of the trans appeared to have start failing, which then causes a short and or some kind of damage with the electrical "phasers". Multiple conversations with lead technician and Chrysler cares indicate clearly that Chrysler is not investigating the issue deeply (they did not want any of the failed components, nor did they ask for details from dealer - are they even trying to resolve root cause. . . . This has been occurring since the earliest models). Chrysler should have a financial incentive to fix to remediate warranty repairs. Why can't chat gpt find literally anything on the web about the root cause, why is it nothing other than reports of the issue can be found??? nobody has done a root cause analysis. Is Chrysler paying to minimize bad press??? if Chrysler replaced entire trans with rebuilt one at 50k and now it failed again at 80k - when can I expect it to fail a third time?.

While on the highway, received warning message to “stop safely, vehicle will shut off soon”. Luckily was able to get off the highway and then the vehicle stopped accelerating and I was able to coast into a church parking lot.

The battery went dead in the van. I opened the driver's door using the key from the key fob. However, because there was no power, I couldn't open any of the other doors or lift gate not even from the inside. There appears to be no manual override to open those doors. I couldn't get to portable charger because it was in the back. This could be a significant safety issue. If the battery is dead, the only way for passengers to exit the vehicle is through the driver's door.

6/21/25 , a Saturday, I stopped at a traffic light when gas saver function kicked in and shut car off. The car went into park mode by itself and parking brake engaged. The car would not start and had to be towed. It sat until Monday when I was able to start it and drive it to my mechanic's business a mile from my location and shut it off. Immediately after shutting it off it would not start again. My mechanic was able to start it a few days later and when he drove it about 5 miles it just shut off and wouldn't start again. Today he is replacing the starter and believes the gas saver function may have contributed to the increased wear on the starter leading to failure, as well as the heat from the catalytic converter located near the starter. I am very nervous about driving this car again and worry it may happen again when I am in traffic. This is a major safety problem if not resolved.

After driving, I can to a stop to park the van. The van would not shift to park and instead would go to neutral. I then could not turn the van off. It would only stay in accessory mode. Upon looking at this issue online, many Chrysler Pacifica owners have the same issue. Some people are able to fix the issue easily, while others needed to replace the transmission valve body. This is an incredibly expensive repair. There were no warning lights ahead of this problem happening, it happened out of the blue. No codes are shown when reading for codes in the van. The message that pops up when the van would not shift to park was “service trans press brake when stopped key off engine to engage park”. But the van will not turn off completely. To get the van to shut off, the battery needs to be disconnected. Safety is put at risk as I am not able to park the van or turn it off completely which would result in a dead battery.

- digital display not working when in reverse; yes it is available upon request - unable to see behind the vehicle properly impacting safety of everyone in vehicle. - dealership confirmed there is a recall for this issue but our VIN is not included yet. - no inspection yet. - no; 6/6/2025.

On Thursday may 30th was the first incident of the vehicle shutting down we were able to start it back up almost immediately within seconds on the 2nd occasion I was on a street with cars behind me going down to make a turn the stop start did not engage but we were still a ways away from the stoplight and suddenly the engine stopped no signs other than just stopping I could not start it back up I look down there was no indication of any issue other than a stalling so put it in part turned it off turn it back on no start try it again didn't work could not turn it over to neutral to get off the road police came while I had somebody disconnect battery and reconnect it to try to get it started again there was no less battery power on the engine it took 15 minutes or more to get it started once able to get started we brought it back home it was Sunday the 1st of June 2025 so there were no mechanics available still unknown as to what caused the malfunction no indicator lights other than during the issue with a lightning bolt and during the outage the check engine light was on no lights currently on. The danger was to myself and two children in the vehicle and too many other vehicles behind me that could have crashed into me or cause incident being in the road working on the vehicle having to go around us waiting for green lights or a miss trying to get around us and avoid other traffic.