This is a first-person, documented account of a 2019 Chrysler Pacifica repair at Goldy Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Huntington, WV — and a place for other owners to add their own, in their own words. See documented history of this engine's coolant intrusion issue →
In 2018 I bought a 2019 Chrysler Pacifica new from Goldy Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Huntington, West Virginia. At the time of purchase, sales staff told me verbally that Goldy takes care of its customers long-term — things like loaner vehicles when a car is in for service, and complimentary car washes. Nothing about that was put in writing, and I want to be upfront that it wasn't. But I was raised to believe people's word means something in a business relationship, so I took it at face value. In the years since, I've received a total of three car washes, and — as this page documents — no loaner was offered during this repair.
What started as a P0304 misfire code on cylinder 3 turned out to be a head gasket failure — coolant was getting into the cylinder, and by the time it was diagnosed, the engine had hydrolocked. A hydrolocked engine means liquid got into a cylinder where the piston can't compress it, which is a much more serious failure than a bad coil or spark plug.
The Pacifica sat at the dealership for about a month waiting on parts. No loaner vehicle or rental discount was offered for any of that time. The repair fell just outside the powertrain warranty by mileage.
Per the dealership's own repair invoice (#27136), the technician's documented findings were: a blown 500-amp main battery fuse (integrated into the battery fuse/distribution assembly and not separately serviceable), and — after jumping the vehicle past that fuse — white smoke from the exhaust with no coolant in the system, which the technician's notes attribute to a blown head gasket. The correction performed was replacement of the head gasket on both sides of the engine, along with the fuse assembly. The invoice lists a "Warranty Claim Type" of W, but the labor itself is coded as a customer-pay job — a documented inconsistency between how the repair was classified and how it was billed. The total charged was $3,879.34, paid in full.
I filed a formal written complaint with Chrysler corporate and posted about the repair, and the known issues some other Pentastar V6 owners have reported with this engine family, on X and Facebook.
This section is independent research, not legal advice or a manufacturer finding — every claim below links to its source so you can check it yourself. It covers the 3.6L Pentastar V6, the engine family in this Pacifica.
The failure pattern goes back over a decade. Mechanics and long-time forum members point to the Pentastar's open-deck block design — the coolant jackets sit directly against the underside of the head gasket, separated from the cylinders by a thin wall — as the structural reason this engine is prone to head gasket failure and coolant intrusion if the cylinder bores flex even slightly. A widely circulated teardown of a 2018 Pacifica's engine at 120,000 miles found the same pattern reported by owners generally: rear-bank head gasket failure, coolant intrusion, hydrolock, and bent rods.
NHTSA's own complaint database has hundreds of matching reports. Complaints filed directly with NHTSA and hosted publicly describe the same failure signature across 2017–2020 Pacificas: a misfire code, coolant loss, and a recurring cylinder 1/3/5 pattern.
Chrysler has a documented history of exactly this kind of parts shortage — dating back to 2012. Automotive News reported at the time that at least 1,300 cars nationwide were sitting at dealerships waiting on a redesigned cylinder head, with Chrysler covering rental cars in the meantime; the company later said it had to "flood" its system with new parts to clear that backlog. That episode ended in a formal 10-year/150,000-mile warranty extension for the affected part. A separate, official technical service bulletin from September 2023 covers water pump and coolant leak inspection specifically for 2016–2024 "Pentastar Upgrade" engines — the version used in this Pacifica's era — showing Chrysler is still issuing coolant-system guidance for this engine family in recent years.
Two related class actions exist against FCA/Stellantis over this engine — neither is specifically about head gaskets. Moran v. FCA US LLC settled and closed in August 2023, covering 2017–2021 Pacificas, but the alleged defect was engine stalling from a crankshaft sensor issue, not coolant intrusion. Maugain v. FCA US LLC, filed in Delaware federal court, is still active as of a February 2023 ruling allowing it to proceed; it covers 2014-and-newer Pentastar-equipped vehicles but alleges a valve train (rocker arm) defect, not head gasket failure. I found no existing class action or open NHTSA defect investigation targeting head gasket coolant intrusion specifically — only individual owners, repeatedly, asking why one doesn't exist yet.
The other side, for fairness: Chrysler's public statements on earlier Pentastar head issues attributed them to a small percentage of vehicles and pointed to fuel quality and driving conditions rather than a design defect. I found no company statement conceding that head gasket/coolant intrusion specifically is systemic. The volume and consistency of independent owner reports over more than a decade is meaningful circumstantial evidence — but it isn't the same thing as a manufacturer admission or a court finding, and it shouldn't be read as one.
I'm not asking anyone to take my word for it. Everything above is what happened to my vehicle, in my own words, and I can document the repair order, the complaint correspondence, and the timeline behind each claim.
What I'd rather have is a place where other Goldy customers can add their own experience — good or bad — in their own words, so anyone researching this dealership before a purchase or a repair has more than just my account to go on.
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