2017 CHRYSLER PACIFICA PLUG-IN HYBRID Complaints

I have Pacifica Hybrid 2017 model minivan with a lot of problems. More than 6 times the minivan was not starting and if starting it would have all the check engine (so i needed to leave the minivan with 2 small kids and take a car service ) some of the signs that would all of a sudden start are service Hybrid Vehicle system , service electric throttle control park sense unavailable ,Automatic High Beam Disabled ,press break to prevent rolling ,Blind spot alert temporarily unavailable in the middle of the road while I am driving . I towed the car to Chrysler and they won't pay for it as it was a hybrid problem, and it was under warranty. The dealer agreed that it was a hybrid problem under warranty, and they would fix it as it was a problem from the manufacturer. In a week the dealer said it was fixed. After I was taking the van home and while i was on the road all the signs came up on the control panel. It has all sorts of warning on the panel as mentioned above. I realized the car had the same issue. It won't let me change the gears and stopped completely when I came home. Then I called the dealer and complained, and they said to bring it back however they won't help me with the towing service. Again aftre 1-2 days the car started so i took to the dealer they said they have found the problem they don't know so Chrysler tech team is working on it. Then after 2 weeks they said they have fixed the car and also test drove . However i came home and after 3-4 more days the car still had same issues. It stopped on the highway in the. I managed to move to the rightmost lane and stopped over there on highway. This was a very scary incident. I gave the van back to the dealer and Chrysler reps again said they wil look at it . However, after 4 th attempt I gave them and brough it back . The problem still persists. No help from Chrysler or the dealer. each time they take more than 3-4 weeks and leave you on with no rental help as well.

Our Pacifica plug-in hybrid intermittently wouldn't start beginning in October, 2021, each time displaying a "Service Charging System" message and Check Engine light. In one case, it was on and would not shift into Park, and we got stuck ~30 miles from home, with kids, and had to arrange for pick up and transportation. After many attempts, we were able to start it and drove it to a dealership in Plymouth, MI on November 15th. It has been there since; the dealership wanted to replace the high voltage (hybrid) battery under warranty. Chrysler would not authorize this part to be ordered and directed the dealership to replace the Onboard Charging Module. That did not resolve the issue and they eventually (on December 27) ordered a new HV battery (which still has yet to arrive).

REPEATED, VIDEO DOCUMENTED OCCURENCES OF VEHICLE STALLING, LOSING POWER STEERING, AND LOSING ALL DRIVER-ASSIST FEATURES, TO INCLUDE TRACTION CONTROL, BLIND SPOT MONITORING, POWER STEERING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE, ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, AIRBAGS, AND OTHER SYSTEMS. THE PROBLEM HAS REPEATEDLY OCCURRED WHEN THE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION; HAS OCCURRED ON A HIGHWAY AS WELL AS IN PARKING LOTS. THE VEHICLE WILL SUDDENLY EXHIBIT 'HAYWIRE' BEHAVIOR, WHICH INCLUDES FUEL AND POWER GAUGES RANDOMLY FLUCTUATING UP AND DOWN, AND ALL ABOVE SAFETY SYSTEM WARNINGS INTERMITTEDLY INDICATING THEY ARE OFFLINE. IN EXTREME SCENARIOS, POWER STEERING WILL BE LOST. ADDITIONALLY, IN ONCE SCENARIO, THE 'HAYWIRE' BEHAVIOR PRECLUDED THE ABILITY TO TURN THE VEHICLE OFF WITHOUT RESORTING TO DISCONNECTING HARD-WIRE BATTERY CONNECTIONS. MULTIPLE VIDEOS HAVE BEEN MADE DOCUMENTING THE BEHAVIOR. PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO RESOLVE WITH MANUFACTURER RESORTED IN NO CORRECTIVE ACTION DUE TO 'FAILURE TO DUPLICATE' THE ISSUE, DESPITE HAVING VIDEO SHOWING THE OCCURRENCE. ORIGINALLY BROUGHT TO DEALER AND NHTSA ATTENTION IN 2020 (NHTSA COMPLAINT #11292415). DEALER HAS DONE NOTHING TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE AND IN THE PAST WEEK THE ISSUE HAS RECURRED, NOW MORE CONSISTENTLY THAN THE INCIDENT PREVIOUSLY REPORTED. WITHIN THE PAST WEEK, THE VEHICLE HAS STALLED TWICE, RESULTING IN COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER STEERING. THE "HAYWIRE" BEHAVIOR CONTINUES, WITH PERSISTENT WARNINGS AND LOSS OF ESSENTIAL SYSTEMS, AND THE "HAYWIRE" BEHAVIOR INCREASES DISTRACTIONS BY IMPOSING FALSE BLINDSPOT WARNING INDICATOR LIGHTS AND INTERMITTENTLY CHANGING BRIGHTNESS OF THE ENTIRE ELECTRONIC DISPLAYS AT RANDOM, AS WELL AS PERSISTENT AND INTERMITTENT LOSS OF FUNCTIONALITY OF ESSENTIAL SAFETY SYSTEMS, INCLUDING AIRBAGS AND OTHER DRIVER SAFETY FEATURES. VIDEOS OF THE BIZARRE, "HAYWIRE BEHAVIOR" ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

WHILE DRIVING, VEHICLE COMPLETELY LOST POWER/STALLED. POWER STEERING LOST, ALL ACCELERATION AND POWER ASSISTED BRAKING. INDICATOR LIGHTS FOR VARIETY OF SYSTEMS LIGHT UP. PULL OVER TO SIDE AND RESTART VEHICLE. VEHICLE EXHIBITS "HAYWIRE" BEHAVIOR, WITH INDICATORS FOR ALL SYSTEMS, INCLUDING TRACTION CONTROL TIRE PRESSURE, BATTERY, HYBRID ELECTRIC SYSTEM, PARKING BRAKE, ETC.GOING OFF. A SHORT VIDEO WAS TAKEN OF THIS BEHAVIOR WHEN RESTART WAS ATTEMPTED AFTER THE STALL. VEHICILE FAILS TO RESTART. AFTER ADDITIONAL TRY, VEHICLE STARTS, AND TRACTION CONTROL AND SOME OTHER SYSTEMS REMAIN NON FUNCTIONAL. VEHICLE IS RETURNED HOME, THEN RETURNED TO DEALER, WHO ADVISES THAT VEHICLE FIRMWARE IS UP TO DATE, AND THAT THE ISSUE "CANNOT BE DUPLICATED." VEHICLE WAS UP TO DATE ON PREVIOUS RECALLS RELATING TO STALLS. THE STALL WAS INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS, AND DEALER DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM IS. WE HAVE BEEN SENT AWAY, BEING TOLD TO RETURN THE VEHICLE IF PROBLEM SHOWS UP AGAIN. WE DO NOT FEEL THAT VEHICLE IS SAFE TO DRIVE, AND DEALER HAS DONE NOTHING TO ADDRESS OR DIAGNOSE THE ISSUE THAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM. THE ISSUE CAME AFTER SOME OTHER ISSUES WITH VEHICLE SOMETIMES INDICATING THAT AIRBAGS NEED SERVICE, OR NOT RECOGNIZING THAT SEATBELTS WERE BUCKLED. I BELIEVE THE ISSUE TO BE RELATED TO PROBLEMS WITH COMPUTER FIRMWARE GOVERNING THE VEHICLE.

WHILE DRIVING, THE CAR DISABLED RADIO AND NAVIGATION TO PUT UP AN ALERT TO SCHEDULE A SOFTWARE UPDATE. ATTEMPTING TO DISMISS THIS ALERT BY SELECTING A TIME RESULTED IN THE ALERT COMING BACK. WHEN I HIT 'CANCEL' TO BLOCK THE UPDATE, THE VEHICLE DECIDED TO PERFORM A SOFTWARE UPDATE WHILE DRIVING. THE VEHICLE CREATED AN REOCCURRING DRIVER DISTRACTION, AND THEN UNSAFELY PERFORMED A SOFTWARE UPDATE WHILE DRIVING, DURING WHICH IT DISABLED EMERGENCY SERVICES.

ON THREE SEPERATE OCCASIONS OVER THE PAST FIVE MONTHS, I HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE SAME ISSUE. WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 75-80MPH ON THE HIGHWAY WITH 32-44% LIFE ON THE HYBRID BATTERY, THE VEHICLE HAS SHUT OFF THE ENGINE. A MESSAGE COMES UP ON THE CLUSTER THAT I MUST PUT THE VEHICLE IN PARK TO DRIVE. THE ACCELERATOR DOES NOTHING AND POWER STEERING IS LOST. I MUST COAST OFF THE HIGHWAY. ONCE PARKED, THE VEHICLE IS IN A STATE THAT CANNOT BE TURNED ON/OFF. THE VEHICLE START BUTTON SHOWS THAT THE VEHICLE IS ON, BUT THE ENGINE IS STILL OFF. ALL OTHER ELECTRONICS IN CAR LIKE STEREO AND BLUETOOTH WORK AS THE CENTER TOUCHSCREEN REMAINS ACTIVE. TOUCHING THE START BUTTON MAKES THIS FLICKER TO OFF, BUT IT IMMEDIATELY RETURNS TO THIS STATE. MY VEHICLE HAS BEEN AT THE CHRYSLER DEALER TWICE ALREADY AND CURRENTLY IS THERE FOR A THIRD TIME TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE, BUT THEY HAVE NO SOLUTION. THIS IS DEADLY!

ON FRIDAY, 7/12, WHILE MY WIFE, [XXX] ALONG WITH MY 5 CHILDREN, WERE SITTING AT A STOPLIGHT IN OLATHE, KS NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF 119TH AND BLACKBOB , SHE NOTICED SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. AS THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN AND SHE ACCELERATED FORWARD, TURNING WEST ONTO 119TH ST. WITHIN SECONDS OF THE LIGHT TURNING GREEN, FLAMES WERE NOTICED COMING FROM THE UNDERSIDE OF THE FRONT PASSENGER SECTION OF THE CAR. MY WIFE QUICKLY PULLED TO THE SIDE OF 119TH ST, ABOUT 50 YARDS TO THE WEST OF THE INTERSECTION WITH BLACKBOB. SHE PROCEEDED TO HELP ALL 5 KIDS FROM THE VEHICLE AND AS THEY WERE RUNNING AWAY, THE VEHICLE EXPLODED INTO A FIREBALL. THE TOTAL TIME FROM HER SEEING SMOKE TO THE FIREBALL WAS LESS ABOUT 4 MINUTES. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

THE MOST RECENT OCCURRENCE- OF MANY- WHERE THE VEHICLE NOT OPERATING AS IT WAS SHIFTED TO/ NOT STAYING ON/OR TURNING OFF WHEN THE IGNITION BUTTON IS PRESSED IS AS FOLLOWS. IN A (FLAT) PARKING LOT THE VAN WAS PARKED AND TURNED OFF> THE BRAKE WAS PRESSED> THE IGNITION BUTTON WAS PRESSED TO TURN THE VAN TO 'ON' AND THE WORD 'RUN' WAS ILLUMINATED- IT WAS RUNNING IN FULL ELECTRIC MODE WITH A BATTERY OF ~85% > THE SHIFT KNOB WAS TURNED FROM P TO R> THE VAN WAS REVERSED OUT OF A PARKING SPOT > THE BRAKE WAS PRESSED AND THE SHIFT KNOB WAS SPUN TO D > THE BRAKE WAS RELEASED AS THE STEERING WHEEL WAS TURNED TO PIVOT OUT OF THE PARKING LOT HOWEVER THE CAR CONTINUED IN REVERSE. AT THIS POINT I STARTED FILMING TO 'CATCH' THIS PROBLEM ON FILM SINCE SIMILAR REPORTED ISSUES ARE ALWAYS 'NON DUPLICATE-ABLE' AT THE DEALERSHIP. THE IGNITION BUTTON SHOWED 'RUN', THE "D" ABOVE THE SHIFTING KNOB WAS BLINKING BLUE, THERE WAS AN ORANGE 'CHECK ENGINE' LIGHT TYPE ICON SHOWING ON THE MAIN SCREEN WHERE THE MESSAGE "SHIFT TO P TO START" WAS ALSO SHOWING. I HAD TO PRESS ON THE BRAKE, SHIFT TO P, AND TURN OFF THE CAR, THEN TURN ON THE CAR IN ORDER TO HAVE THE CAR BE ABLE TO DRIVE IN A FORWARD MOTION. WHILE THIS WAS IN A QUIET PARKING LOT ME SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF A LANE WAS NOT A PROBLEM, AND THANKFULLY I WAS NOT CLOSE TO THE NEXT CAR WHILE I WAS REVERSING SINCE UPON SHIFTING TO 'D' I CONTINUED BACKWARDS TOWARDS A ROW OF CARS. HOWEVER, I LIVE ON A BUSY STREET AND OFTEN HAVE TO REVERSE OUT ONTO A 4 LANE ROAD WHERE IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE VAN MOVE FORWARD WHEN SHIFTED AS SUCH TO AVOID BEING HIT BY FAST MOVING TRAFFIC. I HAVE ALSO HAD SIMILAR OCCURRENCES HAPPEN, AND FREQUENTLY HAVE TO PRESS THE IGNITION BUTTON MULTIPLE TIMES TO GET THE VAN TO TURN OFF ONCE PARKED.*DT*JB

WHILE DRIVING TO WORK IN THE MORNING ON 19-FEB-2019, THE MIL CHECK ENGINE LAMP ILLUMINATED AS WELL AS THE "RED TURTLE" LIMP MODE INDICATOR AND A DASHBOARD MESSAGE STATING "VEHICLE SPEED MAY BE LIMITED." THIS HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING ON LOCAL SURFACE STREETS ABOUT ONE MILE FROM MY PLACE OF WORK. I HAD JUST TURNED OFF A 45 MPH MAIN STREET ONTO A 35 MPH SIDE STREET. THE GAS ENGINE IN MY PHEV HYBRID VEHICLE STOPPED WORKING BUT COULD STILL OPERATE AT NORMAL SPEED IN ALL-ELECTRIC MODE. I GOT TO WORK AND PLUGGED MY PHEV VAN INTO A CHARGEPOINT EVSE TO RECHARGE. AT LUNCH, I RAN SOME ERRANDS AND NOTICED THAT THE GAS ENGINE STILL WOULD NOT OPERATE UNDER ANY CONDITIONS, WHICH IS VERY RARE DURING THE HARSH, COLD WEATHER WE WERE HAVING AT THE TIME IN THE CHICAGO AREA. AFTER RETURNING TO WORK, I MADE A SERVICE APPOINTMENT AT MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP FOR THAT EVENING. ON MY DRIVE TO THE DEALERSHIP AFTER WORK, THE ALL-ELECTRIC MOTOR ALSO FAILED AND STOPPED WORKING ABOUT TWO MILES FROM THE DEALERSHIP. THIS HAPPENED ON A 35 MPH MAIN STREET, AND I WAS DRIVING STRAIGHT DOWN THE ROAD AT THE TIME. I SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF AND RESTARTED IT AND WAS ABLE TO MOVE ABOUT 100 FEET BEFORE IT SHUT DOWN AGAIN. I WAS ABLE TO REPEAT THIS PROCESS 2-3 TIMES IN ORDER TO TURN MY VEHICLE OFF ONTO A SIDE STREET SO THAT I WAS NOT IMPEDING TRAFFIC ON THE MAIN THOROUGHFARE. I HAD MY PHEV VAN TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP THAT EVENING. IT HAS NOW BEEN AT THE DEALERSHIP FOR REPAIR FOR 49 DAYS, AND THEY STILL CANNOT DETERMINE WHAT CAUSED THE LOSS OF POWER AND FORWARD MOTION.

WHILE DRIVING, I EXPERIENCED A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER. THE VEHICLE PUT ITSELF INTO A LOW-SPEED MODE (AKA "TURTLE MODE") AND THEN WOULD NO LONGER ACCELERATE AT ALL. IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT AN ENTIRELY NEW TRANSMISSION IS REQUIRED.