2018 CHRYSLER PACIFICA PLUG-IN HYBRID Vehicle Speed Control Problems

I was traveling at south bound on TOLL 130 going 80MPH (which is the speed limit on that road) when my Pacifica immediately slowed down and my accelerator gave out. In addition to my dash flashing that the cruise control was no longer available, but the van also said "Service Charging System" and "Shift to P to Start", the engine light and batter light both came on. I am sure that I almost died as I was in the middle lane and cars were whipping around me since I had slowed down so much, there was an 18 wheeler behind me and one of my righthand side, which is the shoulder I was trying to get to. I was finally able to coast to the shoulder and came to a stop, put the car in park and turned it off. I immediately started researching what the problem could be and I was alarmed to find out that this is an issue that others have had and that Chrysler has failed to issue a recall...I was able to start the car once more and get on to a little back road, after pushing through a barricade off the toll just for safety's sake, and my van broke down again, this time on a little 2 lane road, which thankfully had a little bit of a gravel shoulder. This time, my van took quite a bit longer to get started, but I was not safe where I was. I started it once more and was able to get to a Wal-Mart parking lot where my brother-in-law picked me up so that I could have a chance of making it to see my grandmother who was on her deathbed, I missed my window of opportunity to make it to see her, she died that afternoon. I had to pay an additional tow fee to get the vehicle moved from the parking lot to a Chrysler dealership since it was so far from where I usually go.

Picked up Vehicle from Bayside Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Annapolis after we were told the problems were addressed. After driving about 50 miles home parking than driving the Van again about 5 miles, In the center lane of the road driving about 45 mph the van said "Shift to P to start". The van wouldn't accelerate forcing my wife to drift to the shoulder of the road. The van was turned off and attempted to turn back on, but the Van would not turn completely on to drive. After about five minutes the van was able to be restarted and turned on. The check engine light came on, the van was driven to Auto zone to have the check engine light read. "Power Train System - P0BFD" & " Secondary DTC".

This is the second time we have had this issue with our van. The first time was May 25, 2019. On June 4, 2021, my wife was driving down the highway with our two kids and as she began to exit toward the off ramp, several alarms and warning appeared on the driver’s dashboard including 'SERVICE HYBRID SYSTEM', a red wrench with a lightning bolt through it, the orange engine warning light, and a message appeared saying 'SHIFT VEHICLE TO PARK'. The van stalled and when my wife pressed the accelerator, nothing happened. She was able to coast down the exit ramp and pull over to the shoulder. The van was out in park, shut off and we were able to restart it. The orange engine warning light remained on. We immediately drove to the dealership. They ran a diagnostic test and said no issues came up but there were twenty some software updates. The issue has not been reproduced by the dealer but we have had it happen two times. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer.

This is the third and fourth time we have had this issue with our van. The previous two times were on May 25, 2019 and June 4, 2021. In this incident, my wife was driving our van with our two kids and I down Northwest Highway in Arlington Heights, IL. We were going about 35 miles per hour when several alarms and warnings appeared on the driver’s dashboard including 'SERVICE HYBRID SYSTEM', a red wrench with a red lightning bolt through it, the orange engine warning light, and red battery warning icon, and a message appeared saying 'SHIFT VEHICLE TO PARK'. (See attached photos.) When my wife pressed the accelerator pedal nothing happened. We were able to coast and turn down a side street. We put the vehicle in park, turned it off and we’re able to restart it. We immediately notified the dealership and drove it there. On the way to the dealership, we made a stop. When in a parking lot, my wife pressed the accelerator to drive and the same issue happened with the same warning lights and alarms. Once again, we shifted to park, turned the vehicle off and we’re able to restart it. We drove straight to the dealership, informed them of the repeated issue and left the van with them. The dealership indicated there were over twenty software updates. We were told the exact same thing on June 4th the last time this happened. They have not yet been able to tell us why this has happened or continues to happen. The problem has not been reproduced by the dealership but this is the third time this has happened. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer.

WHILE BACKING OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY I APPLIED POWER AND THE VEHICLE SEEMED TO ACCELERATE RAPIDLY REARWARD ...I STOMPED ON THE BRAKE PEDAL WITH MY LEFT FOOT BUT THE BRAKE WAS UNABLE TO SLOW OR STOP THE CAR. THE CAR SPED ACROSS 4 LANES OF TRAFFIC BACKWARDS BARELY MISSING ON COMING CARS AND WENT ABOUT 150 TO 200 FEET DOWN OPPOSITE TRAFFIC LANES BACKWARDS VERY FAST. IT FINALLY STOPPED FACING ON COMING TRAFFIC AND THEY ALLOWED ME TO SLOWLY TO COME AGAINST THEM AND TURN INTO A DRIVEWAY OFF THE STREET. I NARROWLY MISSED OTHER CARS ON THE STREET AS IT WAS A HIGH TRAFFIC PERIOD TIME OF THE DAY. ..ABOUT 5 PM. I'VE DRIVEN IT ABOUT 3 TO 5 MILES A DAY SINCE WITH NO PROBLEMS SINCE THEN WITH MUCH MORE CARE THAN USUAL. I DON'T KNOW HOW FAST IT WAS GOING AS I WAS TRYING TO STEER.

Mileage: 3,200

I WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE WITH MY FAMILY. WE HAD ALREADY USED UP THE CHARGE FOR THE ELECTRIC ENGINE AND THE VEHICLE WAS OPERATING IN THE HYBRID ENGINE. I HAD THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL SET AT 72 MPH AND I ACCELERATED TO 75 MPH TO CHANGE LANES TO THE RIGHT. AS I ACCELERATED, SEVERAL ALARMS AND WARNINGS APPEARED ON THE DRIVER'S DASHBOARD. THEY INCLUDED 'SERVICE HYBRID SYSTEM', A RED WRENCH WITH A RED LIGHTING BOLT THROUGH IT AND THE ORANGE ENGINE AND BATTERY ICONS. AFTER THE ALARMS SOUNDED, A MESSAGE APPEARED SAYING 'SHIFT VEHICLE TO PARK'. WHEN I TRIED TO PRESS THE ACCELERATOR, NOTHING HAPPENED AND IT SEEMED THAT THE ENGINE HAD STALLED. I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO THE SHOULDER OF THE HIGHWAY, BREAK THE VEHICLE AND TURN ON MY FLASHERS. AFTER WE STOPPED, I PUT THE VEHICLE IN PARK, SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF, AND RESTARTED IT. AFTER RESTARTING THE VEHICLE, THE ORANGE ENGINE WARNING LIGHT REMAINED ON. MY FAMILY AND I WERE ABLE TO TRAVEL BACK HOME BUT TOOK BACK ROADS RATHER THAN THE HIGHWAY.

Mileage: 7,000

WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY GOING 70 GOING HOME AFTER WORK THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST ALL ABILITY TO ACCELERATE. I STILL HAD POWER, BUT THE DASH TOLD ME TO PRESS THE BREAK TO START THE CAR. I MANAGED TO COAST OFF THE BRIDGE I WAS ON THANKFULLY AND PULLED OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE CAR WAS STUCK IN PARK. I TRIED TURNING IT OFF BUT IT WOULD ONLY SHUT OFF FOR 2 SECONDS AND IMMEDIATELY TURN BACK ON WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. THE VEHICLE WAS IMMOBILIZED IN PARK AND WOULD NOT SHUT OFF. THE ENGINE LIGHT STAYED ON THE WHOLE TIME. I HAD TO CALL A TOW TO GET HOME. THE TOW TRUCK DRIVER WAS ABLE TURN THE CAR OFF AND THE CAR WAS DRIVABLE AGAIN BUT THE ENGINE LIGHT REMAINED ON. THE VEHICLE IS A 2018 WITH 5609 MILES ON IT AND HAVE ONLY OWNED IT FOR 3 MONTHS.

Mileage: 5,606

WE TOOK OUR CAR IN FOR RECALL U73 ON SATURDAY MORNING. IT TOOK ABOUT AN HOUR AND HAD NO ISSUES THAT DAY OR THE NEXT DAY. ON MONDAY MORNING, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, AND THE TURTLE ICON APPEARED. WE WERE ON A CITY STREET IN MOTION. WE NEEDED TO "LIMP" HOME - NO MORE THAN 15MPH. WE BROUGHT IT TO THE DEALER (SAFFORD, SPRINGFIELD, VA) AND THEY SUPPOSEDLY FIXED IT. THEY SAID IT WAS AN ISSUE WITH THE U73 UPDATE, AND THEY CLEARED SOME CODES AND IT SHOULDN'T HAPPEN AGAIN. TUESDAY MORNING, MORE LIGHTS COME ON IN THE CAR, TALKING ABOUT AIR BAGS, AND THIS TIME THE CAR WOULDN'T MOVE WHILE WE WERE ON THE ROAD.

Mileage: 8,500

WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT 70MPH ON THE FREEWAY. A "THUNK" SOUND OCCURRED AND THE CAR BEGAN DECELERATING RAPIDLY DESPITE PRESSING DOWN ON THE GAS PEDAL. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TURNED ON AND THE CAR CONTINUED TO DECELERATE. CABIN FILLED WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF SMOKE. CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP AND THE CAR WOULD NO LONGER ACCELERATE AT ALL. TURNED THE CAR OFF AND THEN ON TO GET IT THE FINAL 100 FEET TO A GAS STATION. PARKED AND THE CAR SMELLED LIKE SMOKE/BURNING IN THE CABIN AND THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE UNTIL A TOW TRUCK ARRIVED. WHEN TOW TRUCK ARRIVED, TURNED VEHICLE ON TO TURN OFF ELECTRIC PARKING BRAKE; ALL ELECTRONICS IN THE VEHICLE WERE ACTING UP AND COULD NOT TURN OFF PARKING BRAKE FOR A GOOD 15 MINUTES. FINALLY GOT IT OFF AND TOWED TO THE CLOSEST DEALER. *DT *TR

Mileage: 12,350

MY BRAND NEW 2018 CHRYSLER PACIFICA HYBRID WHICH I GOT ON JULY 4TH 2018 SHUTS OFF LAST WEEK ON A HIGHWAY WHILE I WAS DRIVING FROM RALEIGH TO CHARLOTTE ABOUT 70 MILES/HR. WITH LOT OF DIFFICULTY WE WERE ABLE TO PULL OVER. I STOPPED THE CAR AND RESTARTED THE CAR, THE CAR BEHAVED NORMAL BUT WITH MALFUNCTION INDICATOR IN MY DASH. DEALER IS SAYING THERE WAS BUGGY SOFTWARE INSTALLED ON JULY 3RD 2018 AS A PART OF SOME U73 RECALL. OUR FAMILY IS VERY SCARED TO SIT IN THE CAR AGAIN. THEY ARE SAYING 2 PARTS DAMAGED IN CAR DUE TO THE BUGGY SOFTWARE PATCH APPLIED, PCM CODES P0420, P0430 - CATALYTIC CONVERTER EFFICIENCY FAILURE (BOTH). CHRYSLER CUSTOMER CARE SAYS NO ISSUE WITH SOFTWARE, DEALER IS SAYING IT'S SOFTWARE BUG CAUSED THE ISSUE. I AM CONFUSED NOW WHOM TO BELIEVE. THEY SAID I WILL GET MY CAR IN A MONTH (MAY BE). VERY UNSATISFYING AND FEEL VERY UNSAFE IN THIS CAR NOW. KINDLY DO THE NEEDFUL. *TT *TR

Mileage: 3,500

AFTER U73/NHTSA 18V-332 I TESTED THE SPEED CONTROL AFTER TURNING ON THE RADAR, I WAS ABLE TO SET THE SPEED AND THE VEHICLE PERFORMED AS EXPECTED. WHEN I PRESSED THE SET BUTTON AGAIN TO INCREASE THE SPEED IF I HELD THE SET BUTTON FOR MORE THAN A COUPLE OF SECONDS AND RELEASED IT THE VEHICLE RAPIDLY ACCELERATED UNTIL THE BRAKE WAS APPLIED. THIS WAS THE SAME FAULT THAT OCCURRED BEFORE THE RECALL FIX WAS APPLIED. SO THE RECALL FIX DID NOT REPAIR THE CONDITION.

Mileage: 3,000

WHILE DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY WITH A SPEED LIMIT OF 70 MPH, A WARNING LIGHT CAME ON THAT THE BATTERY WAS CONDITIONING. I WAS THEN LIMITED TO 45 MPH WITH VERY LITTLE ACCELERATION, AND THE A/C STOPPED WORKING. THIS WAS REPAIRED, BUT HAPPENED AGAIN THREE WEEKS LATER WHEN ABOUT TO MERGE ONTO ANOTHER HIGHWAY WITH A 55 MPH SPEED LIMIT.

Mileage: 3,700

ACTIVE CRUISE CONTROL FAILS TO DETECT THE VEHICLE IN FRONT. IT HAPPENS AT LEAST ONCE A DAY. ITS DOES NOT CONVEY CONFIDENCE ON THE SYSTEM.

Mileage: 500