Chrysler Pacifica Starting and Stalling Problems

pacproblems · June 2006

What years is your Pac? I am told there is no bulletin issued for 05's

pacproblems · June 2006

Knowledge is power. Let me know how your process is going?

Thanks
D

thewall31 · June 2006

WOW, seems like you have bee nthrough hell with this stall problem I hope you are able to get some satisfaction. I do have 1 question for you which software update did they perform ? The latest fix i'am told is TSP 18-039-05,
good luck and keep us all updated on your progress

pjdcorp · July 2006

We leased a loaded Pacifica AWD the first year they came out & went crazy with the stalls and the dealer repeatedly saying, "IT hasn't happened when we had it " after we went thru the hassle of leaving the car with the dealer overnight 2 or 3 times. My wife drives it mostly so I don't recall the exact fix but after about 15K miles the problem seemed to be history. Other than that serious stalling problem the car is pretty nice, but I'm leery of going down this route again when my lease is up. I can just imagine extending out the lease & have the car begin stalling again the next day.

One thing I do remember my wife mentioning was that the stall problem was cured the time she delivered the car to a brand new tech at the dealer. He was very open & said they had seen a lot of these types of problems with the Pacificas, while every other service tech had claimed we were the first to report this type of problem, etc. etc.

However, on the plus side I can say that leasing the Pacifica was an absolute dream from a sales team at Dayton Chrysler in NJ. Two guys, one Caucasian and one Oriental, worked together as a sales team (I can't place their names right now). The reason I mention them is that they were just great to deal with. For the first time in my history of perhaps 8 - 10 sales and/or lease transactions these salesmen were straight arrows. They didn't try to sell me any extra useless add-ons, the payment numbers didn't twist or turn from the time we agreed to them until the time I signed the papers. It was such a nice change from the usual wrestling match getting a new car usually entails.

pacproblems · July 2006

:lemon: Here is an update. I have been non stop calling and questioning them on the stalling problem. After being told that the district rep. was on vacation for 4 weeks I called and refused to hang up until I spoke with the district rep. While I stayed on the phone the operator called him and told him to contact me today. Well he finally called me. He was unaware of the problem. He offered to install a black box in the car. After reading comments in this forum I told him that it would not capture any information. After a lengthy conversation he stated he would talk directly with Vehicle Safety. I got a return phone call today and he stated that Chrysler was aware of the problem and at this time they do not have a fix for this problem and are unable to fix the car. He went on to say they have nothing to offer at this time and they are working with the NHTSA in the investigation.
I am done with Chrysler and my attorney is taking the lead from this point on.

kaboozie · July 2006

exactly what I thought. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

kaboozie · July 2006

Oh, and thank you for the update.

zarba · July 2006

Don't stop paying Chrysler Financial. I'm in the banking business, so I can talk from experience.

The finance arm is separate from the car business. They're both owned by DCX, but that's the end of the relationship. Regardless of what DCX does on the car, not paying your loan is credit suicide. It'll ruin your credit, and frankly, won't be a drop in the ocean to Chrysler Financial.

I sympathize with your frustration, but if you don't pay for the car you won't be able to get another car loan at an acceptable rate. You'll also take the risk that your credit card companies will increase your rate based on a falling FICO score. Most of the big issuers have such a clause in their contracts.

Hard as it may be, you HAVE to keep your loan current to preserve your credit. It's like holding a gun to YOUR head, saying, "Buy back my car or I'll shoot!"

pacproblems · July 2006

Thanks for the info and I know better but I have to try anything to get information from them. I am a system supplier to the automotive industry. I am currently performing a project worth 3.5 mil for Daimler Chrysler at this very moment. I can assure if I treated them the way they have treated me they would not hesitate to have me removed from the project and hold my money or not pay me until the problem is fixed. It is very difficult for me to have to set across a table from their engineers twice a week and listen to their elementary questions on the safety and integrity of my equipment. While every time I turn left across several lanes of traffic my sphincter muscle automatically activates to see if I am going to get T-boned while stopped in the middle of the road.

mrrogers · July 2006

I have driven 6,000 miles without a stall since I had TSB 1803905 done to my 2006 Chrysler Pacifica FWD. Total mileage on the car is 20,000. Has anyone stalled since they have had this TSB done?

thewall31 · July 2006

We had the 1803905 done about a month and a half ago on our 06 PAC and have driven about 1,000 miles since and no stalls . We did however just bring our PAC i last week for the ABS light that was staying on they replaced 2 ABS sensors, other then that the car is running great

spnteach · July 2006

Hi all,

We have a 2004 Pacifica AWD with 41K miles on it now and just recently it seems to not want to start up right away. You turn the key and nothing happens and you have to try it at least two or three times to get it to start. It never has totally refused to start but it is nerve racking nonetheless.

Our dealer was able to replicate the issue when we had it in for the 40K service but he said that it needed some part but he wasnt sure that it would fix it 100% and it would take a whole day to fix and essentially cost a lot to repair (since we are no longer under warranty of course). :mad:
So I was wondering if anyone else has been experiencing anything like this?

Thanks!

pacproblems · July 2006

:lemon: I filed a complaint with the AG's office here in Michigan. They forwarded the complaint to the dealer this is a portion from his responce to the AG's office: "At that time, he (DC Rep) advised Mr. XXXXX (me) that he would contact Daimler Chrysler Vehicle Safety Group, and review his concerns with them. He did contact the Vehicle Safety Group, and through the conversation with them, found out that Daimler Chrysler is actively working with NHTSA on an investigation for this issue. Nothing further was determined at that time. On 7-10-06 our rep. phoned Mr. XXXXX again and told him that nothing had changed, we were still awaiting a response from the Vehicle Safety Group. There was nothing new to report from the company's end. There is nothing further that our dealership can do at this time.

For all of you including me that has been BS'ed by Daimler Chrysler and the dealers. It took me a year of phone calling and writing letters to get to this point. :mad:

kaboozie · July 2006

so as I suspected,.....they STILL do not have a fix. This is like the 3rd update they have claimed to be the fix and you are the third person that has verified that AGAIN...they do NOT have a fix....they are just dragging this out. I am going to move forward with my LL claim. I am so angry. :lemon:

mrrogers · July 2006

Has your dealer done the Technical Service Bulletin for stalling? The TSB number is 1803905 which was issued 12/5/05.

pacproblems · July 2006

Looking at all of my RO's I can't find where they performed the TSB. I am told by the dealer that they did do a software upgrade, what ever that means. The dealer and dealer rep claims there is no TSB on this issue.

pacproblems · July 2006

I received another letter today from the AG's office of Daimler Chrysler Customer Service's response.

"Please be advised that the district service manager has advised this office that the dealer has been unable to duplicate the owner's concern, therefore, no repairs are required at this time. We will repair per the terms of the vehicle warranty when the concerns can be duplicated. At this time, we have therefore closed our files on this complaint."

Can you believe this? I finally got them to acknowledge there is a problem then they say there is not a problem. It sort of conflicts with their dealers statement. Has anyone been able to dublicate the problem? I have tried and have been unable to. :confuse:

mrrogers · July 2006

The dealer might believe that there is no TSB on this issue because the description of the TSB talks about an emissions issue. The Pacifica has a vacuum canister to capture the gasolene vapors from your fuel tank. Somewhere between a full tank and 5/8's of a tank, the computer releases the vapors to the intake manifold. This causes a temporary rich condition which may stall your car during a slow left hand turn. Please read my message #4 on this site for more detail. I have gone 8,000 miles without a stall since the TSB was done. Good luck!

freddie44 · July 2006

I just got my 05 Pacifica Touring AWD back from the dealer 4 days ago. It was there for 29 days due to a starting and stalling problem. They replaced both the primary and secondary fuel pumps. One of which was on backorder causing the delay. Needless to say it was a very frustrating time without my car. I filed a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Today I received a personal phone call from an investigator at the NHTSA. He spent alot of time discussing the problem with me and asked me to post a message on this forum asking that any other Pacifica owners experiencing this same problem to please file a complaint with the NHTSA. They are involved in an indepth investigation into this problem. There are easy to follow instructions on their website to file a complaint.

pacproblems · July 2006

Welcome to the club!

macgibbon · July 2006

2005 PAC fuel tank and stalling problems.
We bought our car in October 2005, used and have driven it appox. 6,000 miles since we have owned this car. Since then I have been in the service department 8 times with no results!!
My first issue is the fuel guage. The gauge will read 1/2 full and then drop to empty immediately! It reads 33 miles to empty, but truely has 1/2 a tank of gas.

My second issue is filling the tank. I can not get more than 3 gallons in at a time. Some kind of vapor lock.

I have been to the dealer and they replaced the tank, which did not solve any of the above mentioned problems.

I just came back from the dealer to load some corrective software - but that did not help either.

Now, I am waiting on some new part - which the dealer is not specific about - that will fix all my problems.

On top of this, the car stalls at every stop when it has about 4 to 5 gallons in the tank. Of course, at the dealership this can not be duplicated. But, they say this is due to the fuel tank. Thus far, this is not the case.

After reading all of these e-mails, I am not hopefull. I just want my car fixed and do not want to be at the dealer service center anymore. This is the most I have ever been at a dealership in my life and am now researching into the lemon law.

pacproblems · August 2006

Sounds like the very same thing I went through. They had me in a gas guzzling 4wd for 2 weeks while they waited on parts.

omken · August 2006

I am having exactly the same issue with a 2004 Pacifica around the same mileage. What was done to date and has the problem been fixed?

backman · August 2006

My pacifica wont start after runing the vaccum on the floor,
i had all doors open for about 15 minutes went to start it turned over real slow.then it started, i had the battery checked they said it was ok nothing wrong.i still think its the battery???NEED SOME ADVICE,car has 40,000 org battery.
Thanks for any help
Rick

b25nut · August 2006

It's time for a new battery. With all the interior lights, an older battery can drain very quickly. I just replaced my original one after 53,0000 miles. For the past year I found that if I was going to have a door open for longer than ten minutes, I needed to turn all the lights off first on the Multi-Function Lever on the left (the turn signal lever) to prevent the battery from draining.

arrie · August 2006

I'm a new Pac owner and am surprised to read about this stalling problem at slow left turns. Some report stalling at other driving conditions too but vast majority say it happens during slow speed left turns.

Now, the engine can not possibly know that the steering wheel is turned left and just decides to stop running. The TSB 180 39 05 deals with evap system purge and some seem to think that after this service has been done stalling problem stopped. But if the evap purge was the problem then I'm sure there would be right turn stalls too and all sorts of stalls during any slow speed driving condition.

Does anybody here know if Pacifica has an oil level sensor? And if it does is it mounted closer to the left side end of the oil pan?

Just thinking that if Pacifica engine is made to cut off from low oil level it could be that if oil level sensor is located so that when turning left oil runs away from the sensor and engine cuts off as the sensor does not see oil. Then it will start right back up when stopped and oil has returned to the sensor.

Just a thought.

--Arrie--

christibart15 · September 2006

Hi
I am having the same problem with my 04 Pacifica. I have about 45,000 on mine and it doesn't start everytime. I took to my dealer(service) and they told me it was the battery. They changed it and it is still happening. The dealer (service) could not get it to happen there, of course, and said this was what it could be and the battery was a weak, so that was one fix. I am taking to my local mechanic next week and I will see what he says. I will keep you posted.

gruger · September 2006

The Pacificas are so computerized to the point that it can analyzed the engine performance to each and every driver.

The PAC's has faulty gas pumps especially the secondary pump that it will have you using half of a tank for driving. You will be at the gas station 4 times a week than once a week depending on your use of the car.

The stalling is coming from the faulty pump that is not keeping the gas line full of gas without getting some air into it too. Its so bad right now that the gas tank is giving off extra vapors. So you have to fill the tank slowing with the station pump half way out of the tank hole of the car or the vapor will keep clicking the station pump early and your gas tank will not be filled.

We are still waiting for new parts for the gas tank pump to fix our problem and several people in MA. has the same problem. Oh, it will get fix but the waiting time is just to long. :sick:

nikko04 · September 2006

I have a 2005 PAC with 23000 miles. the oil had ran dry 4 months after having done an oil change. Chrysler still charged ME a large amount to repair the small block. They are claiming that "even a brand new 2006 PAC can use a quart of oil for every 1000 miles", and "the oil should be checked every time you fill up with gas". All Chrysler drivers be advised, you should check the oil at every fill-up or your car may very well run dry also, and Chrysler will not back up its warranty.

b25nut · September 2006

My 2004, with 56,000 miles, uses 1/2 quart, at most, every 4500 miles.

nikko04 · September 2006

They obviously don't want to look at the underlying issue, and it will more than likely happen again.

omken · September 2006

The problem is intermittent which makes it difficult to diagnose You turn the key and absolutely nothing happens...total dead ! No clicking, no slow turnover, nothing. Usually after trying second or third time the vehicle turns over and starts right up. To date the battery has been replaced and late last week the dealer replaced the starter (not under warranty)and the same situation occurred on the dealers lot. This is clearly an electrical issue, my guess is the ignition switch or some relay but there appears to be no service bulletins or any acknowledgment of this problem by Chrysler.

I am going to be contacting Chrysler directly and it would help if I could document other similar issues with Pacifica owners. My Pacifica is a 2004, but this problem may be more widespread. Please email me if you are experiencing the same issue.

christibart15 · September 2006

To update: 04 pacifica - it was having problems with starting. It would turn over start and then stall. When giving it gas it would be fine after about the 3rd or 4th time. It finally would not start and my mechanic was right on it and found the problem to be the IDLE AIR CONTROL MOTOR. He changed it and I have not had a problem since. He called my car dealer and there were no bulletins on this or recalls. Hope you all can get yours figured out. :shades:

carrelman2 · September 2006

Twice my PAC has cut off while i was driving on the road(was not making left turn)i have taken it to the dealership twice and both times they said they couldn't find anything wrong. This is very dangerous and it could cause an accident. The 2nd time it happened to me i was on interstate going 65mph in the right lane(thank goodness)and all of a sudden it cut off..no power stering..no nothing...i turned on my emergency flashers put the car in park waited for about 10 seconds & it started right back up. my husband & I travel from the east coast of VA. to SW Va alot and now i'm just scared to drive my car. Does anybody else have the same problem????

gateway1 · September 2006

How did your mechanic diagnoe the problem? My 2004 Pacifica has EXACTLY the same problem. I took it once to the Chrysler Dealer who couln't find the problem. It happened again days later and we had it towed back to the Dealer. They couldn't find the problem. The day I picked it up it happened again. Took it to another mechanic who said it may be the IDLE AIR CONTROL MOTOR. BUt they couldn't reproduce the problem. Took it home - happened again! Chrysler and the mechanic says the car must fail while connected to their computer to diagnose. Been whithout a car (yet with a car note) for over a month. What to do?

gateway1 · September 2006

Bye-the-by. My current mechanic found TSB# 18-004-06 REV. A: "Engine Controls - No Start or Hard Start Condition". Unfortunaltely, he says that the vehicle must fail before it can be acurately diagnosed. This doesn't help me since the vehicle only "acts up" when not in the dealer's possession. There must be another way to check the components.

justinkr · September 2006

I get a starting problem w/ my '04 as well, but ONLY when it is damp out. Has always been rainy or really damp/humid after a rain. Oddly enough....every MOPAR I've owned has done the same thing....right from my first '77 Dodge Aspen. The PAC will start, but I have to give it a good shot of gas and keep rev'ing for a few moments.

bmxcinci · September 2006

Mine is doing the exact same thing. About how much did the repairs cost. I am taking it in to the dealer and would like to have some idea of what this is going to cost.

Thans

kscar · October 2006

I'm having the same problem many of you are with my 2005 Pacifica.....2 stalls now. Everyone seems to be from the USA. Is anyone in Canada having this problem, I'm in Toronto, Ontario. I'm wondering where we can go for assistance in Canada when the dealership doesn't help. Thanks,

cjs2 · October 2006

Help! My 2006 Pacifica with 10K miles has stalled on me twice. I took it to the dealer the 1st time and they ran a computer check and it showed zero information. It occurred at slow speeds after a left hand turn. The second occurrence happened today and I will go to the dealer ASAP tomorrow morning. What do I tell my dealer to do to fix it! This is very dangerous and I fear for my family's safety!

Thank you!

mrrogers · October 2006

You need to have your dealer install Technical Service Bulletin TSB 1803905 dated December 5, 2005. Please see my post #4 in this forum for more detail. Good luck!

ptormr · October 2006

My Pac has 20,000 miles on it and the ABS light came on. I am taking it to the dealer to have it fixed, but what I wanted to know is besides the stalling, which I have experinced a number of times, what are common problems that I should expect from this model. My wife does not like American cars and still tell me I should have gotten a Toyota.

dclarkesr · October 2006

I am having the same problem on my 04 pac. This weekend is the first time it occured and I have not been able to get it started. We jumped it with a hot battery just in case with no success. I'm reluctant to send it to the shop without some idea as to the problem. I'm not anxious to spend $500.00 to fix a $50.00 problem. What have you learned?

Thanks,

dclarkesr

thewall31 · October 2006

Hi, we own a 06 tourning PAC with 6500 miles on it now , we too encountered both of the problems you have described above . First off we had the slow left stalling problem happen with our PAC 3 or 4 times in our first 2000 miles we brought it in for service and they performed the TSP1803905 FLASH PROGRAM UPDATE and almost 5000 miles latter we have had no problems. Second we to had our ABS light on took it in thety replaced 2 of the sensors no problems since, the sensors can go bad driving through deep puddles hitting a steep ditch etc.. Those were only 2 problems we realy have had and both have been corrected and to date we our loving our PAC also we our getting better gas millage since we hit 5000 miles goood luck, and keep us all up to date on your progress in having you problems fixed

gateway1 · October 2006

I retrieved my 2004 Pacifica from the mechanic about 2-3 weeks ago and have not experienced the problem again (YET). Note that the mechanic nor the Dealer have fixed anything. I am, however out of hundreds of dollars in diagnostic fees, auto rentals, and a lot of lost time. Chrysler won't do anything and the independent mechanic and the Dealer's mechanic agree that they can't (won't) do anything unless the problem can be reproduced. Further, we were presented with the option of paying for an Idle Air Control Motor replacement (80% probability that this is the problem) and/or the fuel pumps at our cost (i.e., the warranty company won't pay unless there is a documented/diagnosed problem). How generous and special! We don't need a car that unreliable. That's why we just came from another dealer looking for a new car.

arrie · October 2006

Just don't buy a Ford. They spit out spark plugs and Ford does not back you up either. Google 'blown spark plug' and see for yourself. I had one of those and it cost me $5000 before I learned that this is a design problem, not isolated case as I first thought and was told by a Ford dealer.

Chevrolet did not help me with Tahoe problems either. Fuel consumption went to 13 MPG when it first 1500 miles was 17 MPG. Dealer would not fix as there was no code in computer. Tail pipe was black as the vehicle would burn a gallon of oil for 1000 miles though. Had to fix it myself while it was under factory warranty.

That is why I bought a Pacifica for my wife as my '95 1500 Dodge Ram pick-up has been so trouble free. And it looks like next vehicle for myself will be a PAC also when it becomes time to get something new to replace the Tahoe.

So far no problems at all with PAC. The only thing I went for a service was to change the car's country code to Canada to make those daytime running lights to work. Cost $0. And of course for an oil change.

Do you have the AWD? It sounds like the stalling problem really is mostly related to the second fuel pump in PAC models (AWD) where the tank has two sides in it. For a dealer it should be easy to tell the warranty company that the fuel pump is a problem as they know it is.

Idle air valve could also be a problem but you should have issues with it stalling all over. Also starting should have problems with idle air valve problems.

Arrie

oliverp · October 2006

I have a 2004 PAC and have never been so disappointed with a vehicle. I have been experincing problems with vehicle not starting. Just recently I had to have it towed to the nearest dealership and once the mechanic took a look at it of course they couldn't duplicate the problem. They suggested that I have Idle Air Control Motor replaced. Can someone tell me if this will correct the problem?

oliverp · October 2006

I am experiencing the same exact issue. My car is at the dealership now. They can't reproduce the problem. I have also had the battery replaced on my 04 as well.

arrie · October 2006

It would be nice to know for sure what 'not starting' means. Some people use this term when the car's engine does not even turn over, some use it when it cranks but just won't start.

Let's assume you have the latter, i.e. the engine cranks when you turn the key but does not start running. In this case it is very possible that the idle air valve does not work correctly.

In a modern car, like PAC is, engine idle speed is controlled by a separate idle air valve. This is a small by-pass air intake valve which controls engine speed when you take your foot off of the gas pedal.

(Older cars used to have the throttle equipped with a small adjustment screw that had to be set for idle position, i.e. adjust the minimum throttle opening so that the engine runs correct idle speed).

Idle air valve opening is controlled by a small step motor, which in turn is controlled by the cars computer and yes, if the idle air valve motor goes bad it can intermittently cause starting problems.

You can test for this. Next time your car won't start try giving it a little bit gas, i.e. open the throttle by pressing on the gas pedal just a little to give engine air while you crank it. If the problem is with idle air valve you should be able to start your engine this way. It also means that when you take your foot off of the gas pedal the engine could stall again, like when you come to stop. You would need to keep the throttle open for the engine to get air.

I had this problem with my Ford Crown Victoria and it was first very intermittent but got worse over time. Replacing the idle air valve (with built-in motor)completely fixed the problem (part cost was only about $65).

Arrie

ahamilton · November 2006

Attention all stalling Pacificas!! My dealer has been great about this. (Courtesy Chrysler Jeep in Rockville, Maryland) It took them three trys with the same results all of you have had, but they finally fixed it. For real, honest, it's been several months. Have your service people call Courtesy Jeep 301-424-1700 (Dennis Conklin, Service Manager) for details. I can't praise them enough for all of the effort they put into solving this!

Chrysler Pacifica Starting and Stalling Problems

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