Center console storage USB junk

[NewbJLUOwner]

I have a 2022 JLU Rubicon. I've experienced similar issues with USB #2
It's my best guess, based on 25 yrs in consumer electronics, the center consol USB loses voltage at times.
Hence the disconnect at times, no charging, or reading your phones, whether they are apple or android.
I use it strictly for Thumbdrive or the Motorola MA1 Wireless Android Auto adapter.
I would take it to a car audio shop and ask them is they can increase voltage via a relay. I think that would make a difference
My 2 cents

Sponsored

 

[Dyolfknip74]

It's an iPhone thing partially as well. Android Auto doesn't have same issues with center console, at all.

 

[Catdom]

Junk! I had all the stupid cords wrapped around everything, that's why I want it to work in the center console storage area. I paid for it, why can't it work??? This would be like me paying $50k for my Jeep and the steering wheel intermittently works... fix it Jeep!

I feel your pain and sympathize. But comparing a bad USB port to a intermittently working steering wheel is a wee bit silly. Whats next, squeaky doors are like bad brakes?

 

[Rubicon_Wrangler_JL_2018]

I've tried using mine a few times and every time I used it, it created issues with Bluetooth playback from the main USB port, so I stopped letting my wife plug her phone into it when she rides with me. LOL

 

[hiimmike]

I have a 2022 JLU Rubicon. I've experienced similar issues with USB #2
It's my best guess, based on 25 yrs in consumer electronics, the center consol USB loses voltage at times.
Hence the disconnect at times, no charging, or reading your phones, whether they are apple or android.
I use it strictly for Thumbdrive or the Motorola MA1 Wireless Android Auto adapter.
I would take it to a car audio shop and ask them is they can increase voltage via a relay. I think that would make a difference
My 2 cents

Or how about FCA/Stellantis fixes it because I paid for it, why should I accept something broken? Drives me crazy we all just have to settle.

 

[hiimmike]

I feel your pain and sympathize. But comparing a bad USB port to a intermittently working steering wheel is a wee bit silly. Whats next, squeaky doors are like bad brakes?

YES! hahah

 

[ekometti]

I use USB2 (center console) for a small thumb drive with 8 GB of music on it. It has worked fine since my 2018 jeep was new. I use the dash USB-C for my phone and the dash USB-A for my wife's iPhone.

That's exactly what I do. Even when I had my 2018 JL I did the same thing. I use the USB-C connection to charge. as well.

 

[Grega]

Anyone else having problems with the USB port in the center console storage area? I think officially it's labeled as USB 2. When I plug my phone or my wife's phone into this, it typically will disconnect the phone within about 10 minutes. Here is my fun dealer experience, same dealer as my "service fuel system" message that tells us the message is from the electronic sway bar disconnect.

1) Brought in the vehicle, they ignored me. I asked them "what about the USB issue?" Their response was, "we didn't find any problems, the phones all connected fine. I recommend you forget the device with bluetooth on both the phone and the UConnect system and that will fix your problem" My thoughts were, "no it won't idiot, it has nothing to do with bluetooth but you're the all knowing wise stealership that doesn't care about the customer so I'll go along" Forgot the device on both and did NOT re-pair it and guess what? On the drive home it disconnected.

2) Brought the vehicle in to have the sway bar disconnect and sway bar replaced. Let them know again I followed what they told me and it still disconnects. They "tested" again with several phone and none of them apparently had the problem. Their response, "well, you know you should make sure there is no lint or dust in your phones port, that's the problem, thanks bye leave now" I told them that is absurd and we went for a ride so I could show them. The service advisor said, "let me get MY phone. My phone has this OtterBox protective case and it's water proof and I don't get any lint or dust in the port, see right here, it's sealed up real good?" We connect his iPhone and go for a drive. Within about 5-8 minutes, his phone disconnects. Oh man, he should probably clean out all that lint!

3) They're ordering me a new USB for inside there now finally. I'm just curious if anyone else has had this problem with their phones disconnecting. It just shows, "No device connected" when it clearly is. My fix is I disconnect and reconnect and it always sees the phone. No problems at all with the front USB port in under the media cover.

I started another thread months ago about this when I bought new jeep too.

my dealership treated me like trash and the service manager trash-talked to other employeesabout me in front of other customers (like how I’m an idiot about making a big deal about one usb being crap, how I should just use the dash one that works and forget about it)

regardless, I can tell you they did replace the USB port and the media hub and none of it fixed this. I’m starting to think that there actually isn’t a fix for it since this has been an issue for thousands of people since 2018 models

I do feel the same way dropping 60k and have the car have features that work intermittently is bad reputation and on top of that a feature that is charged additional 2k on top of the base price ?.

 

[TheRaven]

It's not a port or cable issue. It's the USB controller they spec'd in the UConnect system. It's a bottom-of-the-barrel junk controller (the kind you find on the no-name consumer grade computer mainboards on ebay that ship from China). This problem exists in every FCA vehicle that uses the 8.4" Uconnect system. There is no "solution" unless FCA redesigns Uconnect and changes the hardware.

That said, there are a few things that help a lot -

1 - Use a good quality FAST CHARGING cable (like the Anker Powerline or Samsung Galaxy Cables)
2 - Use as short a cable as you can reasonably use (this is why the dash port in the Wrangler tends to work better than the console port, less voltage drop over a shorter run)
3 - turn off all "fast charging" options on your phone (the Galaxy has both "fast charge" and "ultra-fast charge" options, turn them both off)

The real issue is that the USB controller in the UConnect system cannot generate enough voltage to maintain the 5v spec over cable runs and through connectors. So the higher quality the conductors you use, and the shorter the total run (from Uconnect box to phone), the more reliable your connection is going to be. This is not something the dealer can fix so you are just wasting your time there. Just get a really good, short cable, and turn off fast charging when you need to transfer data over the cable (like for Android auto or streaming music)

We actually are lucky with the Wrangler's dash port...my Challenger only has the console ports and it's a real struggle to keep the USB connection working.

 

[hiimmike]

It's not a port or cable issue. It's the USB controller they spec'd in the UConnect system. It's a bottom-of-the-barrel junk controller (the kind you find on the no-name consumer grade computer mainboards on ebay that ship from China). This problem exists in every FCA vehicle that uses the 8.4" Uconnect system. There is no "solution" unless FCA redesigns Uconnect and changes the hardware.

That said, there are a few things that help a lot -

1 - Use a good quality FAST CHARGING cable (like the Anker Powerline or Samsung Galaxy Cables)
2 - Use as short a cable as you can reasonably use (this is why the dash port in the Wrangler tends to work better than the console port, less voltage drop over a shorter run)
3 - turn off all "fast charging" options on your phone (the Galaxy has both "fast charge" and "ultra-fast charge" options, turn them both off)

The real issue is that the USB controller in the UConnect system cannot generate enough voltage to maintain the 5v spec over cable runs and through connectors. So the higher quality the conductors you use, and the shorter the total run (from Uconnect box to phone), the more reliable your connection is going to be. This is not something the dealer can fix so you are just wasting your time there. Just get a really good, short cable, and turn off fast charging when you need to transfer data over the cable (like for Android auto or streaming music)

We actually are lucky with the Wrangler's dash port...my Challenger only has the console ports and it's a real struggle to keep the USB connection working.

I don’t understand why the front port works fine and the other port doesn’t. Are you saying the length is short enough from the front one and the cable is too long from the radio to the center storage console? I’m not an electrician but I can’t see losing that much power in 4 feet.

 

[TheRaven]

I don’t understand why the front port works fine and the other port doesn’t. Are you saying the length is short enough from the front one and the cable is too long from the radio to the center storage console? I’m not an electrician but I can’t see losing that much power in 4 feet.

Sorta. First of all, the dash port doesn't "work fine". It just works better. I have the same issues with the dash port that I do with the console port...it's just far less frequent on the dash port. Second - the problem is that the USB controller is not robust enough to generate the necessary power to maintain the 5v spec (which is something like 5.45-5.75v I believe) beyond its own port (the one on the back of the UConnect unit). If the power there is already barely sufficient, adding ANY CABLE AT ALL is only going to make it worse. Pile on cheapo cables and multiple connectors (there are four connectors in the path before you even plug anything into the console port) and you have a recipe for problems. Better designs output more robust power in anticipation of these variables so that after all the voltage drop is piled on, you still end up with voltage that's within spec.

 

[Philly_]

Sorta. First of all, the dash port doesn't "work fine". It just works better. I have the same issues with the dash port that I do with the console port...it's just far less frequent on the dash port. Second - the problem is that the USB controller is not robust enough to generate the necessary power to maintain the 5v spec (which is something like 5.45-5.75v I believe) beyond its own port (the one on the back of the UConnect unit). If the power there is already barely sufficient, adding ANY CABLE AT ALL is only going to make it worse. Pile on cheapo cables and multiple connectors (there are four connectors in the path before you even plug anything into the console port) and you have a recipe for problems. Better designs output more robust power in anticipation of these variables so that after all the voltage drop is piled on, you still end up with voltage that's within spec.

So in theory, a higher quality cable to replace the factory cable that connects the console port to the Uconnect system might slightly improve the issue? Obviously, you would have to pair another high quality cable from port to phone as well

When I went in, I was told it was a software incompatibility issue and Uconnect and apple were playing the blame game with each other and both are too stubborn to fix it. Although, I doubt it’s an apple issue like the dealer claims.

 

[TheRaven]

So in theory, a higher quality cable to replace the factory cable that connects the console port to the Uconnect system might slightly improve the issue? Obviously, you would have to pair another high quality cable from port to phone as well

I think the only way you're going to appreciably improve things is to reduce the number of connections in the path. If you could just remove all the factory harness cables up to the UConnect unit, then plug in a good cable, a quality active (powered) port multiplier (cause those inject power into the line) and then good cables out to both the dash port and console port(s), that would probably work. However, I don't know how it would affect the two modules that would now be no longer in the USB path. I don't know if they need the 5v or data connection from the UConnect unit to operate properly.

 

[Philly_]

I think the only way you're going to appreciably improve things is to reduce the number of connections in the path. If you could just remove all the factory harness cables up to the UConnect unit, then plug in a good cable, a quality active (powered) port multiplier (cause those inject power into the line) and then good cables out to both the dash port and console port(s), that would probably work. However, I don't know how it would affect the two modules that would now be no longer in the USB path. I don't know if they need the 5v or data connection from the UConnect unit to operate properly.

Interesting. My goal is to improve/maintain the data connection to the center console port. I never lose power to it (noticeably) as I connect my phone there daily, but I have stopped using CarPlay through it. It functions as intended for power and streaming music, but CarPlay won’t work past 15-20 minutes for me.

I only use the dash ports for passengers or when I have a long drive where I actually need nav. I tried the built in maps, but they’re terrible compared to google and apple so I gave up on that quickly.

 

[TheRaven]

Interesting. My goal is to improve/maintain the data connection to the center console port. I never lose power to it (noticeably) as I connect my phone there daily, but I have stopped using CarPlay through it. It functions as intended for power and streaming music, but CarPlay won’t work past 15-20 minutes for me.

I only use the dash ports for passengers or when I have a long drive where I actually need nav. I tried the built in maps, but they’re terrible compared to google and apple so I gave up on that quickly.

Have you tried turning off fast charging? That frees up a lot of the energy capacity of the cables.

Sponsored