2020 Chrysler Pacifica

The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. While the contact's wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine seized in the middle of the road. The contact stated that there was no power to the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure occurred close to the residence, and there was not a lot of traffic. The driver was able to exit the vehicle and get to a safe area. The contact's brother-in-law was contacted for assistance; however, the driver became impatient waiting for assistance. The driver attempted to restart the vehicle, and the vehicle started. The help arrived, disconnected and reconnected the battery cables, and the vehicle was driven to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer; however, the dealer was made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that a recall was issued, but for Hybrid vehicles. In addition, the contact referenced an open investigation for the failure. The contact stated that the failure had occurred twice within two weeks. Additionally, the warning light that the “Auto START/STOP Unavailable” had remained illuminated since August 2025. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000. The VIN was unavailable.

I purchased this van in March 2025, it was used about 62000 miles, but dealer said it was in good condition, no issues. In September 2025, a battery light came on, that also activated the Start/Stop could not be used and needed service as well as Service Shifter. I brought the vehicle in and they simply replaced the auxiliary battery and sent me on my way. On November 13th, I was driving and a battery light came on as well as the Stop/Start not available error, and then moments later said "Stop Safely Vehicle will shut off soon". Thankfully I was only moments from home, and made it safely with my 5 children who were also in the van. Obviously this is dangerous as the vehicle stopping while driving can kill myself, my children, anyone in my vehicle, as well as cars around me as I live in a busy area, Tampa, FL. This car had just been given a review in March when put up for sale, and I had brought it in for an oil change, as well as a motor mount replacement, and the aux battery change, before this. My car has been serviced multiple times and this should have been checked or errors/updates reviewed. This auto/stop start seems to be a key in the safety issues as well since that light comes on every time there is an issue. Now the dealer states they are going to replace my PDC, main fuse box, and see if that fixes the error, but I have read that this is an error in many Chrysler Pacificas and mine is another.

Component/System: The propulsion system of my 2020 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, specifically a suspected internal transmission wiring-connector short—the exact hardware defect identified in Recall 23V-010 as capable of causing sudden loss of motive power. In my case, both propulsion sources (gas and electric) simultaneously ceased providing power, leaving the vehicle unable to accelerate. The vehicle, its transmission, and all hybrid-system components are available for inspection upon request. When inspected at the Chrysler dealership, technicians retrieved a diagnostic trouble code they acknowledged corresponds to the known wiring-connector short condition. This code was present before any recall procedures were performed. Safety Risk: I was traveling at highway speed with my family, the vehicle abruptly lost all motive power and began decelerating without my ability to maintain speed. I was forced to coast to the shoulder while surrounded by faster-moving traffic, exposing me and other motorists to the danger of a high-speed rear-end collision. Dealer Confirmation: The Chrysler dealer confirmed the presence of the wiring-connector-related fault code and agreed that it aligned with the recall defect pattern. However, they performed only the software update required under Recall 23V-010 and informed me that they would not undertake further inspection or physical diagnosis unless I paid out-of-pocket, despite the safety-critical nature of the failure. They are ignoring the fact that the physical underlying defect is not fixed by the software update, much to my frustration. With this unfixed, the car is not safe to drive IMO. Inspection: The vehicle has been inspected by an authorized Chrysler dealer. No additional parties have inspected it. The dealer did not examine or repair the wiring harness or connector itself, refusing my request to do so. Warnings/Symptoms: A hybrid/electrical-system warning message appeared moments before the shutdown. No prior symptoms

My 12v battery failed and damaged other system components. This is a description of the flaw from a mechanic that had the same problem: There is a major flaw in the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The BPCM (high-voltage battery control unit) has no protection against high-voltage pulses on the 12-volt network. Moreover, the connection diagram of the high-voltage contactors does not contain any elements that could extinguish the counter-induction EMF pulses when the contactors are turned off. That is, when turned off, the contactors in the 12-volt network create high-voltage surges that can burn anything, any block that is connected to the 12-volt network. In my case, the power supply module of the high-voltage battery control unit BPCM was burned. The LG chem battery modules themselves were in perfect order during this malfunction. The circuit of this module is quite complex, the board is multilayered and it was difficult for me to repair it. I have a sloped driveway, and the failure led to my car starting to roll uncontrollably forward into my house. I was luckily able to stop it by throwing blocks under the tires while my wife held down the breaks. When I (or my wife) let go of the powerless vehicle's breaks, it would continue to roll as the power failure prevented the vehicle from either entering park or engaging the emergency break. We barely avoided significant property damage.

On multiple occasions, from 2023-2025 our vehicle has had issues where all the gauges and warning lights go off and vehicle stops and turns off regardless of driving conditions. Recently happened yesterday. The culprit is the can c bus connectors that Chrysler is using. They short out causing the issue and because so many systems codes get tripped after nearly a year of back and forth with dealerships unable to diagnose issue I went to a pacifica forum where there are 1000s same reported issue. The issue is caused by the cancam bus connectors - specifically under the dashboard in our case, due to Chrysler using zinc based soldering that cannot handle the heatand elements. These solders use to be made out of lead that can handle the elements. We are replacing them for the 2nd time in less than a year after,as mentioned before, my wife and daughter had van completely stop and shutoff in the middle of traffic. This has happened recently every couple days for the last 3 weeks - previous time happened off and on while waiting for answers from dealership for over a year, they cannot recreate issue because it's random and therefore will not chae the issues or listen when I asked to specifically check item. (Files uploaded are from video my wife captured)

I was driving and all of a sudden I got a warning to stop that the engine was going to shut off. I got off to the side of the road and it shut down. I had it towed to the garage. The next day they ran tests. The batteries were both new and they tested fine. Alternator tested fine. Since then it’s happened two more times and the dealer is telling me that all the tests are fine. That Chrysler won’t help me because they can’t prove anything is wrong. Even with the pictures of all the codes and alerts. I don’t feel safe driving my kids in this van at all now. But nobody will help me.

Vehicle was plugged into an outlet inside the resident's garage when smoke began to come from the battery located in the center floor board. Fire crews responded and unplugged the vehicle and pushed it out of the garage and cooled the battery that registered 350 degrees using a thermal imaging camera. No flames were present. National Fire Reporting Incident Number: 25-2040031

The vehicle was purchased 8/5/2023. 8/23/2023 the vehicle stalled while at the bus stop with kids. Would not start again. 10/26/2025 the vehicle again stalled but at a red light during rush hour. During this event I attempted to use the hazards so the traffic approaching was aware it was not working. The hazard lights would not work. The vehicle was not even allowing the neutral position to allow it to be pushed out of the way. I was on the side of the road waving down card watching about 20 cars (fairly assuming with no lights indicating otherwise that it was moving) I was flagging traffic on my way home from a night shift at a hospital in town. I had it towed home was able to charge the battery enough for taking it to the dealership. The axillary and main batteries both were replaced more than 3 times. I had the vehicle for three years and this was an ongoing issue the dealership never disclosed there was a battery cable recall and turned me away from discussing they also did not disclose this year make and model had a class action lawsuit and recalls for the stop/start system failure. They refused to help or report my VIN number. In March of this year it did it again. To allow this vehicle to be on the road is dangerous. I voluntarily surrendered it with that being said and the lender (Flagship Credit Acceptance) Is attempting to sell the vehicle and also refused to acknowledge any calls out of many calls I made to report the vehicle is dangerous. Both businesses did not disclose the recall and the vehicle is currently in storage I believe and I'm worried a family will end up very hurt if not multiple as that day where I witnessed about 15-20 cars come very close to ramming the back of it head on because it was not able to be moved.