2022 Chrysler Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid transmission problems

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2022 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted, with the image of a turtle displayed, and the message "Vehicle Speed May Be Limited" was displayed. The contact pulled over and waited for several minutes before restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to two dealers to be diagnosed; however, the contact was not provided the diagnostic results by the dealers. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Action Number: PE22008 (Power Train); for which an investigation was launched by the NHTSA to address the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided a case number. The failure mileage was approximately 37,000.

NHTSA complaint #11646438 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

this weekend my wife was driving my kids home from out of town and was on the highway when she got a warning that said "Stop Safely, Vehicle will shut off soon". we were able to get home and I scheduled the van to be looked at by the dealership. today the dealership was able to look at the van and told me that the code while stored as no longer showing as active and that they could not help me. they told me the best thing for me to do was to continue driving and bring it back when the warning comes back, or the vehicle does completely lose power. I tried to explain to them my understanding of the situation, that there were issues with vans stopping unexpectedly and suddenly in a way that was unsafe. the recall (03A/NHTSA 23V-010) was not a fix to the underlying issue but merely provided ample warning to safely get the van off the road. I feel like the instructions I was given are a direct disregard for the recall in place. basically ignoring the warning that was put in place and asking me to continue driving until the event that triggered the recall happens anyway. This all seems to be confirmed by the NHTSA investigation that was started February of last year (Investigation: RQ24004 ) that confirms that the solution to the recall did nothing to stop the event, but only provided a better warning.

NHTSA complaint #11636342 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

While driving on the interstate in heavy traffic car displayed "Stop Safely - Vehicle will shut off soon" power was reduced and van started slowing down. Turning the vehicle off and on again cleared the problem. Dealer installed a software update and informed us the issue was corrected. Problem persists, happened again at interstate speeds in traffic. Vehicle is now again in the shop for diagnosis.

NHTSA complaint #11633717 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Driving on the freeway going roughly 70 MPH, on electrical power, and several instances (XXX, XXX, XXX, XXX, XXX) the dashboard displayed 'Stop Safely, Vehicle will Shut Off Soon' with a red turtle icon, also known as Limp Mode. In all instances we were able to safely maneuver over to the shoulder, turn off the engine for 1-2 minutes, and turn the vehicle back on. In most instances, the Check Engine light remained for a period of time (sometimes just a few hours, others a day). I have taken the vehicle in to 2 separate Chrysler dealerships. The first at CDJR of Los Angeles, who sent a STAR team and was unable to diagnose/replicate the issue, so they claim the issue had been solved. The second at CDJR of LAX where they replaced the Power Inverter Module (and also tightened a loose nut, which was another safety concern). Since both of those visits, the issue has persisted, including the loose nut which made a clunk sound every time when accelerating. This is a serious safety concern. I have spoken with Stelantis, and they refuse to take responsibility to resolve the issue. They only provide the robotic response that 'since the dealer cannot replicate the issue, they cannot do anything.' Complete [XXX]. The dealer has acknowledge error code P0843 in my vehicle, but currently it is not 'active', whatever that means. This is a serious problem that needs to be fixed! This is a good vehicle when it works. I love the PHEV that after 2 years, I only have 16k miles, and most of my miles, as my daily driver, are on electric power. But the issue with this error are severe. Chrysler was aware that there were cars stopping without prior notification, so their solution was updating the software so the system would have these notifications to alert the driver. What baloney! That does fix the issue! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11632057 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

While driving on a road, vehicle came to a sudden stop and began bucking wildly. Dash indicator said to place vehicle in park, but gear selector knob was unresponsive the first few tries, but was eventually successful. Attempted to put in drive to move from roadway and vehicle began bucking again, bucking continued regardless of gear selected. Attempted to place vehicle in neutral for tow truck, and bucking continued in neutral. Two children and two adults were placed in danger when the vehicle came to a sudden stop on a road and could not be moved. Big O Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram at 2645 Laurens Rd Greenville, SC 29607 received the vehicle for warranty repair. Big O was advised that the issue was likely a transmission failure common to this model and trim of vehicle. Big O's service technician replaced the fuel pump control module, which is a relatively low cost repair compared to servicing or replacing the faulty transmission. This repair was unrelated to the transmission failure and unlikely to resolve the issue. Big O returned the vehicle to the owner and the transmission issues continued in their parking lot. By returning the vehicle in an unrepaired state, Big O placed the safety of the driver in danger by clearing her to drive an unrepaired and unsafe vehicle on public roads.

NHTSA complaint #11631358 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

After three separate incidents of stalling on the freeway, with multiple lights and chimes coming up on the dashboard, I got the car to the dealership. It needs a new transmission. The car has 25k miles on it.

NHTSA complaint #11624553 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Vehicle check engine light came on preventing state inspection, at same time message on dash states "service charging system" . Using the oem charger 120v. Many complaints online say clear the code and power cycle the circuit and charger. Did both and code persists. Battery not charging affecting fuel economy and raising emissions above the stated usage average due to no battery assist. Try clearing codes no luck. OBD code P0d27 is permanent. Try using OEM level Opus access, factory tech says its a known issue, Tried clearing code no luck. This defect could cause vehicle to have no electric propulsion causing stall if gas engine died and lead to a collision. This defect should be recalled and corrected with a module or software update so generic scan tool or automatic monitor resets upon removal and replug of charging cable. Dealer tech says the IDCM is the cause. 30625 miles. This is causing higher than expected emissions, gas costs, and possible accident risk.

NHTSA complaint #11623036 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact rented a 2022 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The contact stated that while her son was driving 75 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and the vehicle decelerated to 3 MPH. In addition, the contact stated that an unknown warning light indicating to stop the vehicle and stop driving was illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the roadway. The contact stated that the failure occurred while driving on a busy highway while driving out of state. The contact stated that when the failure occurred, it was such a scary situation. The contact contacted the Budget Rental Cars where the vehicle was rented. The contact stated that a replacement vehicle was provided. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000.

NHTSA complaint #11621339 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Van shut down on the freeway last night. 3 warnings came up on dash. Stop Safely, Vehicle shutting down soon engine warning light red turtle, "limp mode" light van is a 2022 pacifica hybrid limited with less than 25000 miles

NHTSA complaint #11620869 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

I was driving the vehicle in the middle lane of a 3-lane (one direction) interstate highway when a message appeared on the dashboard "stop safely vehicle will shut off soon," the check engine light turned on and the vehicle lost all ability to accelerate so it was extremely challenging to navigate to the side of the road safely through busy rush hour traffic. As the driver I had zero ability to accelerate the vehicle whatsoever, the gas pedal did absolutely nothing, which can lead to an accident on the highway due to other vehicles moving very quickly and not expecting a vehicle that is not at the right of the road to come to a stop. I brought the vehicle to the Chrysler Dealership where they initially stated this is a known issue and they would be replacing the transmission and that the transmission is under 10-year/unliminted miles warranty for this specific error (POA43 Driver Motor), however once the dealership spoke with Chrysler corporate, they indicated that they would simply be clearing the code and they returned the car to us. We were advised to bring the vehicle back when the error recurs. We opted to sell the vehicle immediately instead, because it it not safe to drive now, but unfortunately this means we are passing the problem on to another consumer as Chrysler refuses to fix the problem. The case number they assigned is Case #[XXX]. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11619561 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

I was driving on the interstate with adaptive cruise control active. The gasoline engine was running. The vehicle suddenly made a "ding" sound, and the main driver screen displayed an error message "Stop Safely. The Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon". The engine shut down and vehicle completely lost motive power. I had to rapidly change across three lanes of traffic to reach the shoulder while losing speed, where I eventually parked with the hazard lights on. As we sat parked on the shoulder, the driver screen screen also showed a red battery-shaped indicator in the upper left, and an orange speedometer with an exclamation point in the upper right.

NHTSA complaint #11615877 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

While driving on major highway, A/C stopped blowing cold air. Out side temperature above 80 degrees. Engine light came on, and later quick warning to this effect" caution, car will shut off soon" And less than 15 seconds or so engine turned off and we LUCKILY coasted across lanes to the breakdown lane. That could have been disastrous! Car would not restart. After about an hour we were able to restart the car and driver again for maybe 30 minutes before AC shut off again. This time we made it to an unscheduled hotel. Next morning car was fine, ran fine to our destination.4 days later driving home. Temp above 80. Driving for more than 3 hours..same sequence; AC shuts off, Caution warning, engine shutdown.

NHTSA complaint #11612831 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

While driving, vehicle chimes and displays "Stop Safely Vehicle will Shut Off Soon." While brakes and steering remain available, throttle control is instantly gone and vehicle needs to be coasted to a safe stop. Upon powering off and waiting ~10 minutes, the vehicle will restart (with check engine light and "service charing system" displayed) and drive normally. This situation happened four times while attempting to make it back home safely (once on an interstate traveling ~70 mph, twice on a highway traveling ~55 mph, and once in town at ~30 mph). Thankfully all situations had adequate shoulder and understanding traffic, but with instant loss of power, the vehicle is incredibly dangerous.

NHTSA complaint #11611920 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Outside temperature was over 80 degrees, we were driving long distance on a highway. First the air conditioning failed. Then the "Remaining miles on battery" started to go up ( even though it had been a long time since we charged). When it got to about 12, we got a dashboard message that said "Engine shutting down, get to a safe place". We pulled over just in time as the engine did shut off, the shutdown happened in about 15 seconds. The car did not restart for at least 30 minutes. Message said something about "Check charging system". This happened repeatedly, leaving us in dangerous conditions on the side of the very busy highway. "Check Engine" light was on. At least once we had a message that said something about "Check Powertrain". One dealer checked the code on his computer, but could not help any further as they were too busy. He would not give us the paper with the code. We took the car to a dealer when we got home. The "Check Engine" light had turned off, but the dealer cannot find any problems with the car. It is a huge safety problem when your car shuts down with very little notice. We are afraid to drive the car now.

NHTSA complaint #11610322 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

We were driving on the highway when we got a warning to pull over safely as the vehicle will shut down soon. The accelerator became unresponsive, and the vehicle began losing power. This has happened a number of times and we took it into the dealer who replaced the transmission. However, on various social media sites, it has been reported that this has been happening to many many people. This is an extremely dangerous situation for so many people unaware of the potential. As I understand it, they replace the transmission with a like transmission. The problem is not actually being solved. They are simply offering a short term fix with the potential for it to happen again. It is reported by others that their second transmission has done the same thing. Below is one example of a social media post where others have claimed the same issue. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11606696 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Van lost motive power and screen showed the attached warning message. Waiting on dealership to replace the transmission, but it's backordered with no estimated availability.

NHTSA complaint #11601308 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

In April 2024 our vehicle turned off while driving with our children in the car. A warning light came on stating the car would lose power, it did within 30 seconds. Our transmission was replaced. In June 2024, the same thing happened on the interstate putting us in an extremely unsafe and scary situation. Our power inverter module now needs to be replaced and the repair has been ongoing for over a month.

NHTSA complaint #11601318 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Driving at Interstate speed, dash message stated to pull over, engine shutting down. Coasted to stop on shoulder. Waited 5 minutes, turned on ignition, check engine light was on. Restarted vehicle, drove ~20 miles and same occurrence. Was able to return home to dealership. The OBD reader said the PCM (Powertrain control Module) had failed. Service Dept. sent info to Chrysler Corp. Service, which stated the transmission was at fault. Car mileage was ~16,500 miles. Under warranty, the transmission is being replaced.

NHTSA complaint #11597804 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Vehicle stopped twice while driving on the highway. Very scary. The car forced me to stop. I got an email from the vehicle at the time of the incident saying it was a powertrain failure. And the dealer says its a transmission issue The vehicle displayed this on the dashboard when it was stopping. Safely - Vehicle will shut off soon

NHTSA complaint #11588300 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

On 5/6/24 I was driving on the highway when suddenly a warning came on the dashboard that said stop safely. The vehicle will shut off soon. I was able to quickly get off the highway and I barely made it into a gas station. I had to cross several lanes of oncoming traffic to do this, and by that time, the vehicle was literally shutting down and I, barely made it into the gas station. My safety was put at risk because I was going 55 miles an hour on a highway that had no shoulder to pull off to and I had no idea how long I had until the vehicle was going to shut down. I was so terrified of being stuck on this highway that I took a risk by exiting the highway worrying the whole time that I would get stuck at any moment. Because it was a Monday and a very busy day for tow trucks I had to wait 3 1/2 hours for a tow truck to come. I was in a part of town. I would never normally stop in because it is not safe. As a said earlier, the warning light came on the dash suddenly

NHTSA complaint #11587990 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

I had just entered the highway and was at 70mph maybe 3 minutes into the drive, the engine hiccuped with a slight loss of power and the dashboard lit up with a message: “Stop Safely. Vehicle will shut off soon” and the transmission light came on. Outside temp: 78 degrees, AC on, stereo on I pulled over to the side of the highway, turned the car off and then back on and the message was still there. I sat for about 5 minutes with the car off and restarted. The Stop Safely message was gone but the transmission light was on. The van drove normally the remaining 8 miles home. Once home, I turned it on and off periodically and the transmission light was still on but no Stop Safely message. This morning I turned the car on and the transmission light was no longer on.

NHTSA complaint #11587812 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

We were driving our van uphill and about to go through a stoplight when the van suddenly lost all power and multiple warning lights came on. We turned the car off and on several times over maybe 5-10 minutes, 3 stoplight cycles until we were able to get power back and proceed through the light, causing a lot of traffic backup and unsafe situation because drivers were going into oncoming traffic lanes to get around us. The car would not move at all until we got power back. It then was ok until a couple days later it lost power again. that time, it was on a flat road and able to creep the 3 blocks home at about 5mph. Presumably the first time, it couldn't move at all because we were on an uphill? We had it towed to Chrysler and the transmission was replaced. we have had multiple other issues with this car but our request for a buyback was denied. I am concerned about the safety and reliability of this car.

NHTSA complaint #11586934 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

While driving on the freeway an indicator light of a red turtle lit up with a message "Stop Safely, Vehicle will shut off soon". After pulling over to the side of the road, turning the car off and back on message was gone. The same message appeared twice again wile continuing to drive on the freeway on the same drive. The third time took an off-ramp to get off the freeway and after a short while gas pedal did not respond. Eventually made it home and took the car to the dealership. Identified transmission needs to be replaced and service was preformed on the vehicle. If I were not able to pull over at a relatively safe location on the freeway the car may have shut off in the middle of the freeway putting us and other motorists at great danger. Reading online, this exact same issue occurred to multiple other people with the same car model, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid 2022 - [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11586977 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2022 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the drivers’ side rear door opened unexpectedly. The contact’s daughter had to grasp and hold the door until the contact was able to pull over the vehicle to the side of the road. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle started to drift and noticed a failure with the transmission. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the transmission was previously repaired by the dealer, but the failure persisted. The dealer was contacted but a diagnostic test was not performed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure from the dealer and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 23,756.

NHTSA complaint #11584139 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

We experienced a loss of vehicle power while on the highway. The vehicle suddenly went from 70 to 37mph while alerting us to pull over (no prior warning), and the the vehicle would soon come to a stop. We were forced to cross 4 lanes of traffic in order to pull over to the side of a major highway during rush hour. The vehicle had our whole family in it at the time, 2 adults and 2 children under 12. The vehicle put us and all others on the road in danger due to the sudden and unexpected loss of power. We were lucky not to cause a serious accident at the time of the incident. Furthermore, we are fortunate that the vehicle was not struck while on the shoulder of road. The problem has been reproduced and confirmed as a transmission failure by the local Chrysler Dealer. There was no previous warnings or issues with the vehicle prior to this incident.

NHTSA complaint #11581776 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

We got this message on the dashboard that the vehicle will shut off please pull over safely in the middle of freeway. I couldn't do that and was stuck in highway shoulder with kids and family in the car for couple of hours. This was scary.

NHTSA complaint #11579216 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

While on interstate in busy Atlanta traffic received loss of power warning. Engine is about to stop pulled over to side of road, but shoulder was very narrow and feared for our lives as car was very close to traffic lane. Called Chrysler roadside assistance. Long delay. After a couple of attempts to restart, I was able to get off the road into a shop. Mechanic reported code P0A43. Drive motor sensor. Taking to dealer tomorrow. After half a mile car would not move, and this could have resulted in a fatal accident if I couldn’t get to the shoulder. Previously reported to dealer knocking in transmission when accelerating and decelerating. Dealer said that was normal. However, my previous 2022 Pacifica hybrid did not do that.

NHTSA complaint #11566760 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

There has been several incidents where we experienced sudden engine loss and the vehicle and computer powered off while operating the vehicle. We reported these safety concerns to AutoNation Carlsbad and they were unable to recreate this problem. We have escalated these concerns to the Chrysler’s retention team. Their retention team recommends that we scheduled a follow up service appointment with a second service department.

NHTSA complaint #11565893 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

Driving from Louisiana to Kansas for the holidays in our 2022 Pacifica Hybrid, and received notice popped up that car was about to shut down and pull off road quickly. This appears to be associated with a recall we did take the car in for but apparently the recall only changed software to tell you the car was about to shut down and didn't fix the issue with the car actually shutting down! This happened to us 4 times. 3 times we had time and space to pull over, wait, and restart. 4th time was immediate note and shutdown but fortunately we were at a stop light and cars could go around us until we were able to restart. We could have been seriously injured or killed had this happened on a busy interstate. This was a Saturday so no service open and I couldn't risk putting my family back in that car so Monday when dealership was open I drove to dealership. Renting a car was to be very expensive $3500 or so to drive back up around end of year. No dealers within 60 miles could even look at the car for several days, and repair was going to be 1-3 months from what dealer and on-line info about it looked to be. My best option was to trade it off when I got it to the dealership but a very costly option! This issue needs to be fixed or people are going to be seriously injured or killed. The warning doesn't give but a few seconds to get off the road and that won't work on an interstate going through a major city! I don't know if the car is fixed as the dealer has it now and we have a new Pacific at much cost to us.

NHTSA complaint #11557024 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

POWER TRAIN

This letter is for a near fatality while driving my new 2022 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid on October 30th, 2023. While driving back home on a dark and stormy night with poor visibility on i87 North my 2022 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid shutdown nearly causing a fatal accident. My 3 kids (ages 4, 5, and 8) were in the car with me. The car blinked power and i lost motor function (no acceleration), the car went from around 70-75 miles per hour to almost 40 forcing me to try and get over to the shoulder. During this stressful process a mac truck nearly ran us off the road traumatizing me and my kids. While on the shoulder I tried everything to get the car back on, after turning off and on the car several times I was able to drive very slowly (max speeds of 1-20 miles per hour) with me pressing the gas pedal at full throttle. I was able to get off the New Palz exit which was 4 miles from the incident and call triple A for a tow truck back to Dutches Dodge. Since the incident, I've been working with FCA and looking for guidance on what can be done for my Family. The process has been very difficult with Dutches Dodge refusing to talk to us. Chrysler failed me with an unsafe car, I feel punished for being a responsible and safe driver. I brought in the car for recall 03A/NHTSA 23v-010 in July which did a software update for an internal transmission wiring connector. Based on the FCA case [XXX], I was told the STAR investigation found fault 21-008-23 which is for the internal transmission wiring connector. The software update does not seem to fix the issue, how many others are at risk? The car was proposed new on 12/13/2023 and had less than 12000 miles on it, all we know is the car needs an entire new transmission and new recall which we were not aware of for a serpentine belt. How can Chrysler assure us that the issue is fixed? Since the incident I have been dealing with post traumatic stress. Apart from having to take time off work and losing motivation I've felt that FCA does INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF I

NHTSA complaint #11556032 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.