2017 CHRYSLER PACIFICA Power Train Problems

Hard shifting when stopping or driving at speeds under 30 mph

every time I drive my Crystler , the transmission slams while pulling hills or even on a straight stretch the transmission you can feel it almost wind up and then slam into position and it's getting more consistent as I own the vehicle.

After smelling a burning smell when driving, an independent service center diagnosed that the engine oil cooler had failed causing the engine oil and antifreeze coolant levels to drop low enough that continued driving could seize the engine. The sparkplugs were damaged and a head gasket could be required as well. If not for the burning smell, the van could have stopped suddenly in busy traffic on the highway with my kids inside. The vehicle can be inspected anytime. I have not yet contacted the manufacturer. No warning lights went on. The only indication was a burning smell that I first thought was the new rear brakes I had installed.

Engine loose power because coolant is entering the cylinders due to a defective head gasket. Failed at 110,000 miles . Need engine replacement $6000 for a used engine

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...

The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while accelerating from a stop sign the vehicle downshifted and idled abnormally high. The check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed with a second gear ratio failure, and the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 103,000.

It got a check engine light for a cylinder 3 miss fire. It has been found to be caused by a faulty head and gasket by Jamie’s Auto Service in Noblesville IN. This issue is also on many forums with tons of people suffering from this.

Transmission appears to not know what gear to go into, or misses a gear shift altogether. Creating a period of higher rpms with no power to the wheels. This is a safety concern as it has happened when pulling out into travel lanes.

Engine code for misfire fixed and still has a shake, looking like head gasket. Transmission jerks upon shifting.

Sharp jolting of the vehicle when going from second to third gear constantly

While driving vehicle, car shifted to neutral then park then neutral, while in drive moving down road. Numerous warning came on including "service shifter", check engine, front end collision sensor, abs brake sensor, along with a message to put car in park before shifting . The day before a warning of service shifter came on and the car was unable for a few minutes to shift out of park. Then the codes suddenly went off. Took it to auto zone to check codes and it said no codes were found or stored. First time was September 25, 2023. The next time when it shifted itself out of drive while driving was September 28. Drove home from getting checked for codes with nothing showing up. Drove 5 minutes on October 2, and a bunch of random codes flashed. Took to shop and they found no codes. All warnings went off. Said...

Diagnosed by certified dealership as having a warped cylinder head causing coolant to leak into the combustion chamber. Occurred at about 73,000 miles. Based on research I've done, this seems to be very common, yet Chrysler has neglected to do anything about it. It the problem seems to occur just after the standard warranty expires, leaving customers on the hook. It puts safety at risk because it burns coolant and releases that exhaust into the air and ruins engines.

Powertrain Stalls randomly when moving from first to second gear and when changing in and out of park. Vehicle also has loss of power and freezing electronics. The entertainment system and navigation system may stay frozen until vehicle is restarted and in some cases may not turn off even while vehicle is not in a powered state.

The check engine light came on, upon inspection at our mechanic we discovered our head gasket was blown. Searching for recalls online I found several other owners of Chrystler Pacifica that have the same issue of blown head gasket at relatively low mileage. Contacted Chrystler and there is no current recall for any of those components.

While driving, the car malfunctions stating to have the shifter serviced. All of the alerts start going off and it feels like my car isnt shifting properly. Some times when I start it, the shifter will not respond. I have taken it to be serviced and it seems to be electrical.

When moving forward after being parked, the jerks and bangs into second gear. It feels as if the car has been hit. This happens pulling away from stop lights, leaving parking lots and pulling out of my driveway.

I have a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica that keeps dying. I bought my Pacifica new from the dealer and now it has 100K on it. Since we bought it, I has a tendence to dye on us from time to time. The past 5 years we have owed it, we have been through 4 batteries. This past week, my Pacifica decided not to start. The battery was only 8 months old. We had it towed to the dealer, where they said there was a problem with the sensors in the shift knob that goes into the transmission. The mechanic said, he has see a few of the same problems with 2017-2022 Pacifica's. The dealer said I would have to take it to a transmission place to have the transmission looked at. Sees like many Pacifica have this problem with the shift knob sensors.

The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle inadvertently downshifted and lost motive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who advised the contact that the failure was known to the manufacturer and that an update was required for the transmission control module. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provide no assistance. The failure mileage was 181,000.

Engine temperature suddenly rose to the point where an alarm appeared on the display (no prior warning or prior instance of this). Allowed temperature to cool, drove vehicle home gently. Subsequent examination showed coolant level in reservoir below minimum with no physical evidence of leakage. Obtained correct manufacturer-specified coolant, topped up and continued to monitor. Pattern developed where the coolant level would be at minimum after approximately 200 miles of driving, vehicle appeared to be operating normally otherwise. Continued to top up coolant level as necessary, still no sign of any physical leak. Vehicle then began to produce error codes for misfire on either Cylinder 1 or Cylinder 3 - no discernible “pattern” to the codes appearing or clearing. Vehicle was subsequently examined by an independent repair facility who determined that the cylinder head for cylinders 1, 3 and 5 is warped.

Engine stalled while making a right turn with incoming traffic. It felt as if the vehicle had gone in Neutral position. The vehicle was unresponsive to the throttle until I manually put it in Low gear (L) and then back up to Dive gear. I was looking into the recall and it sounds similar to U01.

Transmission has been problematic for the past two years. We have had it checked twice but nothing can be found during the inspection. It shifts very roughly by jolting you forward when you are accelerating from a slow speed or at times when you are coasting as well with no foot on gas or break. You feel jolted as if you were rear ended by another vehicle. I was driving with my family, to include 3 young kids, on interstate I95 on 8/19/23 when the vehicle suddenly jolted 3 times and then the check engine light came on. I was not able to pull over right away, and when I tried to press the gas the engine revved high but the vehicle barely moved. After putting my hazard lights on I was eventually able to pull over and turn the engine off. After a few minutes I restarted the car,...

While driving on the highway, our car started to make a jerk, like it was having trouble shifting gears, which is weird because we were driving through Kansas and the road was smooth and flat. Then suddenly the car lost power, but did not turn off. Pressing the accelerator did nothing. We turned on the emergency flashers and pulled over to the shoulder, shifted into park and then turned the car off. We waited a few moments then restarted, everything appeared fine. We started to accelerate and merge back into the highway when it started to happen again. This time, our dash reported a message of "shift into p to start." We again pulled over, waited even longer, and restarted again. After about 5 miles, it did it again. After several occurrences of this, we eventually looked to have it towed to the nearest dealership. However, now it also has...

The vehicle loss power while driving on the highway would not accelerate

The head gasket failed and coolant leaked into the cylinder. Safety wasn't necessarily put at risk because the check engine light came on before anything happened. Vehicle has been inspected and confirmed failed by independent service center.

This week was the SECOND time our van lost both low beam headlights at the same time while driving at night. Both times the dealership wanted over $500 to replace them. Our drive train will catch while driving. We took our van in for this problem and were told by the dealership that "its just the way the transmission is made" When we bought the vehicle it was two years old and had rust spots on the hood. We had it repaired. Now, two years later the same rust bubbles are starting to appear on the hood.

I was coming home from work and I was waiting to make a left turn onto a road named Vincent Rd in Orlando, FL which meant that I had to cross 3 lanes of highway. Once all traffic was clear I started crossing 3 lanes of highway and the van started making a loud grinding sound when pressing on the gas. The vehicle moved forward into the first lane of traffic and would not go anywhere from that point. I was stuck on the highway now with oncoming traffic and idiots would not stop. Of course the cars that were in the lane that I was in had no choice but the other two lanes were not stopping until somebody offered to push me across the other lanes to a parking lot. All I can say is God Bless my mailman as he is the one that actually pushed me...

I was stopped at an intersection & the transmission lights went out, the knob froze & the car would not move. I was stuck there for 45 minutes before it decided to start & go into gear. The readouts on the dashboard kept flashing Service shifter,Service transmission,Service airbags, parking brake unavailable, ACC unavailable the tachometer & speedometer & heat & gas gauges were going to the top then dropping back to zero. This is not the first time the vehicle has acted up. When I have been driving on the Highway the transmission has acted as though it could not shift. I would press the gas & the tachometer would go up over 3000 but the speed would not go over 35mph. This problem has been ongoing since October 2022. Getting more frequent as time goes by. I have had it into Tacoma Dodge/Chrysler several times & they keep telling...

More often than not, At roughly 17, 25, and 35 MPH, the transmission will disengage to shift, take its time to get into the gear it needs, and clicks into gear very rough. When this happens it is hard enough to slam you back into the seat, which has caused me to swerve pretty bad. I have taken it to a dealership, and they say its a known issue and the only "remedy" is to update the vehicle, but it wont actually fix it, it will keep on happening.

The car struggles to shift from 1st to 2nd due to a software issue with the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The software has been flashed multiple times, but the issue persists. When the vehicle struggles to shift gears, it stops accelerating and jerks into the next gear with great force. This causes the car and passengers to jolt. I have almost been hit multiple times when this happens when crossing lanes of traffic or when another car is behind me and the car suddenly jolts. This happens anywhere from a couple of times a day to a couple of times a week. The issue is more prominent around the speeds of 22 to 30.

For MANY years we've struggled with hard shifting by transmission. When brought to dealer, they couldn't find anything wrong. We also complained about a continuous ticking sound from dashboard when vehicle was turned off. It lasts for several minutes. We are now experiencing brake pedal issues where brake pedal fights against the foot when trying to push it down...and uncalled for instances of windows auto lowering. Only now am I learning that there have been several recalls for these items and we've never been informed. When looking up our VIN for recalls, the site say we have "0" unfixed recall items, even though we've never been informed of the recalls.

The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH and approaching a stop, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact stated that the “Shift to Park to Restart” message was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact shifted the vehicle to park and restarted the vehicle; however, the START/STOP warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the infotainment system became inoperable however, the vehicle operated as needed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and both batteries were replaced; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that no failure was found. The manufacturer provided no additional assistance. The failure mileage was 58,000.

Vehicle will stall unexpectedly while driving

Losing power like the vehicle is in limp mode. Flashes the “service lights” for multiple things including shifter, airbags, breaking system, etc. it has set the park break while in motion as well. When a computer is attached is brings up can c bus codes and implausible assisted driving codes. Also will not go into reverse when this is happening. Sometimes the shifter doesn’t work either.

When it shifts or shifts too early, it makes a loud noise from the transmission.

The van began to run rough in the mornings when I first started up. I initially thought a tire was flat. But all tires were fine. It did this several mornings but then would begin driving smoothly as normal about 2-3 minutes after the drive started. A little less than two weeks later the check engine light came on for the first time. It ran roughly but lasted a little longer; maybe 5 minutes. The check engine light would go off. It did this a couple of times. The third time, the check engine light came on and started blinking. Then maybe 20 minutes into the drive the van began to overheat. I turned on the heat and the gauge went down to normal right away and drove as usual. The check engine light stopped blinking but stayed on. No problems for the rest of the hour-long drive. The next...

Since buying our Pacifica it would shift really hard and shake the car. Upon taking it into the dealer they said it was a common problem and there’s nothing they could do for it. Now, with only 64,000 we have a broken head gasket. There are many complaints of this online right around this mileage and it should definitely be recalled.

I bought this Pacifica used 2 months ago and was told there were no issues with it by Carvana. During this time frame I have taken it to 2 mechanics to have it looked at for running rough. Was told it was my fuel sensor needing replaced. We tried replacing that and less than a week later my transmission is now saying Gear 2 incorrect ratio. I have put approximately 6000 miles on it in a 2 month period. The vehicle only has 61050 miles on it. The transmission acts like it is slipping when I’m trying to drive it or other times it will jerk really bad which was mentioned to both mechanics when they looked at it.

Purchased from Mt. Ephraim Dodge in Mt Ephraim NJ on Dec 14, 2021. Have try to get them to look at engine/transmission problem at least 7 times always with a can't find the problem, No updates , No help today , Transmission guy out sick, transmission guy Quit.!!! Car bucks and jolts with NO warning engine races , Tach goes up to 3-4 K RPM. This saturday was the worst ever . The ar violently bucked and banged the engine reved up and Stoped moving in traffic. I let it coast to the sde of the road and shut it off. After about 5 mins i restarted the car and the check engine light came on but the engine only raced in Drive not moving forward. I manually swiched the control to (L ) low and was able to get it home at about 5 MPH

This van has had a problem with shifting at low speeds since it was new but has been getting worse. When accelerating and especially under a load or heavy acceleration 4th into 5th??, it will suddenly jerk. I had recently experienced a heavy jerk and it felt like I lost my rear axle. I also experience heavier jerks when going down hilI and coasting. In all instances it occurs when starting from stop. It started around once/twice a week and now it happens 15-20 times a week. I currently have 96k miles on it. I am fearful this may end up being a catastrophic failure so I am no longer ignoring it and have scheduled a service appointment. I've asked at previous service trips about there being a recall but there have been none. I also do not see any indicator lights when this occurs.

This van has had a bad problem with shifting at low speeds since it was new but getting worse and worse by the day. Dealers do not know what is wrong with it. When accelerating it will miss gears and suddenly catch and jolt the vehicle forward. When that happens there is a really loud bang from the transmission. It feels like someone rear ended me going 30 mph. Sometimes the check engine light comes on and then goes off. Other times it doesn't. This has almost caused numerous accidents as it is completely unexpected as to when and where it happens. It started around once/twice a week and now it happens 15-20 times a week and the vehicle only has 70k miles on it. There is no way to check the transmission fluid as it is a sealed system. Online I have read literally hundreds of owners experiencing the...

Around 79k miles the car began hesitating and rough idling. From the OBDII sensor: Error Code P0301: Cylinder 1 misfire detected

Lost transmission momentarily when accelerating. Engine reved, but no response.from transmission. Then transmission re-engaged with a jerk strong enough to set me back in my seat. This has happened numerous times but there is no pattern as to when it will happen. The dealership says they can't duplicate the complaint so I'm stuck with a problem that will one day leave me stranded on the side of the road. Transmission issues have plagued the 2017 -2023 Pacificas yet no action from Chrysler.

When driving my car will suddenly stall like it’s trying to change gears and jerks back pretty bad when it speeds back up. I e taken it to the dealership a few times and they said it’s normal. It seems to be getting more and more often. I also have bubbled paint on the hood of my car.

Intermittently the van when turned on has all error lights come on and will not shift into reverse. The sliding door will not close or open. Then the engine will loose power when finally getting the van to start and drive. All error lights go off after the van runs for a little while.

Started the vehicle, no prior issues. The check engine light came on, code was P0306. Cylinder 6 misfire. Found out the head gasket blew causing coolant to get into the cylinder. I had literally ZERO issues, no overheating, etc...I bought the car brand new in '17 and has around 85k miles. This is insane for the head gasket to fail this early.

This vehicle like so many others have many problems with low miles! My van less than 70k mile and has a major oil leak! Chrysler will just give you the run around and you are stuck fixing it !! They know these split engine cars are junk and they left it to us consumer to fix it ! This should be a class action lawsuit because it’s way too many of us owners out here experiencing the same problems

P3 Misfire resulting in replacing coil packs, spark plugs, and head gasket. We are moving toward head or engine replacement like so many other people are but nobody is listening. Please help. Also, have a transmission that sometimes feels like you left a piece of the car after you leave from a stop.

Vehicle unexpectedly bucks and jerks when accelerating either from a complete stop or just keeping speed. This happens with no brake warning lights to those around you. It is a common issue experienced by many 2017 Pacifica van owners and has nearly caused an accident many times. Especially when trying to merge onto highways because the vehicle unexpectedly slows and bucks like your riding a bull and it is trying to throw you off. There is no way to predict exactly when this will happen in order to avoid a potential accident. Chrysler knows about the issue but refuses to acknowledge it.

Known issue for 2017 Chrysler Pacifica should be eligible for recall. Failing head gasket around 60k miles, just as the vehicle is out of power train warranty. The system is leaking coolant into the engine, causing a fume-y smell to fill our garage when started, and a boiling/bubbling sound can be heard during idle. Confirmed the issue with an independent service center. The manufacturer won't do anything for us because the problem was not diagnosed while under warranty, however the issue has been difficult to diagnose because it could have been several other things. The check engine light comes on and the vehicle misfires upon starting.

Jerks when switching in low gears. This has now started after my car turns off while in idel mode. And my car is having trouble starting. I have no idea when islt might not want to start. I dont hear the engine wanting to trun over or any clicking. There is no noise comming from the car. Then when i try again it will start on the second time. This does not happen evey time I go to start it. I did have the battery tested and it was fine.