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

[Fsttanks]

That's to be expected. The old cars that didn't have power steering, had some mechanical advantages built in. For example a larger diameter steering wheel gives you more torque to turn the wheels. Likewise a larger gear (or pinion) diameter will require less force to move the rack. With new cars being dependent upon the power assist they don't build those advantages in anymore.
Anyway, it's not just a "Jeep thing." On modern cars, you've got to man handle them if you lose power. As you obviously learned.

The “man handle them” part concerns me. I am a big guy in pretty good shape but my wife and son are nowhere as strong as myself and if I had difficulty, it would have been...well ugly. Same is true for many many others I would suspect.

If it was one failure I could see them working through it but all three of the major systems all requiring such effort.

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[40”JLURD]

This is a STRONG WARNING to all Jeep JL owners!

The following is a short summarization of the event, some details have been left out and will be discussed with Jeep before I add them.

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.

Did you ever check all your fuses and relays?

After seeing how incredibly LOOSE all of mine were on my 2021 JLUR I can very easily see how that could cause your situation described above.

 

[Fsttanks]

Just an FYI for the op and others.
ALL modern vehicles are computer controlled. No way to pass emissions and safety regulations without them. Vehicles systems like steering and brakes are not completely disconnected from the driver. Their assist systems are computer controlled, but there is still a mechanical link to the steering wheel and brake pedal. It's not like the throttle where the gas pedal is just a sensor with wires coming out. At least not yet
There is no one computer that controls the whole vehicle. The vehicle is a rolling network with well over 10 computers all communicating. Your engine, transmission, brakes, steering, power windows, etc... are all controlled by separate computers.

What happened here sounds like a power issue/failure. Some kind of a short. Possibly a short on the network (CAN bus) wires. Make sure they check the battery and major cable connections. I'm sure they will, but make sure you ask them anyway.

I've seen systems go crazy like that from a very low, almost dead, battery. Windshield wipers just started going by them selves and wouldn't stop, vehicle wouldn't start, dash flashing crazy. We had to disconnect the battery to get it to stop. Computers don't like to work correctly without the correct amount of power.

When I talk about complete computer failure it is meant as a blanket statement to help “simply” the event and keep the technical part at a level easier for many to understand. Fact is the system(s) that controls the engine, and assists with brakes and steering was not working. How many reading this have ever lost all three of these at the same time with varying degrees of degraded function from 90-100 percent of normal while at traveling at freeway speeds. The answer should be ZERO but it’s not. A good number of JL owner have had similar events, some less some equal. Complete failures like this are not an emergency even the best driving schools public or government run remotely train for.

I was aware of the battery causing issues and it was my first thought after the initial occurrence at the intersection. I checked the battery voltage “gage” after the first occurrence and it read 12.7 and read 12.7 just before the second occurrence on the freeway. It read 12.5 -12.7 after the second. When I got the vehicle off the freeway and to our final destination prior to having it towed I checked the battery independent of the Jeep’s reading and it was holding a charge and voltage. I am pretty sure the cause was not battery related.

I did ask the dealership to check the other possibilities you mentioned. Waiting to see if they do and what information they come back to me with.

 

[Fsttanks]

Did you ever check all your fuses and relays?

After seeing how incredibly LOOSE all of mine were on my 2021 JLUR I can very easily see how that could cause your situation described above.

Yes I checked those, all were seated correctly and none appeared to be defective or damaged.

 

[GtX]

Just tried it so it seems that it doesn't lock after all (just my observation) apart from the fact the fob was to far the car to detect it when I did the test it still doesn't absolutely disprove that it cant lock. It would take disconnecting the batteries to be absolutely sure . The older key cars can lock up if u pull the key or something goes wrong with the system in steering column.. This also make me nervous because anyone can sit in ur car and just push and steer it away onto a truck bed without making much noise.

I can just use some wheel dollies and push your rig away regardless.
That's for confirming the wheel doesn't lock

 

[SteadyC]

While I agree that your issue is concerning, the problem I have with your thesis, is that this is a single problem, with a single fix, that Jeep should know about and should be addressing. Assuming this is an electrical problem, that couldn’t be further from the truth. It could be so many things. I searched around, and found at least 6 different ways people have fixed similar symptoms. From loose battery connections, to replacing power control units, to loose grounding wires, to pinched cables, to replacing main battery, to ignition and relay, to a star case. Just a few.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...sues-total-failure-safety-concern.9880/page-6

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ailure-safety-concern.9880/page-3#post-242044

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ailure-safety-concern.9880/page-5#post-251792

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ailure-safety-concern.9880/page-5#post-252052

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ailure-safety-concern.9880/page-5#post-280605

Sorry this happened, hope you can find which issue is impacting your keep quickly. I wouldn’t say no one else is talking about the danger, this person was in an accident.
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ing-failed-today-again-causing-a-crash.42801/

 

[Fsttanks]

While I agree that your issue is concerning, the problem I have with your thesis, is that this is a single problem, with a single fix, that Jeep should know about and should be addressing. Assuming this is an electrical problem, that couldn’t be further from the truth. It could be so many things. I searched around, and found at least 6 different ways people have fixed similar symptoms. From loose battery connections, to replacing power control units, to loose grounding wires, to pinched cables, to replacing main battery, to ignition and relay, to a star case. Just a few.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...sues-total-failure-safety-concern.9880/page-6

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ailure-safety-concern.9880/page-3#post-242044

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ailure-safety-concern.9880/page-5#post-251792

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ailure-safety-concern.9880/page-5#post-252052

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ailure-safety-concern.9880/page-5#post-280605

Sorry this happened, hope you can find which issue is impacting your keep quickly. I wouldn’t say no one else is talking about the danger, this person was in an accident.
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ing-failed-today-again-causing-a-crash.42801/

I agree it could be caused by multiple things going wrong. Ultimately though these things present themselves in a similar fashion. But these things are happening to frequently to a number of JLs at various levels. Some folks have a warning, some like me have NO warning. The NO warning only adds to the concern and increases the overall danger.

Dealerships is supposed to call tomorrow with an upgrade? Can’t wait to hear what they have to say.

 

[Petey]

I can just use some wheel dollies and push your rig away regardless.
That's for confirming the wheel doesn't lock

Yes , but its more troublesome and if the surface isn't flat and hard enough you're going to get chubby sweat doing something like that ...plus a bit of noise.

 

[zrickety]

You sound like a capable driver...the fact that steering and braking were nearly worthless when the power went out is a big concern. @JeepCares do these systems not work manually? Seems like a serious design flaw.

 

[Petey]

The old steering locks were mechanical you do not have them with key fobs

yes , but ones mind sometimes wonders

 

[drvn]

@JeepCares
This is insane. Please read initial post and follow-up with poster. Thanks

 

[GtX]

Yes , but its more troublesome and if the surface isn't flat and hard enough you're going to get chubby sweat doing something like that ...plus a bit of noise.

If I'm jacking your 50K JL neither are a concern.

 

[Petey]

If I'm jacking your 50K JL neither are a concern.

mines the one with the U've got a friend in Florida in stencil.

 

[GtX]

mines the one with the U've got a friend in Florida in stencil.

It's on my list

 

[Petey]

It's on my list

50 k jeep? Thanks for 20K upgrade Christmas really came sooner this year

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