mmarshall

Some government and consumer groups are pushing for a recall on the 2017 Pacificas, claiming that they stall in traffic without warning. But, apparently, the dealership service facilities and/or factory engineers have not been able to replicate the issue. Steve, I guess we can assume you have not (so far) had any problems with yours...I'm sure you would have told us.

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news...acifica-recall

Unsolved Pacifica stalling issues are putting pressure on Fiat Chrysler

NOVEMBER 21, 2017A consumer advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader and Consumers Union is again taking aim at FCA US, this time over instances of stalling being alleged by dozens of consumers while driving the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan.

The Center for Auto Safety is asking the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to open an investigation and issue an immediate recall of the 150,000 affected Pacificas, which the group says represent an "unreasonable risk to the public."

As of Monday morning, there were 99 consumer complaints on NHTSA's Safercar.gov website concerning the Pacifica, including dozens alleging that the minivan had stalled at various speeds or while idling. Some consumers complained of multiple losses of power. The Center for Auto Safety said that neither Chrysler nor its service technicians had been able to replicate the alleged stalling, and that the automaker had not yet determined a cause.

The loss of control can lead to accidents that result in death or injury, including being struck by another vehicle while disabled on the roadside, the center said. No fatalities or significant injuries have been reported as a result of the alleged problem.

None of the 2017 Pacifica's four previous recalls concerned engine or transmission operation. The Pacifica has a 3.6L Pentastar V6, which is widely used across the automaker's lineup, mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission that has proven problematic for the automaker in several front-wheel-drive vehicles, such as the 2014 Jeep Cherokee and the 2016 Fiat 500X.

The Center for Auto Safety, in its letter to NHTSA, said the Pacifica's stalling problem had been known internally since April, but that the automaker has yet to issue a recall because it has not yet identified the cause.

Based on correspondence to consumers, FCA has not identified the source of failure and said drivers should continue driving their vehicles, the center's executive director, Jason Levine, told Automotive News.

Another sign that FCA has not developed a remedy is that dealerships are trying a wide range of unrelated fixes to correct the stalling when vehicles are brought in for service, he said. Some dealers are asking customers to continue driving with a data recorder to help determine the cause of the failure.

"Asking people to serve as crash-test dummies is not acceptable," Levine said.


"Just as it is not necessary for Chrysler to identify the exact cause of the defect before it provides its owners loaner vehicles for their safety, NHTSA should not wait for a body count to exercise its authority under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act to ensure consumer safety," Levine said in a statement.

FCA declined requests for comment from Automotive News. The automaker told the Associated Press that it was "monitoring the data and will respond if a safety defect is found."

FCA's recent history with the Center for Auto Safety has been unpleasant. The center championed a fight to force FCA to recall 2.7 million Jeep Libertys, Cherokees and Grand Cherokees with fuel tanks behind the rear axle, which the consumer group claimed was the cause of a large number of post-collision fatal fires. FCA ultimately agreed to recall 1.56 million Libertys and Grand Cherokees to add tow-hitch assemblies around the fuel tanks to lessen their exposure.

FCA is in the third year of a consent decree it negotiated with NHTSA over failings during its handling of previous recall campaigns. That 2015 agreement called for the automaker to pay up to $105 million in fines and civil penalties and placed under the guidance of a special monitor to improve its recall performance.

"FCA under pressure to recall Chrysler Pacificas for potential stalling problem" originally appeared in Automotive News on 11/20/2017

S2000toIS350

Thanks for posting this hugely important information for all to see

I was going to post it but I thought I might get ripped for Cry Slur bashing

I would feel terrible knowing a loved one is out on the road in one of these

Hopefully they will all be recalled and crushed, and Cry Slur will compensate the buyers

mmarshall

Posting recall information is not necessarily "bashing" a brand. In fact, for a long time, we had a special dedicated thread for that in Car Chat...nothing but recalls on various auto manufacturers.



Don't you think that is going a little overboard? With over 150,000 Pacificas sold, there have been only 99 reported complaints. Of course, I agree that if a legitimate cause (and fix) is found, then, yes, recall and repair them....that's what the recall process is for.

I also suspect that at least some of those reported complaints may be simply water or dirt in the fuel. If the injectors simply squirt water into the cylinders instead of gasoline, then, yes, the engine is going to stall or hesitate. And dirt in the fuel can plug up filters and itself cut off some gas-flow. But, I'm just speculating here....hopefully, the engineers will find out what the actual problem is.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

not for s2000 who'd like to see the mother of all bombs dropped on 'cry slur's headquarters.

S2000toIS350

Nice thought Bit

No violence from me

I am more into all production shut down and anyone who worked for/on Cry Slur stuff be banned from the auto industry

Perhaps those spuds can open baked potato shops, I like baked potatoes

​​​​​​​Perhaps El Presidente can ban Cry Slurs from the road as well (starting with the rusted out minvans), that would be a nice touch

hypervish

Maybe only 99 reported it, because the others thought it was operating as intended...It is is a Chrysler after-all.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

you know calling Chrysler "Cry Slur" is pretty juvenile. just saying...

Och

iTrader: (3)

Just recall all minivans and ban them all together.

mmarshall

May I kindly remind everyone here (for those who are not aware of it) that modern FWD/AWD minivans, as we know them, probably would not even exist if it wasn't for Chrysler. Lee Iacocca and Hal Sperlich, who had originally worked as executives at Ford, wanted to do their conception of the FWD minivan there, but (famously stubborn) Henry Ford II would have none of it. Sperlich and Iacocca both wound up on Henry's s***- list, and both were fired. Chrysler's John Riccardo had had enough of his job, wanted an excuse to retire, so he was more than happy to get Iacocca and Sperlich to come in and replace him. Once Iacocca and Sperlich could work together, at Chrysler, free and unfettered, without interference from King Henry, big things began to happen, especially after the Federal loan-guarantee saved Chrysler from bankruptcy. One of those big things was the first FWD minivans, which were introduced in the fall of 1983. The Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager (followed a few years later by the upmarket Chrysler Town and Country) were smash hits, and caught the entire rest of the industry off guard. The rest, of course is history.

Some auto-historians claim that the earlier VW Microbus (Hippie-Bus) and its weak RWD air-cooled engine was the first minivan....which is probably true from a purely size-standpoint. But, despite its good mechanical quality, solid assembly, and fit/finish (something that Chrysler products of the time clearly lacked), it had many weaknesses in handling, power, acceleration, safety, and heating/defrosting, and was a completely different kind of vehicle from the FWD, liquid-cooled, transverse-engined minivans that Chrysler debuted.

rxonmymind

This isn't exclusive to Chrysler. If I remember correctly there was a gentleman who had purchased a six figure+ Mercedes in Germany (?) as his car stalled numerous times and he had complained to the dealership who had agreed to replace it. Well things went South real quick as his car stalled with his pregnant wife and upon returning to the dealership they had no recollection of the deal. He then proceeded to take a baseball bat to it in front of the dealership and posted it on YouTube.

MattyG

Yeah Chrysler pretty much mainstreamed the minivan. People forget this and I'm thinking that we have some hostility towards the minivan because, maybe we have a few Car Chat members who grew up in those vans perhaps, lol? Some embarrassing pickups and drop-offs at school while the "cool" kids parents were riding around in ridiculous gigantic gas guzzling SUV's?

The Pacifica stalling issue so far at least seems to be around 50 reports so far. That means you have that many vehicles and maybe just under one hundred reporting an issue out of 156,000 sold since 2016. It's a possible failure rate of 0.064 percent of owners so far. Definitely an issue for FCA but by no means a reason to hate on the practical minivan.

Coleroad

This is an on going problem since 2007. Vehicles involved include Chrysler and Dodge minivans, Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs and Ram pickups made since the company adopted a new electronic control module in 2007. This isn't the only manufacturer with these kinds of issues either.

mmarshall

Yes.....but that was almost 10 years before the Pacifica's debut in 2017. That's generally enough time to correct a defect in a module.

Coleroad

it's probably a new cause, but still not a new issue.

evident

Could never own a Chrysler product. Consistently the worst vehicles I've driven while renting cars.