2008 Pacifica Intermittent Hard To Start
 

At my wits end. Have had an intermittent hard to start prob w/my ‘08 Pacifica LTD 4.0L since 20k mi (now have 133k mi). 5 diff Chrysler dealers & 2 independent mechanics have been unable to fix it over the yrs & have charged me thousands of $ claiming they can fix it. I’ve now replaced the battery 7 times, battery cables, ignition switch, new spark plugs, multiple load tests, checked ground wire issue, all to no avail. There is no rhyme or reason as to when/why it happens. It always starts eventually..just doesn’t turn over right away. I’m hoping someone in the forum can ID cause.

It's was doing the same. Turns out it was the small wire coming off of the starter. It had gotten to close tho the exhaustmanifold resulting in the insulation melting and causing it to arc. Perhaps this will help. Good luck

Is that a design flaw? How much did that cost to fix? Seems crazy you can have a pervasive prob like this, never get any trouble codes & all the certified Chrysler mechanics that have looked at my car over the years not check for the issue you’ve described.

IF this is the cause of your vehicles problem...A very easy thing to "overlook" as you said it was intermittent in happening. But yes the starter is in a hard to get to spot to check that push on wire connector, and they have a tendency on many cars to either corrode and get loose or have high resistance to pass the electrical current thru it to engage the starter motor. But a relatively easy fix and NOT costly in itself other than gaining access to replace the connector.and check it's mating end on the starter solenoid.
Almost all dealer techs are paid by FLAT RATE TIME ...wire repair does not pay well and for an intermittent problem at that. YES I know very well how frustrating it is for the vehicle owner....I've been there, done that on BOTH sides of the coin!

Good luck to you, and I hope the posted suggestion will take care of the problem you face.

Ok...thx! Meant to ask if you think would be something covered under my lifetime power train warranty??

If you are referring to me...That I could not say as I've been out of the trade for some time and was never involved with warranty handling. I would GUESS that if they found the starter solenoid (where the small wire hooks up) to be bad, then that MAY be covered and associated wire end repair...BUT I can't tell you that with certainty.

Thx much for your help! I’ll call a Chrysler dealer to find out if that part is covered under my lifetime warranty & pray that’s what’s causing this hard to start condition.