2021 Chrysler Pacifica

I am having a problem with my under-warranty (32,000 miles) 2021 Chrysler Pacifica which the service department at my dealership appears unable to help. I was driving on an interstate in stop-and-go traffic for a couple of hours. It was a very hot day, temperatures well above 90 degrees. Six times over 15 minutes the following occurred: While coasting/braking, so at low RPM the engine turned itself off I braked to stop the vehicle The vehicle put itself into Park A message on the dash said to place my foot on the brake pedal and press the button to start the engine I did so, and the engine cranked for an unusually long time, becoming longer each of the 6 times, before eventually starting By the last time we were doubtful it would start at all After the 6th time I cut my long-distance trip short, turned around, and came home in normal (not stop-and-go) highway traffic conditions, with no more engine failure. The check engine light did not turn on, and no service codes were generated which could have been related to these power failures My local dealer's service department (Pohanka in Salisbury, MD) tested the alternator, starter, and battery and found nothing wrong. They did charge the battery up a bit, saying it took only 20 minutes. They have been unable to re-create the problem, which is not surprising, due to the unique conditions under which it happened. They say there is nothing they can do about my problem under warranty because there is no code and they can't reproduce the problem, so they want to give me back a vehicle that we know behaved unsafely six times under dangerous conditions. Engines failing without warning on interstates are likely to result in being rear-ended. I see online that the hybrid model of the same model year has a recall for exactly this same issue, so it is not a new issue for Chrysler, although maybe new-ish for my non-hybrid model of the same vehicle.

Traveling down [XXX] in Escondido at approximately 73mph. In the fast lane and moving left into the car pool lane the vehicle lost all motive power and the error "Service Charging System" came up on the dash then flashing back to "SHIFT TO P TO START". We were able to make it to a very small emergency lane on the left side of the interstate. Had to power vehicle off and restart twice before be regained motive power. There was a very good chance that we would have been stranded in the middle of the interstate with wife and 2 kids in the care on an 85 degree day. We were able to make it off freeway with "Check engine light showing" but no other errors on the dash. We were able to drive home 7 miles and will tow the Pacifica to the dealer tomorrow. This is the second time this has happened and could have had a horrible outcome. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle and shifting to park(P), the contact attempted to turn off the vehicle however, the engine remained running. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent however, on one occasion, the engine remained running for almost 2-hours after pressing the START/STOP button. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the wiring harness behind the dashboard needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 76,000.

Vehicle has suddenly went into low power mode while driving three times. Was towed to shop each time to find no issues besides codes. Codes were cleared and vehicle was returned. Now vehicle is in the shop at chrysler due to a service charging system code for the hybrid system, causing the vehicle to not start or shift out of park gear. Vehicle has 58,000 miles and is not covered under the battery warranty with only 2 thousand miles remaining on the factory power train warranty.

For the 3rd time after driving approximately 200 miles, the vehicle has shut down on the highway. I receive a warning instructing me to pull over safely because the vehicle is shutting down. All three of these times happened on interstate highways. Two times this occured on the NJ Turnpike. My husband is disabled and the process of getting off the highway - involving exiting our vehicle and getting into a tow truck is frightening and daunting. By this third time I figured out that we can cool the vehicle by waiting. Which we did because this last breakdown happened again on the NJ Turnpike. I had 3 dogs with me in addition to my handicapped husband. I could not imagine getting out into the lanes of traffic with the three dogs and the disabled husband. I waited 45 minutes and the car started and we were able to proceed 10 miles. At which point we were several miles from the exit off of the turnpike. We were now within 7.5 miles of a dealership. We were instru cted by the vehicle again to pull over safely because the car was shutting down. We waited another 30-45 minutes. Managed to get off the highway. Now within 1.5 miles of the dealership we were told again to pull over. We waited again and made it to the dealership. The codes were the same codes we had on the April 7 breakdown -- the February breakdown also had our car not being able to start. I bought a used Chrysler 2021 Pacifica Hybrid that has broken down for the third time with the same codes P1A9A, P1A9AE, P1A21, and P1AA2, and the low-temperature active pump is suspected to be the issue with battery cooling and heating.

On two separate occasions (on April 30 and May 1, 2024), my Chrysler Pacifica's engine suddenly lost power while driving on highways. I was served with an error "Stop Safely. Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon." After a few minutes on the side of the highway, the vehicle was able to start again and drive. After the first incident, I drove to a Chrysler dealership, who plugged in a portable computer to check for error codes. Despite the severity of the issue, the vehicle's onboard computer recorded no errors. Since then, I found that the NHTSA is aware of the problem (NHTSA Action Number RQ24004) related to a wiring harness short circuit. Chrysler's supposed "recall" only entails a feature to supposedly allow time to pull over safely. I enjoyed no such time. I lost power immediately and had to immediately traverse multiple lanes in busy traffic to pull off the road.

I had purchased the vehicle three days beforehand. It was a lemon law buyback car. I had driven around 120 miles or so that day. The high that day was at least 90 degrees or so. It was past the halfway mark of driving that day, when I tested the Level 2 EVSE I had bought. It didn't work because the plug wasn't energized, but I did notice that the time to charge was reading 3 hours instead of the expected 2 hours. Once I got back to town, I plugged in to a Chargepoint charger, which was only charging at a Level 1 rate. I contacted the dealer to report the problem, and then went to my storage locker. On the way, the AC stopped working. When I tried to leave, the vehicle would not start. Suspecting an overheating problem, I left the hood open for a half hour or so, and after that, the vehicle started up. On my way home, the vehicle suffered a complete loss of motive power, displaying a message saying "Stop Safely Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon", leaving me stranded in a parking lot. This was followed by a message saying "Service Charging System". After another hour or so of sitting with the hood up, the vehicle worked again. This has happened multiple times since then. I have traced the problem to the battery pack reaching a temperature of 55 C, at which point the vehicle invariably shuts down. One time it did this, I was on stuck on the side of a road with no shoulder, after dark. The dealers I have taken it to could not reproduce the problem, as it takes hours of driving to trigger, and they are not willing to drive it enough to reproduce the problem. A case was raised with the manufacturer, but their protocols were insufficient to reproduce the problem. I have recently learned that the problem is apparently the same problem that the original owner had, and that the vehicle was bought back for originally. I have collected extensive CSV logs documenting the defect. The vehicle is obviously still unfixed, as they will not fix it until they duplicate the problem.

I was driving home from a trip of 208 miles. I drove to Bethlehem PA 208 miles, was there for 4 hours and was returning home driving another 208 miles. I did not plug in my plug in hybrid prior to leaving Bethlehem, PA. When I was less than 10 miles away from my home, lights came on and my dashboard said "Stop Safely Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon". I have a picture of the dash. In the upper left hand corner was a picture of the Battery on the right lower corner a picture of a plug. I had 288 miles range left on my gas. My husband is disabled and the police officer who pulled behind me had to close a lane of traffic on the Interstate Highway [XXX] ) to allow him to disembark the vehicle at 8:30 pm and to reenter the tow truck that towed us off the highway. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Vehicle was having driving issues for months and dealership could not identify the issue. Van showed "check engine" light, stopped using electrical propulsion (while fully charged), and engine started making a lot of noise during driving. Vehicle was kept off the highway until it could be taken into the dealership for service. Dealership identified issue as battery pack coolant heater and replaced it.