Sudden catastrophic power failure at 13 months 20,000 miles.

[BearFootSam]

@JeepCares 2022 Gladiator Rubicon, just serviced at the dealership one week prior. This Wednesday I left an appointment and within a half mile the dash lit up with a warning the engine would shut down soon and to pull over. I was on a busy road and tried to get off the route as quickly as possible to a safe location. As I pulled off on a side street I lost power steering, dash lights, engine began struggling and it sounded as if the transmission was trying to auto park at 15mph. Severe grinding noises ensued and the second I stopped I pushed the shifter into park as the engine died.

To make it worse the truck wouldn’t just shut off and instead looped into a mode where it seemed to keep trying to restart while I wasn’t touching a thing. The continued for 5 minutes meanwhile the dash came on and off and the windshield wipers inexplicably began to start, again without me touching anything.

Stranded with a dead truck I called the dealer and road side assistance. Sadly, Wilder Jeep in Port Angeles said the first available appointment was the 21st…. Some argument from me got that moved up to the 15th which is still a week away. On top of that, the dealer claims all of their loaners are out of service and have been non responsive. At this point I’m SOL because the closest alternative dealer is over 50 miles away.

I have a suspicion this began with an electrical issue but now I fear transmission and or engine damage. Leading up to this there hasn’t been a warning light, off sound or any indication whatsoever of mechanical issues. Frankly this is really disappointing and considering the dealership claims loaners are all broken down there are apparently some major quality issues.

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[Maximus Gladius]

Horrible! Are you stranded right now waiting for the tow? Do you have the ability to run a scan to see what codes pop up?

oh I see it was a couple days ago, sorry.

 

[DylanM]

Some argument from me got that moved up to the 15th which is still a week away. On top of that, the dealer claims all of their loaners are out of service and have been non responsive. At this point I’m SOL because the closest alternative dealer is over 50 miles away.

If the other dealership can get you in sooner and has loaners available, it may be better to have your Jeep towed there.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Charging system failure. Ran out of electricity to run things. The low voltage then caused failures of other systems.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If the other dealership can get you in sooner and has loaners available, it may be better to have your Jeep towed there.

That would be towing/hauling at his expense and I'd be willing to bet they are about a month out as well.
You can't get in here any sooner than 4 to 6 weeks with 5 or 6 being the norm.

The red battery light lit on the dash - "charging system failure" according to FCA.

 

[DylanM]

That would be towing/hauling at his expense and I'd be willing to bet they are about a month out as well.
You can't get in here any sooner than 4 to 6 weeks with 5 or 6 being the norm.

The red battery light lit on the dash - "charging system failure" according to FCA.

I get that the towing/hauling would be at his expense, just suggesting that it is an option that may be worth pursuing. One shouldn't automatically assume the other dealership is backed up as well, that's a good way to miss out on good opportunities. Besides, it takes very little time to pick up the phone and call.

 

[Volt0]

What was serviced? Anything that required electrical/battery disconnect, anything where someone may have spilled oil/fluids into the alternator?

Edit: anything visibly strange about the battery posts, alternator, or belts?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

What was serviced? Anything that required electrical/battery disconnect, anything where someone may have spilled oil/fluids into the alternator?

Edit: anything visibly strange about the battery posts, alternator, or belts?

Could've blown a high current fuse........
but to spill into the alternator? That would take a true klutz - and - would have to be a large quantity. Most will actually function even if run through water and spun dry. You should see some of the ones I have that will still actually function after being flooded with water or antifreeze. Some are really oily inside. Man if it's that bad, I'd not want 'em touching it again.

 

[WoolyKris]

This is simply unacceptable, majority of Stellantis dealers simply don’t give a crap about their costumers, or care about brand retention. A decent thing to do would be give you a car off the lot as a loaner or cover for a rental.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

A decent thing to do would be give you a car off the lot as a loaner

If you really thought about that, you'd realize it's cheaper to lose a customer.
Pull a car off the lot? Really? They'd have to title and register/license it, etc. and then it's a used vehicle with a big drop in value - thousands.
Since the used car portions are typically a distinct business entity for tax and other purposes, they also aren't likely to pull a used one off the lot either.
It's actually not cheap to deal with "loaners". Locally, they have a branch setup as rental, the cars are considered rental cars for which the dealership pays, and it's not cheap.
It's high risk, too - I've seen how rentals and loaners end up when returned. I used to have to drive government cars - and man they were trashed inside by other employees. No one gave a crap. Coffee, soda, chips, cookies, crap all over....... you don't know what they did in that car and didn't want to know sometimes. I cringed every time I had to take a state vehicle to a remote office for network setup. My wife was furnished a loaner (rental the dealer pays for) this week while her JLU is being worked on. It was trashy inside. They were out and had to wait for one to be returned and obviously once it arrived they jumped in and delivered it to us as it was a mess inside. People don't give a crap and treat loaners accordingly.

 

[Aj58]

If you really thought about that, you'd realize it's cheaper to lose a customer.
Pull a car off the lot? Really? They'd have to title and register/license it, etc. and then it's a used vehicle with a big drop in value - thousands.
Since the used car portions are typically a distinct business entity for tax and other purposes, they also aren't likely to pull a used one off the lot either.
It's actually not cheap to deal with "loaners". Locally, they have a branch setup as rental, the cars are considered rental cars for which the dealership pays, and it's not cheap.
It's high risk, too - I've seen how rentals and loaners end up when returned. I used to have to drive government cars - and man they were trashed inside by other employees. No one gave a crap. Coffee, soda, chips, cookies, crap all over....... you don't know what they did in that car and didn't want to know sometimes. I cringed every time I had to take a state vehicle to a remote office for network setup. My wife was furnished a loaner (rental the dealer pays for) this week while her JLU is being worked on. It was trashy inside. They were out and had to wait for one to be returned and obviously once it arrived they jumped in and delivered it to us as it was a mess inside. People don't give a crap and treat loaners accordingly.

I can picture people even taking advantage of jeeps even more than a regular car. They may hesitate bringing their Jeep through a water crossing but would have no problem using someone else’s.

 

[BearFootSam]

That would be towing/hauling at his expense and I'd be willing to bet they are about a month out as well.
You can't get in here any sooner than 4 to 6 weeks with 5 or 6 being the norm.

The red battery light lit on the dash - "charging system failure" according to FCA.

What was odd is that start stop, voltages running/not have been normal. I don’t think it was the battery.

 

[BearFootSam]

What was serviced? Anything that required electrical/battery disconnect, anything where someone may have spilled oil/fluids into the alternator?

Edit: anything visibly strange about the battery posts, alternator, or belts?

Just a standard oil change, rotation and multipoint inspection. Nothing out of the ordinary, just to say that the truck has been looked after.

 

[Alpine Warthog]

If you really thought about that, you'd realize it's cheaper to lose a customer.
Pull a car off the lot? Really? They'd have to title and register/license it, etc. and then it's a used vehicle with a big drop in value - thousands.
Since the used car portions are typically a distinct business entity for tax and other purposes, they also aren't likely to pull a used one off the lot either.

Local dealership here also has used cars. It's a REALLY simple deal to give a guy an "extended test drive" on a used car off the lot.
Have seen it done for important customers now and again.

The salesmen here sell from both lots and their sales numbers are tabulated in combination of the two not separately. BUT I'm sure it's different lot to lot.

 

[Hootbro]

To make it worse the truck wouldn’t just shut off and instead looped into a mode where it seemed to keep trying to restart while I wasn’t touching a thing. The continued for 5 minutes meanwhile the dash came on and off and the windshield wipers inexplicably began to start, again without me touching anything.

Did the start push button show "OFF" or was it locked in "RUN"?

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