I went to pick up my new 2008 Pacifica the other day. I drove it off the lot with 16 miles on it. I stopped at a red light and wanted to see how good the pick-up was. Light turned green and I give it some gas.....I started moving.....very slowly. It finally made it up to 20mph and I turned into the gas station to gas up. Got back in and started the engine.....check engine light is on. I check the gas cap (remove and re-tighten). Start the car again. Still on. I put it in drive....the engine goes to 4000 plus RPM's. I go to autostick and notice it's in 3rd gear. Drop it to first and start to pull out. Put it into Drive and 4000 plus RPM's again. Call the dealer and baby the car back ( one mile away). I get my other car back ( they are fleet vehicles) and leave. Two days later they still don't know what's going on. An engineer from Chrysler is coming to town to look at it. Not even 20 miles on the odometer and already am "Worried" about the car ( is this going to be a normal thing for me).

Just wanted to see if anyone else has heard about this problem recently or am I just lucky.

 

First of all, not trying to be smart but did you test drive the vech. before buying it?Man any new vech. or old that tach,s up at 4000 rpms when dropped into drive has a major problem. I think if it were me I would back out of this purchase and tell them to keep it.Good Luck.

 

Your transmission may have gone into limp-in mode. You may have the new 4.0 engine and the 62TE transmission too. Get it to the dealer and find out why the ck engine lite came.

 

The vehicle is a fleet vehicle so I am not out any money. I did return the vehicle. I had it for not even 5 minutes when it happened and returned to them within 10 min of driving off the lot. In my job, I need alot of cargo space and I am tired of being in an Impala with alot of room, but when you have a 70 pound toolbox to load/unload daily, it's a pain. Chrysler has an engineer coming to look at the problem. It is the new 2008 model with the V6.

 

Geez, never ever do that with a new vehicle of any type. Break in periods are not as long as they were a few decades ago but you still need to be careful and at least follow the manufacturers recommendations.

 

It's not like I floored it....the roads were wet and the gas station was less than 100 feet ahead. Just wanted to see what kind of pick up it had, gave it a little gas and didn't move much. I know the engine needs to break in but never having test drove one, wanted to make sure she had enough to get me moving from a dead stop to a high speed merge.

 

Got the Pacifica back yesterday and found out that they just replaced the transmission. After a little chit chat, I found out that the burning smell was coming from the transmission and that the factory didn't put in any fluid. Go figure.

 

The car would not moved if there wasn't anyfluid in the transmission. Maybe a line had pop off and leaked out onto the ground.

 

I had a similar experience with my 2008 Caravan. 3.8 with 62TE (6-speed)

At 1200 miles I was going 70mph (Cruise control "on") up a hill on Rt 40 in Tennessee and the transmission went into limp. ENGINE LIGHT came on. I drove the shoulder at 30mph and took an exit. Roadside assist towed it to Helms Dodge. They pulled a "P0750" DTC code (solenoid A fault I think) but the transmission had reset and they couldn't make it go bad in 13 miles of driving. I asked them to check fluid level -- theysaid they would. They said if it happens again to turn it off for a few minutes and it may reset again. Nice.

But, I made it home to Ohioagain without incident.

Today, at 2900 miles, it happened again! My wife had just driven it home from work and parked for 30 minutes (engine off). We went to go out to eat and 1000 feet from home (at 20 mph) it went into limp. But no engine light this time. I drove back into the driveway and let it sit (off) about 10 minutes. Then I tried it again and it shifted okay.

I called the Kings' Chrysler/Dodge dealer service rep (Rob) and he said I should have it towed in by roadside assistance. Which I just did... Bill's towing picked it up at 9:15 (11-7-07)

To be continued....

Dave09t

 

hi guys! sorry about your new car.one thing i have to say is if they (the dealership tech)prep the car right the trans fluid level would have been checked.and as for the clips on the trans lines coming off that is very possible.they changed the hose fittings to some "E" clips that are really tuff to install.i know i deal with them every day.chrysler needs to leave well enough alone!moe