Has anyone escaped FORM?

[Belgianballer]

After 1700 miles of living in below freezing temperatures, my 4xe decided while in EV mode to randomly enter FORM. Temperatures rarely get above 32F here between Nov-Apr, but up until now ran perfectly fine in EV mode when temps were above 9F. I was so smug thinking my 4xe was better than those other FORM complainers, and now I’m one of them.

Are my EV days over, and has anyone successfully defeated FORM??

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[wranglerbro]

Nah, you're good man. The key is to get your oil temp to or above normal operating temp (205F) for 20+ mins. This can be difficult to achieve in frigid climates, but some people have overcome FORM by covering up their grill's with a cover to force the engine/oil temp up.

Most just live with FORM until the weather breaks and the temps climb above freezing.

 

[Belgianballer]

It just seems poorly engineered for a vehicle to force the combustion engine to turn on, when you have plenty of EV charge and may only be doing a short trip. Counterproductive for oil dilution issues, especially when it’s cold outside and you could easily perform a trip with 100% EV mode.

My oil life is showing 65% at 1700 miles so plenty of life left.

 

[Chubba]

Yep. Changed the oil. That's how I escaped! ?

My 2021 was fine last winter (as in very, very few FORM events) but this winter it's been stuck in FORM since late Nov. It would occasionally try to get into electric mode when the vehicle was first started up in a warm garage, and outside air temp was high and with fresh gas. But this would last for only a few minutes or miles. Oil life was 67% back when perma-FORM started.

Oil life was at 36% this week so I just went ahead and changed it yesterday, and no more FORM. Back to nice quiet electric mode. And the outside air temperature is colder now by 10-20F. I've made 5+ trips since and all were 100% electric.

 

[martoaj]

It just seems poorly engineered for a vehicle to force the combustion engine to turn on, when you have plenty of EV charge and may only be doing a short trip. Counterproductive for oil dilution issues, especially when it’s cold outside and you could easily perform a trip with 100% EV mode.

Unfortunately, the systems aren't ever going to be sophisticated enough to understand how you use the truck specifically and it will never know how you intend to use it on that trip or the next trip or in a week. It doesn't know that when you start your drive it's only going to go 8 miles and you'll have enough charge to be in EV the whole time. It doesn't know that you won't floor the accelerator, or drive up a steep hill, and need to kick on the engine for more power. It doesn't know that you may have a charger at home or don't intend to use gas for months.

All the truck knows is that after a certain amount of time of driving EV only without getting the engine and fluids up to temp, that there's an increased likelihood that fuel will start making its way into the engine oil and the engine will be worse off for it. It's annoying if you're fastidious about planning and have your EV usage mapped out, but that's something Jeep simply can't plan for in its programming. It has to take the safe route -- and that means going to the lowest common denominator.

We have to remember that a vast majority of people with a 4xe -- yes, even "Jeep people" -- will simply use it like a car and not think about any of these details. There has to be a safety net for them, and Jeep has to be able to actually offer a warranty on these things and keep them running. That's why FORM exists.

 

[diesel_dave]

After 1700 miles of living in below freezing temperatures, my 4xe decided while in EV mode to randomly enter FORM. Temperatures rarely get above 32F here between Nov-Apr, but up until now ran perfectly fine in EV mode when temps were above 9F. I was so smug thinking my 4xe was better than those other FORM complainers, and now I’m one of them.

Are my EV days over, and has anyone successfully defeated FORM??

Got out of it by diving up and down a mountain pass in 3rd gear a few times. It was around 20 F outside but that got the oil hot enough to finally get out of FORM. Used almost a quarter tank of gas doing that. Such a waste...

 

[Grimmjpr]

After a drive to get the oil warmish, park on flat surface and put in neutral/parking brake cover grill with a blanket or something....leave to idle, takes 20 to 40ish minutes once the oil gets above 205/206. I did it last night. You don't need to put it in neutral but at 30 minutes it will time out in park and I think it will start over so if it didn't clear by then it seems like you'd be starting again with the new restart.

 

[Bzinsky]

i love form and wish it would always be in it.

hybrid mode turns into a blended hybrid mode. It is still much more efficient than just using a gas engine. I find the shifting and throttle to be far more enjoyable in FORM in hybrid mode.

If you do hate it and you’re having trouble getting your oil up to temp, make sure you turn on esave, with esave charge option selected and don’t plug it in. It uses a lot more 2.0T in esave charge and more HP output from the gas engine = more heat created.

 

[tjohnson]

If you stay in FORM too long, your oil percentage will drop to 0% and force an oil change. I'm at 933 miles and had to have TWO oil changes (700 miles, then 933 miles). Service advisor is talking with Stellanis. I just drive in Hybrid mode, but sometimes only 7-8 miles per trip.

Right now they are telling him "customer needs to drive for up to 2 hours any time that message comes on, it's not an electric vehicle".

 

[Deleted User 38384]

Man, this thread is the best sales pitch for gas powered vehicles I've heard in a while! ?

 

[diesel_dave]

Man, this thread is the best sales pitch for gas powered vehicles I've heard in a while! ?

Gas vehicles are just in FORM all the time... At least the 4xe let's you drive around in electric mode at times. It's people that try to drive around ONLY in electric mode that have issues.

 

[tjohnson]

I drove around in ONLY hybrid mode from 700-933 miles... oil still went to 0% during that time. My gas RAM truck goes 8,000+ miles between oil changes. LOL

 

[diesel_dave]

I drove around in ONLY hybrid mode from 700-933 miles... oil still went to 0% during that time. My gas RAM truck goes 8,000+ miles between oil changes. LOL

Did they perform the TSB software update when you took it in? There's an update that fixes a bug in the oil life monitoring algorithm that can cause sudden drops to 0%.

 

[Mowcowbell]

I've owned my Wrangler Sahara 4xe since early Oct and have never seen FORM. Just changed the oil on mine this past weekend, 2600 miles on the odometer. Probably one of the easiest oil changes I've ever done on a vehicle. I think I stay out of FORM because the weather here in Oklahoma rarely gets below freezing for long periods, my daily commute is short enough to do the entire drive in Electric Mode. On weekends I do take a highway trip and use it in E-save mode to burn some fuel. Also, I only use 100% gasoline in my 4xe (if that makes any difference).

 

[tjohnson]

They claim it’s all up to date. I specifically asked about the TSB’s and my SA said they were current??

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