Ask the Car People.SM


Jeep Grand Cherokee Electrical Problems

708 messages,  Last post on May 20, 2013 at 5:24 PM

You are in the Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Grand Cherokee Forum.

What is this discussion about? Jeep Grand Cherokee, Electrical, SUV

Messages Page 38 of 71

#369 of 708 Jeep Grand Cherokee No Power by divadee1

Aug 27, 2010 (7:07 am)

Hi everyone,
 
I am hoping that you all can help me out with this issue. This morning I went to start my 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It stalled at first (which it does sometimes). Then I heard what sounded like a thump. When I tried to start it again, nothing. No power to the instrument panel, radio, not even the dinging sound when the key is put in. There is no power to windows, doors or seat either. When I tried it again, the key ding sound came back for a minute and there was a noise coming from the CD player.
 
I have been having intermittent issues with my Jeep Grand Cherokee for the last year or so:
 
Moonroof will not open
 
Passenger side windows and doors would work intermittenly ( I found that unlocking and locking the doors multiple times got them to work eventually)
 
The driver side door would only lock manually.
 
A/C worked intermittenly (and would only blow warm air)
 
Please any suggestions or ideas are greatly appreciated!

#370 of 708 Electrical Problems with 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee by freesoul87

Aug 28, 2010 (12:36 pm)

My windows won't operate, my doors will not lock from the driver side when driver door is shut. even when the door is ope now, I have to literally mess with the wire boot and stretch it out before anything even works. Now it doesn't matter how much I mess with the boot, the windows won't operate AND the doors will not lock when I try to use the driver side lock. When I use my remote to unlock or lock the doors, all doors will lock/unlock except for the driver side.

#371 of 708 Re: Electrical Problems with 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee [freesoul87] by tuggajb

Aug 28, 2010 (1:35 pm)

Replying to: freesoul87 (Aug 28, 2010 12:36 pm)
broken wire in the boot that you was moving a round find it repair troubles gone

#372 of 708 Re: Electrical Problems with 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee [tuggajb] by freesoul87

Aug 28, 2010 (3:39 pm)

Replying to: tuggajb (Aug 28, 2010 1:35 pm)
Thanks, I will definitely look into that tomorrow and let everyone on here know what happens.

#373 of 708 update Re: 2006 GCL Typical Electrical Issues by architectkmp

Aug 30, 2010 (4:57 pm)

Update 2010-08-30 19:53
 
Hello again. I am here with good news (but with an "asterisk" *).
 
As of this week I can report that , so far,
my electrical problem
" Re: 2006 GCL Typical Electrical Issues - Electrical Problem with Dash Cluster" has been solved (*).
 
After many components being replaced and, with 20/20 hindsight, we now know that some of them were probably OK, but it was difficult to know at that time.
 
  * Front Control Module
    * Steering Control Module
    * Shift Control Module
    * Ignition Power Module
    * Ignition Switch (2x)
    * Fuse Block

 
The last effort by the "team" looking into this problem was the big one:
the wiring harness.
 
The team included:
 
Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealer (local) --- Service Director
Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealer (local) --- Senior Electrical Technician
Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealer (local) --- Service Adviser
Chrysler / Jeep (Detroit corporate) --- Customer Service Representative
Chrysler / Jeep (Detroit corporate) --- 5 star Engineering Support
and lastly... --- myself
 
After all the above components being replaced and the same initial electrical problem still there, it was obvious (to me anyway) that we never found the source of the original problem. All the previous repair efforts have to be credited to a best educated guess. So, the last attempt at repair was to replace two (2) wiring harnesses: one forward of the firewall and the other in the cabin.
 
NOTE: it took considerable effort to persuade the Jeep Corporation to replace these components. Many phone calls were made and a lot of coordination and frankly many hours of normal business day working hours were needed to accomplish this. Many thanks to my company for being so tolerant of this saga as we called it. Some things just can’t be accomplished nights and weekends.
 
So… the two harnesses were replaced and now after a few days, (queue the heavenly chorus) and so far, no problems are occurring. Though, the final verdict is not in yet, it seems to be fixed. I told the dealership service department, that I will be closely monitoring this and it is not over till, quite frankly, many months of good performance.
 
Bottom line today: FIXED BUT NOT CASE CLOSED
 
An observation just after repair is that I think my Jeep GC is running better and smoother than when I purchased it from the Jeep dealer (used with 29k). I am now over 80k and the last few days I feel that the Jeep is running so much better and that I am now thinking that this electrical problem was there from date of purchase and just took a little time to reveal itself. If the problem was there at the beginning it makes me wonder whether the original owner noticed the irregularities and just maybe wanted to trade it in. Mechanical problems are one thing but electrical problems are and can be a nightmare.
 
If anyone out there is having similar electrical problems and it is pointing at "this module" or "that module", and they are replaced and the problem still occurs... then go straight to the wiring harness, albeit not an inexpensive way, but it may just solve the problem(s).
 
Regards
keith

#374 of 708 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee 6cyl. 4WD by gfhaze

Aug 31, 2010 (2:01 pm)

Bought mine used in 03' with about 30 K on it, everything seemed fine until the last 3 years. First after an oil change neither the mechanic nor I were able to reset the on-board PC so no matter what, I always got the error message after starting telling me to perform service as though I was due for another oil change, hit reset every day. I tried adjusting mileage in between to no avail.
Then slowly but surely additional electrical situations crept up. About a year ago I had to go to town for a meeting, shut off my Jeep all was normal went inside, when I came out Jeep was totally dead it seems that the radiator fan came on and stayed on killing my relatively new battery. I was towed and advised that a module had activated, locked on & died.
A bit after that I experienced very erratic behavior from my fuel gauge. While driving it would go from full to empty and other destinations in between. This lasted for about a week and then my gas needle never rose from empty again. My mechanic said my fuel pump in the tank was failing I would hear a loud noise and the old Jeep would die!
Still running having to make sure to fill tank to full and use trip meter for about 330 or so miles till next fill up, and remembering to reset the trip meter. Glad I live in the sticks always keep extra gas in the back, more danger for a rear end collision!
I am hoping for the fuel tank/fuel pump recall to at least resolve that issue, then I will have to shell out for the module repair and hope for the best!
Funny, in spite of all the crap I do still love my Jeep! )

#375 of 708 Electrical issues on my 1999 JGC by jeep99bummed

Sep 01, 2010 (8:21 am)

About a month ago my odometer digital display and my radio display would blink at the same time and I would hear a loud Pop in my car stereo speakers. Now my RPM and MPH guages have been going crazy and this morning they stopped working during my drive into work. The other gauges seem to be fine. Sometimes when I start my car, I hear a clicking motor turning noise that I believe is related to the guages and the car may not immediately turn over and start but if I wait a few minutes it will then start. What is my problem? Do i need to start with replacing the fuses? or will that be a waste of time? Should I see if my husband will replace the ECIU or PCU?

#376 of 708 RE: Jeep99bummed by jeepssuck

Sep 01, 2010 (8:31 am)

Sounds like this may be the issue that many of us experience with the BCM. That would explain the malfunction of the gauges & the clicking noise. The BCM should be located inside under the dash, near the glove box. On many of the older Jeeps, the contacts of the BCM corrode over time. The fix is to: 1) disconnect the battery (2) Find and unplug the BCM, (3) clean the contacts on the BCM thoroughly (4) re-plug and connect battery.
 
Realize that disconnecting the battery essentially "re-boots" the electrical system, so the gauges will initially look fine. If the issue doesn't re-occur in a period of 7 to 10 days, then you've solved your problem.
 
One final thing. Never, EVER take a Jeep to a Jeep dealer for repairs such as this. You'll end up paying hundreds, if not thousands without the problem being solved. Think that they will return your money if their work doesn't solve the problem? We both know the answer to that.

#377 of 708 Re: Electrical issues on my 1999 JGC [jeep99bummed] by barryz

Sep 01, 2010 (8:52 am)

Replying to: jeep99bummed (Sep 01, 2010 8:21 am)
Another thing to that is simple to check, make sure the battery is putting out at least 13.8 volts, if your battery is near 3 years old it may be getting weak. You can take it to any good parts store, Auto Zone or others will check battery voltage with engine running for free. If your battery has 14volts or higher you can rule battery out, but if anyone trys to tell you its 12.9 but its ok, don't listen, replace battery. If battery is ok, then clean contacts on ecu and bcu as the other person replied. More often than not, low voltage or dirty contacts on connecters is culprit, not the actual expensive control units. Avoid dealership. Call around to local owner run repair shops and interview them about knowledge of jeep grand cherokee. A garage unwilling to talk to you is to be avoided, it may take some searching to find that knowledgeable honest mechanic, but once you find him, establish a relationship, let him do your oil changes instead of dealer or quick lube joint, then he will be there for you when you need him. Join AAA auto club, it's cheaper than a single tow. When my battery died because i ignored symptoms like yours, they came to my location and sold and installed new battery on the spot. Once you fix, please post here what fixed it to help others, please.

#378 of 708 Radio- power but no sound & Trip Computer Issues by igozoomzoom

Sep 02, 2010 (12:51 am)

I have a '95 JGC Laredo with a couple of electrical/electronic issues that I'm hoping are related-
 
1) The radio display is on but there is no sound coming from any speaker. It has the optional Infinity Gold system with the Amp under the back seat. The stereo had worked intermittently for about two years until about six months ago. It hasn't made a sound since then...
 
2) Trip Computer in Overhead Console- The display doesn't come on when the car is started. Usually it will 'wake up' anywhere from 5-15 minutes after starting/driving it. A few times it hasn't come on at all, even after an hour or more. When it does come on, it works fine as it always has.
 
3) The Vehicle Info Center (behind the shifter, under the HVAC controls) it shows the vehicle graphic and alerts for Door Ajar, Lamp Failure, Fluids Low, etc. Lately, it just flashes with the time (which shows at 12:00 all the time). It worked fine until the last couple of months....
 
Any ideas on my electronic gremlins? Could it be as simple as a fuse or two? Or maybe a big fuse in the Power Distribution Center (under the hood)?
 
Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm trying to get it ready to sell and I want to fix these problems first if I can.
 
THANKS!

Messages Page 38 of 71

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement