2017 Chrysler Pacifica: battery drain or dead battery

Filed Aug 1, 2025 · Electrical, Engine · NV

I am reporting a serious and ongoing safety defect with my 2017 Chrysler Pacifica (VIN: [XXX] , current mileage 51,875). The vehicle stalls and shuts off unexpectedly while driving, including in intersections, creating a life-threatening hazard. I have reported this issue multiple times to CarMax and Prestige Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Las Vegas, NV, but it remains unresolved. Key points: • First reported to CarMax on 2/6/2024 (Invoice #[XXX]). • Battery health test passed on 3/1/2024 (Invoice [XXX]). • Dealership later misdiagnosed the problem as a dead battery and charged me $837.95 for a replacement on 10/11/2024 (Invoice #[XXX]), which did not fix the stalling issue. • I returned within 7 days with the same safety complaint. • Multiple service attempts have failed to permanently resolve the issue. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jun 23, 2025 · Electrical · IA

After driving, I can to a stop to park the van. The van would not shift to park and instead would go to neutral. I then could not turn the van off. It would only stay in accessory mode. Upon looking at this issue online, many Chrysler Pacifica owners have the same issue. Some people are able to fix the issue easily, while others needed to replace the transmission valve body. This is an incredibly expensive repair. There were no warning lights ahead of this problem happening, it happened out of the blue. No codes are shown when reading for codes in the van. The message that pops up when the van would not shift to park was “service trans press brake when stopped key off engine to engage park”. But the van will not turn off completely. To get the van to shut off, the battery needs to be disconnected. Safety is put at risk as I am not able to park the van or turn it off completely which would result in a dead battery.

Filed Sep 6, 2022 · Acceleration, Electrical · WI

My Pacifica suddenly will not start. I ended up jump-starting the van. Then whenever I stopped, it needed a jump start. This whole ordeal is from a single day. Driving back on the high-way, suddenly van acted weird, all electronics going haywire, various instrument "unavailable" messages started coming, and on the highway Van all systems failed, power steering locked, I pulled over and battery icon (red) came on as well. Car died. I re-jump started it and then drove again with seeing the battery fluctuating between 10.2 v to 16v. Then when we exited the highway, this time, the van stalled right in the middle of the road. No warning, nothing. I feel this is a single point of failure that if the battery is having an issue, (though it seems alternator) was charging it, it could have caused two crashes. I am really concerned. I have had dead batteries in my other cars but nothing like that where all instruments start acting weird. Also few other weird things happening during this time: passenger windows will come down automatically again and again and again while driving. All different security features sporadically say unavailable, airbag, esc, ACC, FCW etc.. This needs to be looked at as a "Single Point of Failure" issue.

Filed Apr 20, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · WI

The battery constantly dies. If we go 1 day without driving, we have to jump it. The screen will malfunction and black out. The sliding doors will not close requiring us to close them several times before they actually close properly. We’ve had issues with the emergency brake automatically engaging after some of the battery issues as well without indicating the parking brake is on. We’ve replaced the first battery after roughly 3.5 years, and still the battery that is less than 1 year old dies constantly. We’ve had 2 garages do diagnostics and replace parts (1 being a dodge/Chrysler dealer) and even after thousands of dollars spent to fix the problem, a week later the battery is dead again. It’s an endless cycle. We’ve also experienced jerking from the transmission while driving that did not go away after software fixes. The dates and info below are for the most recent time the battery died, which is probably the 50th time it’s died in the last year.

Filed Sep 10, 2019 · Electrical · 38,000 miles · NC

Vehicle stalling due to dead battery according to dealership. Vehicle stalled while driving. I was able to start it again after coming to a stop, but it took 3 times pushing the start button before it turned over. Had the vehicle towed to the dealership to run diagnostic and they concluded the battery was dead and no other malfunction was reported.

Filed Aug 28, 2019 · Brakes, Electrical · 23,000 miles · VA

We took a 7 hr trip in our 2017 pacifica on sat back home from vacation. The next day we drove to a local movie theater. We observed several warning lights appear for no reason. The next day the van would not start. Both batteries are dead. We used a battery charge to charge main battery but it would only charge to 11,6 and will not start the van. We tried jumper cables. Nothing will start the van. When roadside assistance came to tow the van to the shop the manual park release did not work and the rear tires were locked. Something is seriously draining the battery as soon as you take it off the battery charger. Something in the computer is sucking all the life from the battery. Very frustrating since I just took the van into the shop a couple of weeks ago to get the fourth recall issue fixed.

Filed Aug 4, 2019 · Electrical · 36,502 miles · NY

At least 6 times in the past 8 months the vehicle has failed to start. It behaves as if both batteries are dead. After using a trickle charger I can get the car to start. It's been returned to the dealer numerous times. Each time they report that they charged the batteries and everything is fine and chrysler will not let them replace either battery since "no error code is reported". Supposedly they checked the charging system as well as looked for a parasitic draw and found nothing. We are afraid to use the vehicle lest we get stuck far from home. In desperation I replaced the main battery at my expense. In all cases the problem occurred when the vehicle was parked in our drive. Some cases overnight and others after returning from an errand run.

Filed Dec 26, 2018 · Steering, Transmission · 29,000 miles · TX

My issues started when my auto start/stop stopped working. I took it in to the dealership and they said the accessory battery was dead and they didn't have a replacement in. That it was in backorder. Then my main battery went dead. I had to have my vehicle towed to the dealership. They replaced my main battery and again they made mentioned that the auto start/stop didn't work. I said I know the accessory battery is dead and that it was on backorder. I was told to bring the van back in the following week and they would test the accessory battery again and replace it if was bad. Took the van back. They said it wasn't the battery that something was wrong electrical because too many volts was being outputted. At this time I made mention of the power steering issue. I got a warning light saying it wasn't working. Was told nothing showed up on the computer about the power steering. Took van back in for the electrical system to be evaluated. My husband drove the van and on the way to the dealership tje power steering system cut off and then in mid turn cut back on almost causing him to hit another vehicle head on. Told dealership of the problem and also the jerking issues when shifting into lower gears. Dealership actually figured out it was the accessory battery that was dead so they replaced it. Then while they had it they had issues with the power steering cutting on/off. So they said it was the rack & pinion. They couldn't duplicate the issues with the van jerking into lower gears. Well here we are a month later and my power steering is still cutting off/on while driving causing near car accidents. The van still jerks sometime when trying to get into lower gears. Called chrysler consumer number and they said they would get back with me. The power steering issues is a major safety hazard, can't get van into the dealership till next week because they are behind.

Filed Sep 3, 2018 · Electrical · 24,000 miles · NY

Drivers side sliding door was repaired once due to not locking and opening when parked or when driving, dealer replaced auxiliary battery and reprogrammed. Again I have an issue, my main battery died for no reason. Chrysler roadside jumped my vehicle and know the door has the same issues with the drivers side sliding door. Now the door wont work properly and the rear locking mechanism is not pulling the door in to lock it, I had to apply pressure to help it engage the mechanical lock

Filed Jun 4, 2018 · Electrical · 40,000 miles · MI

I purchased a 2017 pacifica from a dealer. I have had the van not start twice for me at home in the driveway and now once at work. I had just shut the van off and went to restart it and it stalled twice. The third time all the gauges and went crazy it wouldn't start. I have owned this vehicle for 4 months, it had been in the shop a total of 6 weeks , 2 weeks each occurance. I was just informed by the dealership that it was a battery drain and it cannot be recreated. I am not confident in driving my new vehicle any distance in fear that I will be stranded because it will not start. Super unhappy.