6.0
fairly significant- Typical Repair Cost:
- $390
- Average Mileage:
- 102,450 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 10 complaints
Most common solutions:
- not sure (9 reports)
- repair engine cradle (1 reports)
I purchased a 2006 Pacifica with 100K (nearly exactly) miles in July 2014. The "Check Engine" thing has been a SERIOUS issue since we purchased it.
The light came on within one mile of my driving it off of the lot. Seriously. I turned back around a mile down the road and dropped it back off. I almost outright returned it to them, except I wouldn't get my sales tax back and they had nothing else on the lot that appealed to me. I didn't have time to start over. I wanted a relatively inexpensive AWD SUV with reasonable mileage that wasn't 15 years old for under $9000. With an $8000 price, this fit. The dealer has been there since the 1950s, I figured they'd sell me a legit car.
Therein began a lengthy series of loaner cars and yelling on the phone. The car could not pass state inspection like this. I purchased it from a Jeep dealership, which led me to believe that the techs could also fix Chrysler, as they are the same parent company and they claimed they had a "Chrysler tech" onboard with them.
The dealership had the vehicle, on and off -- but mostly ON, through the end of November 2014. Four months. I figured: the more work they did, the more new parts I had. Check engine light on. EVAP code. Persistent. The smoke test could not diagnose the problem, there was nothing. The dealer started by making small fixes (gas cap, replacing seals), but that quickly escalated. They replaced so much crap, I have NO idea what they've actually done anymore. The car has 2 fuel pumps. The dealer replaced one with an OEM part. It failed. Then they dropped the tank again and replaced BOTH with Chrysler fuel pumps. That seemed to fix the problem. By this point, they were losing serious money on my purchase. In November 2014, the car finally passed inspection.
By the following spring, the problem was back. Except now, the car was out of warranty. My regular mechanic, who is aware of all the fixes the Jeep people had done, said he had no idea what the problem was. He said my best bet was to drop it off with an actual Chrysler dealer -- which sounded terribly expensive. My mechanic knows Chrysler mechanics who are aware of the problem, but have never been able to solve it. He said "You know, even Chrysler buffs HATE the Pacifica. They're hit or miss". I haven't had the electrical problems the car is most famous for. The car needed to be inspected for last July, with a CEL. So, he figured out a way around the issue.
In Massachusetts, a vehicle may not pass with any warning lights. It can, however, pass without all systems being checked. It will read that ONE system has not been run through, and that is fine. There is a tiny, tiny window that -- sometimes -- you can get into in which the "Check Engine" system has checked everything, except for the EVAP system, keeping the light off. The standard is 100 miles after resetting the system in order for an inspector to be able to inspect the car. The EVAP system occasionally waits until 130 miles. So, there have been times I've gotten 130 miles before the light comes on. Sometimes it's 50. It depends.
That is how I passed my state inspection last year: dropping the car off, having him tool it around and see how far past 100 miles it can go before clicking back on. It's June 29, and it will be due again next month. I have already made an appointment with my mechanic to drop the car off for an entire week until he can get the thing to pass.
Chrysler... seriously? What are you doing? This vehicle is a total sh*tshow and there isn't anybody in my area who knows what to do with it.
To be fair, my cousin drives a 2004 Pacifica with 230,000 miles on it now. When I told her I was buying the one I have, she told me about the one she was considering -- sending me pictures, telling me to buy THIS one, it was almost half the price! I told her the mileage was crazy (it was 201K then), so she bought it when I didn't. She has had NO PROBLEMS with it.
- Stephen B., West Warren, MA, US
I went in for an oil change and they came and told me that I should not be driving my 06 Chrysler Pacifica, because of the engine cradle being 80+ percentage rusted engine cradle. They told me it would be $4000 to get fixed. I cant afford to get that fixed. I wanted to know what others are doing about this situation?
- lmoniquad, Albion, MI, US
Had the car examined by mechanic and tried a couple of fixes but none worked. Could be in the computer but when the new computer was put in the engine light eventually came on again. We just put up with it since we have the car checked with each oil change.
- Shirley K., Indianapolis, IN, US
Engine light came on with code suggesting a fuel cap not being tight. No problem was discovered by mechanic though. After reset light comes back. Nothing shown at diagnostics, light does not have any affect on drivability of the car though. Not sure what to do at this point- many people tried everything with similar problem including changing a fuel cap and sensors- etc. but I don't want to go that route unless this problem has been investigated fully and accurately pinpointed.
- igorny, New City, NY, US
Check engine light came on and mechanic at dealership where it was purchased said it was gas cap. Replaced gas cap, and two days later light on again, took to Chrysler Dealership and they replaced fuel pump. Couple of days later light on again and bad gas odor, dealership took gas tank off and replaced gasket at fuel pump. Few days later engine light on AGAIN....mechanic at car lot where purchased hooked up to computer and said it was O2 sensors, replaced those two days ago, ENGINE LIGHT ON TODAY!!!!!!!!!! Funny part is during this entire process, the car ran fine, now it hesitates after replacing O2 sensors...go figure! Ready to pull hair out, dont know if mechanics are stupid, or is car piece of crap!
- Deb B., Lexington, KY, US
stupid engine light is on and I don't know why. its been on for several months and nobody can tell me why???????
- Lori N., Somerset, NJ, US
On June 8, 2012, my check engine light came on when I was leaving from work one night. The next day I took it to my mechanic who switched out the gas cap. So it costs me $64. Better then getting raked over the coals at the Chrysler dealer. A week later the check engine light came back on. Took it back to my mechanic who hooked it up to a small hand held computer. It said "A SMALL SMALL LEAK".My mechanic reset the check engine light & I was on my way. Then it happened again last Friday. Back to the mechanic for my reset. I set up an appt. for today Friday 7/20/12 to have a smoke test performed. He could not find a thing. He performed all different tests. He told me that he could do nothing more & to bring it back to the dealer when it happens again. I wasn't charged. I bought this vehicle brand new off the lot. So far I've had to replace 3 wheel well sensors. Only 1 was covered under the warranty. My left headlight burnt out 3 months after I had my vehicle. The same thing on 1 interior light. For the last year both front seats(the backs on each of them)don't move at all. Luckily they are in a good position & not stuck in some positions that I've read about. Plus I have all these pieces of foam underneath the drivers seat. Lord only knows whats happening with my seat. I am so disappointed with my Pacifica. I keep up with the maintenance & everyone says that it looks brand new. I've been a loyal Chrysler person for many years, but not anymore. I keep thinking "whats going to happen next". Maybe it's time to look at a Japanese made car.
- Marty D., Ocala, FL, US
How in the world can you wear out the filler neck of a gas tank on a 2006 model. Then a week later the check engine light came back on and when I took it in I was told the sensor on the passenger side of my saddle gas tank was defective. Now I'm wondering if it was the filler neck at all. I am extremely unhappy with Chrysler quality. I will never buy another Chrysler and probably won't buy American again. I've had so much go wrong with this car in the 6 years I've owned it that it was a complete waste of my hard earned money. I feel as if I've been screwed in the ass by the dealership who kept saying they have never had this problem with this model before. Now that I've logged onto some Chrysler blogs, it seems a considerable amount of people have had the same problem. So the practice of blowing smoke up the consumer's ass seems to be working for Chrysler. Get with the program guys before you go broke again because nobody will buy the sh*t your selling.
- Georgia B., Modesto, CA, US
Not a clue what's going on here. Replaced the supposedly faulty gas cap that was causing the light, but still getting both the engine light and the faulty gas cap message.
- drdisaster, Fort Worth, TX, US
engine light is on and it keeps saying gas cap
Engine light is on all the time and on the dash it says gas cap. Have replaced it twice and the 2nd one was a Chrysler original, it is still is on. Called Chrysler and they said there had been a recall on it in 2007 and it had been fixed. That was before we owned it but guessing it is the same problem.
- lindaandjan, Huntington, IN, US