This is my first post here and, unfortunately, its problems with my new used 2008 Jeep Commander 3.7 4x4 Sport with 37,000 miles on it. I've had it for only three weeks now.
I searched other threads to see if anyone else had this series of problems and I didn't come up with any results. Forgive me if there is another thread like this.
I'm not sure if any of these problems are related, so I'll rattle them off in order.
The airbag light was on before I bought the car and I told the dealership they had to fix it before I bought it. They brought it in, and it turned out to be a sensor in the passenger seat. They fixed it, and it hasn't come on since. I only bring this up because I read on another thread that "crushed/pinched" wires underneath a seat was causing electrical problems for another Commander owner.
The second problem is about a week after driving it off the dealership lot, I noticed that I had a difficult time shifting it from park to drive OR from drive back into park. After several attempts, it would finally slide into the position I wanted it to be in, and I was good to go. One day, it simply would NOT go back into park, only drive or neutral. Even after turning off the engine and turning it back on several times, it still wouldn't move. This was a big problem, because the Jeep does NOT let you take the keys out of the ignition in any position but park, so essentially I would have to leave my jeep unlocked with the keys in the ignition - not good. Luckily, an amateur mechanic co-worker helped me out, and after trying several different things, we finally popped off both peices of trim around the shifter and started poking things. Luckily, we poked an orange circle piece that we pushed back in towards the driver's side, and it freed the shifter back up. I still need to have this fixed, and I am still popping up all the trim every couple of days and poking in this orange plastic circle to free the shifter. On to the next problem.....
This is fairly bizzare. I turn over the engine, put the Commander into drive (if it lets me shift) and drive off. The speedometer and tac work, as does the electrical readouts of the gears under the speedo and the direction and temperature under the tac --- but thats it. No radio, no fan/blower/heat/a/c, the power windows do not roll down, sunroof does not open, front and back windshield wipers don't work. I'm not sure about brakes/headlights/power seat etc. However, if I pull over, shift it into park, turn it off, and turn it back on - everything works and power to all electronic accessories is restored. There are no check lights that come on, the dash lights do not come on and/or flicker, and after doing the key jingle dance X3, no error codes show up. The problem is just night and day - either everything works or nothing works. So far, everything starts back up after shutting off the engine and turning it back on the first time --- so far.
The last thing is the fog lights. I pull the headlight lever out, the green icon on the dash appears for the foglights, but they don't turn on. I admit, I failed to test them before buying the vehicle. I'm not sure if the problem is a fuse, bad wiring, a switch --- or the off chance both are simply burnt out. Where is the fuse for the foglights?
That's it in a nutshell. Has anybody had any of these problems? Are they or could they be related? Does anybody have any idea where to start looking at for each problem? Please, any advice or comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I find it hard to believe that after 75 people viewing this thread and 5 days of it being posted, NOBODY has commented. I understand if you have no idea what the problem is, but how about a simple "welcome to the forum". This is my first post here, and I get snubbed. Nice friendly community here....
I would even take a "I have no idea, but keep us posted" or "maybe try this". Do I come off as an a**hole, or is this forum full of rude a**holes? Thanks for nothing. Peace out.
The forum recently gave me the exhaulted position of being a moderator along with a long stick with a pointy end which I have not found a use for yet.
I will try to give you my opinion of why you did not get many or any reply posts.
It is not uncommon for there to be many times the number of readers that will read the posts compared to the number of actual responses to a subject. In addition the subject of auto electronics is one that many people might not have the interest or time to really understand.
I do not think that anyone was being rude toward you, although we usually give people from Chicago a hard time. Now before you get upset, that was a joke....
I will give you my opinion as to the big issue that you mentioned relating to the temporary loss of power to several systems.
I would suspect that you will find the problem to be an intermittant connection problem in a harness connector upstream of all the affected electrical systems. Study a schematic for the location of a major multiple wire connector that supplies power to all these items. As a first step you might push all the suspected connectors together tighter in case you have a loose one. It is also probably being subject to some environmental condition that causes the intermittant loss of contact. As an example, heat, cold, or vibration.
Intermittant problems are some of the hardest to diagnose. You might even use a can of the cold spray that technicians use to make conductor shrink from cold.
To ultimately find the culprit might take a very exepienced auto electronics technician.
For this reason I would not be upset with not getting a response to this complicated problem from the first 75 or even several hundered readers.
In my opinion the members of this forum are very mature and generally couterous and will help if they feel that they have something to contribute.
Good luck with your search for electrical gremlins, they are a sneaky bunch.
__________________
2007 Jeep Green Limited 4.7 Flex Fuel, RR 2.5" 4 inch Superlift coils on rear, 1.5" Spacers, Bridgestone 265/70/17, K&N CAI, Flowmaster, Diamond Plate Locking Trunk, Blue Ox Baseplate w/D-rings, "Get Lost 4X4" Front Bumper, T-Max 9000 winch, "Get Lost rear tire carrier, 30 gal second gas tank.
Second 2007 Jeep Green Limited Leather HEMI QDII VES Uconnect Flowmaster OEM Skids Tow Package
Maybe the two will meet up soon edit: they did , I now have 2,now gave 1 away
I find it hard to believe that after 75 people viewing this thread and 5 days of it being posted, NOBODY has commented. I understand if you have no idea what the problem is, but how about a simple "welcome to the forum". This is my first post here, and I get snubbed. Nice friendly community here....
I would even take a "I have no idea, but keep us posted" or "maybe try this". Do I come off as an a**hole, or is this forum full of rude a**holes? Thanks for nothing. Peace out.
- J
Wow, dude ! That's not a very good way to get started on the forum.
__________________
2006 Steel Blue 5.7L HEMI Limited 4x4 Build Date: June 9, 2006 Hour 14
Interior: Dark Slate/Light Graystone with Saddle Brown Leather Seats
Quadra-Drive II, NAV, DVD, Trailer Tow Group IV, Off-Road Group II, Remote Start, UConnect, Rear Backup
Camera, Chrome Wheels, Magnaflow cat-back exhaust, Daytime Running Lights enabled
In my opinion the members of this forum are very mature and generally couterous and will help if they feel that they have something to contribute.
Good luck with your search for electrical gremlins, they are a sneaky bunch.
Huey-
Thanks for posting and thanks for the advice. I found out the problem, see below
Quote:
Originally Posted by rjhj
I've got gremlins too man, welcome to the forum.
Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app
Sorry to hear about that man, thanks for the well wishes. Lucky for me, the gremlins have been caught. I'll post the story for any of future Commander owners that are having similiar problems....
Luckily the extended warranty is covering it (minus $100 deductable).
The ignition was sticking past the "on" position in the ignition, in between the "on" and "start". So after I started the car, the internal spring would not put it back in the "on" position. This is why my shifter would not shift unless I lifted the trim and manually poked the release, as this is a safety feature. My mechanic also suspects that this is the reason I was having problems with my power accessories not turning on, because the ignition was in this "limbo" area in between the two previously mention ignition positions. The ignition swith has been replaced, and they reprogrammed both keys.
As far as the fog lights go, it was unrelated. For whatever reason, the relay was removed. It has since been replaced, and both fog lights work perfectly now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeep5253
Wow, dude ! That's not a very good way to get started on the forum.
I agree, and my apologies for being rude. But I honestly had no replies until I gave my rant, and now I finally got some feedback. It's the lowest level of attention seeking, but I finally got some responses. Unfortuantely, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Thanks for the help.
-J
Quote:
Originally Posted by HueyPilotVN
I do not think that anyone was being rude toward you, although we usually give people from Chicago a hard time. Now before you get upset, that was a joke....
Alot of people look at your post and read to see if they can help and if they can they will post something if not they won't. I would rather have 500 viewers than 10 responses of "sorry i can't help" or "I never had that problem".
I have posted many times, and sometimes I get a hit and sometimes I don't. not everybody is going to have the same problem. But people will respond when they can if they think if helps
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Electrical Power Accessory/Shifting Problems
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