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My 2020 Jeep Rubicon “JLUR” could have killed me and my family this weekend.

Petey

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Petey

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Nope NONE that requires any splices.

I did unplug the fog lights once a few months ago. But that should in no way effect the entire computer system and cause a . What happens if you have to change a light bulb when your nowhere near dealership. If it did then we all have A HElL OF LOT to worry about. Then God forbid we take our doors off and unplug the wires needed to do so. LoL
"catastrophic computer failure" This has worried about my own car right about now...friend of mine a while back told me that his computer fried in Dodge pickup truck( I cant remember what year it was) but I don't think its more then 5 yrs old..... which probably has a very similar electrical system. If it does, we really ALL !!! have something to worry about . There is no overvoltage protection for the computer .... no fuses for something that makes the engine run.!!!!!! I couldn't believe what he said, he had to go to the dealer and buy a computer for his truck just because the voltage regulator went out. So, now I wonder , if our alternator goes the same way his did, are we looking at the same prospect? Are our CPUs protected by any fuses? Anyone?
 

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Petey

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That is what made this all the more exciting. I expected to have far more braking potential but it wasn’t there. Coupled with the inability effectively steer and loss of engine power made the situation worst. It was a catastrophe failure of multiple systems at the same time. No one ever trains for that kind of situation and I have been through a lot of training.
I checked, its vacuum boosted after all. But !!!!! unlike most cars the line seems to run to vacuum pump( electrical). I was always wondering what that darn thing bolted above the water pump was... now I know. What a strange place to put it ...if it really is what I think.
 

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This is a STRONG WARNING to all Jeep JL owners!
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This weekend while taking a short family trip in our five month old 2020 Jeep JLUR we had TWO COMPLETE computer failures both without ANY warning.

The first was at a busy intersection the engine shut down and ALL the instruments and infotainment system went crazy included the SOS which started sending alerts that could not be stopped. I had NO ability to activate the hazards lights to warn other vehicles behind me or any ability to restart the engine. Twice we were almost rear ended so when it was safe enough I had my family exit to safety. My Jeep remained immobile in the intersection for almost 10 mins. At which point the computer system reset and I was able to move the Jeep to a safe location. After the incident there were no engine warning light of any kind and all the system were back to work as normal.

Thinking this was a one off glitch we continued on our trip. Well that was a huge mistake. Not much more then 10 min later while driving at freeway speeds there was another COMPLETE computer failure and total loss of ALL vehicle control. The steering all but froze up, engine was sputtering and loosing power worst the brakes were NOT working! All this on top of the other instruments going crazy. I managed with some effort to muscle the steering wheel enough to get the Jeep over to the extremely small “emergency lane” but then had NO brakes to stop with and our speed at this time was around 50mph. I was literally standing on the brake pedal and it was having almost no effect. I ended up having to use the “E” brake to stop our Jeep!

Once stopped, again NO “hazard lights” could be engaged and NOTHING worked! So now we were half in and half out of the traffic lanes. I carry flares and being this had just happen a few minutes early I was thinking about them so I deployed them to warn traffic and hopefully not get rear ended by a high speed passerby.

15 or so minutes later the computer system once again reset? I was then able to move the Jeep off the freeway. This time the “check engine” light was on. Seeing this I though REALLY NO F’N KIDDING.

Needless to say Jeep had a call from me and I have filed a report with the NTSB. Had either one of these incident occurred just a short time early as we had driven through a high speed (70mph) section of winding mountain roads I would not have been able to steer or brake sufficiently enough to have avoided a major crash. Fortunately I am a trained EVOC driver with decades of high speed and off-road skills to draw from. Had my wife or son or anyone with far less experience “behind the wheel” been driving when the last incident happen there is no way they could have safety made it off to the side of the road. Hell I was shaking and almost S**T my pants. I have had failure of steering and brakes before while on the job in other vehicles, but NEVER all the major systems at the same time let alone while at 70mph.

In more then 35 years of drive both personally and as a professional I have never been scared of driving a vehicle until today. I will never trust my JLUR again until Jeep can 100% in writing guarantee me this will NEVER happen again!!!

I don’t think the majority of JL owner actually realizes just how much of their Jeep is controlled solely by the one computer with no backup and that they have no real control over their vehicles except which the computer grants them. So be aware if your computer fails you are just along for the ride. And it’s a scary one!!!

P.S. Yes I am aware there have been other threads on similar topics. But none state the real danger involved. The Jeep was towed to my local dealerships where it will sit until ?. It is not a battery issue as both show full charges and voltage.

Your thoughts and constructive input are welcome.
Glad you and family are okay. This kind of thing is what makes me long for less tech.
 

D60

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The verdict .. didn't start the car at all. just sat in and let the handbrake off ...car started rolling ...The first application on brakes work about as well as with the hydroboost pump on or also as vacuum powered ones. Second application on the brakes a bit more resistance is felt but still relatively easy ...its on the third application of the brakes when the pedal went quite stiff. Nevertheless, I was able to stop it from rolling . Mind u that i was just going crawling speed but there was some function at least. It shouldn't feel too different then vacuum boost .. so if u lost braking theres some issues it seems. Scary nonetheless.
This sounds like normal behavior for power brakes with no power assist. The claims of "the computer is dead so my brakes are dead" makes far less sense
 
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SolarWizard

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my model Y shut down on a 6% downhill grade going about 80 two months into ownership



if you think you had a hard time safety driving when your issue happened, imagine how good an iPhone is at making calls when it’s powered off. Jeep is in no way unique in the scary situations game
 
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Fsttanks

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This sounds like normal behavior for power brakes with no power assist. The claims of "the computer is dead so my brakes are dead" makes far less sense
In the JL the computer controls the vast majority of electrical power distribution. No computer means the electrical power is not going were and how it should. Hence MALFUNCTIONING / HAYWIRE/ CRAZED failure of the computer=all but NO brakes because without the computer directing electrical power to the appropriate brakes systems the brakes are hugely diminished especially at freeway speeds. So to keep it simple NO computer NO properly working brakes.

Its one thing to try a “dead stick stop” “no power stop” in a relatively safe environment at very low speed with a working vehicle. Its an entirely another thing to do it with at high speed in a dangerous environment and with all your other major control systems malfunction at the same time.

I find it interesting the focus of comments are more worried about the brakes then the steering. Had this last incident happen on a turn at the speed we where traveling, with the greatly inhibited steering, even fully functioning brakes would not have helped avoid a crash.
 
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Fsttanks

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my model Y shut down on a 6% downhill grade going about 80 two months into ownership



if you think you had a hard time safety driving when your issue happened, imagine how good an iPhone is at making calls when it’s powered off. Jeep is in no way unique in the scary situations game
I read your sarcasm and it is funny.

But less we forget some reading this are not the only drivers of their JLs. Some have a wife and teenagers drive theirs too. Do we want our wives and kids driving a vehicle that could by no fault of theirs or others put them in a life or death situation that exceed their driving skill sets.

My incident was on the extreme end of these failures and it sounds fantastical, I understand that. I would not have fully believe it had it not happened to me. Unfortunately I had others that did experience it with me. But the fact that it is happening at any level and with the frequency it is happening should be alarming to JL owners and must be openly addressed by Jeep or we need to make Jeep address the problem.
 

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SolarWizard

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I read your sarcasm and it is funny.

But less we forget some reading this are not the only drivers of their JLs. Some have a wife and teenagers drive theirs too. Do we want our wives and kids driving a vehicle that could by no fault of theirs or others put them in a life or death situation that exceed their driving skill sets.

My incident was on the extreme end of these failures and it sounds fantastical, I understand that. I would not have fully believe it had it not happened to me. Unfortunately I had others that did experience it with me. But the fact that it is happening at any level and with the frequency it is happening should be alarming to JL owners and must be openly addressed by Jeep or we need to make Jeep address the problem.
not making light of your issues just highlighting that no manufacturers make guaranteed safe cars. I wish tha wasn’t the case but it is
 

guarnibl

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Had the exact same issue on my E92 BMW M3 back in 2008. When modern cars have computer issues, it can be extremely scary. I would get out from under that vehicle immediately. It's what I did with my M3
 

shekmark

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I read that the new Corvette C8 has electric brakes. The feel changes with different drive modes. I guess they ( any cars)must have some kind of mechanical backup. Even in old days when engin dies, power brakes and steering was a bitch to operate.
 
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Fsttanks

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not making light of your issues just highlighting that no manufacturers make guaranteed safe cars. I wish tha wasn’t the case but it is
True because the manufacturer cannot control the environment or way the vehicle is used, or the skill level of the driver. But if the manufacturer knows of a design flaw or material defect (which Jeep does but won’t admit) that has the potential to cause injury or death they can be made to fix the issue either by government involvement or through civil channels.

My 2020 JLUR and numerous other JLs have proven to have a hazardous defect either acquired in the build or in the design process that effects the primary computer control system and has a high potential to cause injury or death at no fault of the diver.

Do we wait until one or two families are killed on some mountain highway or busy city intersect to finally hold Jeep’s feet to the fire and have them address faults happening with their vehicles computer systems. Or do we let them pull a FORD Pinto .25cent bolt fix that could have saved hundreds of lives from burning to death from fuel tanks being ruptured by long bolt when a shorter bolt was needed, but not used just to save .25cent per Pinto.
 

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Word that I think ur looking for is hydroboost? However , when my vehicle is shut off , if I remember correctly it still brakes though quite a bit more resistance on the pedal.
No, Hydroboost is a braking system which is augmented with hydraulic pressure from the steering system.
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