anyone towing with a 3.6 Pentastar

That must have been some Hail Storm, dents and cracked paint. Wow.

Mark

phatsat67 wrote: Alan, what a bummer dude. Boat was ok I take it?

No boat, on the way home from work last Tuesday. Not sure how the gelcoat would have held up on the 200 but the Hurricane would have gotten destroyed. It came down for about 2 minutes and just beat the crap out of us, by the time we even pulled over it was too late, no where to hide anyway.

So no real reason to post this here other than I need to vent a little bit. The jeep has been in the body shop for 4 weeks getting the hail damage repaired. Final bill came to $12,000. The shop did a great job and really tried to get it done as fast as they could because they knew I needed it back to tow the boat. Needless to say we haven't been on the water since I dropped it off which is starting to get to us.

So anyway I pick the Jeep up from the body shop Monday morning and it looks great, I think Amen this is over and we can get back in the boat. NOT. The owner of the shop comes out and proceeds to tell me it won't run properly, it's throwing engine codes and is in limp mode, 30 mph max. "We didn't do anything to it, it just started doing it this morning" Of course it did.

Call the dealer, all I can do is bring it in and they'll scan it so I drive the 15 miles to the dealer at 30 mph trying not to get run over in the process. They scan it, get some codes regarding the emissions/exhaust system and try to clear them but can't. They then flash the PCM but that doesn't work. So dealer decides the PCM must be bad so they order a replacement, comes in next day but doesn't change anything. Truck still won't clear the codes.

They spend then next 6 hours trouble shooting and then notice the top of the windshield washer bottle is broken, interesting but irrelevant...maybe. They then notice that there's a wiring harness connector right next to the broken windshield washer bottle and low and behold it is damaged also so that is causing the bad codes.

The truck ran when I drove it to the body shop and didn't when I picked it up so we can only assume that the harness was damaged during repairs, most likely when the replaced the hood. Body shop says wasn't us but we'd expect no less and I wasn't up for the fight. Anyway the dealer is stand up and is going to warranty the entire fix but can't just repair the harness, he has to replace and return the old one for a valid warranty claim and you know what's going to happen next...

He orders a new wiring harness and it is not available from stock, has to be made up. You know, the Diesel is so new there's no spare parts yet and the harness is different than the 3.6, blah blah Yep I get it so spare me please. We'll know later today how long that will take but looks like we'll have a 3 day weekend with no boating again.

The killer is I could live without the truck if I could rent something I could tow with but none of the rental companies will rent and allow towing a boat. I've tried them all, only exception is Uhaul so if you see a green sport 200 going down the road this weekend behind a Uhaul, we're not moving we're just trying to salvage the rest of our summer.

The real pisser is that I knew going in on this truck there was a good chance there would be issues with the new engine, the recirc exhaust system, the complicated electronics in it, etc but in the end this truck has been absolutely flawless until this hail storm mess and human intervention it's turning into quite an aggravating deal.

Don't feel bad Allen. I have been so busy doing my share of (sweat equity) on this house addition that my wife insisted we needed that I have not even had time to get either of my boats out of storage yet.
To bad you don't live closer I have a F-250 and her Jeep GC diesel doing nothing that you could have used either to pull with.
Hope things turn for the better for you soon.

Alan I feel your pain.

I had a similar problem with Jeep spare parts. I managed to damage the sump on my GC while loading boat . It was a long and painful night retrieving boat with another vehicle and then waiting for a flatbed to pickup my disabled GC with no engine oil. I was told it would be 6 weeks to get a replacement oil pan. The whole episode resulted in a insurance claim.

I eventually convinced the insurance company to have my damaged sump repaired while waiting for a new replacement part. It actually ended up being a 10 week wait but I was back on the road thankfully.

The diesel is quite high tech and dealers are having trouble coping with this new technology. The engine has been used in Australia since 2011 and the main problems having been just software updates to the ECM. The DPF (diesel particulate filter) throwing codes has been one of the areas that has received quite a lot of attention. These vehicles actually have numerous computer type data buses running between control modules. Most newer vehicles have this technology even the petrol(gas) engines. It sounds like one of these buses has been damaged at the washer area causing the engine to throw codes. I purchased a bluetooth doongle that allows me to receive error codes via a app on my smart phone. Have not had to use it yet but nice to know that I can do this if I ever get stranded with a engine fault code.

Your dealer is definitely looking after you covering this under warranty.
Just check that your dealer has updated as per this Jeep Chysler TSB Power Train Update

My thoughts would be to try to get the dealer to repair this wiring while you are waiting for the new wiring harness. Actually I would even be tempted to stay with the repaired harness than having the dealer remove and replace the complete harness and possibly cause more problems.

lewy2001 wrote: Alan I feel your pain. The diesel is quite high tech and dealers are having trouble coping with this new technology. The engine has been used in Australia since 2011 and the main problems having been just software updates to the ECM. The DPF (diesel particulate filter) throwing codes has been one of the areas that has received quite a lot of attention. These vehicles actually have numerous computer type data buses running between control modules. Most newer vehicles have this technology even the petrol(gas) engines. It sounds like one of these buses has been damaged at the washer area causing the engine to throw codes. I purchased a bluetooth doongle that allows me to receive error codes via a app on my smart phone. Have not had to use it yet but nice to know that I can do this if I ever get stranded with a engine fault code. Your dealer is definitely looking after you covering this under warranty. Just check that your dealer has updated as per this Jeep Chysler TSB Power Train Update

Hey Mark, sorry for your troubles.

They did install that latest TSB but it didn't clear the error. One of the errors we're seeing is the DPF full but when they try to do a manual regen it won't perform it. That's why they thought the PCM was bad but again that wasn't it.

I'm going to go by the dealership tonight and look at the damaged harness myself because I'm actually not completely sold that this is the entire problem.   

been following the DPF problems on the forums but a lot of that sounds like it happens when people don't drive the vehicle enough, I drive about 60 miles highway each day and I haven't had a single issue with the DPF errors up to now. The tech can't even determine if the DPF needs a regen or if it's a faulty code at this point. I fear we're in for a long ride.

M3Fan wrote: Alan, please. You've got a 30 foot tow vehicle in the driveway. Bounder to the rescue! Parking brake on the ramp!

If I don't get this tow Vehicle problem resolved soon Joel I will be living in the Bounder! Dana needs her boating time to stay sane.

Mojo wrote: Can't the dealer loan you a truck to pull the boat??? Moj'

Nope, absolutely will not allow towing with a loaner.

81nautique wrote: Mojo wrote: Can't the dealer loan you a truck to pull the boat??? Moj' Nope, absolutely will not allow towing with a loaner.

How will they know?

Now you know Pete is going to ask if your just a parts changer or did you get your tool box out and check with vom? Oh never mind I've seen what's in that

81nautique wrote: Anyway, we're headed to Quinners for a few days so that will satisfy our boating fix for a little while.

Yea and any of you other meatheads are welcome to stop by as well, let me know!!

Gary S wrote: Now you know Pete is going to ask if your just a parts changer or did you get your tool box out and check with vom? Oh never mind I've seen what's in that

Correct, I don't remember seeing a VOM in his tool box. Just the other stuff CQ feels are necessary. I'm sure that some of the items he feels he can hopefully use!   

Being in the agricultural / trucking business the filters and burners have been an issue since 2008. I am surprised Jeep did not use DEF for clean up. We have it on some tractors and it has been working really well. Over the road trucks have also fared much better with it.

Alan That is the first I have heard about the coating inside the DPF causing problems. Hope it is the answer to the Diesel Particulate Filter regen problems it seems to be far less of a problem in Australia. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that we do not use the DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) downunder.

Your dealer seems to be on top of things with the TSB's I have to lead my local dealer by nose to get TSB's done. The top bushing fix for the rear shocks is one that I must get done next time I have to go back to them. My JGC has been trouble free except for my encounter with the rock and sump damage.

lewy2001 wrote: Alan That is the first I have heard about the coating inside the DPF causing problems. Hope it is the answer to the Diesel Particulate Filter regen problems it seems to be far less of a problem in Australia. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that we do not use the DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) downunder. Your dealer seems to be on top of things with the TSB's I have to lead my local dealer by nose to get TSB's done. The top bushing fix for the rear shocks is one that I must get done next time I have to go back to them. My JGC has been trouble free except for my encounter with the rock and sump damage.

Mark, my dealer is decent but I do wish they would be more pro active with the TSB. They haven't initiatived any of the repairs with a phone call, all have been when I bring the truck in for service. Maybe that's how it works with aTSB since it's not a recall. I brought the truck in so they could check out a rattle I was getting in the rear and they knew what the problem was without even looking at it. Service writer said they change them all as they come in, seems a little shady, if they're bad then replace them all. Not just if someone complains.   Luckily the dealer is on my way to work and opens at 6am so I drop off and get a loaner car for the day no charge.