2019 Sport - Possible CAN Junction Issue?

[roaniecowpony]

My brother acquired a used 2019 Sport 2 dr that has started showing indications of a possible CAN buss issue. First it was the AC that was intermittent. Then it lit up the dash (stab control, etc), then the fan stopped working. He shut it down. Let it cool, tried to start. No start. Waited, started, but fan didn't work, lights still on dash.
I told him to check the battery voltage. He added that he'll wire brush the battery terminals and clamps. I have an electronic battery tester as well as a huge carbon pile battery tester. But he's over an hour drive away.

Assuming the battery checks out, we could use some education on the failure of the CAN junction block that was failing on the early JLs. Your help is appreciated.

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[Stuckinthesand]

The green star connector behind the glove box? I had a ton of errors and dash issues on my 19 JLUS when it went bad.

 

[roaniecowpony]

The green star connector behind the glove box? I had a ton of errors and dash issues on my 19 JLUS when it went bad.

Yes, that's the one I suspect. Got a p/n or source?

 

[Stuckinthesand]

Yes, that's the one I suspect. Got a p/n or source?

68321746AA. I was able to wiggle the wires and it would act fine for a few days until I could get the part.

 

[HHGadget]

On my ‘18 Rubi, the errors caused by this part were amazingly random and ran the gamut from annoying to life threatening. Worst part was that it would happen in some drastic fashion out of nowhere and then not happen again for another 3-6 months. Then boom another random batch of symptoms. Almost always different too.
The worst was in rush hour traffic the trans starting shifting weird so i pulled off an offramp and then the jeep just went full psycho on me in the middle of an intersection and locked itself in “park” while the shift selector and dash still showed it in “D”. Then it went full vegas mode dash lights and warning sounds. Jeep was only 6 months old at the time.
Dash was freaking out, car would not turn off but also not move under its own power or even by me pushing.
A kind stranger saw me struggling to push it out of traffic and we started rocking it and it finally shut off. I then hopped back in hoping to get it in neutral and magically it started back up and didnt have another issue for another 3 months.
Dealer never figured it out and it happened in different ways for a few years every once in a while… only thanks to this forum did i end up fixing myself.
Scared me away from offroading the thing for years. That issue most definitely should have been a full recall.
Especially because it is such a cheap fix for Jeep and though i love my jeep (especially now that is has been solid for a few years - except the $6000 head gasket job grrr), it is plain the Stellantis absolutely does not care about it customers or reputation for quality.

Someday i would love to find out “how” this part fails. It is a really basic connector…
The randomness of it failing is what makes it so insidious.

 

[ThisJeepMakesMeHappy]

Mine too. 2019 JLU that was purchased used, with extended warranty. The dash would light up with so many faults and at times the power steering would fail WHILE driving! Very scary. The dealer took forever and multiple visits to diagnose / fix. WHY? Why is so challenging for their mechanics? Over $3,000 by the time is was resolved. Mostly all labor. The warrany provider pushed back, but the dealer worked to get them to cover the amount.

 

[HHGadget]

If ever there was a fix deserving of my dealerships often “parts cannon approach” to troubleshooting, this seems like the cheapest and easiest parts cannon choice. Labor is 15 minutes and the part (if you are a manufacturer buying in bulk) was sub $10 at the time…
It seems they tried everything else and it cost Stellantis a pretty penny under warranty only to never resolve the issue (at least in my case).
Not sure what model year this was “fixed” but i now travel with a spare in the glove box.
So much trouble for such a cheap and readily accessible part.

 

[au176]

Someday i would love to find out “how” this part fails. It is a really basic connector…
The randomness of it failing is what makes it so insidious.

Wondering about that myself. This is the first time I've paid any real attention to this connector, and after watching the video, I'm wondering what's up with that? To me, it just looks a junction or terminal block. If so, those shouldn't be failing. It's just making a connection from one wire to another.

At work, we used CANBUS on a machine that I maintained. I NEVER had to replace a terminal block. If a problem existed there, it was ALWAYS a broken wire where it attached, as you would expect with aging 20 ga wires on a machine that has some vibration to it when it runs.

Since some of the wires don't appear to be right across from each other (as a standard terminal block would be), I'm wondering if there might be a simple circuit board inside there making some basic routing decisions, and that is what is failing?

 

[roaniecowpony]

So, brother called last night and said he pulled the battery clamps and cleaned them of a dark gray surface as well as the posts, using a battery wire brush. He checked the voltage and found 12.3v. I told him that was low. He checked the output of the alternator and it was 14v +. So, maybe he's good to go. In the meantime, I've ordered a CAN buss junction block to carry around for a spare.

 

[au176]

If ever there was a fix deserving of my dealerships often “parts cannon approach” to troubleshooting, this seems like the cheapest and easiest parts cannon choice. Labor is 15 minutes and the part (if you are a manufacturer buying in bulk) was sub $10 at the time…
It seems they tried everything else and it cost Stellantis a pretty penny under warranty only to never resolve the issue (at least in my case).
Not sure what model year this was “fixed” but i now travel with a spare in the glove box.
So much trouble for such a cheap and readily accessible part.

Not sure how old you are, but your "spare in the glovebox" comment took me back to my 72 Chrysler New Yorker. If you had an older Chrysler product, you ALWAYS kept a spare ballast resistor in your glovebox, as they were cheap and easy to replace, but failure prone. It wasn't a matter of if it would fail, but when it would fail.

50+ years later, and CDJR still has this "issue", though ballast resistors are long gone.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Not sure how old you are, but your "spare in the glovebox" comment took me back to my 72 Chrysler New Yorker. If you had an older Chrysler product, you ALWAYS kept a spare ballast resistor in your glovebox, as they were cheap and easy to replace, but failure prone. It wasn't a matter of if it would fail, but when it would fail.

50+ years later, and CDJR still has this "issue", though ballast resistors are long gone.

Never had a 72 New Yorker, but had a couple Pintos that would burn them up. Fortunately, that was all that burned up on them.

 

[au176]

This is the actual description for the part on Mopar.com:

"The Star Electrical Connector is a high-quality, genuine Mopar OEM Parts part designed for reliable electrical connections in your vehicle. This essential component ensures seamless communication between various electronic systems, enhancing overall performance and safety. Crafted with precision, this connector offers durable and secure connections, reducing the risk of electrical faults."

Hmmm...

 

[LSJKU]

Not sure how old you are, but your "spare in the glovebox" comment took me back to my 72 Chrysler New Yorker. If you had an older Chrysler product, you ALWAYS kept a spare ballast resistor in your glovebox, as they were cheap and easy to replace, but failure prone. It wasn't a matter of if it would fail, but when it would fail.

50+ years later, and CDJR still has this "issue", though ballast resistors are long gone.

Man, you brought some memories back. My dad carried used points and "condenser," as we called it, in the glovebox of our 1972 Duster. I inherited that Duster and carried on the tradition; every tune up the old points and condenser went in the glovebox. That was the first thing to change out if the engine had electrical problems.

And the Star Connector description you shared makes it sound like a work of art compared to that old condenser. I will get one and throw it in the glovebox, even if it's only for nostalgia sake. Unfortunately... I might actually need it one day.

The 54 year old Chrysler tradition lives on!

edit: Whoa, I just realized you were talking about the little ballast on the coil while I was referring to the condensor mounted inside the distributor. Never mind, my memory failed me. But both were troublesome. My apologies. I'll crawl back in my hole now....

 

[HHGadget]

This is the actual description for the part on Mopar.com:

"The Star Electrical Connector is a high-quality, genuine Mopar OEM Parts part designed for reliable electrical connections in your vehicle. This essential component ensures seamless communication between various electronic systems, enhancing overall performance and safety. Crafted with precision, this connector offers durable and secure connections, reducing the risk of electrical faults."

Hmmm...

Hand made of the finest corinthian leather by the legendary craftsmen of Corinthia through a process handed down through the generations.
FFS

 

[au176]

Man, you brought some memories back. My dad carried used points and "condenser," as we called it, in the glovebox of our 1972 Duster. I inherited that Duster and carried on the tradition; every tune up the old points and condenser went in the glovebox. That was the first thing to change out if the engine had electrical problems.

And the Star Connector description you shared makes it sound like a work of art compared to that old condenser. I will get one and throw it in the glovebox, even if it's only for nostalgia sake. Unfortunately... I might actually need it one day.

The 54 year old Chrysler tradition lives on!

edit: Whoa, I just realized you were talking about the little ballast on the coil while I was referring to the condensor mounted inside the distributor. Never mind, my memory failed me. But both were troublesome. My apologies. I'll crawl back in my hole now....

Actually, I was talking about this thing. It was about the size of a deck of cards and bolted to the firewall behind the engine...

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