"if you're used to an acura or honda or toyota and must have reliability every day, think twice."
You've been entranced by the mantra that foreign cars are perfect. Don't worry, reality will come easily. You must not be reading the Accord and Camry forums, among others.
well 1st time got the new radio head unit replaced (basically the radio part in the dash) with the suggested part number. That solved about 95% of the problem and only certain cds had static when on the treble was at a peak point.
well listening to books on CD was terrible. sounded like static all the time like a crackle every so often.
Got the new amp put in and the problem is now GONE !!! wow.. the CD music issue is also GONE. so looks like you need both the radio and amp replaced. FYI
I did notice the sound quality is not as good. Not a big difference just not as bright sounding. I am sure due to the filtering of the signal to keep it from clipping when going into the amplifier.
My '04 Pacifica has 12,000 trouble-free miles on it, and I am sorry for the problems listed on this board, but we are all the better for the opportunity to discuss our experiences...
Put my vote in the "yes, I would do it again " column.....
Thanks for your honest and practical approach and sharing your experience with your Pac. I am currently doing the "research" on potential new car choices - The Pacifica being one of those possible choices. This will be my first new car purchase in the last 20 years - last 4 cars were purchased used and I had good luck with repairs/performance. Being a bit anxious, I have perused Consumer Reports, Edmunds, Kbb, etc. and was nearly to the point of thinking I may be making a mistake even considering the Pac. Then, I came upon your message....While there is no guarantee in life except death and taxes, you make very good points in that most satisfied owners may not be part of this forum - though I think it's a great way to share info and at least get help on issues. Your experiences helped me get back to center and realize that I just need to take ALL the information and then boil down to what I want in a vehicle, take the test drives, consider the price and just do it! Thanks for sharing - my anxiety level is back down to it's "normal" state.
What is the recommended method for cleaning the reflective plastic over the gauges? Mine has gotten a little foggy and makes all the white characters appear to have halos. Also it makes the GPS maps a little less clear.
I am afraid of using just anything on that plastic for fear of messing up the reflective coating that is there. Also, I don't want to use something too strong that might etch the plastic.
Yes, we just purchased a 2005 FWD with leather and we would always smell something bad when first getting into the car. Smelled the seatbelts and that is it. Have not contacted dealer yet. Has anybody else had this problem resolved
Has anyone that was getting such horrible gas mileage found a solution. My '05 AWD touring with 1500 miles on it gets 9 miles to the gallon on a good day. I use premium gas. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I also have not resolved the seat belt issue...my dealer is working on it.
Paul, before you clean them, try running the defroster for a while at a warm temperature. That will "heat" the dashboard and should help dissipate any humidity in the gauge cluster. For cleaning, I use a light spritz of good ol' Windex and a cotton cloth on my Ram. No scratches after 8+ years.
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Thanks for the suggestion. I think it is more like a haze rather than a humidity problem. It reminds me more of the film that shows up on the inside of the windshield in the summer. All of the plastics exude gases while sitting in the sun, and they get deposited on the glass. That's the kinds of haze we are talking about, but I will try the defroster. I have nothing to lose!
Ok, we knew when buying our 2005 Pacifica, there were some problems early on. That is why we bought an 05 and one w/a production date of 6/04. But I am tired of bringing this car to the shop. This week will be the third time and we have 1100 miles on it.
First it was a terrible squeal coming from the engine compartment when you hit 65+ MPH. Then this noise started on a cold start when you turned on the vehicle. After doing some research found that this has been a common problem and Chrysler is replacing the existing belt with one from Mercedes. Problem being, they are on back order for 30 days. So I drive down the road in my new car, and people hear me coming long before they ever see me. This is kind of embarrassing since there are not plates on the darn thing yet. But for this trip to the dealer, they had my car for two days and me in a rental.
Then once I picked up the car, from the front left fender I was hearing a flapping noise. Again, did my research and found this too to be a problem. Apparently there is a TSB on this of 2301703 that came out 6/13/03. Had some Due Bill work to be done so I asked them about this. Said that they were able to reproduce the noise and they added some "vinyl foam tape." I knew this would last all of five minutes and sure enough, now it flaps even worse going down the freeway. Come on, tape is not going to hold a flap under the fender on...
Asked them about the lousy FM reception and "so they say," they needed to "clean a poor ground in the wiring harness." No difference as far as I'm concerned with the reception. But for this my car was in the shop for three days. Driving around a purple PT Cruiser is not my idea of a replacement to my much larger Pacifica.
So now it is time to yet again make another appointment for my new car. Yes, I am thankful that it is not more of a "mechanical" problem, but you can loose your mind driving down the road with all the whistles, flapping, & clanking noises this car is making right now.
PS: I've seen all the debates going back and forth on is this a good car or not. And even though we have been in the shop a lot lately, I would not change our decision to have purchased this car. It really really has a lot of great things going for it.
Had my 2004 repaired last week and the smell is gone. They removed the side pillars and the defective foam and replaced both the foam and seatbelts. All is ok now. Although I was concerned about having them remove the interior parts I am happy I had it done. They did a good job at my local dealer.
I think you're only supposed to use soap and water to clean the gauge covers. However, if it looks like a halo around the lights, as you mentioned, then I would recommend, after cleaning, to slip a "silica gel" packet (which comes with most new shoes - says "Do not eat" on it) inside the cluster. It sounds like you may have condensation in the gauge cluster, and this stuff "soaks up" humidity in the air and traps it inside the gel crystals.
Hi, My husband and I are considering a 2005 FWD Pacifica. I'm reading the message boards to get a feel for what issues people are having. Please forgive me if this is an ignorant question but what is a TSB?
Yup, TSB stands for Technical Service Bulletin. A TSB is a repair or procedure the manufacturer will issue to dealers to correct a problem that appears on a substantial percentage of that vehicle. They should not be confused with recalls - TSB repairs are not free.
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ummm TSBs while under warranty ARE repaired FREE. but TSBs are not mandatory repairs. Its up to the dealer to decide if the TSB applies ... i have had 5 or 6 TSBs done all free.
Yepp that is plain old dirt on the plastic is my take... I use a stuff called PLEXUS (great for any plastic or Lexan type surface( you find it at most airline supply places online. it works great and bonds with the plastic to build a antistatic surface.
Plexus is the only thing approved for the windshield of the Stealth Bomber from what I hear. works great on the fake wood trim as well as it has a plastic clear coat over the wood laminate.
Has anybody else had problems with the narrow black strip of rubber that goes from top of window down to bottom on the 2nd row windows? I bought a 2005 Pacifica in July and it looks like it is now discolored.
TSBs are only free if it's for a warranted part and the manufacturer accepts responsibility. Many TSBs are intended to adjust or correct abnormal situations in "wear" parts. I've paid for plenty of TSB repairs that were addressing conditions that were not covered by warranty - the idea of the TSB itself is to make the technicians aware of problems that may but not necessarily do exist.
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Do you have any more information on the squealing belt replacement...like a TSB? My '05 AWD is currently in for the same problem...naturally they can't duplicate it. Part # or anything would be appreciated.
Kind of annoying, isn't it??? Well our car was in the shop initially on 9/1 & this is what was written on our repair order: "Cleaned belt & pully's, noise likely to return, ordered belt. Updated belt coming out in approx 30 days." From what my advisor said, this is a TSB, but I don't have the number. Also that this is a common problem.
Initially the belt would squeal when I got to 65+ but then it started upon a cold start. Now it just squeals any time it wants to. It is really annoying. The initial advisor said they were going to replace it with a belt manufactored by Mercedes. I have since had the car back to the shop (9/16) for the fender rattling and the advisor I was working with this time said that the replacement belt is not working and they are trying to come up with a new fix. He and the mechanic looked into it with Chrysler when the car was there last week. This is what the new work order reads "Checked on S/O belt. S/O order still on order." I have read this to be a problem on another pacifica forum. I hope this helps.
The two dealers I have had our 05 AWD to, have both know about this problem, so I am surprised (well not really) that your dealer does not know about it. I have to say the dealer we bought our car from has a terrible service department. Fortunately the dealer near us, I have been happy with. They have actually fixed the right side fender even thought it was not rattling, as of yet, while the car was in for the left side fender. They have know about every problem I have described and have been fairly proactive to get things resolved. Maybe calling or using another dealer would help you in getting this resolved. It is a common problem. Oh one other thing, I do recall that the first service advisor said that the date our car was produced did not fall under the TSB date, but it was the same problem that the TSB was resolving. Our car has a 6/04 date. Hope this helps!
We too have the thumping noise when we stop. The dealer says that he can't find any problems, but suspects that it is with the AWD. Would you happen to know what the part is that they had to replace on your Pac that required taking out the transmission?
We have had trouble starting our 04 Pacifica when it is sitting on even the slightest decline. It doesn't happen every time, just three times in the past month or so. It does seem to happen more after it has rained. The service team has no idea what it could be. Also, does anyone know what the specific fix is for the rattling / fuzzy sounding speaker? They have replaced two speakers, which didn't work, and now they say that there's nothing further that they can do.
We recently had to have our rotors reconditioned after 27000 miles on our 2004 Pac AWD (which cost us $200+ ... not under warranty). We had to have the sway bar links replaced a few thousand miles back, and are a little suspicious that the service department overtightened the lugnuts and that warped the rotors. Does this sound right? Has anyone else had a similar experience? Any thoughts from anyone in the know? If so, can this be proven? Any info would be appreciated!
I was just perusing various links and stumbled on your question. I don't know if this helps, but I had the same problem with a previous Mitsu Galant that I owned. I found out after going through numerous sets of rotors that all lug nuts were to be HAND TIGHTENED. Unfortunately, hand tightening means longer time and many technicians were using air wrenches instead. After having received this helpful tidbit, I started getting 30,000-40,000 on one set of rotors. Before, I would start having pedal vibrations less than one week after replacement...at that time 1 week equaled about 1000 miles.
My Pacifica is currently at 34000 miles and I am having to replace both front rotors and pads. We took the car in at about 31000 with the problem, they told us the same thing. We also had the same problem replaced with our sway bar. From my past experiences with cars, I do not think they overtightened the lug nuts, but I do believe that chrylser has a design flaw with their front brakes. They should not be going that quickly. Hopefully they will step up to the plate and fix the problem or maybe an aftermarket company will come out with the correct type brake pad that the car needs.
1. Popping noise under hood ... happens when slowing down and braking, especially while turning, or while braking kind of hard.
2. Problems with headphones & remote not working with DVD player. (Intermittent problem)
3. Foam trim panel for sideview mirror mount sticking out.
4. Won't start without giving it gas with the gas pedal.
5. Rattling sound on dash (driver side toward the left side).
6. Wind flapping sound near driver left wheel.
** Took car in immediately because the rear brake lights weren't hooked up. I asked them to look at problem #6 (wind flapping sound) - that was the only problem at the time. They could not duplicate sound and I left it at that.
** Took car in on 8/19 for problems 1, 2, & 3. The only one that was fixed was #3 - they installed new weatherstrip. They ordered a new DVD player, and could not duplicate the popping sound while braking - said they'd look at it again when I brought it back in for the DVD player.
** Took car in on 9/2 to get DVD player installed, and also for problems 1 (popping) & 4 (starting). They still couldn't get it to "pop" while braking. I had to ask if a mechanic could ride with me. I got it to do it easily - imagine that. Also, they installed a flash program for problem #4, but it didn't work (the flash was for my problem, but not specifically for the Pacifica). I left and rescheduled another visit! Amazingly enough, my headphones now don't work AT ALL with the DVD player. Now they think it's a sensor problem and have ordered parts for that, too.
** Car is currently in shop - getting DVD sensor installed. For problem #1 (popping) they are ordering a transfer case and installing it tomorrow. They don't know what to do about problem #4 (starting)!!! Unbelievable. At least it doesn't do this every time.
I haven't even address problem 5 (dash rattle)!! Dread that one!
Is there a number at Chrysler I can call to ask about these other problems, and to vent my frustrations with this 5* dealer that I've been working with? This is my 3rd visit there, and some of my problems are original ones. And, they keep wanting me to drive back and forth and schedule new appointments so they won't have to pay for rental car over the weekends. I'm very disappointed in not only the car, but the service I'm getting.
Also, are transfer cases only for AWD's? From some of the posts I've read, I think that may be the case. However, my car is a FWD.
keep track of your saga for possible lemon law proceedings. Check your state's lemon law requirements now before it is to late to document every visit and every problem.
I have this same problem. It smells like B.O. and I'm glad to know it isn't me! I found people on another forum with the same problem and they referenced TSB 23-026-04.
"Involves replacing the seat/shoulder belts and all rubber plugs and plastic items in the B pillars. Then using some odor remover and removing some of the foam they have in the pillar area and putting in some kind of new silencer padding in the pillar over the remains of the foam."
>5. Rattling sound on dash (driver side toward the left side).
I had a similar plasticky-sounding rattle that drove me nuts for a week. Immediately below the left side dash vent there's a grey panel that snaps into a groove in the dash immediately above it. (It extends the width of the left side right up to the steering column.) The right side of that panel had partly come out of the groove near the steering column. Had to gently push it back in to stop the noise.
My stereo seems to frequently go in and out of stereo sound for no apparent reason. I tend to not get very good reception since I live in a wooded area, but this is different. I'll be driving down the road and suddenly the sound is not stereo any more. This will last for a minute or so and then go back into stero. Has this happened to anyone else?
I thought I might share with you about your problem #6. I too have experienced a "wind flapping noise." With ours, it was coming from under the front left fender. I would notice the noise once I hit 60+ mph. There IS a TSB on this. The dealerships are putting double sided foam tape on the underside of the fender to resolve the problem. However I was sceptiable of "tape" holding the fender flare in place and sure enough it is back. I will be bringing the car back next week once the the belt comes in that is on back order to get rid of the squeal that comes from under the hood when I turn the car on or drive down the road.
We too have had the car in the shop three times so far and we just bought it in August. But I have to say that the problems we have been experiencing are annoying, but they are not mechanical problems. (knock wood) So I am thankful for that. We did know that this car has some quirks that need to be worked out still, but what newly produced car doesn't. Good luck wit getting things fixed.
"We did know that this car has some quirks that need to be worked out still, but what newly produced car doesn't."
Um, lots of new cars don't have the kind of quality problems that the Pac is experiencing. These are things that should not be continuing into the second year of production on this car. Chrysler quality has been a big issue and it appears they cannot find ways to solve it. Which is too bad because their designs are very good.
Most fourms I read here show that cars have one or two things that are concerns. The Pac has a pretty wide range of things that continue to go wrong or are potential long term problems.
I have to say that after 24,000 miles and 16 months of ownership, our Pac is doing just fine. We had some minor issues but other than that it is a very good vehicle. We would buy another in a heart beat.
I have 12K miles on my 2004 Pacifica with 0 problems! The only time we've been back to the dealer is for the free oil changes every 3000 miles. I too, would buy another one in a heartbeat!
Anybody having problems with the low setting on their heated seats being too low? When I put my seat on low heat I don't even feel any heat! I put it on high and the heat comes right thru. I tried my passenger seat just to make sure it was not a problem with the driver's seat and it does it too. Any ideas?
Well, we're finally driving our Pac, and love it! I still have both recalls to get done, and a couple of the TSBs apply to the car, but nothing major.
I have found a temporary solution to the ATC dimming out, which it does on us occasinally. When it does, I hit the temp up and down toggle button a couple of times, and it finally "sticks" the display on. It's just a minor annoyance. Somethimes I just do "Down/Up" and it stays on, and sometimes I have to do it 4 or 5 times, but once it's on, it usually stays on for a very long time - mostly until we turn off the car.
We also have one annoying thing - a rattle (like something's loose) in the steering wheel. Sounds like it's behind the airbag. We think it's a counterweight and will check it out, but it doesn't affect the driving or controls or anything, just annoying, every time we hit a bump.
TFUDER: I went through several months of reviving the ATC like you're now doing (the only problem I've had). Get it replaced. Mine has worked perfect for the last year since I did. As far as the rattle in the steering wheel, are you sure it is not just your keys making the sound?
After 4 days of Pac AWD Touring 2005. Transmission leaked. My advice--stay aware from this car and look for something else. They said tranny shot and needs replaced.
Comments
and must have reliability every day, think twice."
You've been entranced by the mantra that foreign cars are perfect. Don't worry, reality will come easily. You must not be reading the Accord and Camry forums, among others.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
well listening to books on CD was terrible. sounded like static all the time like a crackle every so often.
Got the new amp put in and the problem is now GONE !!! wow.. the CD music issue is also GONE. so looks like you need both the radio and amp replaced. FYI
I did notice the sound quality is not as good. Not a big difference just not as bright sounding. I am sure due to the filtering of the signal to keep it from clipping when going into the amplifier.
Put my vote in the "yes, I would do it again " column.....
I am afraid of using just anything on that plastic for fear of messing up the reflective coating that is there. Also, I don't want to use something too strong that might etch the plastic.
All thoughts appreciated.... Paul
getting into the car. Smelled the seatbelts and that is it. Have not contacted dealer yet.
Has anybody else had this problem resolved
Is premium recommended for this engine? If not, try using regular, or plus grade for a while.
What type of driving do you do? Are you a fast start type driver?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
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Again, thanks.... Paul
First it was a terrible squeal coming from the engine compartment when you hit 65+ MPH. Then this noise started on a cold start when you turned on the vehicle. After doing some research found that this has been a common problem and Chrysler is replacing the existing belt with one from Mercedes. Problem being, they are on back order for 30 days. So I drive down the road in my new car, and people hear me coming long before they ever see me. This is kind of embarrassing since there are not plates on the darn thing yet. But for this trip to the dealer, they had my car for two days and me in a rental.
Then once I picked up the car, from the front left fender I was hearing a flapping noise. Again, did my research and found this too to be a problem. Apparently there is a TSB on this of 2301703 that came out 6/13/03. Had some Due Bill work to be done so I asked them about this. Said that they were able to reproduce the noise and they added some "vinyl foam tape." I knew this would last all of five minutes and sure enough, now it flaps even worse going down the freeway. Come on, tape is not going to hold a flap under the fender on...
Asked them about the lousy FM reception and "so they say," they needed to "clean a poor ground in the wiring harness." No difference as far as I'm concerned with the reception. But for this my car was in the shop for three days. Driving around a purple PT Cruiser is not my idea of a replacement to my much larger Pacifica.
So now it is time to yet again make another appointment for my new car. Yes, I am thankful that it is not more of a "mechanical" problem, but you can loose your mind driving down the road with all the whistles, flapping, & clanking noises this car is making right now.
PS: I've seen all the debates going back and forth on is this a good car or not. And even though we have been in the shop a lot lately, I would not change our decision to have purchased this car. It really really has a lot of great things going for it.
Todd
My husband and I are considering a 2005 FWD Pacifica. I'm reading the message boards to get a feel for what issues people are having. Please forgive me if this is an ignorant question but what is a TSB?
kcram
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Plexus is the only thing approved for the windshield of the Stealth Bomber from what I hear. works great on the fake wood trim as well as it has a plastic clear coat over the wood laminate.
bought a 2005 Pacifica in July and it looks like
it is now discolored.
kcram
Host
Smart Shopper and Wagons Message Boards
Initially the belt would squeal when I got to 65+ but then it started upon a cold start. Now it just squeals any time it wants to. It is really annoying. The initial advisor said they were going to replace it with a belt manufactored by Mercedes. I have since had the car back to the shop (9/16) for the fender rattling and the advisor I was working with this time said that the replacement belt is not working and they are trying to come up with a new fix. He and the mechanic looked into it with Chrysler when the car was there last week. This is what the new work order reads "Checked on S/O belt. S/O order still on order." I have read this to be a problem on another pacifica forum. I hope this helps.
The two dealers I have had our 05 AWD to, have both know about this problem, so I am surprised (well not really) that your dealer does not know about it. I have to say the dealer we bought our car from has a terrible service department. Fortunately the dealer near us, I have been happy with. They have actually fixed the right side fender even thought it was not rattling, as of yet, while the car was in for the left side fender. They have know about every problem I have described and have been fairly proactive to get things resolved. Maybe calling or using another dealer would help you in getting this resolved. It is a common problem. Oh one other thing, I do recall that the first service advisor said that the date our car was produced did not fall under the TSB date, but it was the same problem that the TSB was resolving. Our car has a 6/04 date.
Hope this helps!
Good luck with your situation.
2. Problems with headphones & remote not working with DVD player. (Intermittent problem)
3. Foam trim panel for sideview mirror mount sticking out.
4. Won't start without giving it gas with the gas pedal.
5. Rattling sound on dash (driver side toward the left side).
6. Wind flapping sound near driver left wheel.
** Took car in immediately because the rear brake lights weren't hooked up. I asked them to look at problem #6 (wind flapping sound) - that was the only problem at the time. They could not duplicate sound and I left it at that.
** Took car in on 8/19 for problems 1, 2, & 3. The only one that was fixed was #3 - they installed new weatherstrip. They ordered a new DVD player, and could not duplicate the popping sound while braking - said they'd look at it again when I brought it back in for the DVD player.
** Took car in on 9/2 to get DVD player installed, and also for problems 1 (popping) & 4 (starting). They still couldn't get it to "pop" while braking. I had to ask if a mechanic could ride with me. I got it to do it easily - imagine that. Also, they installed a flash program for problem #4, but it didn't work (the flash was for my problem, but not specifically for the Pacifica). I left and rescheduled another visit! Amazingly enough, my headphones now don't work AT ALL with the DVD player. Now they think it's a sensor problem and have ordered parts for that, too.
** Car is currently in shop - getting DVD sensor installed. For problem #1 (popping) they are ordering a transfer case and installing it tomorrow. They don't know what to do about problem #4 (starting)!!! Unbelievable. At least it doesn't do this every time.
I haven't even address problem 5 (dash rattle)!! Dread that one!
Is there a number at Chrysler I can call to ask about these other problems, and to vent my frustrations with this 5* dealer that I've been working with? This is my 3rd visit there, and some of my problems are original ones. And, they keep wanting me to drive back and forth and schedule new appointments so they won't have to pay for rental car over the weekends. I'm very disappointed in not only the car, but the service I'm getting.
Also, are transfer cases only for AWD's? From some of the posts I've read, I think that may be the case. However, my car is a FWD.
"Involves replacing the seat/shoulder belts and all rubber plugs and plastic items in the B pillars. Then using some odor remover and removing some of the foam they have in the pillar area and putting in some kind of new silencer padding in the pillar over the remains of the foam."
The part that was replaced was the power transer unit.
I had a similar plasticky-sounding rattle that drove me nuts for a week. Immediately below the left side dash vent there's a grey panel that snaps into a groove in the dash immediately above it. (It extends the width of the left side right up to the steering column.) The right side of that panel had partly come out of the groove near the steering column. Had to gently push it back in to stop the noise.
We too have had the car in the shop three times so far and we just bought it in August. But I have to say that the problems we have been experiencing are annoying, but they are not mechanical problems. (knock wood) So I am thankful for that. We did know that this car has some quirks that need to be worked out still, but what newly produced car doesn't. Good luck wit getting things fixed.
Um, lots of new cars don't have the kind of quality problems that the Pac is experiencing. These are things that should not be continuing into the second year of production on this car. Chrysler quality has been a big issue and it appears they cannot find ways to solve it. Which is too bad because their designs are very good.
Most fourms I read here show that cars have one or two things that are concerns. The Pac has a pretty wide range of things that continue to go wrong or are potential long term problems.
Thanks,
Bob
I have found a temporary solution to the ATC dimming out, which it does on us occasinally. When it does, I hit the temp up and down toggle button a couple of times, and it finally "sticks" the display on. It's just a minor annoyance. Somethimes I just do "Down/Up" and it stays on, and sometimes I have to do it 4 or 5 times, but once it's on, it usually stays on for a very long time - mostly until we turn off the car.
We also have one annoying thing - a rattle (like something's loose) in the steering wheel. Sounds like it's behind the airbag. We think it's a counterweight and will check it out, but it doesn't affect the driving or controls or anything, just annoying, every time we hit a bump.
Todd