3.0 limping...no obvious reason. Random CEL

[vicsvx]

Situation 1: pulling my ~3k lb trailer up a pretty steep grade in AZ 96 heat on i17 just north of Phoenix, oil and coolant temps were about 238 oil 226 coolant. Speed was 60. CEL, eltric throttle control light, stability control light. No power. Cruise at 40ish rest of the grade. Pull over at the top let it idle a ahwile. Shut off and restart. Only my CEL remains. It stayed on the rest of the camp trip but it drove fine. CEL turns off after a few hours of driving and few cycles.

Situation 2: pulling the same ~3k trailer up a grade in northern NM with outside temp about 90. Coolant was about 218 and oil about 228. This time I had tazer "cooldown mode" active. CEL, eltric throttle control light, stability control light. No power. Cruise at 40ish rest of the grade. Pull over at the top let it idle a ahwile. Shut off and restart. Only my CEL remains. It stayed on the rest of the camp trip but it drove fine. CEL turns off after a few hours of driving and few cycles.

Both situations I couldn't get to a parts store to read codes.

Recent camp trip, during situation 2, doing FR exploring, CEL Came on and stayed on for a few days. Again no chance to get codes read before CEL went off. But also, I would randomly get ABS, BRAKE, stability control lights on and setiles 4wd system temporarily unavailable. After I packed camp and got on the highway, all lights went away, but I did go into a "limp mode" type of state during a small incline when getting on the highway from a gas station... Darn thing had no power and I couldn't get any speed... Stuck at 55mph until I got to the top then she got all power back but there were no idiot lights and water was 208 and oil was at 215

Anyone have any idea on what's going on? Truck has been great at this point with 65k miles

Mods: 35x11.5r17, winch, steel bumpers, roll up bed cover, chase rack, tazer

TIA

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[Chance575]

Buy a cheap WiFi code reader and use an app on your phone to pull the code , it will be in the history

 

[JLPeekaboo]

Situation 1: pulling my ~3k lb trailer up a pretty steep grade in AZ 96 heat on i17 just north of Phoenix, oil and coolant temps were about 238 oil 226 coolant. Speed was 60. CEL, eltric throttle control light, stability control light. No power. Cruise at 40ish rest of the grade. Pull over at the top let it idle a ahwile. Shut off and restart. Only my CEL remains. It stayed on the rest of the camp trip but it drove fine. CEL turns off after a few hours of driving and few cycles.

Situation 2: pulling the same ~3k trailer up a grade in northern NM with outside temp about 90. Coolant was about 218 and oil about 228. This time I had tazer "cooldown mode" active. CEL, eltric throttle control light, stability control light. No power. Cruise at 40ish rest of the grade. Pull over at the top let it idle a ahwile. Shut off and restart. Only my CEL remains. It stayed on the rest of the camp trip but it drove fine. CEL turns off after a few hours of driving and few cycles.

Both situations I couldn't get to a parts store to read codes.

Recent camp trip, during situation 2, doing FR exploring, CEL Came on and stayed on for a few days. Again no chance to get codes read before CEL went off. But also, I would randomly get ABS, BRAKE, stability control lights on and setiles 4wd system temporarily unavailable. After I packed camp and got on the highway, all lights went away, but I did go into a "limp mode" type of state during a small incline when getting on the highway from a gas station... Darn thing had no power and I couldn't get any speed... Stuck at 55mph until I got to the top then she got all power back but there were no idiot lights and water was 208 and oil was at 215

Anyone have any idea on what's going on? Truck has been great at this point with 65k miles

Mods: 35x11.5r17, winch, steel bumpers, roll up bed cover, chase rack, tazer

TIA

That is mostly stemming from voltage sensitivity, a failing wheel speed sensor, or loose fuses but here's a few tips:

The Christmas Tree Dash (ABS, Brake, Traction, 4WD Unavailable): Maybe a failing or dirty wheel speed sensor. When one sensor acts up (often caused by trail debris, wire stretching from a lift, or overheating near the brakes), the Jeep's computer panics and disables the ABS, traction control, and the 4WD system altogether.

The Towing Limp Mode: Pulling 3k lbs up a hot grade pushes the engine hard. Even though 218° coolant and 228° oil are technically within acceptable "hot towing" limits for the Pentastar, the high load combined with a slight sensor glitch or a voltage drop under high heat can instantly trigger Electronic Throttle Control (ETC) limp mode to protect the powertrain.

The No-Light Limp Mode: The random loss of power without dashboard lights on the highway incline points heavily toward heat-induced transmission or oil temperature protection curves, or a temporary Tazer communication lag over the CAN bus.

 

[GCBurt]

Got nearly the same thing pulling about 5K up grade. My Banks iDash DataMonster flags engine cam sensor. Reset and limp goes away. CEL still on for a few off/on cycles - BUT goes away and doesn't return until next pulling event. Been able to reset each time and continue trip with CEL. CEL goes away and iDash doesn't flag anything when queried again.

 

[vicsvx]

That is mostly stemming from voltage sensitivity, a failing wheel speed sensor, or loose fuses but here's a few tips:

The Christmas Tree Dash (ABS, Brake, Traction, 4WD Unavailable): Maybe a failing or dirty wheel speed sensor. When one sensor acts up (often caused by trail debris, wire stretching from a lift, or overheating near the brakes), the Jeep's computer panics and disables the ABS, traction control, and the 4WD system altogether.

The Towing Limp Mode: Pulling 3k lbs up a hot grade pushes the engine hard. Even though 218° coolant and 228° oil are technically within acceptable "hot towing" limits for the Pentastar, the high load combined with a slight sensor glitch or a voltage drop under high heat can instantly trigger Electronic Throttle Control (ETC) limp mode to protect the powertrain.

The No-Light Limp Mode: The random loss of power without dashboard lights on the highway incline points heavily toward heat-induced transmission or oil temperature protection curves, or a temporary Tazer communication lag over the CAN bus.

Ya voltage was all over the place. 11.8 to 13.8. I did do the aux battery bypass but figured I should replace the main battery because it won't remote start sometimes (assuming battery isn't in great shape). At the parts store now for new battery.

Sensors make sense, I figured it might be one of those... But determining which one is causing it is the trick... And I'm not sure if the code readers at parts store can pull history info (dealership is gonna bend me over jusy to check codes lol)

As for heat, you mention pentastar, I have the 3.0. Not sure what the heat tolerance is for these compared to 3.6.

 

[vicsvx]

Buy a cheap WiFi code reader and use an app on your phone to pull the code , it will be in the history

Do you have one you recommend?

 

[vicsvx]

Got nearly the same thing pulling about 5K up grade. My Banks iDash DataMonster flags engine cam sensor. Reset and limp goes away. CEL still on for a few off/on cycles - BUT goes away and doesn't return until next pulling event. Been able to reset each time and continue trip with CEL. CEL goes away and iDash doesn't flag anything when queried again.

Is it the same code everytime? And is it on thr 3.0...?

 

[Mr Miami]

I totally agree with @Chance575 that these days with so much controlled by electronics and not mechanical, a simple code reader is a must. Harbor Freight, Walmart or just about any discount place will have simple ones for a low price. I keep one in each of my Jeeps just to know when a light comes on is it something serious or something that can be dealt with when I get home. On any lengthy drive or trip, it gives at least some peace of mind when you know, or at least get some indication, of what the problem is or what it may be related to.

 

[Chance575]

I’d recommend jscan and any of their approved dongles . I leave mine in the truck but I also have a banks idash, real time gauges


https://jscan.net/supported-and-not-supported-obd-adapters/

 

[JeepOfTheseus]

Do you have one you recommend?

I use https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JFRFJG6?ref_=ppx_hzod_title_dt_b_fed_asin_title_0_0

I picked it as a result of that same JScan link @Chance575 shared. It's fast and reliable (I use it for active monitoring of ~2 dozen PIDs on my iPad and it works great). The nice bonus is it comes with full code database (I believe you get that when you first connect it).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076XVQMVS?ref_=ppx_hzod_title_dt_b_fed_asin_title_0_0 works fine as a "cheap" scanner/reader solution. I ran this for a couple years and it was "good enough", but I did have to purchase Jeep specific OBD code database to make full use of it (in OBD Fusion, it's $15 to get the full set for a single model year).

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