2020 Chrysler Pacifica Electrical System Problems

When driving on highway, electrical system started beeping and showing various signals, could no longer keep speed or accelerate. Had to put on warning lights and coast to side of road with four small kids in car. Was able to pull off to side and slowly get to safe location by resting vehicle in between events. When fully charged, didn’t seem to have issue so was able to drive to dealer. Thought was related to engine switching from electric to gas power. Dealer checked and performed two software updates. On way home from dealer, same problem occurred on highway. Super dangerous to loose all acceleration or same speed on highway! I got a video of second event as I was a passenger and my husband was driving. But as can see in video the car has a charge so the incident is not related to the switch from electric to gas power. Now we are very concerned whether Chrysler has the means to fix this at all and or whether the dealership will be actually able to identify the issue given the car was literally being driven home from the dealer. Attaching photos but have a full video. First time happened on April 4, 2026. Second on April 16, 2026

The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. While the contact's wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine seized in the middle of the road. The contact stated that there was no power to the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure occurred close to the residence, and there was not a lot of traffic. The driver was able to exit the vehicle and get to a safe area. The contact's brother-in-law was contacted for assistance; however, the driver became impatient waiting for assistance. The driver attempted to restart the vehicle, and the vehicle started. The help arrived, disconnected and reconnected the battery cables, and the vehicle was driven to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer; however, the dealer was made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that a recall was issued, but for Hybrid vehicles. In addition, the contact referenced an open investigation for the failure. The contact stated that the failure had occurred twice within two weeks. Additionally, the warning light that the “Auto START/STOP Unavailable” had remained illuminated since August 2025. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000. The VIN was unavailable.

The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle started losing motive power. The vehicle stalled with the check engine light and several other unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed, and it was determined that there was an electrical failure in the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that prior to the failure, the vehicle was repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V010000 (Electrical System, Hybrid Propulsion System); and associated the failure with the recall. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 113,000.

My 12v battery failed and damaged other system components. This is a description of the flaw from a mechanic that had the same problem: There is a major flaw in the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The BPCM (high-voltage battery control unit) has no protection against high-voltage pulses on the 12-volt network. Moreover, the connection diagram of the high-voltage contactors does not contain any elements that could extinguish the counter-induction EMF pulses when the contactors are turned off. That is, when turned off, the contactors in the 12-volt network create high-voltage surges that can burn anything, any block that is connected to the 12-volt network. In my case, the power supply module of the high-voltage battery control unit BPCM was burned. The LG chem battery modules themselves were in perfect order during this malfunction. The circuit of this module is quite complex, the board is multilayered and it was difficult for me to repair it. I have a sloped driveway, and the failure led to my car starting to roll uncontrollably forward into my house. I was luckily able to stop it by throwing blocks under the tires while my wife held down the breaks. When I (or my wife) let go of the powerless vehicle's breaks, it would continue to roll as the power failure prevented the vehicle from either entering park or engaging the emergency break. We barely avoided significant property damage.

Engine Shutdowns randomly While driving and it almost caused me to crash once on the highway and the other was while in my neighborhood to take my daughter to school

The batteries died and we didn't know that there was an IBS(internal battery sensor). The van started to take over its own system. It would put itself in park, open the hood, self holding temporarily unavailable, start/stop unavailable, emergency break engaged, and turned it self off while driving!

On multiple occasions, from 2023-2025 our vehicle has had issues where all the gauges and warning lights go off and vehicle stops and turns off regardless of driving conditions. Recently happened yesterday. The culprit is the can c bus connectors that Chrysler is using. They short out causing the issue and because so many systems codes get tripped after nearly a year of back and forth with dealerships unable to diagnose issue I went to a pacifica forum where there are 1000s same reported issue. The issue is caused by the cancam bus connectors - specifically under the dashboard in our case, due to Chrysler using zinc based soldering that cannot handle the heatand elements. These solders use to be made out of lead that can handle the elements. We are replacing them for the 2nd time in less than a year after,as mentioned before, my wife and daughter had van completely stop and shutoff in the middle of traffic. This has happened recently every couple days for the last 3 weeks - previous time happened off and on while waiting for answers from dealership for over a year, they cannot recreate issue because it's random and therefore will not chae the issues or listen when I asked to specifically check item. (Files uploaded are from video my wife captured)

I was driving and all of a sudden I got a warning to stop that the engine was going to shut off. I got off to the side of the road and it shut down. I had it towed to the garage. The next day they ran tests. The batteries were both new and they tested fine. Alternator tested fine. Since then it’s happened two more times and the dealer is telling me that all the tests are fine. That Chrysler won’t help me because they can’t prove anything is wrong. Even with the pictures of all the codes and alerts. I don’t feel safe driving my kids in this van at all now. But nobody will help me.

Vehicle was plugged into an outlet inside the resident's garage when smoke began to come from the battery located in the center floor board. Fire crews responded and unplugged the vehicle and pushed it out of the garage and cooled the battery that registered 350 degrees using a thermal imaging camera. No flames were present. National Fire Reporting Incident Number: 25-2040031

On multiple occasions while driving, we would get a fault/error message on the dash stating the Start/Stop system was malfunctioning and would be deactivated. We had the battery replaced at the dealer and had no issues for approximately 6 months. Not only does the car give a fault/error message when the fault occurs, but the car shuts off, while in motion (including at high speeds), causing us to have to coast through dangerous traffic to get to a safe place to put the car in park and then restart it. Once restarted, the car will run fine for an undetermined length of time before it shuts off again while driving for the same issue. Chrysler's only recommendation is to change the battery, which has been replaced and the current battery tested for proper operation.

On [XXX] in Alabama at [XXX] on Saturday [XXX], going highway speed with cruise control on, the engine shut off unexpectedly. The driver put on the flashers, pulled over, and turned off the vehicle for 30 seconds. Then the vehicle was turned back on and was functioning normally. Approximately 10 minutes later the engine light is on. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the stop service message displayed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the battery had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred, and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was informed that the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 108,800.

Car start/stop system not operating properly; batteries are not able to keep charge after replacing several times; car unexpectedly stops and unexpectedly jerks. Back up camera and screen freezes unexpectedly . These are all ongoing and continue to be unresolved by local Chrysler dealership

Electrical system issues. Had to replace both batteries in the pacifica. The van jerks or grinds while trying to shift. Now the oil pan is warping which can cause the coolant to mix with the oil causing a safety hazard.

Our Chrysler Pacifica caught fire in the passenger cabin, appearing to start near the 2nd row drivers side passenger seat. The fire department said it was an electrical fire.

While driving down the highway car makes a pop sounds and shuts completely down. Would not start again for 4+ minutes. Upon a quick google search learned this happens a lot with this vehicle and was apparently recalled and fixed in the past and seeing how this vehicle has no open recalls that was supposedly fixed. However this is the 2nd time it has done it with us alone

Came to a stop at a stop light & the emergency brake engage, the van went in park & shut off. It has done it twice in a week now.

Van randomly shut off at stop light.

The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the STOP/START system warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that unknown parts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact believed that the failure was associated with NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V348000 (Electrical System). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000.

While driving our van last Saturday afternoon, an error notification made a ding sound and the error message "STOP SAFELY. VEHICLE WILL SHUT OFF SOON" appeared on our dashboard. Thankfully we were driving through a small town at the time and were able to safely pull into a parking lot, turn the vehicle off and wait a few minutes, and start it up to find the error message gone, and we could resume driving. Upon researching this issue, I learned that there is an Open Investigation, NHTSA Action #RQ24004, as of 2-27-24, that correlates exactly with our issue and explains my exact concern - should this error message come on again at a time when I cannot pull into a safe area, or at night time in the dark, with my children along, this could be extremely unsafe. I now worry to take our vehicle on longer trips, as I fear that this will happen and leave us in need of help. This leaves drivers with an extremely uneasy feeling to drive with their family, unsure of if or when this will happen again and if the vehicle will start up again after stopping or if it would need to be towed. I feel this safety issue needs to be resolved before it leaves Chrysler's vehicle occupants in what could be a very unsafe situation.