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Chrysler Pacifica Suspension Problems

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Comments

  • madesros1madesros1 Member Posts: 4
    All,

    Please go to Suspension Rust Photos and see the unbelievable rust/deterioration that is occurring in the rear suspension of my 2004 Chrysler Pacifica. I just found out about this when I went to the garage to explore a "squeaky" rear noise. Both mechanics stated that this should not happen to a 7 year old vehicle (117,000 miles). I have written Chrysler and to date, have refused to listen to me. I am still discussing this issue with them. How can Chrysler not stand behind their vehicles? What they are saying is, "After your warranty is up, Chrysler takes no responsibility for their vehicles". So I guess they're saying that the most you can expect a Chrysler vehicle to last you is 5 years or 100,000 miles....whatever comes first!

    Has anyone experienced the same conditions? have you checked? Any words of wisdom or advice in my discussions with "Crystal" from Chrysler?

    Thanks in advance,
    -Mike
  • l1rileyl1riley Member Posts: 1
    Please send me the extended warranty information as well. I just purchased a 2005 Pacifica and it has been in the shop for this same issue. My email address is alynee06@yahoo.com
  • madesros1madesros1 Member Posts: 4
    Here's the language for that warranty:
    We are extending the warranty period on your front engine cradle because some vehicles operated in areas of high road salt usage, may experience engine cradle corrosion resulting in a drive ability vibration and or/shake. If your vehicle is operating properly, there is nothing you are required to do. If you are experiencing the conditions as described in this warranty extension within the 10 year or 150,000 mile period, simply contact your dealer to have repairs performed. Your dealer will inspect the engine cradle for perforation corrosion on the rear cross car cradle support and replace if necessary.

    If you have already experienced this engine cradle concern and have paid to have it repaired, you may be eligible to receive a reimbursement. You may send your original receipts, invoices and/or repair order with adequate proof of payment (copy of the front and back of cancelled check, or copy of credit card receipt, etc.). Please mail to the following address for reimbursement, your claim will be acted upon within 60 days of receipt:

    Chrysler Customer Assistance Center P.O. Box 21-8007 Auburn Hills, MI 48321-8007

    If you have questions or need any assistance, please contact your dealer or the Chrysler Customer Assistance Center between the hours of 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM, EST, Monday through Friday or Saturday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, EST. They can be reached at 1-800-247-9753.

    Please keep this letter with your vehicle's other warranty information for future reference if necessary.
    The warranty extension applies to the above components only; the other terms of your warranty remain the same.

    Chrysler is taking this action to demonstrate its commitment to your continued satisfaction.

    Chrysler Group LLC


    Hope this helps!
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Letter sent
  • ohio04pacificaohio04pacifica Member Posts: 1
    I too have a rusted through engine cradle... right at the typical cross member junction. 85k miles.... WOW!

    Well, my conversation with Chrysler was pretty cut-and-dried... I was told that they only covered "a very limited number of '02s and '03s"

    I guess they figured they've done enough... screw the 04 owners!
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    edited October 2011
    They didn't make Chrysler Pacificas in 02 and 03 2004 was the first year who were you talking to? They covered my 2004
  • sue80sue80 Member Posts: 7
    edited October 2011
    They covered mine too, but not without a fight. We contacted the Ohio attorney generals office ( lemon law division) and they wrote a letter to Chrysler and the next day I got a call from chrysler agreeing to pay for the repairs. The letter that was sent by the attorney generals office questioned why some Pacifica's were covered and others were not.
  • 3redheads3redheads Member Posts: 2
    The mechanic has replaced the two front struts and strut mounts and tie rods. The sound persists. I have a 2004 Pacifica with only 52k miles on it. I am the original owner. This problem started 2 months ago.

    Any thoughts?
  • faroutfarout Member Posts: 1,609
    I just looked at some photos that a guy posted of the rust he had on the read part of his 2004 PAC. I see you got your fixed.

    Here is my question. Who did your oil changes and brakes, tire rotation a Chrysler dealer?

    My point is who ever did your oil changes should have notified you there was rust. The rust did not just happen overnight, and if you were told early enough you might have had less of a problem with Chrysler. Does this make some idea of who ever did you oil changes it seems to me was a real jerk. I have a 2007 with 110,000 miles on it.
  • faroutfarout Member Posts: 1,609
    Your pictures are really good, the damage is really unbelieveable.

    Who ever did you oil changes should have told you long befor this. Did Chrysler do most all your oil changes. Have you had any help on this yet? I d have some ideas but if you have the problem solved I don't want to intefer.
  • crazy_dicrazy_di Member Posts: 4
    Hi, I have a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica that I purchased at 30,000 miles from the dealer. I love this car and am now having serious problems with the front end. I searched through these postings and its the same complaint - clunking noise from R to D and a bang when I stop, come off my driveway or turn the wheel sharply to one side. My local Aamco shop is going nuts with this car. They replaced the tire rod ends, but are now telling me to replace the lower control arms (which include the ball joint & bushings). Dealer price for each part is $412, this of course, doesn't include labor for installation. My fear is this car having a serious problem in the middle of highway driving. I have alot of highway mileage on this car from driving from work to home and vice versa - 23 miles each way. I'm at 106,000 miles now. This car has more problems than any car I have ever had. It would be nice to get it fixed so that I can keep it for awhile longer. If it's not worth it, then maybe it's time to jump ship. Could you fax me a copy of the letter from Chrysler to my office? My fax# is 201-489-0027. I will start taking your advice by calling Chrysler to see if there is anything they can do for me.
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Auto parts warehouse 31 dollars for a ball joint. Take it some ware else and have it looked at it seems this place wants to keep putting on parts till they find the right one. Also Rock auto for 15 dollars but list it for an 06
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Had to do a search of your name and ck the phone number to look for a fax number. Letter sent to your fax number not office number
  • rango42rango42 Member Posts: 1
    I was thrilled when I bought my Pacifica (used) a little over a year ago. I have discovered that it is difficult to keep the suspension in spec and the vehicle in alignment. I took it to my dealer and they said the rear control arms needed to be replaced. We milked it as long as we safely could, bought 4 new tires, had the control arms replaced and not even 3 months later I noticed the rear tires were wearing on the inside again. The dealer was great, put it back in spec and back in alignment and replaced the 2 rear tires at no charge as they were unsure if it was the fault of their alignment machine. Here I am not even a month later and the tires are squealing! Now it is the toe adjusting links. More money and time and we shall see if the problem finally gets solved. I'll be trading it in for a Ford within a year.
  • faroutfarout Member Posts: 1,609
    Aamco has a deplorable nationally wide record of negligent service. If Aamce can't keep you coming back over and over than no one can?

    Does your Chrysler dealer give you poor or too expensive service? Maybe I am blessed but the Chrysler dealer I go to for service is a top notch place, and the prices are below places like Aamco, Pep Boys, and other so called cheap places.

    You do not say what engine you have in your PAC. If it's a 3.5L has the timing belt been replaced, and has it had a tune up. The 3.5 and the 4.L engines are both interference engines. If the belt brakes your engine is toast! These replaced parts need done between 100,000 to 110,000 miles. I just had this done and the water pump replaced. Our PAC has 120,300 miles on it. We have had some repair, but not abnormal for putting 110,000 miles on it in 48 months. I am pretty careful about staying fairly close to the A schedule as we have the LifeTime Powertrain warranty, plus we got the LifeTime service Contract as well.

    I would give some thought to taking yoyr PAX in to the dealer and have them look at it. You just might check the BB on the Aamco place you have been to, see if they are the one in a hundred that is honest and good.

    I hope I have helped a little?
  • madesros1madesros1 Member Posts: 4
    Good point on the oil changes but nothing was mentioned. Chrysler did do the oil changes until they dealership went under several years ago. :(

    I've been emailing back and forth with "Crystal" from Chrysler but she keeps on saying "sorry for your problem, but it's out of warranty" responses. I actually got a call but was unable to answer the phone and the voice message was garbled and didn't know what he was trying to say. I emailed Crystal asking for a call back but that hasn't happened yet. Now the front end started "popping" and I'm bringing the car in to have that looked at.

    If you don't mind, I'll take you up on your ideas to help resolve this problem. You can either post here or send me your suggestions to madesros@gmail.com

    Thanks in advance! -Mike
  • crazy_dicrazy_di Member Posts: 4
    I apologize, I gave you my office phone number instead of my fax. I received your fax. Thank you. I have all the information to call Chrysler today. The car is back home unrepaired. Within the last month, I noticed that when driving on the highway and the pavement is uneven I have to overcompensate on the steering wheel to keep the car in lane. I also had some problems with my air conditioning. Every summer I have had to get freon for it. Finally, I got a mechanic to fix the problem. He gave me a 6 month guarantee. So far it is still working. I guess we'll know by next summer if what he did is good or not.
  • crazy_dicrazy_di Member Posts: 4
    The Aamco we go to is near our house and has done all our oil changes, but you are right that they can't find the problem and have been putting parts in to figure it out. I wanted to take the car back to let them know that whatever they did, didn't fix the problem. I have not had the car's timing belt replaced. I have a 3.5 and I believe I have like 107,000 miles now. The dealer's prices are so far higher than everyone else. When I had a problem with my air conditioning, they wanted a ridiculous amount of money and I got it fixed for a fraction of the price. My thought was to take it to the dealer so that they can at least tell me what the problem is and give me a price. Aamco is saying to replace the lower control arm on both sides of the front of the vehicle. Dealer price for the lower control arm is $412 for each. I really like this car and would like to keep it for at least another year.
  • crazy_dicrazy_di Member Posts: 4
    Aamco told me to replace both sides of the lower control arm of the front end of the vehicle. The lower control arm I guess comes with a balljoint and bushings? We have a 2000 Chrysler 300M with about 67,000 miles. This car was the best car we ever bought. It has never needed anything. My thought was to get the Pacifica fixed so we can get another year out of it and when I sell it I can sleep a night knowing that the car is safe. SHould I park the car and not use it until I fix this? My concern is that the car is not safe to drive until I get it fixed.
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Rock auto has a control arm for 100 dollars. If you could find someone that works on cars and have them remove the control arm and have a machine shop press in the 15 dollar ball joint. Have him replace control arm for 100 plus labor. Get free loaner tools from Autozone,Advanced auto or O'reilly auto and press it in and out on the car.Take it to another shop and have them check the ball joints there may not be anything wrong with them. Ask them to show you the bad ball joint. If they push and pull on the bottom of the tire next to the ball joint if it's bad you will see the bal joint move side to side. If thy put a pry bar under the tire and you see the ball joint move up and down it's bad. All a ball joint is a ball inside a socket. If you act like you know about cars they won't try to pull the wool over your eyes
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Another thing I do every oil change I grease the ball joints. I then take a 3 dollar needle fitting and snap it into the grease gun and fill the tie rod ends and the sway bar links by putting a sml needle hole in the top of the boots. I have never replaced anything on the front end. I went on my Alldata site and they had the control arm part number 4743476AF price 140 dollars dealer price. I did a search on the net and came up with factorymoparparts.com the control arm lists for 140 on sale for 99.13 dollars my Alldata program says warranty time Chrysler will pay the dealer is 1.2 hours per side. If a dealer charges 90 an hour plus you give them the Chrysler parts just over 400 dollars
  • kellydrkellydr Member Posts: 1
    Hello! You may be my saving grace! I have read the many threads and have the exact rusting issue with my 2004 pacifica and I have only 82,000 miles on it. I have only owned it for a year now and found out about this issue when it did not pass state inspection because of it.

    I'm hoping you could send me the letter stating it is covered by the company. We depend on this car hugely. I would be so grateful!

    kellydittemore@hotmail.com
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Letter sent
  • melprinkeymelprinkey Member Posts: 1
    My parents just found out yesterday that they have the same problem and it will cost almost $3,000 to fix, so they are looking to buy a new car. Could you please forward me the letter as well so they can try to get it fixed rather than buy a new car? Thanks!
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    I need an email address or fax number
  • jayheathjayheath Member Posts: 1
    I have the same yr. and make. And the squeek from the rear of my car is umbelievable!! In the end, did you replace everything that you mentioned, and about how much did it cost? Thx J
  • madesros1madesros1 Member Posts: 4
    So here's my diagnosis. My Pacifica has 2 broken motor mounts that the technician says that MUST get fixed since the car is not safe as is, the rear cross arm needs replacing and both rear bushings tying the suspension to the frame is rotting. I need to do this in steps because I don't have the money to do it all. Just yesterday, I replaced the broken motor mounts for $518. The rear cross arm is going to cost me another $450. Then the granddaddy of them all, the two rear bushings will cost $2,000! :sick: I'm going to get the rear cross arm done next. I don't think i'll do the rear bushings unless absolutely necessary...it's just going to squeak alot :) I got nowhere with Chrysler. it's obvious that they don't stand behind their products. I will never purchase another Chrysler product again. :mad: :mad: Certainly from all the motor mount complaints on the Internet, we know (and Chrysler knows) that there is a problem there. They should at least take care of that. I don't think it's reasonable to expect your motor to drop out of your car at 7 years of age! Also, the rear bushings should not rot, in seven years like it has! Totally unacceptable!! The honorable fair thing to do is make exceptions to unique situations. But you know what the corporate lawyers are saying, "You make one exception, you'll need to male that exception for everyone". Yes, the world is run by the lawyers.

    When I worked for GE, Jack Welch spoke to us and at the end, he opened it up for questions. An engineer asked why weren't engineers paid more highly since engineers invent the products GE sells (this was in the late 1980's and we didn't get significant raises for few years), and he answered, "If I paid my people by how much money they make me, the tax lawyers would be the highest paid. That's because they will always find a way where GE will not have to pay income tax. Enough said.

    Sorry for going off on a tangent. Please let me know what you will do with your Pacifica. I'm very interested. Good luck. -Mike
  • faroutfarout Member Posts: 1,609
    WOW! I have to ask how many miles on your PAC? Did you buy it mew? Are you taking it to a Chrysler dealer or a private shop?

    I have several great suggestions for you so give answers to the questions and I will suggest from what you say.

    farout
  • faroutfarout Member Posts: 1,609
    I went back and read your post's. So mow you don't need to go all over it again. Sorry about that.

    It's long over due to get the Chrysler Zone Rep involved. Go to the nearest Chrysler dealer or the one you have used. Tell the service manager you want the Zone rep to look at your PAC. or call 1800 992 1997 and pick the number that has to do with problems. One or both should be able to get you in touched with the Rep.

    If ever there was an example for getting a Chrysler Service Contract, you are one for the books. I have never heard of a 2004 anything suffering from the rust (cancer) you PAC has.

    You can contact the Govt. agency and make a formal complaint. You really should get some help from Chrysler out of this. I hope to hear how this turns out. For the better I hope.

    farout
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    I hope all this doesn't happen to my car but I would try fixing them myself if I was hurting for money to get the job done. I would have trouble spending this kind of money right now. Motor mounts 40 dollars each if it took me all day I would get them in and i'm 60 years old. Save money and try to do it yourself. If you can't then take it in. You get free loaner tools at most autopart stores
  • hur2000hur2000 Member Posts: 4
    I also have been told of a rusted out enginge cradle on my 2004 Pacifica. If anyone has a copy of the letter covering the extended warrenty I would greatly appreciate having a copy so I may try and get this fixed with Chrysler ...
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    I'll send you the letter but I need an email or fax number
  • babygirl2011babygirl2011 Member Posts: 1
    could you please sent me a copy please i am having the same problem pleade
  • jcweber82jcweber82 Member Posts: 1
    Hi Charger3,

    Can I please get a copy of the letter as well. We are having the same issues being discussed on our 04 PAC. Email address is jcweber82@gmail.com

    Thank you.
  • hur2000hur2000 Member Posts: 4
    Charger3.......would you please send me a copy of the letter. my e-mail is........cooker115@aol.com....thanks so much!!!!!!..............
  • hur2000hur2000 Member Posts: 4
    My e-mail is cooker115@aol.com Thanks for all the help Charger3.....the dealer knows nothing of any recall or warrenty letter issued about this rusted engine cradle..they need the letter. ...Thanks again
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Letter sent
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Letter sent
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Need email or fax number
  • karendondkarendond Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2005 Pacifica and my engine cradle is rotting. Unfortunately, I have 181,000 miles on it but I feel I should NOT have to pay over $1600 to replace it. The car seems to be running fine. Can I please have a copy of that extended warranty letter. Of course I called Chyrsler and got absolutely no help!
  • karendondkarendond Member Posts: 2
    Opps..I forgot to give you my email address kar511@yahoo.com
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Letter sent
  • sage13sage13 Member Posts: 1
    I just picked up my 2004 Chrysler Pacifica from the garage where I had to replace/repair both front struts, both coil springs, 2 mounts and bearing assembly and the tie rod end all due to corrosion, only to find out that the car will not pass inspection without replacing the left and right rocker panels and the engine cradle, once again due to corrosion. I did some research regarding possible recalls or issues related to corrosion and found your letter. I promptly called the number provided and spoke with a gentleman in the "general information" department. He was not very helpful but did suggest that I call the dealership. Which I did...they did not have any information on any such extended warranty for the engine cradle. So I called the number provided in your letter again this time speaking with a "customer service representative" in the complaint department. The woman I spoke to was very condescending and in essence told me that my car wasn't one of the cars that had the problem and therefore wasn't covered. I then explained to her that my car did indeed have the corrosion problem and that I have a $900+ receipt for repairs done and an estimate of $700+ for scheduled work next week to prove it. She then informed me that "as you were told before, your car is not considered one of the models with the problem". When I asked to speak with another representative she replied with "we all follow the same guidelines" implying that it would not accomplish anything to do so. I ended our conversation by telling her that I have driven Dodge/Chrysler vehicles for 21 years but that this experience would end that previously content relationship. If you have any suggestions as to who could potentially help me with these costs I would greatly appreciate it. I've never had any other vehicle that has had this type of corrosion problem. I do have 115,000 miles on the car and am the original owner.
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    I could send you the letter with an email address. Not every one will agree with me but I would try talking to a different person if that doesn't work I would get a lawyer. It's almost a 4000 dollar repair if you win that would set a leagal window that all others could win by
  • hur2000hur2000 Member Posts: 4
    Got ahold to the dealer today..showed them the letter..they said that they would call Chrysler about this warrenty letter on the rusted engine cradle. I told them if Chrysler did not want to fix this Pac that I would need it in writing as to why not and with the persons signature on the letter so stating . BINGO....got a call back within 3 hours with good news that Chyrsler would pay in full to replace the engine cradle.
  • dg17109dg17109 Member Posts: 1
    Please send me a copy of the letter to my email with the Chrysler letterhead if possible!!! I just brought a used 2005 pacifica and only had it one week. email dg17109@gmail.com
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    That's great I hope it works for more people
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    Letter sent
  • jtg61jtg61 Member Posts: 43
    Is there any way you can just post the dang letter so we don't see a multitude of requests for it every day?
  • charger3charger3 Member Posts: 210
    It's been posted twice once by me and once by someone else. The next day people are asking me to send it to them. If you had looked back in earlier posts you would have seen them.
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