Went mudding; need advice!

[Blade1668]

Haha I was looking at "tank trap" at Truckhaven this weekend and it looked fricken gnarly. Maybe in the XJ but no way in the JT.

I might have tried the earliest tank trap in my XJ but not the latter generations of it I don't think. A few years it was 5-6 ft of mud and water deep or more.

Sponsored

 

[DankjeeP]

I might have tried the earliest tank trap in my XJ but not the latter generations of it I don't think. A few years it was 5-6 ft of mud and water deep or more.

Not sure about that mud thing, but the one I was talking about looked like a bunch of vertical dinasour bones sticking up and you would just probably roll even trying it. Then there was this crazy shit some people actually can make it up some how. WOOTWOOT!! and then down some how!

 

[SwampNut]

My auto stop/start is nearly always disabled. About 90% of my driving time, the cluster says "battery charging" and that the stop/start is not working. I haven't bothered to take it to a dealer yet. The only time it works is when I do some highway driving, and I guess it charges then. It is always disabled by the time I crawl onto a trail. My bet is that your issue is just the normal problem with that secondary battery, which others have reported also.

 

[mep4wd]

Jeep marketing give people the impression you can take a jeep anywhere and do anything. Well you can, sort of....until sh*t happens. The warranty police show up and you get screwed.

Best to clean it, inside out and upside down, to the point of being totally new. Have it hoisted and have the underbody sprayed off to the point of being sterile. Take it to the dealership and play dumb. Do not tell them you took it mudding. Any evidence of mud can be just the excuse they need to refuse to fix it under warranty.

It get's worse. Jeep has been known to flag vehicles and void warranties when a vehicle comes in that, in their opinion, has been abused (not saying you did). They have the knowledge, the legal team, and the processes well tuned to protect their interest. I have nothing but respect for people who work at Jeep dealerships. They're Jeepers !! But at the end of the day they are stuck in the middle between you and FCA. Caution is your best course of action here.

 

[Chilli]

Not sure, then test everything & replace w/ your wallet. You still taught a lot of us....that's worth a few beers.

Or just send your wife in & have her try to explain the little light thingy & there is this other number thingy. Oh & it happened on her watch.

 

[Wicked1]

I had a Jeep renegade that it took to a OHV place and did some wheeling, I ended up breaking my driveline (hanging off) and messing up the differential. My friend and I got underneath it and hosed off every drop of dirt and mud we could before I took it in to the dealership and told them that it fell off driving down the freeway. The lady that worked there was very suspicious about it saying that she's never heard of something like that happening but they couldn't prove anything else because there was no mud, dirt or anything on it so they used the warranty and fixed everything for free.

 

[SwampNut]

I had a Jeep renegade that it took to a OHV place and did some wheeling, I ended up breaking my driveline (hanging off) and messing up the differential. My friend and I got underneath it and hosed off every drop of dirt and mud we could before I took it in to the dealership and told them that it fell off driving down the freeway. The lady that worked there was very suspicious about it saying that she's never heard of something like that happening but they couldn't prove anything else because there was no mud, dirt or anything on it so they used the warranty and fixed everything for free.

And this kind of fraud is why we end up having problems with legit claims.

 

[aprez27]

Cannot believe I am the first to say this, but this thread is useless without pics. ohh yeah, and mud sucks.

 

[SwampNut]

Mud is fun. This stuff is actually decomposing fish guts, salt water, and coral. $180 for detailing. There was mud in the air vents.

 

[steelponycowboy]

I can tell you from experience that mud is NOT your friend. No matter how much you clean and pressure wash, dealers will still find evidence that you were in serious mud.

I know of two people whose warranties were voided due to mud and water. There are probably stories of many more out there.

The dealer might have given winks and such when you bought but most likely if you take it in and not tell the truth and they find out, you can bet it won't be covered.

Hell the dealer wanted to refuse a warranty claim because I had a Trail Dash II on the dash. He said it was a tuner, I told him he was ignorant if he didn't know the PCM on the 2016 and newer Jeeps are locked and can't be tuned with a Trail Dash II. BTW, the warranty claim was on the transmission, they ended up putting a new one in at 58K miles.

 

[SwampNut]

These are more like dealer problems than overall. I have taken it in for warranty work covered in mud, nobody gave a damn OTHER than they said it was a pain to clean so they could work on it, and asked me please to at least knock off most of it before coming in.

 

[steelponycowboy]

These are more like dealer problems than overall. I have taken it in for warranty work covered in mud, nobody gave a damn OTHER than they said it was a pain to clean so they could work on it, and asked me please to at least knock off most of it before coming in.

I spoke too soon, dealer told me today that because of my Trail Dash 2 mounted to my Vector Bar they are having a problem getting my warranty claim approved by FCA. I was on the phone with Customer Care for nearly an hour today.

I guess that they don't seem impressed by the fact I've owned 36 Jeeps and never had a warranty claim in all these years or the fact that I bought a $62K JTR last month to add to my two JKURs, the 2017 Cherokee and the 2020 Compass TrailHawk in my drive way. Starting to get pissed.

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

I spoke too soon, dealer told me today that because of my Trail Dash 2 mounted to my Vector Bar they are having a problem getting my warranty claim approved by FCA. I was on the phone with Customer Care for nearly an hour today.

I guess that they don't seem impressed by the fact I've owned 36 Jeeps and never had a warranty claim in all these years or the fact that I bought a $62K JTR last month to add to my two JKURs, the 2017 Cherokee and the 2020 Compass TrailHawk in my drive way. Starting to get pissed.

 

[Gossamer]

I've done every single item on your list except to getting to the second battery. I wasn't comfortable lifting the fuse panel, so I'll need to watch some videos on that. The Jeep is immaculate inside and out.

Now, I've tested the alternator, and it's barely sending out a charge. The most I got out of it is around 3v. Looks like it's not good.

Now, that we know the alternator is bad, do you folks think I should take it to Jeep and risk loosing my warranty & extended warranty or take it to an independent shop and pay out of pocket?

I kind of feel that this is being looked at similar to those that pay out of pocket for insurance to avoid a rate increase. If they don't cover the warranty for this, then they surely won't cover something bigger that could happen in the future. Rip the band-aid off and take it in. Alternators fail and it could just be coincidence. You said it looked clean. Unlikely that mud miraculously found it's way in through the vents but didn't also get on the outside. My 2 cents. Good luck

 

[DocMike]

The second battery does sit lower and could be more susceptible to mud conditions.

I've done every single item on your list except to getting to the second battery. I wasn't comfortable lifting the fuse panel, so I'll need to watch some videos on that. The Jeep is immaculate inside and out.

Now, I've tested the alternator, and it's barely sending out a charge. The most I got out of it is around 3v. Looks like it's not good.

Now, that we know the alternator is bad, do you folks think I should take it to Jeep and risk loosing my warranty & extended warranty or take it to an independent shop and pay out of pocket?

Sponsored