2017 Chrysler Pacifica: engine overheating

Filed Oct 16, 2026 · Transmission · IN

When driving vehicle it would severely buck and not accelerate. Have almost had cars rear end me as a result. There are no warning lights regarding this. Car is at an auto repair shop and they are saying it has no transmission fault codes but it needs a new transmission. I have barely been able to drive this car since about a month after I purchased in november 2025. When purchasing the car it ran completely fine and had no issues until december of 2025 which was a coolant leak. I discontinued driving the vehicle until may of 2026 when I was able to pay a mechanic to replace water pump and radiator. with in a week of replacing the water pump and radiator the vehicle began severely jerking and bucking particularly when accelerating from a full stop. then while driving down the road it intermittently starts bucking. I attempted to contact a local dealer however they do not have any sufficient financing programs to cover the cost of repairs and diagnosis charge. I spend 8000 on a vehicle that has barely ran and showed no symptoms or warning lights of a catastrophic failure.

Filed Apr 13, 2026 · Engine · KY

Check engine light came on at 87K miles, took to dealership and code was P0303. Dealer had to replace 6 spark plugs, warped head, head gasket and oil change. Dealership knew of this problem with faulty heads from the manufacturer and no recall has been started from Chrysler. Car has never overheated or shown any other symptoms. It has been 2 years, 3 months and less than 27K miles and I have another check engine light with the same code. Dealerships says I have another blown head gasket, and it needs to be replaced. Vehicle cannot be driven until it is replaced.

Filed Jan 4, 2026 · Engine · CA

2017 Chrysler Pacifica at 70k miles, check engine light came on. After engine warm up, engine starts to rough idle. Diagnosis is misfire on cylinder 2 (code P0302). In addition, vehicle voltage fluctuates in gage cluster between 12-14 volts. No issue until engine is warm and no issue above idle or with load. Injectors were checked and fine, coils and leads were replaced. Fix did not work. Took to Chrysler dealership for addition diagnosis. Dealership diagnosis is cylinder head warpage due to overheating. Single owner of vehicle, regularly maintained and with no “low coolant” engine light.

Filed May 20, 2025 · Engine · NC

The coolant leaked into the engine and blown the headgasket. This has been confirmed by Pepboys who work on my car. It has not been inspected by manufacturer or others. It started by causing the ignition coil to fail and the engine would start rough and check engine light would come on. started around 5/1/2025

Filed Apr 24, 2025 · Engine · CA

The engine failed at 57,400 miles. My wife was driving with our kids and engine locked up. I took to the dealership and they said that the engine block and head is warped and cracked. The engine needed to be completely replaced. My warranty period was over and company did not want to stand behind the product and help with any repairs. They said the vehicle overheated but that never happened during this time.

Filed Apr 21, 2025 · Engine, Transmission · UT

We are the original owners of this vehicle, which has been consistently and properly maintained. Recently, the vehicle stalled unexpectedly in the middle of the highway and would not restart, creating a significant safety hazard. The check engine light illuminated, and the vehicle could not be shifted into neutral, preventing it from being safely moved out of traffic. After the vehicle was towed to the dealership, we were informed that the starter had failed due to coolant leakage from a compromised head gasket. This coolant intrusion damaged the starter, rendering it inoperable. The dealership advised that while the starter could be replaced, it would likely fail again unless the underlying head gasket issue is addressed. We have since learned that this is a known and recurring issue with certain Chrysler models. Unfortunately, Chrysler has not issued a recall, nor have they provided vehicle owners with any formal notification or long-term solution to this potentially dangerous defect.

Filed Dec 20, 2024 · Engine · SC

[XXX] my check engine light came on and started blinking as I was driving. I then noticed that my car was sputtering. I stopped my car immediately and had it towed to a dealership at that exact point I had just over 64,136 miles on my 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The following is the work that they performed on my vehicle. CONCERN VERIFIED. VEHICLE HAS AN ACTIVE MISFIRE, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS FLASHING. SCANNED VEHICLE FOR CODES AND FOUND MISFIRE ON CYLINDER 3. REMOVED COIL AND SWAPPED TO CYLINDER 1. SPARK PLUG REMOVED AND SWAPPED TO CYLINDER 5. RETESTED. MISFIRE MOVED TO CYLINDER 1. REPLACED IGNITION COIL AND ROAD TESTED VEHICLE. AFTER VEHICLE WAS WARM THE MISFIRE ON CYLINDER 3 RETURNED. SWAPPED FUEL INJECTOR TO CYLINDER 2. MISFIRE STAYED ON CYLINDER 3. REMOVED COIL AND SPARK PLUG FROM CYLINDER 3 AND BORESCOPED CYLINDER. FOUND COOLANT LEAKING INTO THE CYLINDER. RECOMMEND REPLACING CYLINDER HEAD GASKET AND CHECKING THE CYLINDER HEAD FOR WARPAGE. REMOVED CYLINDER HEAD AND FOUND CYLINDER HEAD TO BE WARPED AND NEEDING TO BE REPLACED ALONG WITH THE GASKETS. REPLACED LEFT AND RIGHT VALVE COVER GASKETS, CYLINDER HEAD, CYLINDER HEAD GASKETS, TIMING COVER GASKETS, EXHAUST MANIFOLD GASKET, SPARK PLUGS, UPPER AND LOWER INTAKE GASKETS. COMPLETED OIL CHANGE. Fast forward to [XXX] vehicle mileage 74,955 my wife was leaving to go to the farmers market. She called me to inform me that the check engine light came on blinking and the car started sputtering again. The exact same issue happened again. I told her to stop the car immediately and we had it towed to the same car dealership today [XXX] was the first call that I received from the dealership they informed me that cylinder six has failed the compression test and they recommend having the engine replaced. Currently waiting to speak to more people to see what can be done. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Dec 6, 2024 · Engine, Transmission · GA

Check engine light. Cylinoid misfire reported, #3. Replaced. Check engine light reappeared. Coolant leak. Coolant checked with die solution to check combustion mixture. Tested positive. Head gasket leaks diagnosed. Possible head gasket crack. Vehicle was unsafe to family driving as failure could occur on highway. Family member had to pull over on side of road to prevent overheating.

Filed Nov 21, 2024 · Engine · MA

2017 through 2024 Pacificas with the 3.6 Pentastar engines have problems that in case of coolant leaks in the system, it leads to a engine coolant reservoir low level which allows air to enter the system and causes unrepairable damage to the engine that needs it to be replaced. ROOT CAUSE is FAC / Stellantis / Chrysler FAILED to install a simple and cheap engine coolant reservoir low level warning sensor which would save the majority of the people with blown head gaskets all this grief and expense. The 3.6 Pentastar engine uses aluminum heads with an open skirt design which means that the cylinder heads are weak and prone to warping under ANY overheat condition.

Filed Nov 1, 2024 · Engine · VA

Engine Coolant leaks inside the engine Cylinder #5 without warning and cracked the engine block cylinder head #5. This has happened 2 times on this vehicle replacing the engine once. Vehicle has been maintained in accordance with manufacture recommendations.

Filed Oct 26, 2024 · Engine · MN

2017 Chrysler Pacifica Touring L with 3.6L engine. Odometer 78623 miles. Noted rough idling of engine for a few seconds when started. Later in day, at low speeds, check engine light came on solidly (no flashing) for a few seconds and then turned off. Early next morning took van to reputable local mechanic who has maintained the vehicle according to Chrysler recommendations. They pulled error code P0305 Cylinder misfire. They removed and inspected spark plug which showed minor deposits. Looked in cylinder with bore scope which showed orange-redish discoloration on piston. Put new spark plug on #5 and swapped coil #5 with coil #3. Coolant was low but no coolant leak was discovered. Van never had an overheating episode. All maintenance was performed according to Chrysler recommended schedule, first by local Chrysler dealership, and then by this same mechanic shop. Diagnosis, warped or fractured cylinder head resulting in coolant leak into cylinder. Pictures were taken by shop and available on request.

Filed Jul 23, 2024 · Engine · TX

Check engine light on. P0303 Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected, My maintenance history : Coil is good, only been 27,000 mile since I replaced 6xspark plugs, replaced 1 fuel injector just a week a go, still got engine light on. I took my van to Chrysler Dealer found coolant leaking into cylinder head or gasket. I searched online seems pacifica has many cylinder manufacturers issue.