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

Steve JLUR

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Bec

Simply because no other vehicle currently available can meet our needs. Trust me had the Bronco was available with a solid year of sales under it’s belt we would have given it a very serious look.

I have owned several Jeeps and other FCA products. The 2020 JLUR was the first one to ever have issues. So taking a chance on a 2021 JLUR is not so much of a risk, at least no more then a first year Bronco would be.

I am also pretty convinced that the issues were originally caused by the improperly seated main engine box fuses that cause numerous shorts throughout the wiring system. This time I check the fuses after the PDI was done and the Jeep was pulled out front. Only four small fuses were not seated properly. The tech that did the PDI saw me doing this and apologized for missing those when he check the fuses. Yes, he said a “bunch” were not fully seated but that they now at his dealership check the fuses on during all PDIs to ensure proper install. I acquired my new 2021 JLUR from the dealership that handled the majority of the problems and that were extremely helpful during the buy back process, so they are aware of the possibilities.

Not many dealerships check the fuses for proper seat as it is not part of the official PDI process.

Sorry for the long winded response.
I checked the fuses at delivery, as has been hammered on this site. About half of them were not seated. After I pushed them all down I went through them twice more, to make sure everything was tight. Two days after delivery I went on a 10 mile mile, easy, but pretty bumpy trail ride. After getting back I checked the fuses and relays again, about a third of them were not seated. Maybe Jeep should come up with better retention method than friction.
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DanW

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I checked the fuses at delivery, as has been hammered on this site. About half of them were not seated. After I pushed them all down I went through them twice more, to make sure everything was tight. Two days after delivery I went on a 10 mile mile, easy, but pretty bumpy trail ride. After getting back I checked the fuses and relays again, about a third of them were not seated. Maybe Jeep should come up with better retention method than friction.
I'd talk to the dealership about replacing that fuse tray. Mine were seated from the factory and have had the hell jounced out of them. I recently changed my aux battery and found them all to still be seated. I can't help but wonder if some of these out there are out of spec or defective in some way. My brother's Gladiator is the same as mine, with the fuses being tight as a drum, even after a week of jarring and bouncing around Moab.
 

Steve JLUR

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I'd talk to the dealership about replacing that fuse tray. Mine were seated from the factory and have had the hell jounced out of them. I recently changed my aux battery and found them all to still be seated. I can't help but wonder if some of these out there are out of spec or defective in some way. My brother's Gladiator is the same as mine, with the fuses being tight as a drum, even after a week of jarring and bouncing around Moab.
Thank you for the insight. I will monitor, and act if is a chronic issue.
 

ericlam902000

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FIRST TIME POST IN THIS FORUM: My 2020 JLU Sahara, have around 3k mile on it, got shut down while driving on the freeway, at first the engine light came on for few seconds then brake light & all warning lights came on then engine shut down within 30 seconds, unable to start the engine after, got it tow to the nearest dealer, after a week of diagnostic dealer unable to figure it out what cause it, I read the forum & told them to check on the aux battery & the connection to the Z Fuse, dealer said there is NO Aux Battery in my Sahara & Z Fuse is good. Today they told me that Coolant Pump cause “draining the battery”. Does anyone has the same issue or any input I greatly appreciated.
12/23: picked up the car today, dealer replaced the coolant pump & fuse, car is now running.
05/06/21: @ 11620 miles, got shutdown 2nd times while driving, towed to dealer & stay there until 05/25. This time is the wire's issues
06/07/21: @ 11900 miles, got shutdown 3rd times while driving, towed to the dealer, now waiting for a loaner. I was able to manger a quick video while shutting down. HOPE JEEP's ENGINEER READ THIS POST.

2021-06-08_15-57-36.png


2021-06-08_15-57-58.png
 

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ericlam902000

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FIRST TIME POST IN THIS FORUM: My 2020 JLU Sahara, have around 3k mile on it, got shut down while driving on the freeway, at first the engine light came on for few seconds then brake light & all warning lights came on then engine shut down within 30 seconds, unable to start the engine after, got it tow to the nearest dealer, after a week of diagnostic dealer unable to figure it out what cause it, I read the forum & told them to check on the aux battery & the connection to the Z Fuse, dealer said there is NO Aux Battery in my Sahara & Z Fuse is good. Today they told me that Coolant Pump cause “draining the battery”. Does anyone has the same issue or any input I greatly appreciated.
12/23: picked up the car today, dealer replaced the coolant pump & fuse, car is now running.
05/06/21: @ 11620 miles, got shutdown 2nd times while driving, towed to dealer & stay there until 05/25. This time is the wire's issues
06/07/21: @ 11900 miles, got shutdown 3rd times while driving, towed to the dealer, now waiting for a loaner. I was able to manger a quick video while shutting down. HOPE JEEP's ENGINEER READ THIS POST.

2021-06-08_15-57-36.png


2021-06-08_15-57-58.png
Can you view the video I attached? just curious. Thanks.
Link for the video, can you see? Please let me know. Thanks
https://photos.app.goo.gl/gWdaaHE8jAyrCxhn9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/irZyb4qxt4pXgh6V6
 
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Fsttanks

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Can you view the video I attached? just curious. Thanks.
Nope can see the videos.

Just keep in mind 30 total days out of service is typically a universal requirement for U.S. lemon laws. Once you have reach that it pretty much an open a shut case.
 

ericlam902000

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gato

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Yes, I could see the video. Clearly your vehicle had low battery voltage, causing a multitude of issues, including a force to N.

So your Jeep has an electrical problem that is causing the battery to drain. You also have a battery voltage meter on the Jeep - you can monitor that after the repair to prevent you from catching you by surprise, in case it is not a real fix.

Hope they find the real cause soon. Sounds like the dealership is guessing and replacing random things.
 

ericlam902000

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06/10/21: Service adviser from the Dealer just called & said they found the Alternator is bad. My thoughts is one part failed after another over time, 1st shutdown the cooling pump is bad, 2nd shutdown the wire is bad, 3rd shutdown (this time) the alternator is bad, why can't they replace any parts that relate it to shutdown such as Battery, alternator, wires, cooling pumps, fuses, etc... whatever relate to the battery, your thought?
 
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Fsttanks

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06/10/21: Service adviser from the Dealer just called & said they found the Alternator is bad. My thoughts is one part failed after another over time, 1st shutdown the cooling pump is bad, 2nd shutdown the wire is bad, 3rd shutdown (this time) the alternator is bad, why can't they replace any parts that relate it to shutdown such as Battery, alternator, wires, cooling pumps, fuses, etc... whatever relate to the battery, your thought?
Mine was replaced too because it was damaged by the “shorts”. Regardless the problems persisted and failures continued.

Your dealer is fixing the symptoms not the problem. Mine tried this approach too and nothing worked.
 

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Tia

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All - You all every single one who is experiencing this issue, needs to file an NHTSA report, outlining exactly what happened, and what Jeep is doing about it. This sounds like major recall, wiring harness is faulty, or some computer is faulty. Also mention the loose fuses because many don't know what is going on with that. This will ensure all Jeep owners are going to be taken care of. It also could be not just the wrangler, but other models as well. Since it's closely related, suspect the Gladiator is also affected. Please make those reports.
This is a STRONG WARNING to all Jeep JL owners!
3C3EE3B8-D2DA-486D-A813-4B3E154E5553.jpeg


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.

HUGE UPDATE come soon and it’s not a good one!!!

EDIT NOTE:
1) This JLUR is a standard 3.6 with automatic transmission.
2) The ESS was turned off via the dash off button in both incidents. Always turn it off when I start the Jeep.
3) The tires are 315/70/17 BFG AT2.
4) NO computer “chip” mods were done.
5) The infotainment system is the Alpine with 8.4 screen.

UPDATE 11/27

Second dealership provided me with a copy of the OBD print out. The service writer said it was by far the longest print out of problems they has seen on a JL or JT. Nearly all the electrically powered/controlled system have failed or show faults!!
D845DA3D-610F-4B2D-9288-F7057B897D24.jpeg
381AA631-53AD-4521-A86B-C21BE595319E.jpeg


UPDATE 11/30
Simplified version:
Dealerships said “infotainment” system and alternator were damaged during the events making it impossible to sort through ALL the failures and faults.
Both will need to be replaced before they can even start tracking down the cause of the issues.

This will be at least a TWO WEEK process because there are no “off the shelf” replacement 8.4 Alpine information system available as these are “coded to the VIN” of each vehicle.

UPDATE 12/03

Spoke with Jeep Cares today and the ordered parts that were supposed to arrive on 12/12 will now not arrive until at least 12/21 !!

Also spoke with the dealership doing the work and they said they moved ahead with replacing the alternator and just for good measure both batteries. Upon doing so they discovered the infotainment system was now working(?) and could do further investigations into the electrical system failures and that I might not need a new infotainment system after all.

UPDATE 12/04

Well surprise the Jeep is “fixed” 😆 LOL time will tell though.

Ok here is a summarization of what I have been told the issues were (?) in no specific order because they don’t actually know the sequence of the failures.

1) Nearly all the fuses were tight and initially felt seated, but it was found they were only seated about 60% and needed to be pressed further into proper position. This could have caused some shorting and possibly limited surge protections.

2) The almost $600 “smart” alternator aka “generator/inverter” had the smart part burn up and was working solely as an old fashion alternator without the inverter aspect to “balance out the electrical power frequencies” which in turn upset the electronics.

3) The ESS relays were malfunctioning aka “burned out” and the ESS did not know what to do, hence why the engine would shut down and not want to restart or would not turn off. It did not matter that the ESS off button was engaged in fact it “might” have made the situation worst with it selected to the OFF setting. Just confused the ESS system even more.

4) Batteries were damaged during all this and although mostly showing holding of power and volts both had some cell issues and both were replaced for good measure.

My theory if what the dealership is saying is the cause of all this, is that the problem started with the engine bay fuse box and the fuses not being seated properly. This caused the smart “generator/inverter” to have to work harder controlling/regulating the electrical system power and it finally burned up. The ESS was the primary victim of the fuses and generator failure. The fuses not being seated fully, thus unknown if working correctly, could have been the reason why all the smaller functions went haywire during each event.

Please feel free to add your thought or theory based on what the dealership reported. It will help others that are experiencing these issues.

UPDATE 12/06

Back to the dealership on Monday morning there is still more work to be done. Lost steering power, curse control, park sensors, voltage output drops and a few service “xyz” systems warnings while driving though a hilly twisting turning frwy section on my way home. Surprised NO...P’d off YES!

Can’t wait to see what the OBD print out says this time.

UPDATE 12/08

This is the latest OBD print out of the problems experienced on 12/06. Still ALL electrical related !
7A5D4B78-B481-4E05-B8A6-5BDD9386F0A9.jpeg


UPDATE 12/11

Well its been FIVE days now at the dealership 12/07-11 and on 12/07 they are bringing in a Jeep factory engineer to find the problems? Since then radio silence.........

UPDATE 12/23
Jeep is still at the 2nd dealership going on two+ weeks. I have retained a lawyer to assist me with my issues and on his advice I will not be posting further information related to what is going on with my Jeep until all is settled. I have also removed the video of one of the failures that was posted on my Instagram.

UPDATE 04/2021
Sadly the electrical issues could not be solved by my Dealership or FCA. My Jeep has been bought back and I am now in the market for a new one. Keeping my fingers crossed I find something suitable soon.
This is a STRONG WARNING to all Jeep JL owners!
3C3EE3B8-D2DA-486D-A813-4B3E154E5553.jpeg


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.

HUGE UPDATE come soon and it’s not a good one!!!

EDIT NOTE:
1) This JLUR is a standard 3.6 with automatic transmission.
2) The ESS was turned off via the dash off button in both incidents. Always turn it off when I start the Jeep.
3) The tires are 315/70/17 BFG AT2.
4) NO computer “chip” mods were done.
5) The infotainment system is the Alpine with 8.4 screen.

UPDATE 11/27

Second dealership provided me with a copy of the OBD print out. The service writer said it was by far the longest print out of problems they has seen on a JL or JT. Nearly all the electrically powered/controlled system have failed or show faults!!
D845DA3D-610F-4B2D-9288-F7057B897D24.jpeg
381AA631-53AD-4521-A86B-C21BE595319E.jpeg


UPDATE 11/30
Simplified version:
Dealerships said “infotainment” system and alternator were damaged during the events making it impossible to sort through ALL the failures and faults.
Both will need to be replaced before they can even start tracking down the cause of the issues.

This will be at least a TWO WEEK process because there are no “off the shelf” replacement 8.4 Alpine information system available as these are “coded to the VIN” of each vehicle.

UPDATE 12/03

Spoke with Jeep Cares today and the ordered parts that were supposed to arrive on 12/12 will now not arrive until at least 12/21 !!

Also spoke with the dealership doing the work and they said they moved ahead with replacing the alternator and just for good measure both batteries. Upon doing so they discovered the infotainment system was now working(?) and could do further investigations into the electrical system failures and that I might not need a new infotainment system after all.

UPDATE 12/04

Well surprise the Jeep is “fixed” 😆 LOL time will tell though.

Ok here is a summarization of what I have been told the issues were (?) in no specific order because they don’t actually know the sequence of the failures.

1) Nearly all the fuses were tight and initially felt seated, but it was found they were only seated about 60% and needed to be pressed further into proper position. This could have caused some shorting and possibly limited surge protections.

2) The almost $600 “smart” alternator aka “generator/inverter” had the smart part burn up and was working solely as an old fashion alternator without the inverter aspect to “balance out the electrical power frequencies” which in turn upset the electronics.

3) The ESS relays were malfunctioning aka “burned out” and the ESS did not know what to do, hence why the engine would shut down and not want to restart or would not turn off. It did not matter that the ESS off button was engaged in fact it “might” have made the situation worst with it selected to the OFF setting. Just confused the ESS system even more.

4) Batteries were damaged during all this and although mostly showing holding of power and volts both had some cell issues and both were replaced for good measure.

My theory if what the dealership is saying is the cause of all this, is that the problem started with the engine bay fuse box and the fuses not being seated properly. This caused the smart “generator/inverter” to have to work harder controlling/regulating the electrical system power and it finally burned up. The ESS was the primary victim of the fuses and generator failure. The fuses not being seated fully, thus unknown if working correctly, could have been the reason why all the smaller functions went haywire during each event.

Please feel free to add your thought or theory based on what the dealership reported. It will help others that are experiencing these issues.

UPDATE 12/06

Back to the dealership on Monday morning there is still more work to be done. Lost steering power, curse control, park sensors, voltage output drops and a few service “xyz” systems warnings while driving though a hilly twisting turning frwy section on my way home. Surprised NO...P’d off YES!

Can’t wait to see what the OBD print out says this time.

UPDATE 12/08

This is the latest OBD print out of the problems experienced on 12/06. Still ALL electrical related !
7A5D4B78-B481-4E05-B8A6-5BDD9386F0A9.jpeg


UPDATE 12/11

Well its been FIVE days now at the dealership 12/07-11 and on 12/07 they are bringing in a Jeep factory engineer to find the problems? Since then radio silence.........

UPDATE 12/23
Jeep is still at the 2nd dealership going on two+ weeks. I have retained a lawyer to assist me with my issues and on his advice I will not be posting further information related to what is going on with my Jeep until all is settled. I have also removed the video of one of the failures that was posted on my Instagram.

UPDATE 04/2021
Sadly the electrical issues could not be solved by my Dealership or FCA. My Jeep has been bought back and I am now in the market for a new one. Keeping my fingers crossed I find something suitable soon.
This is a STRONG WARNING to all Jeep JL owners!
Jeep Wrangler JL My 2020 Jeep Rubicon “JLUR” could have killed me and my family this weekend. 2021-06-08_15-57-58


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.

HUGE UPDATE come soon and it’s not a good one!!!

EDIT NOTE:
1) This JLUR is a standard 3.6 with automatic transmission.
2) The ESS was turned off via the dash off button in both incidents. Always turn it off when I start the Jeep.
3) The tires are 315/70/17 BFG AT2.
4) NO computer “chip” mods were done.
5) The infotainment system is the Alpine with 8.4 screen.

UPDATE 11/27

Second dealership provided me with a copy of the OBD print out. The service writer said it was by far the longest print out of problems they has seen on a JL or JT. Nearly all the electrically powered/controlled system have failed or show faults!!
Jeep Wrangler JL My 2020 Jeep Rubicon “JLUR” could have killed me and my family this weekend. 2021-06-08_15-57-58
Jeep Wrangler JL My 2020 Jeep Rubicon “JLUR” could have killed me and my family this weekend. 2021-06-08_15-57-58


UPDATE 11/30
Simplified version:
Dealerships said “infotainment” system and alternator were damaged during the events making it impossible to sort through ALL the failures and faults.
Both will need to be replaced before they can even start tracking down the cause of the issues.

This will be at least a TWO WEEK process because there are no “off the shelf” replacement 8.4 Alpine information system available as these are “coded to the VIN” of each vehicle.

UPDATE 12/03

Spoke with Jeep Cares today and the ordered parts that were supposed to arrive on 12/12 will now not arrive until at least 12/21 !!

Also spoke with the dealership doing the work and they said they moved ahead with replacing the alternator and just for good measure both batteries. Upon doing so they discovered the infotainment system was now working(?) and could do further investigations into the electrical system failures and that I might not need a new infotainment system after all.

UPDATE 12/04

Well surprise the Jeep is “fixed” 😆 LOL time will tell though.

Ok here is a summarization of what I have been told the issues were (?) in no specific order because they don’t actually know the sequence of the failures.

1) Nearly all the fuses were tight and initially felt seated, but it was found they were only seated about 60% and needed to be pressed further into proper position. This could have caused some shorting and possibly limited surge protections.

2) The almost $600 “smart” alternator aka “generator/inverter” had the smart part burn up and was working solely as an old fashion alternator without the inverter aspect to “balance out the electrical power frequencies” which in turn upset the electronics.

3) The ESS relays were malfunctioning aka “burned out” and the ESS did not know what to do, hence why the engine would shut down and not want to restart or would not turn off. It did not matter that the ESS off button was engaged in fact it “might” have made the situation worst with it selected to the OFF setting. Just confused the ESS system even more.

4) Batteries were damaged during all this and although mostly showing holding of power and volts both had some cell issues and both were replaced for good measure.

My theory if what the dealership is saying is the cause of all this, is that the problem started with the engine bay fuse box and the fuses not being seated properly. This caused the smart “generator/inverter” to have to work harder controlling/regulating the electrical system power and it finally burned up. The ESS was the primary victim of the fuses and generator failure. The fuses not being seated fully, thus unknown if working correctly, could have been the reason why all the smaller functions went haywire during each event.

Please feel free to add your thought or theory based on what the dealership reported. It will help others that are experiencing these issues.

UPDATE 12/06

Back to the dealership on Monday morning there is still more work to be done. Lost steering power, curse control, park sensors, voltage output drops and a few service “xyz” systems warnings while driving though a hilly twisting turning frwy section on my way home. Surprised NO...P’d off YES!

Can’t wait to see what the OBD print out says this time.

UPDATE 12/08

This is the latest OBD print out of the problems experienced on 12/06. Still ALL electrical related !
Jeep Wrangler JL My 2020 Jeep Rubicon “JLUR” could have killed me and my family this weekend. 2021-06-08_15-57-58


UPDATE 12/11

Well its been FIVE days now at the dealership 12/07-11 and on 12/07 they are bringing in a Jeep factory engineer to find the problems? Since then radio silence.........

UPDATE 12/23
Jeep is still at the 2nd dealership going on two+ weeks. I have retained a lawyer to assist me with my issues and on his advice I will not be posting further information related to what is going on with my Jeep until all is settled. I have also removed the video of one of the failures that was posted on my Instagram.

UPDATE 04/2021
Sadly the electrical issues could not be solved by my Dealership or FCA. My Jeep has been bought back and I am now in the market for a new one. Keeping my fingers crossed I find something suitable soon.
I purchased my first Jeep (2019 Wrangler Rubicon) in October 2020 and it has been in the shop for this exact issue since April 6, 2021...it is now July 30, 2021. It is VERY unsafe and so frustrating. I have had Jeep Customer Care deny buy back twice now and yet no one can fix this issue. I highly suspect this was an issue when the previous owner got rid of it and now I'm stuck because I bought it used. It only had 16,000mi on it and still under factory warranty..which hasn't seem to do me much good. I was so happy to be part of the Jeep family and now I'm living a nightmare. The dealership finally got me a loaner car after about 2 1/2 months of being without a vehicle. They have put in a new battery, steering pump, and wiring harness but same issues. I'm at a complete loss on what to do. I am hesitant to buy another Jeep for sure, but even driving and having everything glitch out and stop working as you are driving down the road is a little traumatizing!
 
OP
OP

Fsttanks

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I purchased my first Jeep (2019 Wrangler Rubicon) in October 2020 and it has been in the shop for this exact issue since April 6, 2021...it is now July 30, 2021. It is VERY unsafe and so frustrating. I have had Jeep Customer Care deny buy back twice now and yet no one can fix this issue. I highly suspect this was an issue when the previous owner got rid of it and now I'm stuck because I bought it used. It only had 16,000mi on it and still under factory warranty..which hasn't seem to do me much good. I was so happy to be part of the Jeep family and now I'm living a nightmare. The dealership finally got me a loaner car after about 2 1/2 months of being without a vehicle. They have put in a new battery, steering pump, and wiring harness but same issues. I'm at a complete loss on what to do. I am hesitant to buy another Jeep for sure, but even driving and having everything glitch out and stop working as you are driving down the road is a little traumatizing!
You need to look into hiring a Lemon Law Attorney. Let them review what you information have and if you have a case. If you do they usually will take it with no upfront cost unless they win the case.
 

drvn

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You need to look into hiring a Lemon Law Attorney. Let them review what you information have and if you have a case. If you do they usually will take it with no upfront cost unless they win the case.
Straight crazy. Thanks for posting. Very informative. No idea why you want another jeep. These things are sh't quality. Ive had nothing but problems. Whatever you decide...Best wishes.
 

Tia

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Straight crazy. Thanks for posting. Very informative. No idea why you want another jeep. These things are sh't quality. Ive had nothing but problems. Whatever you decide...Best wishes.
The last time they gave the vehicle back to me, the tech stated the engineer knew the issue was not fixed and stated "it doesn't happen often enough" so give the vehicle back to the customer. It is a huge safety issue! I'm trying several different avenues to work with Jeep and the dealership, but it is looking more and more like I'm going to have to get an attorney. I even tried to file a complaint with BBB, but could not due to Chrysler Jeep Ram not being registered with them...guess that should have been something I checked before buying a Jeep!
 

tomslusher

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This is a STRONG WARNING to all Jeep JL owners!
Jeep Wrangler JL My 2020 Jeep Rubicon “JLUR” could have killed me and my family this weekend. 2021-06-08_15-57-58


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.

HUGE UPDATE come soon and it’s not a good one!!!

EDIT NOTE:
1) This JLUR is a standard 3.6 with automatic transmission.
2) The ESS was turned off via the dash off button in both incidents. Always turn it off when I start the Jeep.
3) The tires are 315/70/17 BFG AT2.
4) NO computer “chip” mods were done.
5) The infotainment system is the Alpine with 8.4 screen.

UPDATE 11/27

Second dealership provided me with a copy of the OBD print out. The service writer said it was by far the longest print out of problems they has seen on a JL or JT. Nearly all the electrically powered/controlled system have failed or show faults!!
Jeep Wrangler JL My 2020 Jeep Rubicon “JLUR” could have killed me and my family this weekend. 2021-06-08_15-57-58
Jeep Wrangler JL My 2020 Jeep Rubicon “JLUR” could have killed me and my family this weekend. 2021-06-08_15-57-58


UPDATE 11/30
Simplified version:
Dealerships said “infotainment” system and alternator were damaged during the events making it impossible to sort through ALL the failures and faults.
Both will need to be replaced before they can even start tracking down the cause of the issues.

This will be at least a TWO WEEK process because there are no “off the shelf” replacement 8.4 Alpine information system available as these are “coded to the VIN” of each vehicle.

UPDATE 12/03

Spoke with Jeep Cares today and the ordered parts that were supposed to arrive on 12/12 will now not arrive until at least 12/21 !!

Also spoke with the dealership doing the work and they said they moved ahead with replacing the alternator and just for good measure both batteries. Upon doing so they discovered the infotainment system was now working(?) and could do further investigations into the electrical system failures and that I might not need a new infotainment system after all.

UPDATE 12/04

Well surprise the Jeep is “fixed” 😆 LOL time will tell though.

Ok here is a summarization of what I have been told the issues were (?) in no specific order because they don’t actually know the sequence of the failures.

1) Nearly all the fuses were tight and initially felt seated, but it was found they were only seated about 60% and needed to be pressed further into proper position. This could have caused some shorting and possibly limited surge protections.

2) The almost $600 “smart” alternator aka “generator/inverter” had the smart part burn up and was working solely as an old fashion alternator without the inverter aspect to “balance out the electrical power frequencies” which in turn upset the electronics.

3) The ESS relays were malfunctioning aka “burned out” and the ESS did not know what to do, hence why the engine would shut down and not want to restart or would not turn off. It did not matter that the ESS off button was engaged in fact it “might” have made the situation worst with it selected to the OFF setting. Just confused the ESS system even more.

4) Batteries were damaged during all this and although mostly showing holding of power and volts both had some cell issues and both were replaced for good measure.

My theory if what the dealership is saying is the cause of all this, is that the problem started with the engine bay fuse box and the fuses not being seated properly. This caused the smart “generator/inverter” to have to work harder controlling/regulating the electrical system power and it finally burned up. The ESS was the primary victim of the fuses and generator failure. The fuses not being seated fully, thus unknown if working correctly, could have been the reason why all the smaller functions went haywire during each event.

Please feel free to add your thought or theory based on what the dealership reported. It will help others that are experiencing these issues.

UPDATE 12/06

Back to the dealership on Monday morning there is still more work to be done. Lost steering power, curse control, park sensors, voltage output drops and a few service “xyz” systems warnings while driving though a hilly twisting turning frwy section on my way home. Surprised NO...P’d off YES!

Can’t wait to see what the OBD print out says this time.

UPDATE 12/08

This is the latest OBD print out of the problems experienced on 12/06. Still ALL electrical related !
Jeep Wrangler JL My 2020 Jeep Rubicon “JLUR” could have killed me and my family this weekend. 2021-06-08_15-57-58


UPDATE 12/11

Well its been FIVE days now at the dealership 12/07-11 and on 12/07 they are bringing in a Jeep factory engineer to find the problems? Since then radio silence.........

UPDATE 12/23
Jeep is still at the 2nd dealership going on two+ weeks. I have retained a lawyer to assist me with my issues and on his advice I will not be posting further information related to what is going on with my Jeep until all is settled. I have also removed the video of one of the failures that was posted on my Instagram.

UPDATE 04/2021
Sadly the electrical issues could not be solved by my Dealership or FCA. My Jeep has been bought back and I am now in the market for a new one. Keeping my fingers crossed I find something suitable soon.

Forgive me if this has already been pointed out (I didn't really want to read 19 pages),but I assume you could steer, just without power steering. And secondly, wouldn't the Emergency or Parking brake still work to stop the vehicle?
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