P0300 flashing (2) and solid (2) alerts

[Scott Brubaker]

As title suggests, I am having issues with the P0300 issue with my new Gladiator (<4,500 miles).

Have had 2 Flashing P0300 alerts (stopped driving vehicle) and 2 solid P0300 alerts with my Gladiator. Dealer has been involved and professional, yet their only recourse is to reset the computer.

This is my second Gladiator, with the first having no error codes and several Moab adventures which is WHY I bought the Gladiator.

Bottom line ( I apologize for my ignorance here) My thought is that I bought the Jeep for Moab, where backcountry journeys are a mainstay. Very concerned about having a lemon. If I get a third "flashing" (total of 5 total P0300 alerts when combined with the 2 "solid" P0300 alert codes), does my Gladiator constitute "Lemon Law" enactment. Having no confidence about the reliability of my Gladiator negates the Moab adventure opportunity. If no Moab, then a Yugo would have sufficed for basic transportation.

How can I have a vehicle "flashing" or even "solid" P0300 code error and do Moab backcountry or any backcountry with confidence??

No longer feel good about my Gladiator. Am I overreacting?

As I have read the existing P0300 alert code threads, I would appreciate your collective thoughts. Thank you for your expertise.

Scott Brubaker

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[ShadowsPapa]

As title suggests, I am having issues with the P0300 issue with my new Gladiator (<4,500 miles).

Have had 2 Flashing P0300 alerts (stopped driving vehicle) and 2 solid P0300 alerts with my Gladiator. Dealer has been involved and professional, yet their only recourse is to reset the computer.

This is my second Gladiator, with the first having no error codes and several Moab adventures which is WHY I bought the Gladiator.

Bottom line ( I apologize for my ignorance here) My thought is that I bought the Jeep for Moab, where backcountry journeys are a mainstay. Very concerned about having a lemon. If I get a third "flashing" (total of 5 total P0300 alerts when combined with the 2 "solid" P0300 alert codes), does my Gladiator constitute "Lemon Law" enactment. Having no confidence about the reliability of my Gladiator negates the Moab adventure opportunity. If no Moab, then a Yugo would have sufficed for basic transportation.

How can I have a vehicle "flashing" or even "solid" P0300 code error and do Moab backcountry or any backcountry with confidence??

No longer feel good about my Gladiator. Am I overreacting?

As I have read the existing P0300 alert code threads, I would appreciate your collective thoughts. Thank you for your expertise.

Scott Brubaker

Do some searching on the forum here for that code - you can even use Google to do the searching if you wish. Look for that code, multi-cylinder misfire, etc.
You'll find that there are numerous possible causes for this - depending. If 10 people have this code come up, there's easily a good chance it's 5 different things causing it. What causes it for mine won't be the same thing that causes it for you.

Mine has done this 3 times - each time a bit different, but each time the circumstances were nearly identical. I know that if I go start and drive it today, it isn't going to happen, I'd bet my next paycheck on it.
But I know how to increase the odds of it happening as well - it may still not happen, but if I follow a certain course of actions and events, the odds are better.
3 times and I've owned it since first half of July. There's almost 6,000 miles on it. So - I'm not freaking out (yet LOL)

What we need to know is exactly, in detail, what were the circumstances surrounding your P0300 code (which is a multi-cylinder misfire) and have you or anyone else tried to capture the FREEZE FRAME from the ECU?
It will tell which cylinders misfired, how many misfires, and other things going on at that time including engine temperature, air temperature (ambient and in the intake air temp), engine RPM, torque load and more.
If all they are doing is clearing the codes - find another dealer.

For comparison, here's how mine acts -
Start, drive, maybe 30 minutes or so to make sure everything is 100% warmed up (not your temperature gauge - that's only coolant temp)
Then go to a store, stop and shop for 30-40 minutes, come back out and start it, drive it slowly, keeping the rpm near idle or just above as if leaving a busy parking lot for 20 seconds or so.
Mine would ding, flash the CEL on and off, ding ding and then out of the 3 times it happened to mine, it only set the light once as I recall but did store a P0300 code.
Second time drove it 26 miles to church, 45 minutes later came out and left the parking lot, drove through that small town, max speed maybe 20 mph cops do work that town, and 2 minutes later it bucked like a bronc with a bur under the saddle. It was really bad, CEL flashing, etc. and I stopped to hook up my phone to do some diagnostics and a minute or two later it smoothed out and was fine for weeks and thousands of miles.
Last time we drove it to Clarksville, TN from Des Moines, stopped at a hotel, unloaded, 30 minutes later decided to go eat. It misfired so I could feel it - bad but not like the second time. By the time I got diagnostics going it smoothed out. Again, it was warm, sat 30-40 minutes, started it and went slow for a minute or two and then the misfires. It has always come out of it every time. The first time I had just over 50 miles on it and I never felt it miss a lick. It was smooth the whole time it dinged and flashed the light.
I found it's bank 2, the left bank, cylinder 2, the front cylinder on the left doing most of the naughty stuff, followed by cylinder 4 with half as many misfires, then #6 with half as many as that. 1, 3 and 5 did fine.

So you need to define the conditions that cause it, even if it's random, random times, random speeds and random loads- that matters, too.
They should be able to do what I did and go in and capture data.

Since you have a 2022, like I do, it would be interesting, in fact I am very interested, in finding out what conditions yours misfires under - if it matches mine or not. I've seen 2 others do just what mine does, and at no other times and I think Jeep's STAR people are aware of how mine and those like it are doing and engineering is "working on it".

Also - have you washed the engine, driven through mud, or done anything to get mud and water into or around the coil packs and so on?

 

[jay21mojave]

Question? Did the Dealership check for the latest bulletins and "Flashes" there is a new Flash for this P0300 code applicable to my 2021 VIN #. I have not had the issue and have not had that done. I have a friend that is a FCA Tech Training instructor who did the check and verification at my request after I read about it on the forum.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Question? Did the Dealership check for the latest bulletins and "Flashes" there is a new Flash for this P0300 code applicable to my 2021 VIN #. I have not had the issue and have not had that done. I have a friend that is a FCA Tech Training instructor who did the check and verification at my request after I read about it on the forum.

Worth a check, but I'd really hope that by the time the 2022 model year came about, they'd have all of the updates, changes and fixed applied for the 2022 model year.
But then........... it's complex code and maybe it wasn't discovered until too late.

Mine is unique circumstances. So far, I've only seen a couple of others that will do the misfire under the exact conditions that mine does it. And there's no use me taking it to a dealer and saying "drive it until it does it". I might as well hand them the registration, title and insurance card until January 2023. Mine waited almost 2 months before doing it again.

 

[ChrisNLA]

My '22 has had a flashing then solid P0300 with rough idle / running rough below 1,800 RPM once. It happened at 1,527 miles. I never took it to the dealer, just checked under the hood and made sure all electrical connectors that I could find were securely connected, and unhooked the battery for a little while and reconnected. After about 50 miles and a few key cycles it went away. I'm at 2,023 now and it hasn't repeated. Engine is quite as mouse - can't hear anything but the injectors chirping and the belt whirring.

Based on the one incident so far - I am not worried about it in the least. I am taking the truck to Arkansas next month and I'm not going to spend much time worrying about. I am confident, if it does happen again, it isn't going to strand me anywhere. That being said, if it happens again close at home I'll let the dealer have it to check over so that Jeep will be aware of another incidence of this happening.

Perhaps, certain trucks are finding just the right criteria / chain of events / whatever you want to call it that causes a brief issue. That's the funny thing about new vehicles with lots of technology - you may have to get tens of thousands of them out on the road going through all manner of driving conditions before you find that next set of criteria that wasn't accounted for - and the engineers go to work trying to find out why.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That's the funny thing about new vehicles with lots of technology - you may have to get tens of thousands of them out on the road going through all manner of driving conditions before you find that next set of criteria that wasn't accounted for - and the engineers go to work trying to find out why.

More than once I got involved with technology companies while I was in IT.
One company actually had to make duplicates of the servers I had set up - a combo of Netware and Windows servers on the same network, running IP and IPX/SPX. They got the details from me, and finally were able to duplicate the problem. It was a bigger problem than what showed up, it's just that how I used the software across that diverse network finally made the issue come to light.
I ended up doing not beta testing, but alpha testing, of their fix. They said it likely saved countless others from issues in the future as that bug would raise its head under other circumstances eventually.
(I rarely followed the test scripts provided by the software companies - I told them, those are ideal situations, no users actually read the book and follow your instructions LOL. I tested to try to break things, not see if it worked under perfect conditions when done by the book)

 

[Scott Brubaker]

I want to thank each of you for your very professional and helpful comments.

Some details:
First flashing code was after a cold start in my garage (about 2,000 miles)
First solid code was after I turned off the engine waited a bit and restarted the Gladiator.
Second flashing code was a warm start (about 4,500 miles), when I had driven to the local airport and parked the Jeep. Came out started the Jeep and the flashing code was greeting me.
Second solid code was when the engine was turned off, a three minure wait and turned the Gladiator on to a solid alert.

I really need to be very clear here; do I think I could get stranded at a very bad time... you bet I do. Why? as a retired anal Navy Guy, you get to sea and boom.

So I spend over 60K for a vehicle and I EXPECT to have confidence in this vehicle. I no longer have that.

Second: I am also anal about my warranty; I am also very thankful of the professionalism of the jeep dealer's efforts. Problem is that they have not found the issue.

If the problem can't be found I will push from a warranty aspect to get a Gladiator that does give me that feeling of confidence.

Complications and an unclear troubleshooting path is very understandable to me. I just didn't get what I paid for.

Just not okay to me.

I am not trying to sound arrogant or unrealistic, just stating circumstances that are guiding my personal experiences and expectations.

My thanks to you all.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Sounds like the P0300 to me.
Definitely do whatever you can to get the code - yes, a parts store will do basic code reading for free. (As long as it's a standard ISO code and not Jeep specific)
How long were you in the airport?
30-40 minutes? The engine was thoroughly warmed up at the time you stopped?

The events don't fit that recall situation at all...... still check the VIN, but it just doesn't fit.

It DOES fit the P0300 multi-cylinder misfire.

Again, all we're doing is speculating, though.
I'm approaching my comments as a former auto person who still tries to keep his feet wet and hands in the stuff as it's what I've loved and lived almost all of my life.
So the more info here in this case, the better as it will be added to my "collective" of experience and information gathering.

 

[Scott Brubaker]

Question? Did the Dealership check for the latest bulletins and "Flashes" there is a new Flash for this P0300 code applicable to my 2021 VIN #. I have not had the issue and have not had that done. I have a friend that is a FCA Tech Training instructor who did the check and verification at my request after I read about it on the forum.

I will check. Thank you.

 

[Scott Brubaker]

Sounds like the P0300 to me.
Definitely do whatever you can to get the code - yes, a parts store will do basic code reading for free. (As long as it's a standard ISO code and not Jeep specific)
How long were you in the airport?
30-40 minutes? The engine was thoroughly warmed up at the time you stopped?

The events don't fit that recall situation at all...... still check the VIN, but it just doesn't fit.

It DOES fit the P0300 multi-cylinder misfire.

Again, all we're doing is speculating, though.
I'm approaching my comments as a former auto person who still tries to keep his feet wet and hands in the stuff as it's what I've loved and lived almost all of my life.
So the more info here in this case, the better as it will be added to my "collective" of experience and information gathering.

I was at the airport for about 30 minutes. A warm day as well as just 30 minutes makes me think it was still warm. It does seem that the two occurences were under different conditions to be sure. Thank you.

 

[Scott Brubaker]

Do some searching on the forum here for that code - you can even use Google to do the searching if you wish. Look for that code, multi-cylinder misfire, etc.
You'll find that there are numerous possible causes for this - depending. If 10 people have this code come up, there's easily a good chance it's 5 different things causing it. What causes it for mine won't be the same thing that causes it for you.

Mine has done this 3 times - each time a bit different, but each time the circumstances were nearly identical. I know that if I go start and drive it today, it isn't going to happen, I'd bet my next paycheck on it.
But I know how to increase the odds of it happening as well - it may still not happen, but if I follow a certain course of actions and events, the odds are better.
3 times and I've owned it since first half of July. There's almost 6,000 miles on it. So - I'm not freaking out (yet LOL)

What we need to know is exactly, in detail, what were the circumstances surrounding your P0300 code (which is a multi-cylinder misfire) and have you or anyone else tried to capture the FREEZE FRAME from the ECU?
It will tell which cylinders misfired, how many misfires, and other things going on at that time including engine temperature, air temperature (ambient and in the intake air temp), engine RPM, torque load and more.
If all they are doing is clearing the codes - find another dealer.

For comparison, here's how mine acts -
Start, drive, maybe 30 minutes or so to make sure everything is 100% warmed up (not your temperature gauge - that's only coolant temp)
Then go to a store, stop and shop for 30-40 minutes, come back out and start it, drive it slowly, keeping the rpm near idle or just above as if leaving a busy parking lot for 20 seconds or so.
Mine would ding, flash the CEL on and off, ding ding and then out of the 3 times it happened to mine, it only set the light once as I recall but did store a P0300 code.
Second time drove it 26 miles to church, 45 minutes later came out and left the parking lot, drove through that small town, max speed maybe 20 mph cops do work that town, and 2 minutes later it bucked like a bronc with a bur under the saddle. It was really bad, CEL flashing, etc. and I stopped to hook up my phone to do some diagnostics and a minute or two later it smoothed out and was fine for weeks and thousands of miles.
Last time we drove it to Clarksville, TN from Des Moines, stopped at a hotel, unloaded, 30 minutes later decided to go eat. It misfired so I could feel it - bad but not like the second time. By the time I got diagnostics going it smoothed out. Again, it was warm, sat 30-40 minutes, started it and went slow for a minute or two and then the misfires. It has always come out of it every time. The first time I had just over 50 miles on it and I never felt it miss a lick. It was smooth the whole time it dinged and flashed the light.
I found it's bank 2, the left bank, cylinder 2, the front cylinder on the left doing most of the naughty stuff, followed by cylinder 4 with half as many misfires, then #6 with half as many as that. 1, 3 and 5 did fine.

So you need to define the conditions that cause it, even if it's random, random times, random speeds and random loads- that matters, too.
They should be able to do what I did and go in and capture data.

Since you have a 2022, like I do, it would be interesting, in fact I am very interested, in finding out what conditions yours misfires under - if it matches mine or not. I've seen 2 others do just what mine does, and at no other times and I think Jeep's STAR people are aware of how mine and those like it are doing and engineering is "working on it".

Also - have you washed the engine, driven through mud, or done anything to get mud and water into or around the coil packs and so on?

I have not washed the engine, nor driven though any mud.

When I talked to the dealer, he said that the mechanic had gone though all of the data of the read out and found nothing noteworthy. Now that you all have educated me me, I want to know what threshold "noteworthy" is

 

[Scott Brubaker]

Question? Did the Dealership check for the latest bulletins and "Flashes" there is a new Flash for this P0300 code applicable to my 2021 VIN #. I have not had the issue and have not had that done. I have a friend that is a FCA Tech Training instructor who did the check and verification at my request after I read about it on the forum.

I will check with the dealer. Thank you for the feedback.

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