Recurring catastrophic electrical malfunctioning

[Rob Burgundy]

Posting my issues to see if anyone else has had this problem and to cast a wide net to seek support from Jeep on this.
I have a 2021 Gladiator Rubicon ecodiesel that has now experienced three separate major electrical malfuncurtions within about a 40 day span. Jeep was purchased new in August 2021 and has 4,044 miles on it.

First incident:
On 05 Jan approximately 2800 miles on the odometer, went on a short drive about 25 miles and parked the jeep. 30 minutes later got in, started engine and immediately got a service shifter message on dash, shifter would not shift out of park. Engine started without issue. I turned the engine off and restarted, all was well. Drove about 10 miles and received the same service shift warning message, this time the power steering briefly locked up while driving. Luckily I was on the road with no traffic near. Pulled over and restarted jeep, then drove home without another issue.

I made an appointment at the dealer for service and was told that I had damaged some electrical connectors near the battery during my rockslide engineering step installation. I was adamant that that explanation couldn't be possible. I ran the wiring very carefully and could not understand how I did this. However, to get the Jeep back I chalked it up as a lesson learned, paid $750 and left the dealership.

There was about a 1200 mile span between incidents where there were no issues.

Second incident:
14 February. Driving about 5 miles from the house and pulled into a parking lot. Jeep dash warning lights and messages immediately went absolutely haywire. Engine died and would not restart. Warning lights displayed were ABS, TPMS, stability control, service transmission, service power steering, service shifter etc. Dash gears flashed off and on. After about 20 restarting attempts, the jeep started like nothing was wrong and I was able to drive away. A few hours later on another short drive, right as I pulled into another parking lot the same issues happened. After many attempts to restart the jeep I was unsuccessful. As a last ditch effort to troubleshoot prior to calling a tow, I pulled the F22 and F23 PCM/ECM fuses and reseated them. The jeep immediately started as if there never was a problem.

The next day I scheduled a service appointment and the dealer told me they would have to open a star case with Jeep as they could not make sense of the dozens of codes that had been thrown. They kept the Jeep overnight and the next day said they found a loose ground next to the battery, which is odd since the last time I picked the jeep up from the dealer I never so much as opened the hood, but in any case, I was not charged so left it alone thinking that my problem was resolved. I was wrong. I picked the Jeep up on the 18 Feb and drove home about 6 miles without incident.

Third and current incident:
Later the same day that I picked up the Jeep from the last service I drove about 5 miles and was going about 45mph when I lost power steering and all electrical hell broke loose. Luckily I was in the left lane next to a middle turn lane and was able to steer it into the turn lane where I could safely shut it down. At this point the engine died, every concievable dash warning light and message flashed intermittently and the jeep was stuck in the run position, but would not turn on. The wipers were going crazy despite being turned off. I attempted to turn on my hazards and only the drivers side would turn on. I tried many attempts to shut the jeep off, let it sit then restart so that I could at least get out of a very busy road to no avail. I called roadside assistance and waited but due to long wait times, I had to call 911 and get police assistance.

The Jeep was towed right there straight back to the dealer for service, again. I stopped in today and was told they are still working on it but the Jeep pulled 73 codes.

Today I logged the issue with the NHTSA as this is an obvious safety concern and await word from the dealer. I have videos of the incident and will post here shortly.

I was told in the Jeep Gladiator Facebook group that this could be related to the aux battery, PDC or Z case fuses and I did pass that along to the dealer. Each time the Jeep has these issues it is progressively worse and takes longer for everything to return to reset. If anyone has experienced this issue please let me know. @JeepCares this is a pretty major safety issue here, I don't know how prevalent it is but the dealership here in Arkansas needs expert engineering assistance.

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[rharr]

There are posts on here about a main harness chaffing on the EGR flange, and some posts about lose ECM plugs not pressed in fully from the factory. I would start there and do some inspections yourself.

 

[Mr._Bill]

If you want Jeep Cares to get involved, you have to send them a message and request it. They monitor the forums, but normally do not provide public responses, other than to tell you to send them a message.

 

[Rob Burgundy]

Video of the problems

 

[Arisdocjk]

I had this same problem with my 2019 jlu. The dealer had it for 1 month and opened a star case with Jeep. They eventually traced it to a faulty ac module. I still think the aux battery could have been the problem

 

[Rob Burgundy]

I had this same problem with my 2019 jlu. The dealer had it for 1 month and opened a star case with Jeep. They eventually traced it to a faulty ac module. I still think the aux battery could have been the problem

appreciate the reply. Was told today they are opening up a star case and I received a loaner vehicle so that is some progress.

 

[Rob Burgundy]

There are posts on here about a main harness chaffing on the EGR flange, and some posts about lose ECM plugs not pressed in fully from the factory. I would start there and do some inspections yourself.

i did check this after the first occurrence and all seemed normal to me, possible I missed a loose connection as I didn’t reseat anything. The main harness was close to the EGR but not touching and no signs of chafing or heat damage.

 

[Rob Burgundy]

If you want Jeep Cares to get involved, you have to send them a message and request it. They monitor the forums, but normally do not provide public responses, other than to tell you to send them a message.

thank you, message now sent.

 

[dcmdon]

. . . and about that $750 refund. . .

 

[u-joint]

A few things cross my mind.

1) Typically any service work you have to pay for has some form of a warranty - be it 90 days, but still. I'm not sure what guarantee this dealer provided for that original case, but I'd look that up just to have that knowledge handy.

2) It sounds like this dealer has no clue what they're doing. The instance where there was a loose ground is case-and-point. If you (or anyone else after leaving the dealer) hadn't opened that hood, and they were last in there doing electrical work in that area, then it sounds to me like someone's sloppy job was the cause of that repeat visit.

3) Given #2, I'd suspect a lot of this comes back to the dealer and them not properly fixing your Jeep during the first visit and/or causing more problems in the process.

IF this Jeep is outside of any type of "warranty" for that first paid service, then I'd absolutely be taking this to just about any other Jeep dealer. At least for a second opinion.

 

[Kevin_D]

I was told in the Jeep Gladiator Facebook group that this could be related to the aux battery, PDC or Z case fuses...

The last time I was in that FB group, those guys were a bunch of buffoons. There are a bunch of buffoons here, too, but we're pretty knowledgeable buffoons...

Nonetheless, if you search here, you'll find that similar problems are most often associated with the auxiliary battery; the battery is defective (or failing,) or isn't charging properly.

Good luck!

Kevin

 

[Rocksalt]

you might also search the jeep informant guy"s videos.. he has been very helpful on a number of issues

 

[ShadowsPapa]

FB group, those guys were a bunch of buffoons

And people wonder why I don't hang in the fakebook auto groups much......
"my battery won't stay up"
must be a bad regulator.
Replaced the regulator it still won't stay up.
Must be a bad alternator.
Replaced the alternator and it still won't stay up.
I finally go in and ask - did you charge the battery overnight, then remove the surface charge and then check the battery voltage?
No.
Do it.
OK, I get 11 volts, now what?
Your battery was the trouble the whole time
Can't be, it's not even a year old.
Where's that slap forehead icon?

I've seen that same thing happen, and I go in and tell them how to TROUBLESHOOT - only to find out the ground between the engine and chassis was busted.
So they replaced all of those parts over a bad connection.
Some of the stuff is just plain scary.
People in the automotive FB pages are absolute worst. No real experience, just there for whatever, I guess.

I also have problems with some of the boobtoobers out there as experts - watched one earlier as I was curious about a different adjustable control arms he was talking about - and he's one who has a lot of Jeep vids out there, a lot of followers and hits and - he said "when you lengthen the lower control arms you push the bottom of the axle forward and that gives you more negative caster"
Well, the first half was right - it does push the bottom forward............ but that's positive, not negative.

 

[RobCart]

@Rob Burgundy ill solve your issue. Only because I JUST went through this and a buddy of mine helped me that new the issue.

open your fuse box and go through and ensure all your fuses are fully seated. Also ensure your fuse box is completly seated.
Then have the dealer clear all those codes. Those are all old Accumulated codes.

My dealer blamed my accessories and said I must have a short. They wanted $800.00 to start diagnosing the issue. When I started seating my fuses the whole box clicked down and into place. Cleared codes and no more issues.

 

[Rob Burgundy]

Update for anyone following the thread: The Jeep has been at the dealer since Feb 18th. Dealer opened a Star case with Jeep and the one repair that was made in this timeframe (at least that I was told about) is the sway bar disconnect module. This repair had no affect on the electrical issues. I have spoken with Jeep Wave on multiple occasions and they are tracking my situation but not providing anything new. At this point the module has been swapped out two weeks ago and I am told the dealer techs are waiting for further guidance from the Jeep engineers on the next item to replace.

I submitted a complain with the NHTSA as well and now in contact with an attorney to pursue a lemon law claim. Will update the thread with anything new.

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