Arrrgh. Can it get any more annoying? Friday, on my way to work I get to claim the daily Big Buck Award - with the Geo Tracker. Quite a mess, but it was still drivable, albeit covered in gore. Last night after getting home I start disassembling the front to get a better idea of what needs to be replaced. After several aggravating hours snapping off and rounding out panhead screws, all I had off was the grille. I decided to call it a night then (about 10:30 pm). I put the Tracker out in its usual resting place under the carport, and then jumped in the Jeep to put it in the third bay of the garage. I was greeted by a loud click, flashing lights, and then - nothing. Everything went black except for one lone blinking red light. I thought, hmmm. the SKIM must not like my key tonight. I go in and grab the wife's key. No joy. So, next I unhook the battery for three minutes and try again. Nothing but the same grief. The only difference is that this time I noticed that the park lamps were on very, very dimly. I checked the light switch and made sure it was off. The EVIC and odometer screens were glowing a faint gold too. While it was in this state, there are no headlights, no dome lights and now EVIC/Odo readings. It is like the battery is dead, but it had a good 12.49 volts (resting). I unhooked the battery again to kill the dimly glowing parking lamps. About this time (11:30) the wife comes out to check on me and see what's up. Well, I had to show her what the Jeep was doing, and she was not impressed. It is sitting in front of the garage bay door where her car is - immobilized. I tried to start it again, and got the same flashing of dash lights, rapid cycling of every relay imaginable to mankind, and then total darkness. The wife starts waving her hands as I get out (with both sets of keys in my hand) pointing to the hood area. It was still busily clicking away under there. Hmmm, time to disconnect the battery and leave it that way until it gets towed to the dealer. No worries - it is still under the Certified Pre-Owned Chrysler MaxCare plus warranty (3 months/3,000 miles). I guess we will see just how good this protection plan is. If it covers this problem with no hassles, I may just upgrade the Jeep's Added Care Plus plan to this one (and possibly the wife's lifetime one on her 300)
Off to the shower and bed. Lights out at 12:30 am.
Anyway, 4:15 this morning rolled around wayyyy toooo early. I'm at work now, and dog tired. Ok, done with my pity party.
Anyone have any ideas/guesses about what failed? At first I thought the SKIM might have issues, but now I am thinking more along the lines of the TIPM failure. Wouldn't it be funny if it was related to the Heated Power Mirror recall just announced?
Should we start making predictions about how much aggravation we will have using the Chrysler CPO/MaxCare Plus plan - and with towing to Waco? I am wondering if they might not tow it to Cleburne instead (about 15 miles closer).
On the bright side - both the wife and I will get to spend some quality time driving our trucks to work today... I do love the smell of diesel exhaust in the morning!
Off to the shower and bed. Lights out at 12:30 am.
Anyway, 4:15 this morning rolled around wayyyy toooo early. I'm at work now, and dog tired. Ok, done with my pity party.
Anyone have any ideas/guesses about what failed? At first I thought the SKIM might have issues, but now I am thinking more along the lines of the TIPM failure. Wouldn't it be funny if it was related to the Heated Power Mirror recall just announced?
Should we start making predictions about how much aggravation we will have using the Chrysler CPO/MaxCare Plus plan - and with towing to Waco? I am wondering if they might not tow it to Cleburne instead (about 15 miles closer).
On the bright side - both the wife and I will get to spend some quality time driving our trucks to work today... I do love the smell of diesel exhaust in the morning!