Powertrain controller module failure

[Greg91]

I bought my gladiator in January and was excited that I found a hydro blue Mojave. After 3 months of ownership I got a lot of warning lights one morning and it said the vehicle would down. When I took the vehicle to the dealership they said it was a faulty oxygen sensor. Two weeks later when I started the vehicle it sounded like it was going to stall and there were lots of warnings lights again. I bought an OBD reader and it noted misfires, heater core and oxygen sensor errors. The dealer troubleshoot for 3 days only to tell me the powertrain control module needs replacing. FCA is not able to give an ETA on the part. Kind of odd for this to happen to a new vehicle since my 2019 wrangler and 2015 have had no issues.

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[sass JT]

1st off… welcome to the forum.
2nd… sorry to hear your having troubles on your 1st post.

Hopefully things can get squared away quick so you can be enjoying your vehicle again.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Kind of odd for this to happen to a new vehicle since my 2019 wrangler and 2015 have had no issues.

Can't compare. Every vehicle is an individual. And these have very different systems from your 2015. Even the 3.6 has changed quite a bit since then.
True that chance of that sort of a problem are rare, but if things like that never happened, we'd not care about warranties on electrical parts.

The good - these are normally quite trouble-free.
Many of us drive ours without issue.
They'll get it resolved and you have great odds of a good future with it.

 

[WhyNotJeep]

Get a loaner and ask for an extension on the warranty. Document ever issue you have and use E mail to document it. It's not a lemon ,,,, yet.

 

[DAVECS1]

You need a new dealer. There is no "powertrain" controller. You have an engine, transmission, electrical and body controller. The three diagnostics you listed all come from seperate controllers.

They all cod very related in a fair number of scenarios and the dealer needs to take data and check for these scenarios. If your getting misfires, it is fuel or ignition, and that will show up in the data. A tech should be able to tell you exactly which cylinder is misfiring. This should also give the tech a clue on what to start investigating.

Your HVAC is having issues because the auto start stop system gets cranky when the engine is running poorly and starts telling the hvac to do dumb things. Most likely nothing is broke, it is a side effect of the engine not running right.

The controllers in the jeep are really robust units, they are environmentally rated for an apocalypse. They are tested to take a direct lightning strick or have a welder arced on a circuit. They do not just up and die, that is hold over thinking from the 70s and 80s and a clear indicator of a poorly trained tech.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You need a new dealer. There is no "powertrain" controller. You have an engine, transmission, electrical and body controller. The three diagnostics you listed all come from seperate controllers.

They all cod very related in a fair number of scenarios and the dealer needs to take data and check for these scenarios. If your getting misfires, it is fuel or ignition, and that will show up in the data. A tech should be able to tell you exactly which cylinder is misfiring. This should also give the tech a clue on what to start investigating.

Your HVAC is having issues because the auto start stop system gets cranky when the engine is running poorly and starts telling the hvac to do dumb things. Most likely nothing is broke, it is a side effect of the engine not running right.

The controllers in the jeep are really robust units, they are environmentally rated for an apocalypse. They are tested to take a direct lightning strick or have a welder arced on a circuit. They do not just up and die, that is hold over thinking from the 70s and 80s and a clear indicator of a poorly trained tech.

In the 80s and 90s, there was a PCM - the TSMs referred to it, and it literally controlled the powertrain as it was back then. But if you had an automatic, there was an added TCM, which was much smaller and more simple. I have the 1994 PCM from a ZJ in my car - it's got 28 years and 135,000 miles on it and has been in 2 vehicles. Rare is the PCM from that era that fails. I'd expect the same today.

Thinking through your post with a fresh head, just finished a cup of Colombian coffee, it makes sense.

I took a multipage report to our local dealer and they looked it over and said it was a big help in them eventually finding the issue.


To the OP - this is the sort of stuff they really need to look at - and this is an abbreviated version.
If it's multiple cylinders, it will be a P0300 code
It will specifically report if it's ignition, etc. It should also tell if there are other issue types.

If they bothered looking, they can even tell the date and time when a door unlock request was made. They can tell if a remote start was requested, if it succeeded and if not, why.

This is from my wife's Jeep when it was bucking like a Texas long horn with a rider on its back. Yet - it didn't trigger any light and no codes were saved.

And maybe this is where PCM is mentioned - because that's what the system logs call it - so the dealer is just repeating what they read because the book and the logging of the Jeep itself says "PCM".

Anywho - in the dealer's defense - Jeep calls it a PCM in 2021.

2021/01/04 11:52:06.281
Faults found.
P0303
Error code: P0303
Cylinder 3 ignition failures
Test not complete
Error intermittent
Error warning lamp not requested
CARB Freeze Frame:
___________________
Fault code: P0303
PCM Mileage since MIL On: 0.00 miles
PCM Odometer: 950.27 miles
Open Loop - Bank 1: No
Closed Loop - Bank 1: Yes
Open Loop due to Driving Conditions - Bank 1: No
Open Loop with DTC - Bank 1: No
Closed Loop with DTC - Bank 1: No
Open Loop - Bank 2: No
Closed Loop - Bank 2: No
Open Loop due to Driving Conditions - Bank 2: No
Open Loop with DTC - Bank 2: No
Closed Loop with DTC - Bank 2: No
Engine load: 30.20 %
Freeze Frame Engine Coolant Temp: 66.00 Deg.C
Intake Air Temperature: 215.00 Deg.C
Ambient Air Temperature: 12.00 Deg.C
Short Term Fuel Trim - Bank 1: 12.49 %
Long Term Fuel Trim - Bank 1: -3.13 %
Short Term Fuel Trim - Bank 2: 9.37 %
Long Term Fuel Trim - Bank 2: -7.04 %
MAP Voltage: 1.96 V
MAP: 46 kPa
Atmospheric pressure: 97 kPa
Engine RPM: 875.00 rpm
Vehicle speed: 0 MPH
Throttle Position Sensor 1 Percent: 12.94 %
Battery voltage: 14.58 V
Fuel level: 95.69 %
Purge Solenoid Current: 0.00 mA
Purge Duty Cycle: 0.00 %
Idle Air Control (IAC) Current: 0.00 mA
Idle Air Control (IAC) Duty Cycle: 0.00 %
EGR Flow: 0.00 g/s
Current Adaptive Cell ID: 24
Spark advance: -2.00 Deg
AC Clutch: Disengaged
EGR Gassed Flowing: No
Power Steering High Pressure: No
AC Switch: Off
PRNDL in Gear: No
Brake switch: Pressed
Low Ethanol PWR Enrich Flag: No
Low Ethanol Therm Management Flag: No
Ethanol Gas For Sure: No
Ethanol Mode: No
Ethanol - 0% Blend Direction: No
Ethanol - 85% Blend Direction: No
Ethanol - Open Loop Fuelling: No
Ethanol Fine Tune Complete Previous: No
Ethanol Fuel Volume Changed: No
Ethanol Low Fuel: No
Ethanol Trigger On Fuel Volume Fault: No
Ethanol Trigger During Learn: No
Ethanol Learn: Disabled
Ethanol Course Update Ready to Learn: No
Ethanol Course Update: Not completed
Ethanol Fine Tune: Not completed
Actual Torque: 0.84 Nm
Potential Torque: 78.16 Nm
Target throttle position: 2.56 V
Electronic Throttle Control (ETC) Motor Directional Duty Cycle: -20.67 %DC
Electronic Throttle Control (ETC) Motor Duty Cycle: 20.67 %DC
Throttle position sensor 1: 2.58 V
Throttle position sensor 2: 17.42 V
Accelerator pedal sensor 10.44 V
Accelerator pedal sensor 20.22 V
Accelerator pedal position: 0.00 %
Brake switch 1: Released
Brake switch 2: Released
H-Bridge Circuit: Enabled
Ignition Run/Start Switch: On
Throttle Flow Adaptive: 0.13 g/s
Throttle Flow Multiplicative Adaptive: 2.00
PHI Adaptation Value: 0.00
Calculated MAP: 46.59 kPa
Ethanol Percent: 0.00 %
Turbo Boost Timer: 0.00 ms
Throttle Inlet Pressure: 0.00 kPa
Throttle Inlet Pressure Voltage: 320.34 V
Turbo Airport Mass Flow: 3.45 g/s
Turbo PRatio: 1.00
Turbo Torque Count: 0
Turbo Speed: 65535 rpm
Turbo Wastegate Duty Cycle: 200.01 %DC
Time since Run/Start: 45 sec
___________________


OK, the Jeep above is a 2021. It is saying PCM
Look at what a 2020 Jeep says ECM, ECU, etc. - I'll have to look at my other logs to see if PCM is mentioned. (BCM of course is Body Control Module)


Tested device: Body Control Module MY2020
___________________
2021/01/08 10:26:35.048

VIN - Current: 1C6HJTFxxxxx
VIN - Original: 1C6HJTFxxxxx
ECU serial number:
ECU Part Number: 68338656AD


Hardware number: 68338656AD
Hardware Supplier Identification: Continental
Software Logical Block Supplier Identification: Continental
Active Diagnostic Status Of ECU: Running in Application mode
Gateway: Yes

Vehicle Configuration Programmed Status: Yes
Last Programmed Status: Service

After Market ECM Detected: Default
ECU Qualification:
Sense-Ambient Light Dimmer Wheel: Yes
Sense-Reverse Switch: No
Sense-Door Lock Switch Front Driver: Yes

 

[DAVECS1]

It really depends on the service tool as to what it says. There are vehicles with powertrain control modules, they control the whole setup engine and Trans. In these Jeeps that is not the case and to go two steps further they have a power distribution controller and a body control module for all the cabin stuff like displays, radios, pedals, shifter etc.

My biggest complaint with the op dealer is they have 3 very distinct and separate fIlires stemming from different systems. The generic answer in laziness or ignorance, is, it is an ecm, and he needs a new one, and have downed his truck for the wrong reason and there is potential lost up time as these failures may not impede primary function that much.

 

[Rocksalt]

maybe this

 

[Gvsukids]

To the OP - this is the sort of stuff they really need to look at - and this is an abbreviated version.
If it's multiple cylinders, it will be a P0300 code
It will specifically report if it's ignition, etc. It should also tell if there are other issue types.

When redlining in third or fourth gear, the avengers unite symbol illuminates on my dash and the check engine light flashes briefly. When I check codes, I had a P0305. After clearing the codes I now have a P0300 code after testing a second time.

 

[DAVECS2]

When redlining in third or fourth gear, the avengers unite symbol illuminates on my dash and the check engine light flashes briefly. When I check codes, I had a P0305. After clearing the codes I now have a P0300 code after testing a second time.

get an oil analysis done asap

 

[Gvsukids]

get an oil analysis done asap

How does that fix my problem?

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