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Interesting update from dealer / Chrysler on Misfire Issue

sosomething

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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?
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If it's a recall it may vary depending on the manufacturer but i thought they were required to be open ended.

I've had numerous silly recalls on subarus, the recall fixes the issue usually regardless of time and miles. They even reimbursed an out of warrenty fix for a bad AC condenser that I completed before the recall was issued. The only thing I'd want from the dealer is the issue documented. If you have to do major engine work after 60,000 miles and the recall ends up covering the work. It might be nice to have the issue documented to possibly get reimbursed.

My worry is if the issue is damaging the engine and the problem gets fixed but the engine didn't go tits up...
 

kevman65

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Your dealer is full of it and himself.

They do have a computer reflash that Jeep has been sending letters out to owners to get.
 
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sosomething

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Your dealer is full of it and himself.

They do have a computer reflash that Jeep has been sending letters out to owners to get.
That's not at all a fix for this issue.

Multiple people - myself included - have had that reflash performed on their vehicles and the misfire problem persists.

You're just where I was about a week ago, before I'd learned what I now know.
 
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sosomething

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If it's a recall it may vary depending on the manufacturer but i thought they were required to be open ended.

I've had numerous silly recalls on subarus, the recall fixes the issue usually regardless of time and miles. They even reimbursed an out of warrenty fix for a bad AC condenser that I completed before the recall was issued. The only thing I'd want from the dealer is the issue documented. If you have to do major engine work after 60,000 miles and the recall ends up covering the work. It might be nice to have the issue documented to possibly get reimbursed.

My worry is if the issue is damaging the engine and the problem gets fixed but the engine didn't go tits up...
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.
 

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kevman65

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That's not at all a fix for this issue.

Multiple people - myself included - have had that reflash performed on their vehicles and the misfire problem persists.

You're just where I was about a week ago, before I'd learned what I now know.
It doesn't really matter if it fixes the problem or not. You can't make a blanket statement that "There is nothing the dealer or Jeep can do". Jeep IS trying to do something. The first step is the reflash so the computer will RECOGNIZE and RETAIN the misfire. Before the flash the computers weren't registering errors, so dealers were saying there wasn't a problem.

It is called a process, and they're going through it. The first step was correcting the problem of the computer not recognizing and logging the misfire in the first place. Once they can go through all the data, they may find the glitch and write a patch for it.
 
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sosomething

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It doesn't really matter if it fixes the problem or not. You can't make a blanket statement that "There is nothing the dealer or Jeep can do". Jeep IS trying to do something. The first step is the reflash so the computer will RECOGNIZE and RETAIN the misfire. Before the flash the computers weren't registering errors, so dealers were saying there wasn't a problem.

It is called a process, and they're going through it. The first step was correcting the problem of the computer not recognizing and logging the misfire in the first place. Once they can go through all the data, they may find the glitch and write a patch for it.
And?

I'm struggling to find your point of view here. Your tone implies that you have some huge disagreement with what I've said, but what you're actually saying fits more or less in line with what I've been told.

As for the pcm flash being designed to help the car recognize the misfire as part of some broad diagnostic effort by Jeep... this is the first I've heard that anywhere, and I've scoured the web for info on this for over a week. And yes, I've spoken to Jeep customer care about it as well within the last few days.

I've seen everything from it being a cam-related issue to bad QC from the factory. But I have it confirmed by the service center that they've been instructed - by Chrysler - to NOT service vehicles for this problem until the fix comes out.

And even if you're right, that changes absolutely nothing about what I've said. They either put out a fix before our engines seize or they don't. All I can do is hope that my engine either blows up before 60k, or the fix comes soon.

If you actually have anything constructive to add, I'm all ears.
 

kevman65

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I was very clear, you said "Jeep/Chrysler doesn't have a fix yet" and "Jeep/Chrysler are looking into the cause"
Then just pushed that aside and went into catastrophic ends with exploding engines.

The letter that came out stated clearly in it that "The PCM is not recognizing and logging the mis-fire issues. The PCM flash is to correct that problem so the PCM will log the mis-fires and and what is causing them.

I took both the letter and my JT to the dealer I purchased from, the Service Manager came out to look at the letter because mine was the first they'd seen. He asked me if I'd had any mis-fire issues and I told him no, he advised me to NOT get the flash if I didn't have problems.

I also find it hard to believe ANY dealership would advise you to "drive it until it blows up" and if you're in Central Indiana please tell me which dealership gave you this advice because I have avenues to have them educated.

When it becomes obvious there is a mechanical failure, pre-explosion, you're to stop driving it and have it transported to the dealer for a repair. If you would SEARCH this BOARD before you write this crap, you will see this is SOP for this problem.


So, STOP telling people to drive it until blows up.
 

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That's not at all a fix for this issue.

Multiple people - myself included - have had that reflash performed on their vehicles and the misfire problem persists.

You're just where I was about a week ago, before I'd learned what I now know.
Maybe. Maybe not.
I had the Z37 flash done the same day we swapped the coil packs and plugs between 3 and 5, to see if the misfire moved.
There hasn't been a misfire since then and my mpg went up by about 1.5-2.
My guess is that some changes were made in the tuning that at least in part contributed.
Since both jobs were done at the same time it's hard to say, but others have reported better mpg and smoother shifts since the flash.
 

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But I have it confirmed by the service center that they've been instructed - by Chrysler - to NOT service vehicles for this problem until the fix comes out.
To be fair, how do you know that this specific service center isn't pulling the wool over your eyes? I mean, in their shoes, if I had a problem that I didn't want to service, I might say something like this. Is there any kind of documentation you can share to back this up?

Dealerships and service centers have been known to say all sorts of crazy things.
 

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I was very clear, you said "Jeep/Chrysler doesn't have a fix yet" and "Jeep/Chrysler are looking into the cause"
Then just pushed that aside and went into catastrophic ends with exploding engines.

The letter that came out stated clearly in it that "The PCM is not recognizing and logging the mis-fire issues. The PCM flash is to correct that problem so the PCM will log the mis-fires and and what is causing them.

I took both the letter and my JT to the dealer I purchased from, the Service Manager came out to look at the letter because mine was the first they'd seen. He asked me if I'd had any mis-fire issues and I told him no, he advised me to NOT get the flash if I didn't have problems.

I also find it hard to believe ANY dealership would advise you to "drive it until it blows up" and if you're in Central Indiana please tell me which dealership gave you this advice because I have avenues to have them educated.

When it becomes obvious there is a mechanical failure, pre-explosion, you're to stop driving it and have it transported to the dealer for a repair. If you would SEARCH this BOARD before you write this crap, you will see this is SOP for this problem.


So, STOP telling people to drive it until blows up.
First of all, you need to calm down.

I'm just another guy who bought a $50k truck only to walk face-first into what is apparently a major and widespread issue that's been going on for over 2 years with no resolution. I made this post to communicate what I was told because there seems to be a real push on this forum to collect as much information as possible.

Again, I'm not spreading misinformation, I'm merely relaying what I've been told. I'm not telling people to blow up their trucks. I'm not giving any advice or suggestions at all.

And I'm also not the one responsible for creating this antagonistic vibe in this thread. If you're looking for an enemy, keep looking. I don't have time for you.

As for your "avenues to have them educated," I'd love to know what those avenues are. If you're someone in the industry or work for Jeep, that's one thing. If you're just a loudmouth on a forum, well, that's another.
 
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To be fair, how do you know that this specific service center isn't pulling the wool over your eyes? I mean, in their shoes, if I had a problem that I didn't want to service, I might say something like this. Is there any kind of documentation you can share to back this up?

Dealerships and service centers have been known to say all sorts of crazy things.
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.
 

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Your dealer is full of it and himself.

They do have a computer reflash that Jeep has been sending letters out to owners to get.
That solves the CEL engine light problem by raising the threshold before it starts squawking.

It doesn't solve the problem.
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