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My new JK died on me!

4410 Views 45 Replies 31 Participants Last post by  Muroc
About four months ago I leased a wrangler unlimited Sahara edition. I fell in love with it. I've taken it off-road a couple of times, nothing too hardcore. I went and spent way too much on new wheels and tires. I planned to buy it out when the time was right and then start really upgrading it. Last Friday as I was driving somewhere with my 6 month pregnant wife, the jeep died on us in the middle of a fairly busy road. it lost power, the steering wheel locked up and the breaks did too. After an agonizing time getting it towed, we finally got it to the dealership. I was pretty devastated, how could my wrangler do this to me.

The service dept said a fuse had blown in the engine, but they didn't know why. I was very concerned because if I was on the freeway or in the middle of nowhere it could have been a very dangerous situation. My service advisor suggested I call Chrysler, so I did. I expressed my concern and how a new car shouldn't be having this type of problem. They gave me a case number and suggested I drive it over the weekend and see how it feels, so I did. Yesterday morning my wife and I were on our way to go hiking and it happened again, on an even busier street. I had it towed again to the dealership, and they didn't really know what to say.

I'll be calling Chrysler tomorrow again and I'm hoping they'll be understanding. I definitely won't feel safe driving that car anymore. Does anyone have any advice, or had a similar situation? I'm pretty bummed out because I really love the wrangler but feel let down.

Cheers,
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What is really troubling about these types of problems is that there are more and more parts of the vehicle controlled by "Smart" systems. Most of the JK is under computer control and monitoring which means in theory that dealer mechanics should be able to collect endless amount of data for troubleshooting and rapidly identifying the source of the problem. Obviously, in practice this is not the case. Either the engineers at the factory are not providing the necessary diagnostic tools or the mechanics at the dealer are not provided adequate training.

For the most part unless they can record the data as the issue happens they won't get much info. Codes will include freeze frame data but for me it was being able to see the before/during/after that helped most and that required me to be able to duplicate it.
2013 JK's had the same issues, its a shame they have not fixed it yet & your 2015 isn't the only ones that got issue about loosing power.
True...especially considering most leases are structured to have your payments artificially low which leaves you upside down on the financing for most of the life of the lease, usually just about breaking even at the end with no equity. There's no such thing as walking away from negative equity. Depending on what the OP put down, the residual value, etc he could already have some equity or be even and then maybe a dealer would be willing to work something out...buy the jeep back and re sell it to some other poor bastard. I'd honestly just wait for it to happen again an then file a lemon claim. Where this causes loss of steering and brakes, it's very clearly a safety issue and OP would win easily.
The good news is that you are leasing this vehicle. If you owned it you would need to lemon law it and that takes forever. With a lease you can press for a trade of collateral. The manufacturer and bank are much more willing to do this than a total lemon law. The result would be a new jeep with your same options for the remainder o your lease. The hard part is finding someone on the dealership level that will escalate your claim to their area rep.
Did you add any lighting mods? I'd disconnect them and recheck wiring if you did.
Did you add any lighting mods? I'd disconnect them and recheck wiring if you did.
didn't add any lighting mods
Update: The dealership contacted me and said that they found the route of the problem. They said that it was the ASD main fuse that blew as a result of a wire shorting out. Apparently the wire somehow was rubbing against something sharp in the engine, which cut through the plastic coating. The wire then made contact with metal, causing the fuse to blow out.

The service manager who told me this said that it will absolutely not happen again. I personally have lost confidence in the car and I'm still going to try and get it replaced. Even my contact at Chrysler I've been talking to said that he doesn't blame me for trying. They're supposed to call me on thursday after they've reviewed the case...
What would be really useful is if you could get the service manager to show you the damaged wire, take a picture of it and post it here so we can check ours. It could be a problem lurking in some of the other JK's here that could easily be prevented in someones garage.
Power was lost but your brakes and steering locked up or didn't have power? That's a big difference.
What would be really useful is if you could get the service manager to show you the damaged wire, take a picture of it and post it here so we can check ours. It could be a problem lurking in some of the other JK's here that could easily be prevented in someones garage.
X2. Would be good info to have.
Update: The dealership contacted me and said that they found the route of the problem. They said that it was the ASD main fuse that blew as a result of a wire shorting out. Apparently the wire somehow was rubbing against something sharp in the engine, which cut through the plastic coating. The wire then made contact with metal, causing the fuse to blow out.

The service manager who told me this said that it will absolutely not happen again. I personally have lost confidence in the car and I'm still going to try and get it replaced. Even my contact at Chrysler I've been talking to said that he doesn't blame me for trying. They're supposed to call me on thursday after they've reviewed the case...
Same root cause as my issue, but different symptoms.
Update: The dealership contacted me and said that they found the route of the problem. They said that it was the ASD main fuse that blew as a result of a wire shorting out. Apparently the wire somehow was rubbing against something sharp in the engine, which cut through the plastic coating. The wire then made contact with metal, causing the fuse to blow out.

The service manager who told me this said that it will absolutely not happen again. I personally have lost confidence in the car and I'm still going to try and get it replaced. Even my contact at Chrysler I've been talking to said that he doesn't blame me for trying. They're supposed to call me on thursday after they've reviewed the case...
Their position is that they have now found and fixed the problem. You may have an uphill battle ahead of you.
G
I don't blame you either, but silver lining....get a lift- then it will feel like a different vehicle altogether!
Power was lost but your brakes and steering locked up or didn't have power? That's a big difference.
I agree. I'll guarantee that they just lost power but were still functional.
What would be really useful is if you could get the service manager to show you the damaged wire, take a picture of it and post it here so we can check ours. It could be a problem lurking in some of the other JK's here that could easily be prevented in someones garage.
Chrysler gave me an "offer". They offered to replace the wiring unit, or something like that. I turned it down, and will continue to try and have the car replaced. I've lost all confidence in the car. The service manager even seemed to be on my side.

They gave me some extra fuse's, and they showed me where the problem was. I've attached a couple of pictures. The mechanic, after replacing the faulty wire, wrapped the wire, and the surrounding ones, in electrical tape to give them extra protection.

This looks like something you guys might want to do as a pre - emptive precaution.

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Chrysler gave me an "offer". They offered to replace the wiring unit, or something like that. I turned it down, and will continue to try and have the car replaced. I've lost all confidence in the car. The service manager even seemed to be on my side. They gave me some extra fuse's, and they showed me where the problem was. I've attached a couple of pictures. The mechanic, after replacing the faulty wire, wrapped the wire, and the surrounding ones, in electrical tape to give them extra protection. This looks like something you guys might want to do as a pre - emptive precaution.
I'd take that offer man. They are willing to step up to the plate and replace what's wrong. You don't have a lemon case so you're not gonna get a new Jeep from Chrysler.
Chrysler gave me an "offer". They offered to replace the wiring unit, or something like that. I turned it down, and will continue to try and have the car replaced. I've lost all confidence in the car. The service manager even seemed to be on my side. They gave me some extra fuse's, and they showed me where the problem was. I've attached a couple of pictures. The mechanic, after replacing the faulty wire, wrapped the wire, and the surrounding ones, in electrical tape to give them extra protection. This looks like something you guys might want to do as a pre - emptive precaution.
so you dont even know what the offer is, but you've turned it down and are pushing for a replacement vehicle? not to be a jerk or anything, but your idea of reasonable is WAY different than mine. if I were Chrysler i'd tell you to go out in the parking lot and kick some rocks. i'm sorry this happened to you, but to insist on a replacement vehicle is asinine. and you would lose if it went to an arbiter.
I agree with the two above, you'd better take the offer. They found out what was wrong and offered to fix it. If you refuse and it happens again, you may be SOL, but I can bet you you won't be getting a new Jeep. At least not until they replace the harness and it does it again.
Thanks for posting the pictures and I'll be checking that area of ours this weekend.
Thanks for the pics. I'm curious as to what it was that was sharp and rubbed against the wire.
Definitely not going to win a lemon case on this one.
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