Uconnect 8.4 issues log

[DSGladiator]

looks like this thread has not had a response in a year but the content is close to the problems i wanted to ask about. I have 2023 Gladiator gas engine with 7in uconnect4. I have had glitches with the system ever since i bought in May 2023 and started this list of items. Will eventually take to dealer but wanted to try my own troubleshooting first as the dealer is a big event having to get rides back and forth. Has anyone had these problems and what was the fix if you did. Thanks

JEEP ISSUES​

When connected to iPhone by cable it disconnects every 20 to 30 minutes. Sometimes reconnects by itself but most of time need to unplug cable from phone and plug in again. Does not matter what port I use all the same. Dash or console. Have tried many different cables including brand new apple cables and results always same. Most noticed using Apple Carplay but issue not isolated to just CARplay the whole device disappears from the uconnect system. This is the problem that most bothers me of all the ones I am seeing as I listen to Pandora through radio.

Had one scenario where I could not get the phone to reconnect at all. Was on long 900 mile trip and phone was doing its normal disconnect every 20-30 minutes of listening to Pandora. But then one time it would not reconnect. After restarting Iphone and messing with every cable and USB port on Jeep I finally had to pull over to troubleshoot. The problem was never resolved until I turned the jeep off for a few minutes and then restarted.

When listening to music from bluetooth it also disconnects at random and need to manually re-associate phone to jeep

System does not remember last connection state (Bluetooth). Every time I start jeep I need to reassociate the SOURCE as Bluetooth

If put into reverse cannot turn off radio if playing

Radio will turn on randomly when jeep turned off

After shutting down Jeep if radio was off it will often turn on and even stay on after I open and close door. Seems to shut itself down after roughly 30 seconds

Radio sometimes comes on when remote start activated and sometimes does not

Splash screens when turning jeep on or off are inconsistent. Sometimes I see them and sometimes I dont

No scan function of radio? Not sure if that is by design but have never seen a car in last 20 years that did not have a scan for station function. I need to keep pushing the search button.

Phone call quality sometimes unusable and some calls seem just fine. People complain often in jeep but never when using same phone in my other 2 vehicles 2015 f250 and 2023 corvette.

Some features of Pandora do not work on the uconnect screen. This is sporadic.

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[ShadowsPapa]

If put into reverse cannot turn off radio if playing

Radio will turn on randomly when jeep turned off

After shutting down Jeep if radio was off it will often turn on and even stay on after I open and close door. Seems to shut itself down after roughly 30 seconds

Radio sometimes comes on when remote start activated and sometimes does not

Splash screens when turning jeep on or off are inconsistent. Sometimes I see them and sometimes I dont

No scan function of radio? Not sure if that is by design but have never seen a car in last 20 years that did not have a scan for station function. I need to keep pushing the search button.

Phone call quality sometimes unusable and some calls seem just fine. People complain often in jeep but never when using same phone in my other 2 vehicles 2015 f250 and 2023 corvette.

Some features of Pandora do not work on the uconnect screen. This is sporadic.

Some of your other issues are AndroidAuto or Apple Car Play things and USB cable issues. That's discussed a ton elsewhere and isn't necessarily UCONNECT related.
Don't lump all things together even if the "radio" is the common point. Your streaming and Bluetooth issues may be related to phone or cable, etc. not to the radio and the dealer can't really resolve those. Check those threads for issues related to streaming.

Bluetooth issues can be PHONE related - there are various implementations of BT by various companies (each, Apple, for example, swears theirs is far superior to anything else on the planet - but then so do the other companies)
You may have other items interfering - Bluetooth is a wireless signal and can experience interference from other things, or the phone may need to be powered off and back on, or a few other things could be going on.
CarPlay, AndroidAuto and Bluetooth are among the most common complaints out there related to both phones and newer vehicles.
No matter how much we want to believe they are perfect, and they should just work, period, it's not the case. So, try a few things - like resetting the phone, removing the pairing and re-pairing the phone, looking for other things that may be trying to take over the audio portion, and so on. I find that my hearing aids and Jeep both fight for control over sound from my phone. Jeep seems to win, killing my hearing aid connection to BT once I exit the truck, but then not all the time, just sometimes. BT can be fun (saying that sarcastically as a former IT tech)

Splash screens will depend on if it's the first start of the day, or the 2nd, and the time between starts. They won't be consistent. I don't always see the legal disclaimer where it prompts you to agree, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, and subsequent screens will vary after that. Totally normal. Not necessarily a malfunction!

Screen coming on when opening a door - you've never owned a Jeep in the last few years, I suspect. That way be it Grand Cherokee, Wrangler, Compass or Gladiator. Welcome to the modern world of vehicle electronics.
If you have the FOB with you when you walk around the Jeep and see the "radio turn on" - try it with NO fob and don't get near the door handles.
If you have the FOB with you, you are waking certain electronics. Again, welcome to Jeeps in the last 10 years or so.

Correct you can't mess with the radio when in reverse. Two reason -the legally required (by federal law) backup camera has taken over, and - when in reverse, you shouldn't be trying to deal with other stuff
it's in backup camera mode when in reverse. How about remembering to lower the volume of the radio, or just paying attention to the screen when in reverse. It's not broken, it's how things work. That camera is required and it is supposed to prevent you from killing it when in reverse. So the fix is - don't mess with the radio when in reverse, use your steering wheel buttons to lower the volume and know that what you are seeing is normal, not broken.

My bet - buy a far better, top of the line name brand cable for the latest USB standards (there are many) and try that again.
BT - try the suggestions above- reset the phone, removing the pairing, and pairing again.
As for the rest - looks like normal, to me....

 

[DSGladiator]

Some of your other issues are AndroidAuto or Apple Car Play things and USB cable issues. That's discussed a ton elsewhere and isn't necessarily UCONNECT related.
Don't lump all things together even if the "radio" is the common point. Your streaming and Bluetooth issues may be related to phone or cable, etc. not to the radio and the dealer can't really resolve those. Check those threads for issues related to streaming.

Bluetooth issues can be PHONE related - there are various implementations of BT by various companies (each, Apple, for example, swears theirs is far superior to anything else on the planet - but then so do the other companies)
You may have other items interfering - Bluetooth is a wireless signal and can experience interference from other things, or the phone may need to be powered off and back on, or a few other things could be going on.
CarPlay, AndroidAuto and Bluetooth are among the most common complaints out there related to both phones and newer vehicles.
No matter how much we want to believe they are perfect, and they should just work, period, it's not the case. So, try a few things - like resetting the phone, removing the pairing and re-pairing the phone, looking for other things that may be trying to take over the audio portion, and so on. I find that my hearing aids and Jeep both fight for control over sound from my phone. Jeep seems to win, killing my hearing aid connection to BT once I exit the truck, but then not all the time, just sometimes. BT can be fun (saying that sarcastically as a former IT tech)

Splash screens will depend on if it's the first start of the day, or the 2nd, and the time between starts. They won't be consistent. I don't always see the legal disclaimer where it prompts you to agree, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, and subsequent screens will vary after that. Totally normal. Not necessarily a malfunction!

Screen coming on when opening a door - you've never owned a Jeep in the last few years, I suspect. That way be it Grand Cherokee, Wrangler, Compass or Gladiator. Welcome to the modern world of vehicle electronics.
If you have the FOB with you when you walk around the Jeep and see the "radio turn on" - try it with NO fob and don't get near the door handles.
If you have the FOB with you, you are waking certain electronics. Again, welcome to Jeeps in the last 10 years or so.

Correct you can't mess with the radio when in reverse. Two reason -the legally required (by federal law) backup camera has taken over, and - when in reverse, you shouldn't be trying to deal with other stuff
it's in backup camera mode when in reverse. How about remembering to lower the volume of the radio, or just paying attention to the screen when in reverse. It's not broken, it's how things work. That camera is required and it is supposed to prevent you from killing it when in reverse. So the fix is - don't mess with the radio when in reverse, use your steering wheel buttons to lower the volume and know that what you are seeing is normal, not broken.

My bet - buy a far better, top of the line name brand cable for the latest USB standards (there are many) and try that again.
BT - try the suggestions above- reset the phone, removing the pairing, and pairing again.
As for the rest - looks like normal, to me....

WOW not sure is this a reply from ChatGPT????. It looks like auto response trying to defend anything Jeep. Come on if you are going to reply, provide meaningful information! My intent is not to bash Jeep but to be able to diagnose my issues. I think it is pretty clear with my list of issues that this is not the only vehicle i own or have owned. Since i do NOT have the same issues with other vehicles yet the same phones i think the issues are pretty clear it is this Gladiator. What is your point about radio and back up camera?? If i cant push the power button to turn off a radio that may be distracting my attention when backing up how is your comment relevant? Should i also add a WINK as you did???

 

[MotoBrad]

I've got a 2020 manual transmission 8.4" screen Rubicon with 57,000km. When the truck is first started, the screen functions normally the way it did when it was new, and there is only about a half second lag. Unfortunately, as it warms up, the lag gets worse and worse, and affects all functions that go through the screen.

-Adjust volume down or up, can take up to 30 seconds to respond, and then action happens all at once.
-Put transmission in reverse, but the backup camera won't turn on for 15-30+ seconds, even if finished reversing. Backup camera becomes functionally useless except for initial cold start. Or I can put it in reverse and wait 30+ seconds for the backup camera to maybe come on...
-Climate adjustments, same story, make an adjustment and then wait 15-30+ seconds.
-After a 20+ minute drive, turn vehicle off, startup truck again 5 minutes later, truck usually black screens, "Jeep" startup screen never happens. Have to pull over, turn off engine, open door, restart and MAYBE it will work again. If it does work, the lag will persist. Sometimes it just stays black screen frozen.
-Receiving a text message will freeze Bluetooth music playback and simultaneously kill fans for 15-30+ seconds. If a series of texts are received, it can sometimes freeze the whole head unit and black screen. Taking phone calls never works.
-When you push a button and wait for a response, pushing any other button while system is frozen will make the lag take longer, and then finally after 15-30 seconds all actions happen at once, or a black screen situation happens. Serious patience is required!
-On longer drives 1 hour plus, especially in the summer time, the screen gets alarmingly hot to the touch. hot enough you cannot keep your hand on it. I have a fire extinguisher ready because, well, "Jeep Life"

The only thing that stops the lag is 2 hour+ of sitting and cooling down. Upon restart, it functions relatively normally for 4 or 5 minutes till it begins heating up and lagging worse and worse. This all seemed to start right when my truck turned 3 years old, after warranty ran out. I still have another almost 2 years of powertrain warranty, but I doubt that will cover the screen. I am reluctant to bring it into the dealership for fear of them charging me money, and not finding a solution. Especially because it does function normally for the first 5 minutes, with my luck a tech will say its completely normal.

The only thing I can think to fix it is a new head unit, but from the research I've done, that is a $2500-$4000 (CDN) part. And if the problem is in the BCM or ECM, It may not even resolve the issues I'm having.

I'm getting really frustrated with this thing. I love this truck so damn much, and what it can do offroad is incredible. But my wife thinks we should trade it in, and she's starting to make a lot of sense... Its not a good road trip adventure machine if it drives us insane, and we can't count on it.

Help!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

-Climate adjustments, same story, make an adjustment and then wait 15-30+ seconds.

I'll assume you are using the buttons in the center, below the radio screen, and not the screen itself?

Since it works fine when first started or even after a cooling down period, it's likely something in the electronics failing when hot.
This isn't uncommon as over the years all sorts of things behave similarly - from ordinary stand-alone radios, TVs, computers, Motorcraft ignition control modules from the 1980s (cool them with a blast of Freon and the engine would start, once that module got hot again, the engine died, cool it, start it......... etc.)
It's not an uncommon issue with "electronics".
There isn't a fix per se - it will have to be diagnosed, using normal troubleshooting techniques along with a solid knowledge of what each of those things goes through.
Having a list of exactly what works fine and what does not work fine will narrow it down considerably.
But the short of it is - there's not something you can do yourself as an easy fix (unless you want to replace the radio yourself)

Since you already pretty much have the functions that don't work listed, and mention the screen gets hot - there's your answer, IMO.
Radio.
And it's not the first or only time this has happened to "infotainment systems" and I'm not really singling out Jeep - for some reason, I seem to recall another auto maker having issues with the screen getting hot, and certain functions not working or taking a very long time to respond.
These screens should not get hot, or even really warm - even if all else worked just fine, that single issue points to the issue.

 

[MotoBrad]

I'll assume you are using the buttons in the center, below the radio screen, and not the screen itself?

The Lag persists when using steering wheel buttons, center console buttons, or the screen itself. It involves all features that run through the screen, which is pretty much everything.

My driver display between the speedo and tach has zero lag, however, and works flawlessly via steering wheel buttons.

 

[johnchabin]

Here’s mine:

1. When using CarPlay, running a map, playing a podcast, things work as normal when plugged into the dash with a new Apple cable.
2. Same scenario, but plugged into the center console… drops every 1-2 minutes or so. Must unplug the phone to reset. Rinse and repeat.

I wonder if the cables running between the USB port and the radio are junk, but the one in the dash is shorter, so less voltage drop, for example. Or something else internal cable related.

 

[Hootbro]

Here’s mine:

1. When using CarPlay, running a map, playing a podcast, things work as normal when plugged into the dash with a new Apple cable.
2. Same scenario, but plugged into the center console… drops every 1-2 minutes or so. Must unplug the phone to reset. Rinse and repeat.

I wonder if the cables running between the USB port and the radio are junk, but the one in the dash is shorter, so less voltage drop, for example. Or something else internal cable related.

The USB part in the console has to go through it's own media port and that goes through the media port in the dash and then on to the radio. So I would expect the center console to have some signal degradation more than the dash console port.

 

[starrskream]

only had it a few weeks, and one complaint so far.
when i push pause/ play it takes on average 2 seconds to actually pause. I end up hitting it multiple times to get it to pause and that begins the cycle of press, wait, press, wait it pauses, press again because i pushed it too many times then i get mad and press pause and wait.

ALSO, i want to point out the stupidity of having the 12v accessory port on the drivers side. It should be on the passenger side simply for ease of access. The media port should be on the drivers side.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

only had it a few weeks, and one complaint so far.
when i push pause/ play it takes on average 2 seconds to actually pause. I end up hitting it multiple times to get it to pause and that begins the cycle of press, wait, press, wait it pauses, press again because i pushed it too many times then i get mad and press pause and wait.

ALSO, i want to point out the stupidity of having the 12v accessory port on the drivers side. It should be on the passenger side simply for ease of access. The media port should be on the drivers side.

LOL - and I figure the opposite - I used that spot for the trailer brake controller which must be by the driver, and why are you using media ports while driving???
They are inches away - it's a narrow cab interior. Heck, I can open and reach into the glove box from the driver seat (but not while actually driving)
I guess I don't find myself constantly needing to reach for the medial ports while driving, but I do want that spot for the trailer brake controller handy.
Ironically, even with no trailer brake controller, I want the 12v outlet by me, and the medial ports away from me so if I do have a cable plugged in, it's not right up next to me annoying me. My cables are routed over to the right and down, away from me while driving.
I have a 90 degree USB C cable that comes from the bottom of my phone and goes straight to the right, then down to the media ports - annoying my wife, not me.

 

[starrskream]

LOL - and I figure the opposite - I used that spot for the trailer brake controller which must be by the driver, and why are you using media ports while driving???
They are inches away - it's a narrow cab interior. Heck, I can open and reach into the glove box from the driver seat (but not while actually driving)
I guess I don't find myself constantly needing to reach for the medial ports while driving, but I do want that spot for the trailer brake controller handy.
Ironically, even with no trailer brake controller, I want the 12v outlet by me, and the medial ports away from me so if I do have a cable plugged in, it's not right up next to me annoying me. My cables are routed over to the right and down, away from me while driving.
I have a 90 degree USB C cable that comes from the bottom of my phone and goes straight to the right, then down to the media ports - annoying my wife, not me.

I don’t lol, I have a 12v charger in there with my phone charger.

One of these days I’ll route that behind the dash somehow.

where’s that 90 degree cable from?

 

[Bakerboy]

@starrskream
I use this for the 90
https://a.co/d/jliV1zo

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