2017 Chrysler Pacifica: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Aug 13, 2026 · Acceleration · FL

I have had this happen twice in the last few months, most recently in the last three weeks. I was driving on a 45 mph highway with the cruise control set at 49 or 50 miles per hour. On the most recent time, I was coming to a red traffic light and applied the break to slow down. However, the van kept going forward even though I was pressing the break pedal totally down. The van slowed somewhat, but the van kept going. I put the van in neutral and was able to stop, but the engine kept going, presumably at the speed set on the cruise control. I stopped the engine By putting the vehicle in Lo, which I believe shut off the engine. By that time I was partly in the intersection. Luckily I had no cars in front of me or behind me, and no one was crossing in front of me. Otherwise I would have had a collision. I called and made an appointment at my dealership, [XXX] on XXX. They test drove the van but couldn't duplicate the concern. According to the Invoice, they "Captured VSR No DTCS related to concern. Checked for sofware updates, None related to concern. Checked for SBS or star cases related to concern. None found." The summary concluded:" System is operating as designed at this time. Updated TCM, BCM and PLGM." I don't know what all of that means, but I think that they did a thorough inspection of my van and couldn't find out what was causing the Cruise Control to not shut off. I did some research online and I found that there were 2 recalls in 2018 for the 2017 and 2018 Chrysler Pacifica that appear to have attempted to correct this exact issue, but it showed that my vehicle, with my VIN, was covered by FCA Safety Recall U64, the federal safety agency 18V‑332 and the recall status showed that my vehicle was "Repaired." Has anyone else had this problem, because this creates a very scary, dangerous event. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Mar 17, 2026 · Driver assistance, Engine · GA

This car has had so many issues in the 2 years that i have had it. Blown head gaskets, hard shifting, cruise control getting stuck in a high gear and not shifting. When fixing the head gasket it was apparent that it wasnt the first time being fixed. For such a nice vehicle it has way too many problems for the amount i purchased it for. There needs to be some sort of compensation for this. Upon looking into these issues there are thousands among thousands of people with the same head gasket issues and transmission issues as well.

Filed Jan 9, 2026 · Electrical, Transmission · NV

I am reporting a serious safety issue with my 2017 Chrysler Pacifica, purchased in February 2024. The vehicle experiences repeated drivetrain shutdowns and unsafe operation due to confirmed failures in the transmission control module and valve body, diagnosed by Chrysler Dodge Jeep in North Las Vegas, Nevada. These malfunctions prevent proper gear engagement while driving, creating a significant risk to myself, my five children, and others on the road. Multiple dashboard warnings—including “Service Electronic Stability Control,” “Park Sense Unavailable,” “Park Brake Temporarily Unavailable,” “Blindspot Alert Temporarily Unavailable,” “Service Trance Stop Safety Shut Off Engine to Engage Park,” and “Accessible Cruise Control Unavailable”—have appeared intermittently since purchase. Dealer inspections and diagnostic reports confirm the problem, but repair costs exceed the vehicle’s value, leaving the issue unresolved. This ongoing safety hazard requires immediate investigation to prevent potential harm to passengers and other drivers.

Filed Aug 9, 2025 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · TX

When driving van will jerk or bang like slipping in gear, feels like possible being hit from behind, we have tried the adaptive learning reset several times, we had just purchased this less than 2 months ago with about 4800 miles in it. Feels dangerous to drive, especially with kids. We are scared to even try the cruise control. We heard and read online many whey same issues, with warranty and having there vans in dealership on several events, having reset in software upgrades, transmission replacement with only the problem to return. Please fix this, this one of my vehicles that unfortunately I have to drive because it's my only vehicle. This problem happens at lest everytime I'm driving daily, it started maybe a few weeks ago from the time this has been written.

Filed Mar 25, 2024 · Driver assistance · AR

It started on or about September 17, 2023, the van's adaptive cruise control, forward collision, automatic breaking is warnings show up on the dash after driving the vehicle about 10 minutes. It does it every day that I drive the vehicle. I have looked up causes and repairs online and there are many complaints about this issue and also after paying a couple thousand dollars at the dealership, it will work for about six months then start happening again. Also unable to use cruise control while driving on a trip, the crusie control will quit operating about ten minutes after the car starts and while driving it.

Filed May 22, 2022 · Acceleration, Engine · WI

I have not gotten into an accident. I have noticed for a long time my van transmission seems to have problems shifting. I will be starting to accelerate, and when i reCh speeds between 25-55 it often feels like I have no power (more often with time) I can hear the van "revving" bur not increasing speed at the rate it should be. Then all of a sudden the transmission feels like it "catches" and it lurches forward. Making it feel like the van us going to literally fall apart, or have the enginefall out. It is a very scary!! And it is getting worse even though when this happens I have started to take my foot off the gas because it I feel something terrible will happen. However taking my foot off the gas, especially when merging is extremely dangerous (people are so agressive driving these days) and I continue to be put in dangerous situations because of this issue. I know other people are complaining about this so I do not know why a recall has not been submitted! We need this fixed. Please help us!! Also anothwr issue.. Cruise control speeds up the vehicle when going downhill. It does not ever stop from accelerating! I'm aware and always take cruise control off on big hills. But this I'd also very dangerous as sometimes I have to tap the break because the cruise won't come off with the button when this happens.

Filed Sep 20, 2021 · Brakes, Fuel system · MA · 1 injury

While traveling on a dry highway, with good tires/new tires, and decelerating from 45 mph and approaching a red light, and a moderate, but firm pressure on the brake to bring the van to a full stop, the speed decreased to 15 mph, with the tachometer stable at 800 rpm and then to 10 mph, with both hands on the wheel, left foot on the dead pedal, and right foot on the middle of the brake pedal. As the speedometer made the transition at 10 MPH, the tachometer surged to 1500 RPM and then to 3000 in under 3 seconds, which cause me to initiate an emergency action drill of stabbing the brake pedal hard three times and rotating the transmission control to the lowest gear. The transmission refused to shift lower, and the control of the vehicle turned on oa wrestling match and the tachometer surged from 1500 RPM, them 3000 RPM, then 4500 RPM, and then 6000 RPM, each time the vehicle acting like it was repeatedly being rear-ended at a speed exceeding 15 MPH. The engine could not be disengaged and aceelaretd uncontrollably to over 40 MPH, through a busy intersection, and required over 24 hard break stages over a 10 second period to actually stop the car, and the engine refused to disengage until stopped. Once the car was restarted it immediately surged forward trying to fight through the hard applied brakes. The cruise control was never on the entire time. I then stut down the engine once I was able to wretle it to a stop with the engine climbing to over 4500 RPM. I then took this vehicle to a safe area, and repeated the conditions, and again as the vehilce speed dropped below 15 MPH, and certainly below 10 MPH, the egine tachometer increased in steps of 1500 MPH, 3000, 4500, 6000 RPM, and no control could be achieved other then violently "stabbing" the brake pedal. Under controlled conditions the behavior was repeatable over 20 times. This is a life threatenign defect, and it appears to be software in origin. I have CAN data streams from the events (23) and video.

Filed Jul 15, 2021 · Driver assistance, Electrical · NC

While driving vehicle with cruise control set to 55 vehicle stallings, losing power steering, and loses all driver-assist features, to include traction control, blind spot monitoring, power steering, forward collision avoidance, adaptive cruise control, airbags, and other systems. Send back to dealership three times to two different dealerships and for same

Filed Apr 21, 2021 · Transmission · 20,000 miles · WI

When in motion, usually from first gear shifting to second gear, the transmission will jolt or bang, at which point I have to let off the gas peddle to allow it to let's say, catch up, on the shift. It clunks fairly hard, not sure why chrysler has not recalled for this issue. We have also had issues when we go over the top of a hill with the cruise control on and start go down the hill and the vehicle will pick up speed and the transmission will downshift and the engine RPM will spike up to 3000-4000 RPM. As I know this is going to happen, I do shut the cruise off when this happens and it will settle back to normal operation. We have had it to our chrysler dealer for the transmission issue with the clunking and they just shrugged it off and do nothing at all. I cannot put a date on the actual occurrences because it is ongoing and still does it at random at times. Also, I cannot really give actually dates and mileage as to when this happens as it is random.

Filed Apr 6, 2021 · Driver assistance, Transmission · 84,800 miles · VA

From a stop at a stop light, when light turned green accelerated to about 18 MPH (going straight through light) then lost all power (with accelerator still depressed) while in middle of the intersection. At that same time a notification displayed on the dashboard for about 5 seconds stating "adaptive cruise control (acc) off". After about 5 seconds notification disappeared and power returned to vehicle. This exact issue happened twice in the same day.

Filed Feb 10, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · 30,390 miles · FL · fire

30,390while cruising on interstate, (2/6/21, 3:17 pm, drizzling, 55 degrees f, at 70 MPH in cruise control) instrument panel goes black, engine shuts off, power steering goes off, rt passenger window descends all the way, wipers go off, cruise goes off, gear indicator switches (on it's own from drive to neutral, to park. Coasting to side left of side of the (under construction) shoulder (rt shoulder is blocked by jersey barriers) instrument cluster comes back on. I shift from park to neutral, to drive, with no effect on drivability. I stopped off the roadway and shut off the ignition. Instrument cluster has battery and fcw warning lights on. There is a distinct smell of an electrical fire. I check under the hood to look for obvious fire sources. None are apparent. I checked the battery connection. This appears as normal for this vehicle, not tight ' but not loose either. I checked the fuse box. I did not have a fuse indicator tool with me and did not attempt to pull fuses. Seeing no obvious fire sources I shut the hood. Five minutes after stopping I tried the ignition again and the car started. The rt passenger window was to 3' short of closed, then it stopped. I pulled back on the highway and resumed the trip. The fcw warning light was still on. Cruise control was unavailable. The driver's side mirror warning indicator was on. On 2/7/21 I checked the car. All power devices on the rt front door were not active. I checked the fuses and determined that at least one had failed (f47). I attempted to replace the fuse. In doing so the rt passenger window immediately returned to the fully closed position, the fuse blew as I put it in, the smell of burning electrical wire was apparent inside the cab, but not under the hood.

Filed Sep 25, 2020 · Acceleration · 1,000 miles · MT

The cruise control downshifts the transmission while descending hills in order to maintain the desired speed. But prior to downshifting the engine will accelerate 5-10mph depending upon the initial speed and the grade of the hill. While not an issue on a straight road, it is a safety issue on a 70 MPH hwy with a 50 MPH curve at the bottom of the hill, especially when traction is reduced, often the case on hwy 37 between libby & eureka mt. I have taken the car into the dealer twice concerning this issue since it is 'normal' for this car, ie, it does the same thing on every hill while cruise control is engaged. They said it's normal for this car ' nothing to be done. The last time I took it in was 9/24/2020 at which time they gave me a copy of a star case report (attached). This report recommends cruise not be used in hilly areas. While they note that speed may increase, not that it will increase, they don't mention the increase is not just due to gravity but actual acceleration. Nor have I seen any mention of this issue in the users' manual. 2017 was the first year of production for the pacifica, but you will note the star is dated 2012 so other models must also be similarly affected. We recently bought a 2020 ram 1500 and the cruise control works perfectly in it, so I know chrysler knows how to make a safe & effective speed control unit.