Deciding to give up on Jeep

[23black]

Good morning all! I am on the fence about giving up and selling my Gladiator.
66k miles and I've had the 'misfire' issue for months now. Four trips to the dealership. Did the reflash, serviced the transmission, transfer case, and axles.
The attached photos are where we ended up. None of my trips are over an hour long. The mechanic lied about these long trips and different surfaces. This 'misfire' issue makes no sense to a former merchant marine chief engineer. That would be me.....
The first fault almost got me killed as the Jeep wouldn't take any throttle input crossing a highway. I almost got t-boned.
Is she worth keeping? Or should I do what I had to do with my 2013 Wrangler Sport and sell it? That 3.6 needed a whole new cylinder head at 13k miles. My dealership has gone through at least four general managers and six service managers in less than two years.
What would y'all do?

No 'misfires' are NOT normal. Thanks in advance.

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[sharpsicle]

Take it to a different dealership. This sounds like an issue with the people.

 

[NC_Overland]

Every dealership I’ve been to, in several different states, is the same. They don’t want to do warranty work. The dealership network is Jeep’s biggest problem as a brand. For me, this goes all the way back to my 2008 JKU Rubicon.

When my rear end went out in my Gladiator, it was painfully obvious and they said could not duplicate. I had to get to escalated to the point that a jeep engineer rode with me. We went two blocks and he heard it and lit up the service manager and I got an entirely new rear end and much better treatment. That was back in 2020 when Jeep Cares actually did something. I had a similar experience with my JKU always popping out of gear. They said it was normal.

 

[23black]

Take it to a different dealership. This sounds like an issue with the people.

It sounds like a poorly designed engine that no dealerships can't fix. They don't seem to know why there is, what there is, or what is a 'misfire'.
They can't even read a fault that I can hear, feel, and document with an aftermarket Jscan obt2 reader.
If thousands of vehicles has these 'misfires', it should come back to a common fault. Yet, no one has said what that is. Injector? Sparkplug? Cam? Sensors? Transmission?
All of these above?
Common problem with multiple causes? Not in my experience.

 

[sharpsicle]

It sounds like a poorly designed engine that no dealerships can't fix. They don't seem to know why there is, what there is, or what is a 'misfire'.
They can't even read a fault that I can hear, feel, and document with an aftermarket Jscan obt2 reader.
If thousands of vehicles has these 'misfires', it should come back to a common fault. Yet, no one has said what that is. Injector? Sparkplug? Cam? Sensors? Transmission?
All of these above?
Common problem with multiple causes? Not in my experience.

You went to one dealership...unless you've omitted something from your post?

I would go to a different one and get a fresh diagnosis. There are good dealers and absolute garbage dealers in Florida. Not all dealers are equal. If you share the area of Florida you're in, you can probably get suggestions on a better-quality dealer you can get to look at it.

 

[ChrisNLA]

It sounds like a poorly designed engine that no dealerships can't fix. They don't seem to know why there is, what there is, or what is a 'misfire'.
They can't even read a fault that I can hear, feel, and document with an aftermarket Jscan obt2 reader.
If thousands of vehicles has these 'misfires', it should come back to a common fault. Yet, no one has said what that is. Injector? Sparkplug? Cam? Sensors? Transmission?
All of these above?
Common problem with multiple causes? Not in my experience.

Plenty of folks have these engines that run fine / have ran fine well into high mileage territory.

As others suggested, I'd try an additional dealer.

It is totally within reason that a dealership has poorly qualified technicians that simply don't know how to fix things, or a dealership that simply doesn't care.

If the tech doesn't know how to fix it or troubleshoot quickly, he is gonna kick it down the road and fill his bay with something he can do, so he gets paid. Probably over simplifying, but it's just about a simple as 'I dont see a problem' and cya later.

My local Jeep clubs are very vocal on the dealerships they trust with their life, and the ones they wouldn't trust to patch a tire. They aren't all equal, as Sharpsicle just pointed out while I was typing.

You'll find that problem with any manufacturer.

 

[23black]

If anyone can explain exactly what the cause of these misfires are I'd gladly listen.
Tallahassee, Live Oak, Vero Beach, and Jacksonville dealerships have all told me it's basically a 'Jeep' thing without any definitive cause. Live with it, and hope you don't have a catastrophic failure unless you have the extended warranty.
I tried not to join a forum to get more input. But I am at my limit and no longer trust the vehicle.
Thank you for your responses. This quickly proved to me that this is mystery with no clear answers.
Jeep, two strikes and you're out. Back to a Japanese vehicle.

 

[sharpsicle]

If anyone can explain exactly what the cause of these misfires are I'd gladly listen.
Tallahassee, Live Oak, Vero Beach, and Jacksonville dealerships have all told me it's basically a 'Jeep' thing without any definitive cause. Live with it, and hope you don't have a catastrophic failure unless you have the extended warranty.
I tried not to join a forum to get more input. But I am at my limit and no longer trust the vehicle.
Thank you for your responses. This quickly proved to me that this is mystery with no clear answers.
Jeep, two strikes and you're out. Back to a Japanese vehicle.

What? I'm so confused. So you don't want any help?

 

[NC_Overland]

It sounds like a poorly designed engine that no dealerships can't fix. They don't seem to know why there is, what there is, or what is a 'misfire'.
They can't even read a fault that I can hear, feel, and document with an aftermarket Jscan obt2 reader.
If thousands of vehicles has these 'misfires', it should come back to a common fault. Yet, no one has said what that is. Injector? Sparkplug? Cam? Sensors? Transmission?
All of these above?
Common problem with multiple causes? Not in my experience.

It’s not a poorly designed engine. It’s a good, proven engine. It’s just plagued with post Covid poor quality parts supply issues. However, that likely has nothing to do with your misfire issue. I haven’t had good luck with Jeep dealerships, but I’d still try a different dealership.

 

[KevinC]

If you are set on only giving Jeep two strikes, you may have bought the wrong brand. I'm currently on about 13 strikes with my current Jeep.

 

[MeanGreen]

No codes? It's strange that a dealership put 1400 miles on it and couldn't replicate the issue.

 

[Stan H]

Take it to a different dealership. This sounds like an issue with the people.

This

 

[ChrisNLA]

Jeep, two strikes and you're out. Back to a Japanese vehicle.

You mean like the Tacoma, designed in the US and built in Mexico?

Surely you don't mean a Tundra. That new turbo motor they use is a real pile.

Keep in mind, most Japanese vehicles for the American market are built here in the US, some with a heavy North American parts stream, and many with a US design team...

Either way, being unhappy is no fun, and a forum can't diagnose the problem via the internet, so hopefully you find a vehicle that makes you happy

 

[ChrisNLA]

Fine, I will try and be helpful.

Read this and see if it sounds like your misfire:

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...restart-misfires-mc-10226014-9999-pdf.424062/

If it does, take that to a dealer and tell them to review your truck.

Mine has this exact problem, since new. Once I knew what to look for, it's extremely predictable though conditions are only right at certain times of the year. I will get it looked at eventually (before engine / trans warranty runs out), but I've drove 36,000 miles like that, lol.

I haven't looked in depth on JScan and data logging, and how to look at all the data - but injector data and oxygen sensor data would also want to be considered, and see if there is any correlation between the injectors, the oxygen sensor data, and the misfires on a particular bank.

Well - that's what a good dealer tech should be doing, anyway.

But as they said, no light, no work usually.

 

[23black]

This

4 dealerships so far.

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