2023 Chrysler Pacifica: sudden loss of power

Filed Jul 31, 2026 · Electrical, Engine · FL

This is what I wrote to Stellantis. Dear Stellantis Customer Care, My vehicle has now stalled five separate times while I was making a left turn through an intersection. When this happens, the engine shuts off unexpectedly, the vehicle shifts into park and I must attempt to restart it while sitting in the roadway. During the most recent incident, the vehicle would not restart on the first attempt and required a second attempt before it would run again. This creates an extremely dangerous situation. Losing power in the middle of a left turn places me, my passengers and other motorist at risk of a serious accident. The vehicle has approximately 43,000 miles and has been taken to my Chrysler dealership for diagnosis. Unfortunately, I have repeatedly been told that they cannot duplicate the problem and therefore cannot repair it. Despite those visits, the dangerous condition continues to occur. I am requesting that Stellantis immediately: • Open a formal case regarding the safety issue. • Assign a regional field engineer, or star technical specialist to inspect and diagnose my vehicle. • Work directly with my dealership to determine the cause of this intermittent stalling condition. • Advise me whether the vehicle is safe to drive while this issue remains unresolved. I have been a responsible owner and have sought assistance through the dealership, but I cannot continue driving a vehicle that unexpectedly shuts off in the middle of an intersection. I am asking Stellantis to take this matter seriously, and provide a timely resolution before someone is seriously injured. Please contact me as soon as possible regarding the next steps. I would appreciate receiving a case number and the name of the representative assigned to assist with this matter. I intend to file a safety complaint with the federal safety agency regarding this matter. Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent safety concern.

Filed Jul 10, 2026 · Transmission · TX

Returning from [XXX] to [XXX] area Wed. XXX, traveling at ~75 mph on [XXX], I experienced a loss of power on a mild incline and an associated “Stop Safely - Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon” instrument cluster message. I had to move hazardously in traffic while coasting to a stop on the right shoulder. This occurred with ~24,810 total miles on the vehicle since I purchased it new. I turned off the vehicle, waited a few minutes and then restarted it. I continued the drive with the vehicle acting normally until it happened again at 24,897 odometer miles, same message with same behavior. Traveling ~75 mph, I again had to move hazardously in traffic to coast to the right shoulder. Except now I notice the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) is illuminated. I again turned the vehicle off, waited a few minutes and then restarted it. I was able to drive normally to the Chrysler dealership (Autonation in Katy Tx) where I spoke to a Service representative. He recorded my VIN and took some notes as I explained what happened, but would not plug in a code reader as I requested. Instead he said I would need to leave the vehicle there for at least 24 hours or bring it back later. Since I was still ~55 miles from home, had my wife and cargo still in the vehicle and wanted to know what malfunction code(s) were present, we elected to drive the vehicle home. On the way home, I stopped at both an Advance Auto and an Autozone where both read the only code present as P0A43, see attachment. I also noted that the Emission Ready status was showing "NO". I then drove the vehicle less than a mile to our home where it has remained in my driveway. Mileage is now 24972 on the odometer. I plugged in and charged the vehicle to 100% high voltage battery state. Two days later on XXX, I started the vehicle and the MIL is no longer illuminated, still at 24972 odometer. The dealer promised me that the code would remain and could be read later, but it did not and nobody erased it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C

Filed May 28, 2026 · Electrical, Engine · MA

High voltage battery pack, Power Inverter Module (PIM), and HV charging system. PIM replaced twice (p/n 68381781AD, 8/4/25 and 8/18/25) after being found melted with arcing damage at HV connections. Battery pack has active BPCM fault codes and a recorded cell voltage excursion. Vehicle available for inspection. Vehicle lost all motive power without warning at highway speed on multiple occasions, requiring the driver to pull over. This occurred on a platform subject to recall 24V‑536 (HV battery fire risk). A melted inverter and arcing at HV connections were found on a vehicle still being driven daily. BPCM data shows Cell 79 recorded a voltage excursion to 1,526 mV — less than half minimum safe operating voltage — stored in permanent memory. Yes. Lawless Inc. (Woburn, MA), authorized Chrysler dealer, confirmed fault codes PA121-00 and P0A43-00 on 8/4/25 and replaced the PIM. Vehicle returned 8/18/25 with same failure — dealer confirmed arcing damage and melted inverter. Three visits total; defect unresolved after two repair attempts on the same component. All three visits performed by authorized Chrysler dealer under 10-year/100,000-mile HV battery warranty. Stellantis warranty claim opened each visit. No police or insurance involvement. Red warning "Will Lose All Power" appeared on instrument cluster before each shutdown. Battery range has displayed erratically since 2/28/25 (~17,788 miles), when nonlinear discharge was first reported and dismissed. Active BPCM Level 2 safety fault (L2/L1 CELL MAX V CMP_FLT) remains present today.

Filed May 26, 2026 · Fuel system, Transmission · MA

While driving on the highway, the dashboard alerted that the engine would lose power, then the engine cut off and I had to coast the van to the shoulder of the highway. I was able to avoid hitting other cars, but there was no power steering or engine during this time. The vehicle has since been towed to our driveway, but it does not run. There was no warning lamp or messaging more than a few seconds before the engine quit.

Filed Apr 19, 2026 · Engine, Transmission · CA

Lost power. System said to pull over immediately. Error code P0A43.

Filed Dec 13, 2025 · Transmission · MN

While driving at approximately 65 mph on I-35 in moderate traffic, my vehicle experienced a sudden and complete loss of motive power. I was positioned in the far-left passing lane at the time of the incident. A vague notification message appeared on the dashboard screen; however, there was no accompanying audible warning tone to alert me to the severity of the issue before power was lost. The failure was identified as a malfunction in the hybrid drive motor system, specifically triggering Diagnostic Trouble Code P0A43 (Drive Motor "A" Position Sensor Circuit Intermittent). This sensor circuit failure caused the high-voltage system to shut down unexpectedly. This created a severe safety hazard, as the vehicle was rendered unable to accelerate. I was forced to navigate from the far-left lane across multiple lanes of traffic to reach the exit while the vehicle was effectively crippled, moving at speeds under 10 mph amidst highway-speed traffic. The problem has been confirmed via the retrieval of the P0A43 code. There were no warning lamps, messages, or drivability symptoms prior to the immediate failure; the visual notification appeared simultaneously with the loss of power.

Filed Nov 7, 2025 · Fuel system, Lights · PA

We have a continuing issue with the Pacifica of showing a dashboard warning of "STOP SAFELY VEHICLE WILL SHUT OFF SOON''. The power becomes diminished and with a few minutes, all power is lost, including lights, engine, all dash warnings are gone. After sitting on the side of the road for a few minutes, the vehicle will restart like nothing happened. Occurrences shown in order by date, location and mileage. [XXX] in Gatlinburg, TN with approx 1800 miles. Dealer found error codes relating to hybrid system but could not repair for at least 4 weeks. Advised to continue trip and make an appointment when we return to Georgia. [XXX] on [XXX] enroute to Myrtle Beach the issue reoccurred [XXX] in for repairs at Chrysler 3206 miles. April 18, back to dealer same issue at 14,145 miles. Extensive repairs performed on hybrid system. April 24 with 14,303, same issue. Received vehicle back on June 20, 2025. [XXX], another occurrence with 15,645. This time the vehicle would not shut down by the FOB but would not function at all, though the dash stated put vehicle in park, but it was in park.. Ackerman Towing of Macon, GA attempted to tow vehicle, but the parking brake would not release nor would the transmission shift into neutral. After 3 hours, vehicle finally shut down and restarted. Back to Chrysler. Received vehicle back Aug 13. They could not find a problem. [XXX] enroute to VA Beach. Same issue at 17,750 miles on [XXX] outside of Lumberton, NC. Restarted after a few minutes. Continued trip. I feel this problem of shutting down is a death trap. Losing all power including outside lights could easily become catastrophic, especially if it happened after dark. Chrysler is aware and seems to be unable to find a remedy. I have more info, but out of characters to relay more. Info below relates to last occurrence INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Oct 2, 2025 · Engine, Transmission · CA

The vehicle experienced multiple incidents of sudden power loss while driving.

Filed Sep 19, 2025 · Engine, Fuel system · NC

On August 2, while traveling about 75 MPH, the check engine light came on along with the warning "Stop Safely – Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon". The vehicle started immediately losing power. We were driving in the fast lane in traffic so pulling over was difficult and dangerous. After we were to the side of the road, we turned the van off. After 10 minutes or so, we continued on and pulled over at a rest stop. We have an OBD2 and checked the codes. At first, there were no codes even though the check engine light was on. After checking a few times, there were 2 codes. They were P1C65 PD and P0A43. I took the van into the dealership on August 4. They saw one of the codes saved. On August 7 the dealership preformed a software update. They were not able to reproduce the issue. Today, September 19, while driving, the check engine light came on with the warning "Stop Safely – Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon". The vehicle again started immediately losing power. This time it happened when traveling about 45 MPH.

Filed Sep 11, 2025 · GA

I recently purchased a 2023 chrysler pacifica hybrid that did not have a recall listed for the loss of power incident. Within 24 hours of buying the car it died on me while driving. I was driving on a two lane busy road when without warning the vehicle beeped loudly and suddenly I lost all ability to use propulsion. The car illuminated that I should brake and it will shut off soon but soon was immediate and I had zero time to safely exit the road. After dying a little turtle symbol showed up on the dash and the check engine light became illuminated. Once I was able to get the vehicle restarted the check engine light remained illuminated and ai arranged for the car to be seen at the dealer right away. I took it to the dealer within a few minutes of this event and they did the update that was supposed to fix something. Within 3 days it repeated the same event. It is now sitting at the dealership to be looked at again. I had no time to stop safely, had I been on the highway the ability to remove myself safely from the road would have been zero percent chance. How long before the government steps in and holds Chrysler accountable for their poor quality and repairs that fix nothing? I lost power completely. I lost the ability to maintain speed in order to safely remove myself from the road. My family could have been killed. These are family vehicles, out yourself in the shoes of someone with children, would you feel safe putting your kids in a car that could die on you at any moment without any real warning signs?

Filed Aug 31, 2025 · Electrical, Engine · CA

While driving in the carpool lane on the freeway, the vehicle displayed “Stop Safely. Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon” and lost all power. I am pregnant and had four children (ages [XXX] , [XXX] , [XXX] , and [XXX] ) in the vehicle. The outside temperature was over 100°F, and we were two hours from home. The car was completely disabled in heavy traffic, creating an extreme safety risk for my family. After waiting about 15–20 minutes, the vehicle restarted and we were able to continue. A code scan showed P0A78 – Drive Motor “A” Inverter Performance. This is a serious safety concern, and I am requesting immediate inspection and repair under warranty. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jul 31, 2025 · Electrical, Engine · CT

While traveling on an interstate highway at highway speed (65-70 mph), a red turtle warning light came on with the message "Pull over Safely; vehicle will shut off soon." Almost immediately, we lost all power and glided into the right-hand shoulder. We narrowly missed being rear-ended. We got it to a local dealer, where the service department informed us we need a new transmission. The car has less than 13,000 miles on it.