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Jeep Grand Cherokee Electrical Problems

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

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

Messages Page 39 of 72

#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!

#379 of 708 Re: Electrical issues on my 1999 JGC [barryz] by ryelenik

Sep 02, 2010 (5:32 am)

Replying to: barryz (Sep 01, 2010 8:52 am)
I have a 94 Jeep GCL and have the same problems. It seems another thing stops working about every month. What I need to know is what ecu and bcu are? I guess I'm ignorant. Thanks. Bobby.

#380 of 708 Re: Electrical issues on my 1999 JGC [ryelenik] by igozoomzoom

Sep 02, 2010 (11:40 am)

Replying to: ryelenik (Sep 02, 2010 5:32 am)
I can answer half of your question- ECU stands for Electronic Control Unit (or Electric Control Unit, according to some). I've also seen it referred to as the Electric/Electronic Control Module, Power Control Module and Power Control Unit. My '95 JGC has a "Power Distribution Center" under the hood (with fuses)....I think they're all the same thing??? Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken...
 
I hadn't ever heard BCU before, but I did a search and it seems there is a "Body Control Module"...perhaps someone can enlighten both of us on what that is!? =)

#381 of 708 Re: car goes 200 yards down the road then stops [eddobbo] by thweattj

Sep 04, 2010 (7:24 am)

Replying to: eddobbo (Oct 25, 2009 5:20 am)
Did you ever figure this out???
 
I have a problem where in the morning, "sometimes", I turn the key and it doesn't start..no noise..if I keep holding the key it might start.. if I release the key, don't want to break it...and try again..it often starts up. It eventually starts and I find it strange that I hold the key for a while and it starts.. like 20 secs.. This is random, not all the time but when the engine is warm, I haven't noticed this problem.
 
Well a few weeks ago, I had the power to the engine shut off, then turn on in about 20 seconds with power returning I could drive without to much problem. Well yesterday, I had this same problem happen three times. The first time, I pulled in a gas station and shut the car off and turned it back on. The second time, I was on the free way and the car slowed down but in about 20 secs, power came back and I got out of there.. then about 5 miles later, I lost power again and pulled off the express way, it never returned, so I stopped shut off the car, turned on the key and it started again and I drove home.
 
Anyone had this type of problem? Like to hear your solution, write me at jtflex02 at yahoo too ...

#382 of 708 Electrical Problem with a 2000 Jeep Cherokee by thweattj

Sep 04, 2010 (7:29 am)

I have a problem where in the morning, "sometimes", I turn the key and it doesn't start..no noise..if I keep holding the key it might start.. if I release the key, don't want to break it...and try again..it often starts up. It eventually starts but I find it strange that I hold the key for a while to get it to start.... like 20 secs.. or turn it a few times. This is random, not all the time but when the engine is warm, I haven't noticed this problem.
 
Well a few weeks ago, I had the power to the engine shut off while I was driving, then in about 20 seconds the power returned and I could drive again. The radio and lights were on just the engine when dead. Well yesterday, I had this same problem happen three times. The first time, I pulled in a gas station and shut the car off and turned it back on. The second time, I was on the free way and the car slowed down but in about 20 secs, power came back and I got out of there.. then about 5 miles later, I lost power again and pulled off the express way, it never returned, so I stopped shut off the car, turned on the key and it started again and I drove home. I got a notification to look at my gauges and I also noticed the sentry key light light, everything else looked normal.
 
Anyone had this type of problem? Like to hear your solution, please write me at jtflex02 at yahoo, as well as on here.

#383 of 708 Re: Electrical Problem with a 2000 Jeep Cherokee [thweattj] by tidester

Sep 04, 2010 (11:01 am)

Replying to: thweattj (Sep 04, 2010 7:29 am)
Please do not include your email address in postings to the Forum. Thanks.
 
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

Messages Page 39 of 72

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