Sudden catastrophic power failure at 13 months 20,000 miles.

[ShadowsPapa]

What was odd is that start stop, voltages running/not have been normal. I don’t think it was the battery.

Not saying battery - but that battery symbol means charging system.

So if it's a charging system issue, the thing may be saying "hey, we don't have enough power to keep things going and rather than have you stall in traffic and not get started again, we're going to warn you and shut 'er down"

This is from FCA - note they actually highlighted the word "is" -

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[bucolic]

Not saying battery - but that battery symbol means charging system.

So if it's a charging system issue, the thing may be saying "hey, we don't have enough power to keep things going and rather than have you stall in traffic and not get started again, we're going to warn you and shut 'er down"

This is from FCA - note they actually highlighted the word "is" -

I would check batteries and voltage. Today cars can really act weird just from low voltage. So many threads over on the Ram forum I was in where all the lights lit up and really strange behavior. Battery fixes a big portion of them. Low voltage wreaks havoc on the modules getting all kinds of weird readings and doing really strange things. From the warning, it looks like your vehicle knew something was imminent and had a prior warning and it wasn't a catastrophic event.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I would check batteries and voltage. Today cars can really act weird just from low voltage. So many threads over on the Ram forum I was in where all the lights lit up and really strange behavior. Battery fixes a big portion of them. Low voltage wreaks havoc on the modules getting all kinds of weird readings and doing really strange things. From the warning, it looks like your vehicle knew something was imminent and had a prior warning and it wasn't a catastrophic event.

Pretty much what i said - there's a charging system issue, low voltage detected...
But jumping at batteries isn't the solution - logical, methodical troubleshooting, using a volt meter............. he could toss in $300 worth of batteries and still have the same problem. At this point, it's very likely the batteries ARE low - that charging system fault light tells us that, even if the batteries are fine, they'll be low if the truck was running purely off the batteries with no help from the alternator.

Don't rely on too much you read out there - most people are parts changers and aren't really even sure why they change the parts, just because they read somewhere that it was the likely problem.

 

[KevinM60]

Just a standard oil change, rotation and multipoint inspection. Nothing out of the ordinary, just to say that the truck has been looked after.

I'm at the dealer getting that exact service done ?
First 5k service.
My batteries are fully charged so they probably won’t drain em.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

My batteries are fully charged so they probably won’t drain em.

Is that a challenge to them?

 

[KevinM60]

Is that a challenge to them?

I wouldn’t think so but nothing surprises me these days.

 

[WoolyKris]

If you really thought about that, you'd realize it's cheaper to lose a customer.
Pull a car off the lot? Really? They'd have to title and register/license it, etc. and then it's a used vehicle with a big drop in value - thousands.

Our local Lexus dealer does it all the time, same when I had a Cadillac, and a BMW. Getting a loaner was never an issue, they would usually grab a CPO if they don’t have any service cars around, slap a dealer plate on it not a big deal. At a price point of a Gladiator, Jeep should seriously re think their dealership experience and take some notes from others.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Our local Lexus dealer does it all the time, same when I had a Cadillac, and a BMW. Getting a loaner was never an issue, they would usually grab a CPO if they don’t have any service cars around, slap a dealer plate on it not a big deal. At a price point of a Gladiator, Jeep should seriously re think their dealership experience and take some notes from others.

This will vary by state and insurance rules. The dealers I've dealt with here have all switched to the rental car system for loaners. They either have a rental company on site, or a rental agency close by that comes and picks you up.

 

[CJ5w4wdSmokyOnMyTail]

@JeepCares 2022 Gladiator Rubicon, just serviced at the dealership one week prior. This Wednesday I left an appointment and within a half mile the dash lit up with a warning the engine would shut down soon and to pull over. I was on a busy road and tried to get off the route as quickly as possible to a safe location. As I pulled off on a side street I lost power steering, dash lights, engine began struggling and it sounded as if the transmission was trying to auto park at 15mph. Severe grinding noises ensued and the second I stopped I pushed the shifter into park as the engine died.

To make it worse the truck wouldn’t just shut off and instead looped into a mode where it seemed to keep trying to restart while I wasn’t touching a thing. The continued for 5 minutes meanwhile the dash came on and off and the windshield wipers inexplicably began to start, again without me touching anything.

Stranded with a dead truck I called the dealer and road side assistance. Sadly, Wilder Jeep in Port Angeles said the first available appointment was the 21st…. Some argument from me got that moved up to the 15th which is still a week away. On top of that, the dealer claims all of their loaners are out of service and have been non responsive. At this point I’m SOL because the closest alternative dealer is over 50 miles away.

I have a suspicion this began with an electrical issue but now I fear transmission and or engine damage. Leading up to this there hasn’t been a warning light, off sound or any indication whatsoever of mechanical issues. Frankly this is really disappointing and considering the dealership claims loaners are all broken down there are apparently some major quality issues.

This happened to me. Towed to dealership. Was a blown master fuse. Fixed by dealership in 20 minutes and everything worked fine again.

 

[JeepCares]

@JeepCares 2022 Gladiator Rubicon, just serviced at the dealership one week prior. This Wednesday I left an appointment and within a half mile the dash lit up with a warning the engine would shut down soon and to pull over. I was on a busy road and tried to get off the route as quickly as possible to a safe location. As I pulled off on a side street I lost power steering, dash lights, engine began struggling and it sounded as if the transmission was trying to auto park at 15mph. Severe grinding noises ensued and the second I stopped I pushed the shifter into park as the engine died.

To make it worse the truck wouldn’t just shut off and instead looped into a mode where it seemed to keep trying to restart while I wasn’t touching a thing. The continued for 5 minutes meanwhile the dash came on and off and the windshield wipers inexplicably began to start, again without me touching anything.

Stranded with a dead truck I called the dealer and road side assistance. Sadly, Wilder Jeep in Port Angeles said the first available appointment was the 21st…. Some argument from me got that moved up to the 15th which is still a week away. On top of that, the dealer claims all of their loaners are out of service and have been non responsive. At this point I’m SOL because the closest alternative dealer is over 50 miles away.

I have a suspicion this began with an electrical issue but now I fear transmission and or engine damage. Leading up to this there hasn’t been a warning light, off sound or any indication whatsoever of mechanical issues. Frankly this is really disappointing and considering the dealership claims loaners are all broken down there are apparently some major quality issues.

Thank you for tagging our team. If you are still in need of support with these concerns, please send a private message.

Kate
Jeep Cares

 

[Waynerd]

This happened to me. Towed to dealership. Was a <b>blown master fuse. </b> Fixed by dealership in 20 minutes and everything worked fine again.

Is this a fuse in the fuse box? Is it something for which we can carry a spare and do ourselves.
this failure is disconcerting.
Thanks for any info.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Is this a fuse in the fuse box? Is it something for which we can carry a spare and do ourselves.
this failure is disconcerting.
Thanks for any info.

Not sure what he means by a "blown master fuse". All I can figure is one of the multiple legs of the high current fuse array blew. It's not something you carry a spare for unless you mess with and mess up your electrical system. it's not a unplug and plug back in. Not horrible to replace, but does take tools and care and it's cost is something getting close to $200 if I recall correctly - maybe closer to 175......
If he's referring to the high current fuse array - it's at the end of the fuse panel/PDC and it's where those multiple nuts on studs are (marked N2, N3 and so on) - that's one big fuse.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

This happened to me. Towed to dealership. Was a blown master fuse. Fixed by dealership in 20 minutes and everything worked fine again.

Probably mean the high current fuse array at the engine end side of the PDC/fuse panel. That's where the 300 amp alternator fuse among other fuses are. Blow that one and you get the situation seen here - with the red battery light coming on indicating charging system failure.

 

[Stphnmcknz]

@JeepCares 2022 Gladiator Rubicon, just serviced at the dealership one week prior. This Wednesday I left an appointment and within a half mile the dash lit up with a warning the engine would shut down soon and to pull over. I was on a busy road and tried to get off the route as quickly as possible to a safe location. As I pulled off on a side street I lost power steering, dash lights, engine began struggling and it sounded as if the transmission was trying to auto park at 15mph. Severe grinding noises ensued and the second I stopped I pushed the shifter into park as the engine died.

To make it worse the truck wouldn’t just shut off and instead looped into a mode where it seemed to keep trying to restart while I wasn’t touching a thing. The continued for 5 minutes meanwhile the dash came on and off and the windshield wipers inexplicably began to start, again without me touching anything.

Stranded with a dead truck I called the dealer and road side assistance. Sadly, Wilder Jeep in Port Angeles said the first available appointment was the 21st…. Some argument from me got that moved up to the 15th which is still a week away. On top of that, the dealer claims all of their loaners are out of service and have been non responsive. At this point I’m SOL because the closest alternative dealer is over 50 miles away.

I have a suspicion this began with an electrical issue but now I fear transmission and or engine damage. Leading up to this there hasn’t been a warning light, off sound or any indication whatsoever of mechanical issues. Frankly this is really disappointing and considering the dealership claims loaners are all broken down there are apparently some major quality issue

Had the same issues- this was the fix

 

[CJ5w4wdSmokyOnMyTail]

Is this a fuse in the fuse box? Is it something for which we can carry a spare and do ourselves.
this failure is disconcerting.
Thanks for any info.

I assume it is a fuse associated with the fuse box. I just know what the dealership told me when I went to pick it up. The root cause is that, at some point, my negative battery cable came off the battery post. And the battery probably drained and/or the 'master fuse' fried.

The negative cable probably came off because I had disconnected and reconnected it so many times adding mods and just did a bad job re-connecting it. So it worked its way off the battery post.

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