2021 CHRYSLER PACIFICA Engine Problems

On January 14, 2026 while driving on highway fast lane warning light came on that engine was going to shut off and withing a few minutes it did. I managed to pull over off the freeway before engine completely shut off. Turned everything off and waited about five minutes and turned car back on. Car ran with engine warning lights on. Took it to Carl Burger Dodge but they could not check in the car due to an abundance of work. Asked that I make an appointment later. On January 26, 2026 while driving on the highway same thing happened, warning light came on that engine was going to shut off, pulled over from fast lane to side of busy highway and stopped. Turned everything off and waited for about five minutes and started car again with car warning lights on. Drove it that day. Later in the day parked...

I am reporting a safety defect involving my 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The vehicle experiences repeated hybrid system failures, including “system charging” errors, rapid battery depletion from full to zero within minutes, and vehicle stalling. These failures have occurred multiple times, even after dealership repair attempts. The vehicle has stalled and been towed more than once, most recently on September 26, 2025. Now, today, January 20, 2026, the vehicle has once again stalled and will have to be towed for the third time since purchasing in August 2024. This has left us stranded once again. This is a serious safety concern, especially given the risk of stalling while driving. I transport elderly family members and depend on this vehicle for medical appointments. I am requesting NHTSA document this issue and review whether this represents a broader safety defect.

On [XXX] while driving my vehicle on the fast lane of the freeway the warning came on that the vehicle was going to shut down soon. I was able to pull over to the slow lane and immediately exit the freeway and as I was exiting the freeway the vehicle completely shut down. I was able to move the car to park in a safe area on the street with what little power it had. Shut the vehicle down and contemplated what to do. I waited for a few minutes and then turned the engine on and it drove but the orange engine light was still on. I slowly drove it to the Carl Burger Dodge dealership in La Mesa, CA using side streets, avoiding the freeway, approximately 10 miles distance. They would not take my car in for service due to their back log and asked for I to...

While driving down the highway at 70 miles per hour ater driving 2.5 hours our 2021 Pacifica hybrid minivan flashed a warning on the vehicles display saying approximately "Warning Engine Shutting Down". The engine immediately shut down in the middle of the highway and we were forced to coast off the highway to the shoulder. The engine warning light came on. We turned the car off for a few minutes and proceeded to start the engine. The engine warning light was still on, but the other message was gone. We attempted to drive towards our destination and approximately 30 minutes later the same thing happened again. We tried one more time since we were several hours from home and within 30 minutes the vehicle had the same issue. At that point we decided to try to get home. We drove the vehicle 15-20 mins at a time and then exited...

The ESS battery fails constantly and manufacturer will not find problem and just replaces battery. When the ESS battery fails it drains the main battery which then leaves the driver and its occupants at risk of being stranded. The transmission is an electronic transmission and if the battery fails while driving that could compromise the occupants also. We have had to have the battery replace twice and a third time tomorrow 9/21 if the dealership will "fit" us in. The ESS system will tell you it is unavailable but only after the battery has failed.

While driving my vehicle soon after purchase I notice an engine light on along with a huge fan noise from under the hood. Addressed the issue with dealer they diagnosed the car and so called fixed the issue. about a month ago I’m driving the car on a residential street and noticed the car jerking loud fan noise and the whole dashboard light up saying service hybrid service engine and transmission.. Suddenly the engine stops in moving traffic. The vehicle windshield wipers cut on by themselves and the car stayed in park.. tow the vehicle to the dealer using only a dolly tow truck due to vehicle unable to be placed in neutral. Dealer calls to give update and noted no codes were stored and there is currently no issue with vehicle..He suggested to keep the vehicle longer to see if the problem returns. I’m afraid the electrical issue that...

When driving our van from Nashville to Memphis, we were 2 hours from home when we received an on screen alert stating “Stop Safely - vehicle will shut off soon”. This was in a construction area with little to no shoulders to pull the vehicle over as power loss began to occur. We contacted Chrysler for help but the nearest dealership told us the earliest they could see the vehicle was 3 weeks from Tuesday. I had 3 children in the car ages [XXX}. A web search for this shows how prevalent this issue is with several blogs and Reddit forums indicating a problem. The NHTSA even has an open investigation into this specific issue. Apparently the only fix is a full transmission replacement, but we have no assurance from Chrysler that will happen and now our van is left 3 hours away in Memphis as we had no choice...

On [XXX], I was driving uphill on the interstate at around 70 mph on gas power (hybrid battery was discharged) and warning came up "Stop Safely Vehicle Will Shut Down Soon" and lost power (Limp mode). I was able to move safely to the shoulder, but with 5 passengers (3 young kids) and a dog and a full load of camping gear it was a bit nervewracking. Could not get the car started again (stayed in limp mode) and used an OBDII scanner I had which popped up error code (P0A43 - "intermittent issue with the drive motor "A" position sensor"). The vehicle was towed to the dealer ( 4 hours from home) and after a few days they said the vehicle was fixed and I pushed for them to test drive it on the interstate. Was returned with this comment: " FOUND CODES FOR DRIVE MOTOR "A" POSITION SENSOR...

Hard shifting. Shifting then RPMs dropping to 1000 and not accelerating when hitting gas.

While driving 70MPH on the expressway the dash randomly sent a message saying “Pull over vehicle shutting off” and then it put itself into limp mode. Thankfully we were able to coast to the small shoulder and put on our hazards. This happened at 2am with 4 kids in the car. Nothing in the car would work, it wouldn’t turn on, shift, nothing. We had to sit on the side of the expressway for hours waiting for a tow. While waiting it had the check engine light on, limp mode light, and messages to service hybrid system & plug in battery for reconditioning. It is waiting to be serviced, but there is a very limited amount of techs that will service it due to being a hybrid.

Symptoms exactly as described in Safety Recall 03A / NHTSA 23V-010. Warning came onto dash with very little time to get to side of road from highway driving before engine fully shut down. Picture of dash after warning attached. Extremely dangerous situation, particularly for a known issue as described in the recall and NHTSA notices above. Currently vehicle is at dealer pending confirmation / diagnostics.

The contact owns a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating with the accelerator pedal depressed. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the rocker arm, lifters, and the right intake camshaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to parts not being available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 101,000.

Driving on freeway at 70 mph clear conditions 65degree weather. Warning light said to stop safely engine would shut down soon. Pulled over safely, waited, restarted. Drove another 10 miles, same error message, car lost power.

We noticed our van having issues getting stuck in gear and then jerking to get out of the gear. After doing further research it seems to be a common issue in 2021 Pacifica vans. The next issue is electrical. Our van rear door opens if we are too close to it with the keys and now the sliding door will not open. They just fixed a recall regarding the entertainment system and back up camera. The entertainment system is still having issues. When we start the car up the system will reboot itself.

While driving home with my children in the vehicle. When coming to a turn, the vehicle completely turned off without warning while I was doing about 35 MPh.

Hello, we recently had an oil change on our 3.6 liter chrysler minivan. The engine seized and failed shortly after. The oil cap on oil filter housing had a part come off and plug the oil channel, resulting in engine failure. The car is currently at a Chrysler dealer with noone accepting responsibility.

On 12/20/2024 my wife was driving about 20mph on a road and with no warning lights or messages the vehicle completely shut down. Nothing would work on the vehicle. She could not even put my hazard lights on or put the vehicle in neutral to move out of the roadway. The vehicle blocked traffic for an hour. It was fortunate the car behind did not hit our vehicle and also that my children were not in the car with her. The police assisted in redirecting traffic around the vehicle but they also were unable to get anything working. A tow truck towed to the dealership to assess what's going on. There was absolutely no warnings or previous instances or issues which makes this extremely dangerous. At only 20mph the car still significantly jerked when it came to an abrupt halt.

The check engine light is on with and error code of P0E15 From what I am reading on the web a LOT of people are having/have had this problem. The error code came up during windshield repair and recalibration. The technician advised this has been an ongoing problem and this error keeps coming up even after being cleared.

The Start/Stop function ceased to function and illuminated a dash light indicating a malfunction. It started on October 3, 2024, when warm starting the vehicle in a store parking lot. The dash light illuminates every time the vehicle is started. Possible No Start while vehicle is waiting in the turn lane of an intersection.

My wife was driving driving the vehicle on October 21st, 2024. She was shifting from Park to Drive just after our children got out of the vehicle in the school parking lot when the whole vehicle froze up and the dashboard lite up with all error lights including the engine light. It was flashing "Service Hybrid Battery System", "Service Transmission", "Turn off parking brake" and the Vehicle began to power cycle on and off, then on with gas motor, then on with electric motor. The vehicle could not be powered off and it could not be shifted out of gear and the parking brake could not be disengaged. The tow truck had to drag our Pacifica onto the flatbed while it continued to turn on and off and cycle through the engine and hybrid system. This vehicle has 36,000 miles and just had the transmission replaced under the "Recall for...

The cylinder 1 misfires and there are a lot of metal shavings in the oil. Engine needs replacing. Under 55k miles

Two things: my auto start/stop often shuts off, and the display reads: "Auto stop/start is disabled/hood open," though it's not. I also often get a "Service Stop/Start system" notification and the car will require a restart before it will allow me to shift it back into gear and turn off parking brake.

WHEN DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AT SPEEDS OF 75 MPH. WE RECEIVED A MESSAGE TELLING US TO "SAFELY STOP VEHICLE WILL SHUT OFF SOON". AT THAT POINT OUR VEHICLE BEGAN TO SLOW DRAMATICALLY AS WE ATTEMPTED TO SHIFT LANES TO GET TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. WE THEN HAD TO SIT ON THE SIDE OF THE INTERSTATE, UNABLE TO MOVE, WITH THREE CHILDREN IN THE CAR FOR ALMOST AN HOUR BEFORE THE VEHICLE ALLOWED US TO MOVE IT AT A SNAILS PACE THROUGH THE DITCH AND TO A ROAD TRAVELLING PARALLEL TO THE INTERSTATE. ONCE, PARKED ON THE SIDE OF THIS LESS DANGEROUS ROAD WE SAT FOR ANOTHER 3 HOURS FOR A TOW TRUCK, MANAGED TO HAVE THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE DEALER WHICH IS INDICATING THAT THEY DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THE PROBLEM IS AND ARE REPLACING THE HYBRID BATTERY IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIX IT. WE'VE...

The battery coolant is leaking from the rear of the vehicle

This is a follow up to an earlier submission (NHTSA Tracking Number 11591550). After the initial incident, the dealership replaced the hybrid battery on the vehicle. A month later, yesterday, while driving the vehicle on the interstate, I again received the dreaded, "Stop Safely, Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon" warning indicator and the car lost all power about 30 seconds later. Thankfully, I was on an offramp and was able to stop safely. Had I been traveling at full speed in the carpool lane, it could have been very dangerous. The van is now at the dealership for repair, and I hope they fix it for real this time. This is an extremely dangerous situation, with vehicles dying while going full speed.

Vehicle stopped running on the interstate [XXX] [XXX]. Barely ran with electric motor about 7 miles an hour. Took it to Dick Hanna Chrysler July 9, 2020 in Vancouver Washington and they did a software update recall 03A? On [XXX] The car stopped running again on the interstate. Took it to the same dealer and now they tell me the power inverter module Needs to be replaced. The part is not available. It is dangerous for a vehicle to stop running, especially on a high speed interstate. No timeframe as to when problem will be solved. Car still at the dealer as of today, July 23 INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I purchased my vehicle from AutoNation Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM Spring - 21027 I-45, Spring, TX 77388 on or about April 15, 2021. I began having trouble with the electric/gas drivetrain around January 30 of 2023. The vehicle lost all power, as well as throttle and proper braking response. I brought my vehicle back to Helfman Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM FIAT at 7720 Katy Fwy A, Houston, TX 77024 for repairs on February 6, 2023. The repairs performed seemed to have worked until [XXX]. The most recent event on [XXX] my Pacifica Hybrid lost all power on the highway. While attempting to pull the vehicle off of the highway it abruptly entered its parking gear at 5mph, almost causing a rear end collision from the semi tractor trailer following behind us. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Driving the vehicle on the interstate, and the vehicle suddenly lost power and had a warning that said "Stop Safely, Vehicle will shut off soon". However, we were in a construction zone and unable to stop on the interstate causing many vehicles to nearly crash into us. I understand we had previously had a recall worked that simply added this warning, but did not fix the issue. This warning is not a safe solution. It is still very dangerous for your vehicle to suddenly drop to 15mph at highway speeds. We are in the process of having the dealer confirm the issue.

The engine stopped responding in a safe manner and we were not able to maintain safe speeds along a highway. While traveling on the highway in a busy, high-speed merge area at night, I received a warning "Stop Safely Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon." I was far from a safe pull off location along a highway with sound barriers on all sides and no way to walk away from the highway. I made my way to the shoulder. Seeing that I was not in a safe location for me and the other car passengers, I drove very slowly with my hazards on until I could exit the highway. There was not a safe shoulder available for much of the distance and the car was unable to go faster than about 30 miles per hour at its peak. This max speed dropped gradually to close to 10 mph. The engine barely...

While driving at full speed on an interstate, I received the message, "Stop Safely, Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon." The van then lost power, and I was able to pull over safely (thankfully!). After about 15 minutes, the van restarted, and I made it about 10 miles until it happened again. After two more shut-downs, I was able to get the van to a dealership, where it has been sitting undiagnosed for over a week now.

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.

My fuel line was rubbing against a part of the engine and leaked. My mechanic said the fuel line was unsupported causing the rubbing and didn’t have shielding/padding to protect it.

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.

When at a red light or while driving car throws its self into park and then powers off immediately and this isn’t safe with my children in the car while drive it’s also happened while driving during traffic car just throws its self into park and powers off

I was traveling at highway speed. The hybrid was utilizing mostly the battery. I needed to accelerate to the speed of those around me. The van switched from just battery to utilizing battery and gas power. About a minute after it switched, the engine completely shut off. A warning flashed up on the dash display to “Stop safely Vehicle will shut off soon”. The engine shut off. I could no longer use the gas, the only thing I could do was coast to a stop. This was very terrifying because I was traveling at such a high speed on the interstate. I immediately put on my hazards and coasted to a stop. This was harmful to others on the interstate because they had to slow down behind me or get around me. Eventually when I was slow enough, I managed to coast onto the shoulder and come to a complete...

The vehicle stalled on the freeway while traveling 75 mph in the HOV lane. After the engine shut off, I recalled an error message on the dash that stated, "Motive power will stop and pull over quickly.” I needed to take evasive action to bring the vehicle to the side of the 5 freeway. I could not restart the engine in Neutral while the car was in motion. The car showed a charging error on the first and second attempted restart on the side of the road with the transmission in Park. After letting the vehicle sit for a few minutes, I successfully restarted the engine, but the dash continued showing an illuminated malfunction indicator lamp (MIL). We were traveling at 75 mph in the HOV lane (lane #1) when the vehicle engine cut off without warning. Once the engine was off, I saw a warning on the instrument cluster...

Without any prior warning or predisposing symptoms, my vehicle lost all power when I was driving in the carpool lane at 70 miles per hour. I had to "coast" across 5 lanes of freeway and come to stop in the emergency lane. When I applied the brakes I had no power to brakes which made the car skid violently. I could have lost control because I was not expecting that secondary issue. The traction conrtol may have been triggered causing the car to overreact. The dashboard lights and "d" on my gear shifter were all flashing. I turned the car off and allowed it to sit for a few moments. I turned the car on again and nothing happened. I turned it off a second time and it turned on, went into drive and I was able to drive the remaining 5 miles home without incicent. I have already completed...

While driving early in morning on local highway (70mph speed limit), car flashed "Service Charging System" shut off the engine and power to the vehicle including acceleration, and check engline light illuminated. Thankfully early hours made it possible to drift to side of road to put car in park. Engine light illuminated dash and dash flashed "shift to P to start." Car would not shut off after pressing the start button nor depressing the break either (hazards were engaged at this point). Hazards had to be shut off in order to completely shut off the vehicle to restart it. Dangerous on major highway with no lights or hazards on side of road. 25 degrees outside. This is the Second time this has occurred to this vehicle. The last time occurred on 1/20/2023 the exact same way shutting off power and engine of the car on the same local highway with...

My new 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Minivan was repaired under the 03a recall on 3/2023. It had another loss of motive power, the same issue that was supposed to be fixed under the 03a recall. The car warned me that it would shutoff soon in the visual display and to move to a safe area. It did shut down immediately. I attempted to restart it several times. After many times it did start and the transmission light remained illuminated. I was driving on the highway at the time and blocking traffic. It's unsafe for the car to shut off randomly. This is unacceptable and unsafe. I paid for a brand new, safe, functioning car. This is a serious problem and is dangerous for my family. I feel unsafe driving a car that will shut off at random times. This has already been repaired once and remains a problem. I need...

Chrysler calls for the oil filter housing to be tightened to 18 ft/lbs. Google shows many people online claiming that this is too much; that hand tight or 11-12 ft/lbs is sufficient, and that the oil filter housing is likely to break if tightened to the factory specs. I figure the manufacturer knows best, and tightened the oil filter housing to 18 ft/lbs. The housing is under the intake manifold, and the trough in the V of the engine plus the shields under the car hid the resulting leak until I was on the highway. When I got on the highway, I found I was laying down a smokescreen that obscured every lane of eastbound I-44. The generator light came on as oil caused the belts to slip; I am very lucky that the car did not catch fire. I left a solid line of oil on the road to...

My vehicle stopped while driving. I was able to pull of the road and get towed to the dealer 11/1/23. They performed the recall, I left the dealer 11/21/23 and while driving my van back to the house, I had the same thing happen. The error message lit up and the car slowed down til it would no longer move. I do not feel safe in this vehicle, as this is the second time it has happened in a month, and the recall was taken care of the day I picked it up.

While driving 70 mph on the highway with my three children in the car, my engine suddenly and without warning, shut off. I had to coast over to the shoulder and wait for help. The dash displayed the warning "service charging system" and would not let me put the car in drive. I was VERY lucky that there weren't any cars around me when my acceleration suddenly stopped so I was able to get over on the highway. The car stalled in an unsafe place and left my children and me at risk of being hit from behind while waiting for help. I got the car to the dealer and they have informed me that this was caused by total transmission failure. This was a HIGHLY unsafe situation and it could have ended much worse for my family, and those in vehicles around us!

My car was at the dealership for the 03A recall repair for a full month in April of 2023. Since the recall was supposedly fixed my car has shut down unexpectedly while driving 12 times. Each of those times I was driving with my two toddlers in the vehicle. I will be driving on the highway and the car will show a message that "the engine will shut off soon, pull over safely" but will immediately shut down to where I'm just coasting and have to pull over on the shoulder of the highway. Thankfully I've had access to a shoulder every time it's happened so far but it's extremely unsafe and dangerous. There doesn't seem to be a reason for it. I've stopped charging the battery and have only been using gas because of this issue but it still happens. It also occurs when the vehicle is stopped on...

Chrysler recall 03A is installed on my pacifica hybrid. Since then, the past two times the van has been driven at highway speed, it has suddenly notified me that vehicle shutdown is imminenent and put the vehicle into limp mode. In both cases, turning the car off and on again allowed normal operation, with the check engine light locked in. The first time the code was P0A43, to be determined what the code is for this most recent event.

Was driving at 72-74mph on Dallas North Tollway on Oct 6th. Vehicle is a Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid 2021 model - Limited Plug in Hybrid trim. Battery charge was 2% (less than 1 mile range) Fuel was 95% showing 395 miles of range left After the battery depletes, the vehicle is supposed to switch over into ICE mode (Gas engine kicks on) Car was running only on Electric power and when the battery hit 0%, the car stalled on the highway and showed multiple warning lights Service Hybrid Electric System Charge system not available EBD2 Engine Malfuction Transmission Temperature Automatic Transmission Fluid overheating Check Engine light Car still had power (power steering and brakes working) but lost all propulsion suddenly Luckily i was able to safely pull over on the shoulder Turned car off and on and still had same warning lights and car's engine would not start Finally waited 15...

While driving my 2021 Chrysler Pacifica the vehicle stalled while going through an intersection. There was no warning lights on the dashboard or any indication that the vehicle was about to stall. The van had to come to a complete stop put in park and then restarted before I can get out of the intersection. This was highly unsafe as I have small children in the car. I took the vehicle back to the dealership I bought it from and they cannot find anything wrong with the car. This is very frustrating and highly unsafe.

The most concerning and potentially dangerous issue I’m continuing to have with this vehicle is a random, complete shutdown of all engine/battery power. So far this has only happened while driving at a consistent high-speed on a freeway. A warning comes on the center display that says “Stop Safely. Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon.” There is still power steering and hazard lights, but ZERO motor power, neither gas nor electric. I am forced to glide to a stop. If I turn off the ignition, open the door to reset everything, close the door, let the vehicle sit for a minute, when I restart it (so far anyway) everything is back to normal - with the exception of a “Check Engine” light on the display. This first occurred in April of 2023. I subsequently learned there was a recall on the vehicle for this exact problem. The vehicle was taken to...

My 2021 Chrysler Pacifica's engine shut down while were driving. A warning popped up on our dashboard that the engine was about to shut down so we should safely pull over. There was very little time to pull over before the engine completely shut off. I estimate maybe 10 - 20 seconds. This started to happen when we were 3 hours from home. The first time we were on a side street and were able to pull over quickly. The next couple of times we were on faster roads 45-50 mph with other cars around. Fortunately we did not have an accident but it endangered us and the vehicles following us. It was a very close call one time when we had to pull over quickly and we were in the left lane of two lanes of traffic. The car is now at the dealer and will be there for...

In May when I was traveling to the airport, my 2021 Pacifica Hybrid dash suddenly gave a warning that my engine was going to stop and I should pull over. I did pull over and turned off car. I waited for 30-60 seconds and restarted car and continued the few miles to airport so I could catch my flight while check engine light was on. I called dealership and made an appointment for when I returned. The same scenario with message and resultant engine light happened on my way home. When I took the vehicle in I was told it was a software update and they did that and returned the vehicle. Two days later I had just gotten on the interstate, 1/2-1 mile from the entrance, I was going 70+ mph when the light came on and I had to manuever 3 lanes of high speed traffic to get...

Recalls 23V-010 and FCA campaign Z76 was completed on 7/11/23. On 7/13/23 check engine light and turtle warning light (limp mode) was illuminated and vehicle will either not move at all or move only 5mph. This happened without warning and could have left me in a dangerous location in lanes of traffic. Vehicle has only 25,000 miles and is under OEM warranty.