Steering Problems of Chrysler Pacifica - part 2

The contact owns a 2022 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal knocking noise detected. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion steering needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 49,424.

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In March of this year (2024), while driving down the road at 45 mph, my Pacifica's dashboard suddenly lit up and flashed all kinds of warnings including abs off, the check engine light, the parking brake, the service electronic throttle control, electronic stability control off, collision off, warning parking brake, and other lights that I'm not sure what they mean. It seemed like every warning light in the panel lit up. The van slowed down and wouldn't let me accelerate and it felt like the power steering wasn't active. I pulled into a parking lot and shut the engine off. After restarting, the check engine light was lit, but the van let me proceed. I took it to my auto shop that said the codes were all electronic/ software related and I had to take it to a dealership. The dealership said they couldn't find anything wrong and that the codes didn't save. On June 9, the lights started flashing again while I was parked in a parking lot while I was on a road trip. I was able to capture the end of it on my camera. I again turned the engine off and on again, and the van "reset" with only the check engine light on. I was able to proceed through the rest of the weekend and the check engine light actually turned off after a day. Then on June 22, the warning lights started flashing again. My son was driving this time (along with my husband and 2 other sons). He pulled into a parking lot to return the van home, but it wouldn't go into a gear. Slowly, they toggled through the gears until it would allow them to drive the van home. He also said that it felt like he lost power steering. Losing steering, the ability to accelerate, the ability to put the vehicle in gear while driving, and losing the abs system and the electronic stability system definitely puts my family and others at risk of an accident. I am prepared to take it to my dealer if asked. It has not been inspected by anyone else accept a local car shop and the dealership.

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While driving with my young family my vehicles engine shut off and all steering was lost going appx. 50mph. As the the vehicle shut off, a warning popped up and said “stop safely, vehicle will shut off soon. ” this was very dangerous and could have caused a life treating injury.

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Sticking steering in turns, shimmy/rattle in steering wheel when making hard slow speed turns. The steering wheel felt like it had slack in it when moving it back and forth while stationary with engine running. After driving on the highway the steering kept sticking to the right when rounding small curves. I had to physically pull the wheel back to straighten. This almost caused an accident a few times. There are some serious defects and safety issues with this make and model of car. Others have reported this problem on the Chrysler cares forum and found a defective steering rack and gear. I belive this is a broad problme with certain makes and models of the Pacifica and extremly dangerous for a family car. I do not feel safe even driving this car on a highway anymore.

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Our 2017 Pacifica has been in for diagnostic review/repair several times. While traveling between speeds of 50-70 miles per hour after a period of anywhere between 35-90 minutes when making easy right corners the steering sticks in place between 11 & 1 positions. Has been noticed on shorter distances in hotter weather than and on longer trips farther into the drive. We recently had the electronic power steering computer replaced which did not fix the problem. Currently the dealership is advising that the rack and pinion need replacing but the warranty company will not pay as they are not able to replicate the error in the presence of the warranty company inspector. Since replacing the electronic power steering was unsuccessful in correcting the problem, the warranty company is requiring the dealership to provide proof of part failure before they pay. My son turned 16 on July 25th, 2024 and got his drivers license. At this time we do not have $4,000 to replace the rack and pinion and the warranty company won't cover it due to dealership errors. It is my understanding there are hundreds of reported cases of this same exact issue without any recalls. We refuse to allow our teenage son to drive a literal death trap with known and reported steering issues to the government and manufacturer but that may not be an option for everyone. May god or whomever forgive the souls of those who wait for the death of a child or other before taking action.

The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power steering functionality intermittently. The power steering warning light and the power steering malfunction message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 47,690.

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While @ highway speed this vehicle lost ipower steering, power braking and the engine stalled out…this latest event prompted my complaint and was the third time I have experienced this situation. In all three incidents I was simply able to coast to the side of the road and stop. Thankfully after a few attempts to restart the vehicle started and ran. It was very frightening given it lost total power on all three occasions without notice or warning it like it just turns itself off. I contacted rollx vans the folks from whom we purchased this handicap transport vehicle and they informed me of a safety recall v53 for 2017-2019 Pacificas. The recall details the exact symptoms of what I experienced. I took the recall information and the vehicle to a local dealership larry h miller Chrysler, tucson az and they mostly dismissed my account and said there is no recall on my VIN despite the v53 recall. They said the tech couldn’t get it to duplicate and situation. They said they checked the grounds and it’s all ok. I am not convinced considering the timeline of their alleged repair and the answers I rec’d from the service writer when I asked specifics about the repair. I suspect they simply test drove it when it did not duplicate the situation they said it’s ok.

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When driving at highway speeds while in a curve the steering will stick which causes u to possibly over correct and could cause an accident. . . And after doing some research this seems to be a very common complaint with these particular vehicles of the same year model and newer with no resolution . . .

Vehicle steering gear is binding internally (confirmed by local service department). The safety concern with this is when steering at highway speeds the steering wheel locks and requires excessive force to move, which has not yet but almost caused an accident. There are no signs of outside force influencing this issue (ex. Front end damage front collision or wheel mis-alignment). I have read online in an owners forum of several other cases where this is happening and that they recommend filling out a report with NHTSA as to make you aware of this in case of it being a larger issue. Vehicle has not been repaired yet as the part required is around $2,800 plus labor on top of that. I'm not filling this out to complain, but rather to make you aware of a potential safety issue of this particular model vehicle. Thank you for your time.

The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. The contact stated that on the second attempt to start the vehicle, the brake pedal was stuck on the floorboard and failed to return to the normal position. The contact stated that the vehicle could not be jumpstarted. An independent mechanic was contacted and advised the contact to depress the brake pedal harder to start the vehicle. The contact stated that a friend assisted in depressing the brake pedal harder, and the vehicle started; however, the windshield wipers engaged independently, additionally, the steering wheel made an abnormal sound and became difficult to turn. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle on another occasion, the rotary gear shift dial lights failed to illuminate, and the message "service shifter" was displayed. The contact was able to drive to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or a dealer. The contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 19v348000 (electrical system) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 81,270.

While my wife was driving the vehicle - the power steering catastrophically quit!!! the idiot light came on to get it serviced. Thankfully, it happened in a place that didn't cause an accident but this could have been deadly!!! the car is impossible to drive safely. I brought it to maguire Chrysler in watkins glen, NY and they noticed that 2 of the bolts on the bell housing were not threaded in and things "didn't look right" (they provided a picture for me). The transmission had been replaced by ferrario Chrysler in elmira, NY at the end of January as a result of the recall on the loose transmission wires that could cause a loss of control. Apparently, they failed to do things right during that major operation. Maguire then refused to work on the vehicle since they didn't know what ferrario did but that bolts actually sticking out from the bell housing were a bad sign! the car resides now with ferrario and they don't know when they are going to get to it since there are other customers ahead of me. This failure of power steering can only be 3rd to loss of brakes or fire when it comes to safety. In all my years I never have experienced a less safe condition that this. I've included a picture of the bolts on bell housing that were never even threaded in all the way by ferrario - maguire felt that they probably pinched a wire or something that caused the power steering problem. All I know is that the car is unsafe.

Steering will stick at the 11 o’clock or 1 o’clock position while going around curves at highway speed and takes considerable force to get it back .

I had had multiple incidents when the van would get stuck in a gear or would lose the ability to accelerate. The passenger doors, specifically the right side passenger door would get suck and continuously open because it could not close. The rear view cameras would get stuck and after reverting to d it would stay on the screen for at least 5 min before switching back. The screen would also go blank. The van would also get stuck between gears or would shut off at a stop light. On this particular day I was driving and was starting to slowdown for the light signal. The van suddenly jolted and stopped completely. I tried to turn it on and it would not start. I was very lucky that the car behind me noticed me slowing down and did not hit the van. I tried to turn on the van and the electrical function would turn on but not the engine. Then after continuously trying to start it the gear function would not move. I also want to add that at the time of purchase the van was missing a air duct and I was not made aware of that. I was told by the dealer that it had active recalls but they were not able to fix the recalls because the engine would not start. It had an active recall for the flash software and for the start stop. Dealer tried to tell me it overheated, however this is false, there was no white smoke and no other indications that the van had overheated. I wasn't able to add that the electrical in the vehicle is a problem. The radio and screen would just go blank at times.

The steering wheel seems to "lock" or become stiff when traveling over 50 miles an hour. It does not happen all the time, but causes over correction which is scary at higher speeds.

There is a loud clicking and popping noise from the front drivers side suspension when turning or going over bumpy ground. The car also pulls to one side unexpectedly when going around corners sometimes while driving the car will shut down and restart as if rebooting a computer.

The steering wheel buttons on the left side do not work. I was trying to reset my oil life and the buttons do not work.

My car has been stalling while I drive and also it said power steering unavailable. Both happened while I was driving which almost caused an accident. Sometimes it stalls while I’m at the stop light and press on the gas to go. It says to shift to park and turn ignition on. It’s been happening for over a year for the stalling and for the power steering unavailable only 2x.

It is possible to start the 2023 Pacifica and put it into reverse and not be able to steer it, and have done so, and can easily recreate the issue repeatedly. Engine is on. Shift knob is on r. If vehicle is on a slope, it will drift down the slope (backing up in my case) and the steering wheel is locked and even though in reverse, the drive train does not engage. In this instance, I've duplicated many times, it is as though it is in neutral while steering wheel is immobile. Dealer (new holland auto group, new holland, PA) serviced it and told me there was nothing done, as they were able to replicate the issue as well. If staying on the brake during the start and gear selection, everything is working normally. If changing gears while not on the brake, which I have never experienced with any other vehicle ever, this is when the the above situation occurs. I have seen other similar reports on this issue on the web.

While driving at 55mph to lunch on the highway, my steering dash alarm reflected red saying " service: power steering immediately, then almost without any warning the car died, power steering didn't work and I could not steer my car to a safe stop . It died in the middle of the road!!! I took a picture of the dash with my phone and would love to send it to you. I turned the car off, and after 30 seconds back on, no service warning initially, but then two minutes later the service power steering light came back on, but the car kept running and didn't die. Drove home, service warning went away, then as pulling into our driveway service warning came on again. Turned the car off, went and googled this issue and found out there was a recall notice for all Pacifica touring l models 2017 to 2019, for this exact issue, but my car is a Chrysler Pacifica touring l 2020!!!!!!!!!! this issue could have gotten me and my wife killed due to the dangerous nature of this defect in the steering for the stop / start battery system that controls the steering. This Pacifica 2020 model needs to be added right this minute to the existing 2017-2019 recall that ntsha put out.

When driving at 60-70 mph steering wheel feels like it is sticking. It won't return back to center. It is a very uncomfortable feeling, like the steering wheel is going to get stuck turning. I see that there has been another complaint filed. - NHTSA id # 11578790.

Tried to start car. When start button was pressed the dash lit up like a christmas tree. Multiple error messages. Fcw unavailable, power steering unavailable, fuel door open, park brake unavailable, park sense unavailable, service hybrid electric system, power steering unavailable. The gear indication, both on dash and by shifter was flashing. The car would not turn off. I had to open hood and disconnect 12v battery for the car to power off. Waited 10 seconds and connected 12v and it power on, but the check engine light is still active.

When driving about 40-45mph into a curve the steering wheel catches, I am very concerned for our safety due to having to over correct. I have not found any recalls on my vehicle, but there have been some for other vehicles like mine. No accidents. Want to prevent an accident.

Driving along and the power steering stops and you can’t turn then it releases and then a little bit later it’ll do it again so the power steering comes back-and-forth but I feel it’s a hazard.

The contact owns a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while driving 25 mph, the steering wheel seized and was unable to be turned. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle; however, the steering failure message was displayed, and the power steering function was not available. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall. The approximate failure mileage was 74,780.

The vehicle was diagnosed with a short in the electrical steering cable. It started off with just a minor glitch when steering which caused the car to simply caused the car to shift into neutral but was quickly resolved by shifting the gear into park and then into drive. This resulted in a really major glitching in system while steering to where the car was shifted into neutral in the middle of driving and will not turn off the van or allow you to shift the vehicle into park. It also caused the windshield wipers to stay on without the ability to turn them off as well. This is an extremely dangerous issue for a commonly used family vehicle especially one travels the highway everyday. I’m just grateful we’re in our neighborhood going at a low speed with little to no cars traveling. On the highway this could have caused serious vehicular damage due to accidents and injury or fatalities for the person who has to push the car out of the road and the family riding in the car from impact. This negligence of the manufacturer will cost my family $4521, which is just simply unfair. Im requesting thorough investigation on this matter with the a recall on all vehicles who can possibly have this issue as well.

Possible control arm failure, been reading online that this has been a known issue with these and nothing has been done about it. My wife was driving with our 3 small children when the vehicle went left on its own with no steering causing her to lose control jumping the west bound lanes of traffic. Luckily no traffic was coming or this would have ended badly. My wife has minor injury’s and my children were unharmed.

The steering of the vehicle has started intermittently grabbing when turning curves or changing lanes. Dealer kept it for 3 days and said they could not duplicate the issue. I experienced the issue several times on my way home and it is getting worse. I had new tires put on the vehicle and a wheel alignment done and still experiencing the issue. I have checked the internet and see that many others are having the same issue with the 2017 Chrysler pacific but no one seems to have an answer. The vehicle was purchased new from a dealer program car and had about 3500 miles on it. The steering issue has just started recently, and the vehicle is out of factory warranty, but I do have endurance extended warranty. The grabbing of the steering is getting worse and I am afraid it will lock up and cause an accident. Vehicle only has 60,065 miles on it and no accidents.

When traveling 65 - 75 mph, steering wheel sticks/gets stuck when making right turn. Steering does not auto-correct itself like it should. After researching issue, it’s related to an issue with the power steering rack and pinion. It needs to be replaced. The part itself is over $2,000.

Car would make a grinding noise over 5mph. We looked under the vehicle to find a loose bolt to the left of the left tire.

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On three separate occasions (December 2023-February 2024), while driving in temperatures below freezing, our 2022 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid dashboard gave the following warning, along side the illumination of a red turtle warning light: "stop safely. Vehicle will shut off soon. " the vehicle then lost the ability to accelerate, and the speed dropped significantly and immediately. Two of the three times, my one and three year old were in the vehicle and there was no shoulder on the 50mph road we were traveling on after sunset. Fortunately, the three times this happened, we were less than a half mile from our home and we coasted downhill to the bottom of our driveway. Our vehicle has now been at a certified Chrysler dealership for three full business days, and the technician "has no idea what is wrong," "is still working on it," "has no idea how long it will take to fix," and "has no rental or loaner cars available" for our family while we wait for our family's mode of transportation to be returned. They claim they are unable to recreate the issue, so they cannot fix it. We showed them a picture of the dashboard, but that is not enough for them. It is currently 72 degrees in dayton, OH, and the issue has never occurred in temperatures above 30 degrees. Thus, I doubt they will be able to "recreate" the issue until next winter. They've offered no other options or resolution until they can "recreate the issue. ".

The vehicle first malfunctioned 09/2022. All the signals on the dashboard came on including the wipers. Then the vehicle wouldn’t accelerate and stopped while driving in the middle of the road. I got it towed to a Chrysler dealership and they had it for 4 four months and couldn’t maintain power within the van. After 4 fours I received the van back and it was driving good. Recently, while out of town on 12/16/2023 the van began to run hot for the first time and I parked it. The next day it wouldn’t start and I got it towed to a nearby shop on 12/18/23 and I was told it was my starter. I replaced the starter and the shop said it was something with my engine due to white smoke coming out the exhaust pipes. I got it towed again to a nearby Chrysler dealership on 12/19/23 and they confirmed after doing the diagnostic, the service shop said I needed a new engine because the coolant leaked into the cylinder heads blowing the gaskets. I asked what caused this issue and they stated overheating. The vehicle has never shown signs of overheating such as smoking or the gauges going up until that night which was a brief 5 minutes because I parked the van. I have researched and seen multiple cases like mine in both circumstances with this same kind of vehicle and not1 recall has been placed. I maintenance the vehicle as required and believe this is a manufacturing issue.

Our car was fixed for a recall 5 months ago for engine failure on the highway because of an electrical issue. On Saturday morning driving on the highway, the car's dashboard gave a warning when we driving on the highway, 70 mph, and then immediately started breaking. This caused us to be slowing in the middle lane to 45 mph and cars swerving around us. We were very lucky to be able to maneuver around traffic and safely make it to the shoulder to catch our breath. This could of been a really bad accident involving 3-8 cars. We had the car towed to a dealership and after a diagnosis, the car needed a whole new transmission. The recall was an electrical update to control wiring in the transmission but then the transmission only after 32k miles completely shut down and needs to be replaced. We are hoping this gets looked into. After reading on forums, this issue has happened multiple times. We did have the recall fixed but it seems like the recall is 100% effective. Since this is a major issue and can cause fatality or serious body injury, fca should have a more effective update to fix this issue with the transmisson.

While driving down the highway the steering wheel locked up while making a slight turn on the highway.

Went to store. Came home. Went to leave again. Unable to move wheel. Says power steering unavailable. Service required. Luckily, stuck at home. Anywhere else would have been an issue or to go out suddenly.

Occasional loss of power steering and or locking up of the steering wheel resulting in excessive force to overcome the locked or "catched" position. Dealer has inspected and says that the electric steering gear is faulty.