2018 JLUR significant electrical issues

[James in FFX STN VA]

I have a 2018 Jeep Wrangler, built July 2018, which started having electrical issues this past November (2022) and have gotten worse effectively limiting the use of my Jeep to near home, low risk trips (groceries, commute, but not airport).

The Jeep periodically (1 out of 5 trips) has what I can only describe as an electrical storm where all the dashboard warning indicators illuminate, power steering (sometimes) shut downs, "Service ABS" indicates failure, "Service Electronic Stability Control", "Stop/Start Unavailable Service Stop/Start System", "Sway Bar Disconnect Unavailable" indicates failure, "SERV 4WD", parking break light comes on (brake off), check engine light illuminates, airbag indicator light illuminates, , seat belt indicator (while wearing), AutoPark disables, ParkSense "Off", Blind Spot Alert "Unavaible", "Service Shifter", etc. Sometimes the engine fans spin up as if the vehicle is overheating.

This morning on my commute I had this occur and pulled off to the last parking lot before the interstate, as I did not want to drive on the highway without power steering. Once parked the first restart resulted in all the alerts presenting again, not sure about power steering as I was parked. Second restart had alerts and would not allow me to shift the Jeep out of "Park". I let it sit for a while and then restarted the Jeep with some alerts but with the ability to shift our of 'park' into 'reverse' and the power steering was working; thinking I should take advantage of what I had working I proceeded to work. The first time this happened I sat in a turn lane for 30 mins trying to get the Jeep running and out of "Park"

The jeep has spent 3 work weeks at the dealership with no success in resolving the issue. I am still under the 60K power train warranty but I was told that does not cover these issues, even though the alerts indicate multiple drive train issues "Service Shifter" and prevent the car from being reasonably driven, so I have paid hundreds of dollars out of pocket with no fix.

The Jeep is 4 years old, still under power train warranty, but is basically untrustworthy and therefore substantially unusable.
I'm the only one who rides around in it. My wife and daughters don't trust it. I can't drive my kids and other kids to sporting and recreational events.

The dealership has no ideas, they say they can see log events of what has happened but have no diagnostic error codes to indicate cause.

I am basically stuck with a $50,000 vehicle that no one knows how to fix, and I can't in good conscience sell. I've thought about trading it in but the next dealership will just pass it along to some unknowing buyer.

Anyone have any good ideas?

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[whitechocolate]

Have the batteries been replaced and all the fuses punched down tight?

 

[jludave]

Anyone have any good ideas?

Yes. Change your batteries. You have a 2018 and are at the end of the expected lifespan of the OEM/factory installed batteries.

 

[GATORB8]

Are BOTH batteries new? If either is bad it can smoke the other, and battery issues can cause the whole system to go haywire like you are seeing.

 

[VooDoo1]

Replace both batteries and have the PCM updated/reprogrammed per TSB 18-092-19. Very frustrating symptoms, but an easy fix. Very common problem. Every dealer should know this.

And check the fuses. Make sure they are fully seated. Another common frustrating problem.

 

[James in FFX STN VA]

That was the dealership's first guess so they tested the batteries and said it is definitively not a battery issue.

My guess is that it is a grounding issue with a wire bundle. They spent hours checking fuses and chasing wires but haven't found a culprit.

If we ever find the issue, I'm guessing it is a cut or abrasion in a wire bundle...

 

[limeade]

I remember a thread from a long time ago where a wire bundle near the front bumper was found to be at fault. It was causing all kinds of electrical gremlins similar to yours. I believe the wire bundle was on the driver side, near the front bumper area. It was found to be rubbing against the grille, bumper, frame, etc., causing slight cuts in the wires. From what I remember, it took a while for the dealer to find the issue as the damage to the wires wasn't obvious.

Even though the dealer said your batteries tested fine, have you ever had the main and/or auxiliary battery replaced and the TSB as listed above completed? If it were me, I'd start with new batteries and see what happens.

Good luck

 

[James in FFX STN VA]

Replace both batteries and have the PCM updated/reprogrammed per TSB 18-092-19. Very frustrating symptoms, but an easy fix. Very common problem. Every dealer should know this.

And check the fuses. Make sure they are fully seated. Another common frustrating problem.

During the 3 weeks with the dealer that checked the batteries. The one constructive thing they did was a warranty PCM update. While there was initial hope that a PCM fix would solve the electrical storms, it ultimately has not.

 

[aldo98229]

Dealers ALWAYS say “it is not the battery.” Yet two thirds of the time all the problems go away after YOU replace BOTH batteries.

I suggest you:

1. Make sure all the fuses are pushed all the way day, and all terminals are tight
2. Replace both batteries yourself. Go to Auto Zone or O’Reillys, at the parts counter give your vehicle year, make and model, and get two of their direct replacement batteries and change them yourself. This step fixed all the electrical issues I was having on my 2018 JL. If you are going to wait for the dealer to touch the batteries, you will die of old age
3. A number of JL owners have found that the CAN BUS connectors located behind the glove compartment became faulty. Replacing the connectors solved the Christmas tree lights situation

There’s a 99% probability that these three steps will fix your electrical issues.

Good luck.

 

[James in FFX STN VA]

I remember a thread from a long time ago where a wire bundle near the front bumper was found to be at fault. It was causing all kinds of electrical gremlins similar to yours. I believe the wire bundle was on the driver side, near the front bumper area. It was found to be rubbing against the grille, bumper, frame, etc., causing slight cuts in the wires. From what I remember, it took a while for the dealer to find the issue as the damage to the wires wasn't obvious.

Even though the dealer said your batteries tested fine, have you ever had the main and/or auxiliary battery replaced and the TSB as listed above completed? If it were me, I'd start with new batteries and see what happens.

Good luck

Thanks for the feedback.

I dug out a 2018/2019 thread with a wire bundle abrasion issue behind the front bumper near the sway bar and asked the dealer to check that out; they say they looked through those wires and and that there are no similar abrasions.

Part of me agrees with you on replacing the batteries proactively but I'm also a bit concerned that I'm throwing good money after bad with this Jeep. When the dealer was testing the battery I asked about the replacement cost and IIRC they said $350 for the battery (singular) and $150 for installation. I think I will go to Costco if I go this route...

Regarding the Jeep, overall I love it, and I hate it at same time right now. I didn't mention that I also have the paint corrosion issue going on all four doors and the hood and have been fighting with the dealership on getting that repaired under warranty. After a multi-week personal campaign they have agreed to process the warranty claim and eventually do the repair.

They can't tell me when they will do the paint work but they have so far said it has to be complete before the warranty expires in 1800 miles so I may be in a situation where I have to park the vehicle to wait for the paint shop to complete the repair so I don't eclipse my warranty coverage. The entire proposition that they could acknowledge the defect and admit that it is warrantable, but not execute the repair after 60,000 miles because of their delay is like something out of a Joesph Heller story. Absurd as it is though they appear to be the judge/jury/executioner unless I can find advocacy at the corporate level...

Love/hate, keep/trade, I don't know yet???

 

[wolfdog]

According to this forum the easiest way to replace the aux batter is to remove the vattery side front fender!!!??? That's why the 150 labor! Wow who engineered that fiasco???

Ai't stop/start wonderfulll!

Go Jeep!!!

 

[James in FFX STN VA]

Dealers ALWAYS say “it is not the battery.” Yet two thirds of the time all the problems go away after YOU replace BOTH batteries.

I suggest you:

1. Make sure all the fuses are pushed all the way day, and all terminals are tight
2. Replace both batteries yourself. Go to Auto Zone or O’Reillys, at the parts counter give your vehicle year, make and model, and get two of their direct replacement batteries and change them yourself. If you are going to wait for the dealer to do it, you will die of old age. This step fixed all the electrical issues on my 2018 JL
3. A number of people have found that the CAN BUS connectors located behind the glove compartment became faulty. Replacing the connectors solved the Christmas tree lights situation

There’s a 99% probability that these three steps will fix your electrical issues.

Good luck.

Thanks. The next nice weather day I'm going to climb over and under the Jeep, chasing the wiring bundles, and will double check the fuses inspite of their assurances. I'll think about replacing the batteries too.
The CAN BUS connectors you mention; are they inside the vehicle? or on the firewall in the engine compartment behind the glovebox?

 

[aldo98229]

Thanks for the feedback.

I dug out a 2018/2019 thread with a wire bundle abrasion issue behind the front bumper near the sway bar and asked the dealer to check that out; they say they looked through those wires and and that there are no similar abrasions.

Part of me agrees with you on replacing the batteries proactively but I'm also a bit concerned that I'm throwing good money after bad with this Jeep. When the dealer was testing the battery I asked about the replacement cost and IIRC they said $350 for the battery (singular) and $150 for installation. I think I will go to Costco if I go this route...

Regarding the Jeep, overall I love it, and I hate it at same time right now. I didn't mention that I also have the paint corrosion issue going on all four doors and the hood and have been fighting with the dealership on getting that repaired under warranty. After a multi-week personal campaign they have agreed to process the warranty claim and eventually do the repair.

They can't tell me when they will do the paint work but they have so far said it has to be complete before the warranty expires in 1800 miles so I may be in a situation where I have to park the vehicle to wait for the paint shop to complete the repair so I don't eclipse my warranty coverage. The entire proposition that they could acknowledge the defect and admit that it is warrantable, but not execute the repair after 60,000 miles because of their delay is like something out of a Joesph Heller story. Absurd as it is though they appear to be the judge/jury/executioner unless I can find advocacy at the corporate level...

Love/hate, keep/trade, I don't know yet???

I too have a love-hate relationship with my Jeep.

I love how my Jeep drives, particularly in bad weather and on the trails. I hate my Jeep dealer. Never met a bigger bunch of incompetent assholes.

In my case, it is easy to justify keeping the Jeep because I got an awesome deal on it, it only has 16,500 miles now, and once I replaced the batteries I haven’t had any more problems. Not even paint bubbling issues.

You first need to decide if you are committed to owning a Jeep Wrangler. Once you decide you cannot live without a Wrangler in your garage, it becomes easier to do whatever it takes to solve the niggling issues. If you decide you are ready to move on, then there’s your answer.

If I were to move on from my JL, I doubt I’d even consider another Jeep. It just isn’t worth to me putting up with the incompetent dealers to be driving a run-of-the-mill vehicle.

Good luck.

 

[aldo98229]

The CAN BUS connectors you mention; are they inside the vehicle? or on the firewall in the engine compartment behind the glovebox?

A member on another Jeep forum was having symptoms similar to yours and started a thread.

On the thread some one wrote: “I have isolated the problem to the green connector behind the glove box, it’s called a Communication Bus.”

Here’s a link to that thread:
https://www.wranglerforum.com/threads/jlu-wrangler-can-bus-communication-issues.2423630/

 

[James in FFX STN VA]

Replace both batteries and have the PCM updated/reprogrammed per TSB 18-092-19. Very frustrating symptoms, but an easy fix. Very common problem. Every dealer should know this.

And check the fuses. Make sure they are fully seated. Another common frustrating problem.

The dealer did the PCM flash 45 days ago; they also said that they checked all the fuses. I will double check the fuses myself though.
Thanks

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