Interesting update from dealer / Chrysler on Misfire Issue

[dcmdon]

To be fair, I have no idea how trustworthy or reliable the service manager is. I'm just a regular customer, this is my first jeep and I've never dealt with this shop before. He could have been lying out of his ass, but I didn't get that vibe at all when I spoke to him.

Apply grains of salt as feels appropriate for you.

That said, if you look at the survey thread, there's a recent post from someone else reporting something similar told to them by their own dealership.

Well, the reality is that his perspective while not really ideal, is reasonable. Considering what he has to work with. Our powertrain warranty is excellent. It can be extended for pretty long for not a ton more money. IMHO, misfires are not destructive events. If its eating a cam and that is causing a misfire, then you need a new engine anyway. Better to find it out with minimal hassle than to have the truck inf or weeks at a time.

If the misfire is some kind of electronic problem that can be fixed with a reflash, then its not going to hurt itself anyway.

The only thing that is damaged by driving continuously with a misfire, like if a coil pack went bad, is the catalytic converter. Which can overheat from all the extra fuel coming out of the exhaust which it will then burn. You can also melt things around it if it gets really bad.

But again, I'd rather get that stuff fixed than have the jeep off the road for a month.

So I agree. Drive it. Ignore it.

I've had the P0300 multiple times, I brought my truck in for the update and no DTCs yet.

Though it would be interesting to capture the logs and see if its still misfiring and its just not displaying a message on the dash.

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[sosomething]

Well, the reality is that his perspective while not really ideal, is reasonable. Considering what he has to work with. Our powertrain warranty is excellent. It can be extended for pretty long for not a ton more money. IMHO, misfires are not destructive events. If its eating a cam and that is causing a misfire, then you need a new engine anyway. Better to find it out with minimal hassle than to have the truck inf or weeks at a time.

That was my take, too. I understood where the guy was coming from, especially if he's got vehicles in the shop and frustrated customers calling about their Jeeps, and Chrysler is literally telling him not to work on them.

If the misfire is some kind of electronic problem that can be fixed with a reflash, then its not going to hurt itself anyway.

The only thing that is damaged by driving continuously with a misfire, like if a coil pack went bad, is the catalytic converter. Which can overheat from all the extra fuel coming out of the exhaust which it will then burn. You can also melt things around it if it gets really bad.

But again, I'd rather get that stuff fixed than have the jeep off the road for a month.

So I agree. Drive it. Ignore it.

This is my strategy.

My only other alternative is to park it at the dealership or park it in my own garage. Neither is really tenable.

FWIW, given the mileage on mine, there's no way this just started at 39k. I have a feeling the used dealer that sold it to me just cleared the code and was happy to see it gone. But hey, I got a smoking deal on an otherwise clean truck, and I could have had the same problem if I'd ordered it new and waited 6 months for it to arrive.

I have been underneath it and I didn't see anything that looked like it had gotten overly hot - no melting, signs of heat stress, etc. But as you said, it almost doesn't matter.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Sheepdog#9S1]

I'm new here, so please forgive me if this is already widely known.

I had a very interesting phone call with the local Jeep dealership/service center manager yesterday.

Like many of you, my new (to me) Gladiator has started having the dreaded P0300 misfire issue. Check engine light, auto stop/start failure, rough idle, you know the drill. Having read enough here and elsewhere to know that I didn't want to do the whole "let's try to figure out what's wrong" hokey pokey with my truck in the shop for weeks at a time, I decided to call the Jeep service center near me and get the skinny on what they knew about it this problem before taking it in.

This is what the service manager told me.

• He is well aware of this problem and has seen it a bunch of times.
• Chrysler/Jeep is also fully aware of this issue and how widespread it is.
• Chrysler does not have a fix for it yet, but they are working on it.
• He (the Jeep service manager) has been instructed by Chrysler to not try to fix this issue, because the actual cause is unknown and there will be a recall/campaign to address it once they sort it out.

Here's the real kicker though. I asked him "What do I do now? Is this thing going to melt itself if I continue to drive it? What do we do until Jeep puts out a true fix for it?"

His reply, as close to a quote as I can recall:

"I just had another customer come pick up their Gladiator yesterday after having it in for the same problem, and I'll tell you the same thing I told him - drive it 'till it blows up.

If the engine goes, it'll be covered under your 6yr/60k drivetrain warranty. If it blows up before the fix comes out, you'll get a whole new motor anyway."

I was pretty shocked, but also kind of relieved. What I don't know is what would happen to someone if their engine melted after 60,000 miles but before a fix was announced. For example, those of us with 2020 models still have 4 years on that drivetrain warranty, but my truck is only about 20,000 miles under the mileage limit. There could be a situation where someone, myself included, is stuck in that "gap" between a drivetrain warranty service and a campaign.

Anyway, that's what I've got. Wanted to share. Anybody else hearing this?

I just picked my JTR up today from the dealerhsip with the same code. Nothing was done. They indicated a Star case number (S2218000019) has been opened, but no repairs are rec. It appears they know there is a major problem, with no idea how to fix it...

 

[Advntrbound]

Yeah, I read you. I didn't mean to imply that I thought the recall would exclude owners who fell outside of the drivetrain warranty - only that:

• If your engine blows up at 60,001 miles, and
• Chrysler hasn't issued a recall/campaign yet...

...You may be left in the lurch with either a dead Jeep or a massive out-of-pocket expense that, had the timing been a little different, wouldn't have cost you a dime.

But yes, a similar concern is that a fix comes out that solves whatever specific engine part(s) is causing the issue, but doesn't remedy all the extra wear or damage done to other engine parts by a badly-running engine.

My cams grenaded at 61,000 miles. I was on the hook to pay to have them replaced. I kept all receipts in hopes that some day I can get reimbursed. Fingers crossed but not holding my breath. I just hope there isn't more damage done that we can't see

 

[sosomething]

These two replies basically spell out my remaining concerns.

I just picked my JTR up today from the dealerhsip with the same code. Nothing was done. They indicated a Star case number (S2218000019) has been opened, but no repairs are rec. It appears they know there is a major problem, with no idea how to fix it...

Do you know, since you now have a Star case opened, whether that protects you from running out your warranty before something catastrophic happens? The issue is now "on file" with a date/mileage that predates whenever your warranty would run out. It would stand to reason, but I'd be afraid to make the assumption.

My cams grenaded at 61,000 miles. I was on the hook to pay to have them replaced. I kept all receipts in hopes that some day I can get reimbursed. Fingers crossed but not holding my breath. I just hope there isn't more damage done that we can't see

You're living my biggest worry. Did you pay to have the cams / rest of the engine repaired out of pocket?

I know that when my previous vehicle had a known problem that affected a lot of owners, there was a letter than went out to claim reimbursement for repairs necessitated by the issue, but in that case it required a class action suit to make it happen.

There should be an official list where we can register - through a dealer if necessary - that we're owners affected by this problem to protect us from having to eat it if worst comes to worst between our warranty expiry and any kind of recommended solution.

 

[RustySeatbelt]

Over the past year I had my truck in well over 100 days getting my misfire issue fixed. Jeep can fix it, and as such, I don't really believe what your service advisor told you. Yes, I played the diagnosis game, even to the point of my advisor joking about the best way to fix it being a match and good insurance... but after replacing (on both sides) the cams, lifters, springs, position sensors, and other things I've likely forgot to mention, it's butter smooth and hasn't had an issue since. Will it come back? Maybe. The point to me though is that a dealer that has experience with the issue, and likely has gone down the rabbit hole to get it resolved, is telling you not to have it fixed. Based on my experience, they likely know that they're going to have to fix it one thing at a time, and you will likely bring it back multiple times as they work through it... first cam, then lifters, etc. It sounds more like them not wanting to deal with it, and hoping you move on or the 60k warranty runs out so it isn't their problem. I'd recommend you find a new dealer and get it fixed. It's not worth having the worry of it becoming your problem hang over you.

 

[sosomething]

Over the past year I had my truck in well over 100 days getting my misfire issue fixed. Jeep can fix it, and as such, I don't really believe what your service advisor told you. Yes, I played the diagnosis game, even to the point of my advisor joking about the best way to fix it being a match and good insurance... but after replacing (on both sides) the cams, lifters, springs, position sensors, and other things I've likely forgot to mention, it's butter smooth and hasn't had an issue since. Will it come back? Maybe. The point to me though is that a dealer that has experience with the issue, and likely has gone down the rabbit hole to get it resolved, is telling you not to have it fixed. Based on my experience, they likely know that they're going to have to fix it one thing at a time, and you will likely bring it back multiple times as they work through it... first cam, then lifters, etc. It sounds more like them not wanting to deal with it, and hoping you move on or the 60k warranty runs out so it isn't their problem. I'd recommend you find a new dealer and get it fixed. It's not worth having the worry of it becoming your problem hang over you.

Appreciate this advice. There are a number of C/J/D dealers in my area - I'll start calling around.

 

[Hootbro]

I doubt there is going to be a one size fits all "fix" if it ever comes. Dealership service advisors can say what they want but rarely will put to writing statements like you mentioned of driving it until it blows which is really sketch anyways as you never really know what driving conditions will be when that happens.

If it is a wide spread enough issue, I think Stellantis will pull a play out of Ford's playbook and their Dual Clutch Transmissions debacle and play stupid waiting on natural out of warranty attrition to weed out most of their financial liability and fight the rest in any potential class action lawsuit.

 

[Snook]

I just picked my JTR up today from the dealerhsip with the same code. Nothing was done. They indicated a Star case number (S2218000019) has been opened, but no repairs are rec. It appears they know there is a major problem, with no idea how to fix it...

same here, picked up my Jeep from the dealer yesterday after taking it in for the flashing CEL. Was told engineering was working on a fix and not to attempt repair. They quoted the same STAR case. See attached photo.

for the record, my truck had the first flashing CEL at 2300 miles and the second last week at 6700 miles. the vehicle never once ran bad, has been great since day one. 20mpg hwy. and 16-17 mpg around town. Tows great and has fantastic acceleration. No complaints other than the Flashing CEL.

 

[Sheepdog#9S1]

same here, picked up my Jeep from the dealer yesterday after taking it in for the flashing CEL. Was told engineering was working on a fix and not to attempt repair. They quoted the same STAR case. See attached photo.

for the record, my truck had the first flashing CEL at 2300 miles and the second last week at 6700 miles. the vehicle never once ran bad, has been great since day one. 20mpg hwy. and 16-17 mpg around town. Tows great and has fantastic acceleration. No complaints other than the Flashing CEL.

Just wondering, do you have factory exhaust?

 

[Snook]

Just wondering, do you have factory exhaust?

yes, no mods on the vehicle at all.

 

[RustySeatbelt]

Just wondering, do you have factory exhaust?

For mine, the CEL would only come on if I floored it and the revs hit +5k. Is that when yours does it?
The light would come on and flash after hitting +5k rpm. slowing to a stop following that the truck would shake violently for about 30 seconds, then it would settle down. The CEL would usually stay on until I shut the truck off. Upon restarting the CEL would go away, but the code would be stored.

 

[Daniel Nykon]

Just wondering, do you have factory exhaust?

I can confirm the same information from local dealer's service department about CEL coming on randomly, code P0300, Mopar STAR case number S2218000019 with the "discussion" comment being:
"Perform published diagnostic routine forP03000 found in Service Library. If diagnostics direct to a condition of trouble-not-found, engineering is investigating this issue at this time. No repairs are recommended."
So my take on the situation seems fairly obvious. Techs can't do service on a problem that engineering has yet to figure out. Stellantis has a problem here that needs immediate attention and adequate remedy. It is not enough to give assurance to owners that you can "carry on" and bring it back if CEL comes on again. I've owned a number of vehicles, new and used over the last 50 years and have NEVER had an off the mark issue like this, and after 35 km on the road. The apparent random nature of the problem should be alarming to all concerned. Our plan was to mod it out and do some off-roading as we have been doing with our 2dr JK; not a chance!

 

[Sheepdog#9S1]

yes, no mods on the vehicle at all.

Thanks. They are blaming this power hickup and lurch problem I'm having on my exhasut noise...

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