Total Failure

[Al G]

I've read about the sudden and total electrical failure and today experienced it. Driving along just fine when every warning light and message came on, wipers came on, lost power steering and who knows what else. Fortunately I was in a place where I could easily pull over and stop. Put it in Park and it wouldn't shut off. Nor would it come out of Park. Wipers wouldn't turn off. After about 5 minutes everything seemed to go back to normal, except still stuck in Park. I shut off and restarted. Put in Drive and in about 10 seconds it all happened again. Couldn't shut off for another 5- 10 minutes. Then it wouldn't restart at all. Still had power as the dash message stayed on and I charged my phone while waiting for a tow.

I searched for previous posts about similar problems but can't find them. I don't remember if there was a consensus on the solution. Right now it's sitting at the dealer waiting for diagnosis.

My first experience with Jeep road service was also disappointing. I refused to complete my request via the internet and took 3 tries to actually talk to someone. The tow service they contacted said it would be 90 - 120 minutes. I googled the company and read several of their 1 star reviews. All they had were 1 star reviews. Almost everyone talked about their slow response, no shows and damage to vehicles. I canceled and arranged my own with a 5 star service that was there in 45 minutes and even gave me a ride home.

I'll be waiting anxiously to hear from the dealer service department.

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[Rico1111]

Its your batteries! Either one or both depending on which model you own.

 

[greek9]

The link below may be the thread you were looking for. Not sure you'll get an answer. Seems that even those saying batteries were replaced or high amp fuse replaced, have had it happen again.

Happened to me as well. No resolution on my end. Mine was able to start back up. Couldn't be replicated by the dealer...so nothing was done. It never happened to mine again.

A few months later, both batteries eventually died and were replaced (wasn't a daily driver, but was driven at least once/week. Was driven enough that batteries shouldn't have died).

Sold the Jeep a few months back.

Could be a scary problem depending on where it occurs. Good luck!

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/stop-safely-vehicle-will-shut-off-soon.9294/

 

[Al G]

Thanks for posting the link. That looks like one of the threads I remember reading.

I should have added my Jeep is a 2020 Sport S and just reached 7200 miles.

 

[GtX]

I always enjoy these threads.

 

[AlgUSF]

Don't you miss when things were simple? It is wild that in the world we live in, something like a dead battery or a lifted ground somewhere (or similar) can cause catastrophic vehicle failure.

My 2002 Civic had an intermittent short in the alternator and the vehicle ran fine till the battery ran out. It was challenging to find, but I fixed it myself.

 

[FJL40]

This is why I am not for EV’s….they just aren’t there yet in terms of reliability. People can argue all they want about EV’s being the future, but it will be a long, loooooong time before EV’s are the norm. We just aren’t there yet with battery technology. Yes, they work, but it’s more of an incomplete science project than it is a solution. Whatever, to each his own.

 

[john adams]

This is why I am not for EV’s….they just aren’t there yet in terms of reliability. People can argue all they want about EV’s being the future, but it will be a long, loooooong time before EV’s are the norm. We just aren’t there yet with battery technology. Yes, they work, but it’s more of an incomplete science project than it is a solution. Whatever, to each his own.

His is not the 4xE.

EVs are more reliable and have a lot less to go wrong. The PHEVs, however, especially if they are made by Stellanits…

 

[YippieKiYayMrFalcon]

So I had a similar issue, went through multiple sets of batteries, a starter and 3 PCMs. They were waiting on a gear shift assembly when I gave up and had them take it on a trade.

the fuse array seems to be a common solution outside of the batteries.

I have nothing to back this solution up, but someone on a Facebook group mentioned a canbus connector behind the glove box as their culprit.

good luck.

 

[TheRaven]

EVs are more reliable and have a lot less to go wrong.

Not so far. Having a lot less to go wrong doesn't help when 80% of that is all new technology.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Might be the wiring harness rubbed through. That’s what happened to our 2020 Sport S. I still haven’t received any paperwork on where it actually wore through. They had it in the shop for two weeks, mostly waiting for the part to show up.

 

[GtX]

EVs are more reliable and have a lot less to go wrong. The PHEVs, however, especially if they are made by Stellanits…

Not so far. Having a lot less to go wrong doesn't help when 80% of that is all new technology.

Your post agrees with @john adams if you include his entire post.

BEV have fewer parts.
PHEV combine complexity of BEV and ICE.

 

[west tex]

Wow...

That's one helluva defect.

 

[DanW]

At the 3 year mark, even though they were performing fine and tested fine, I replaced both of my batteries, mainly because OEM batteries just plain suck.

I highy recommend going with a pure lead AGM big battery, like an Odyssey or a Northstar or Batteries Plus version of the Northstar (X3?). The Optima is a good choice, too.

These things perform far better and last much longer. If you winch with your Jeep, they will do far longer pulls, too. I've had one in my JK for a good while now. Much longer than any previous battery. I also replaced the small battery with an AGM (Pure lead AGM was not available), which also should out perform and out last the OEM little battery.

I'll replace that little battery every 4 years as preventative maintenance but the big Odyssey should last a lot longer than that.

I've seen even JK's, with their simple traditional single battery setup, do something similar when the battery fails. My cousin's 2018 JK did it right at 3 years old when in Moab. The whole Jeep freaked out all at once.

So sorry to hear some have experienced this.

 

[FJL40]

His is not the 4xE.

EVs are more reliable and have a lot less to go wrong. The PHEVs, however, especially if they are made by Stellanits…

Regardless….EV’s are more reliable from a powertrain (mechanical perspective) where there are less moving parts. However, an EV’s power source (its actual source of power) isn’t. The amount of failures of EV batteries is totally underreported. You can get the info from the manufacturers through FOIA.

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