hey fellow jeep creeps....my lady picked up a 2007 wrangler this past october.  previous owner did a lot of aftermarket stuff to it and being non-mechanically inclined i couldn't begin to tell you what was done.  but it's a sweet rig.

however, it's been having electrical problems that even the jeep dealer is having trouble solving.  anyone aware of electrical problems with this year and model?  not sure if they're just stringing her along or legit issues.

thanks in advance!

Nm. Delete

A little more details on the type of problems would help .

It depends on what all has been done, and whether or not it was even remotely done by a competent individual.

I can tell you that tracking down electrical issues can be a complete PITA, so much so that some shops won't even touch them.  A buddy of mine bought a '97 TJ several months ago, and was having all sorts of electrical gremlins....all of which completely disappeared once he unassed and completely removed the aftermarket alarm system.

My toyota has an aftermarket alarm. It draws enough amperage when the car is off to kill my batteries in two years. I bought a solar charger now to maintain the battery. I also shut the alarm off.

thanks all for the responses and sorry for the lack of details.  i was more just curious if it was a known issue with this particular model and year.  gremlins indeed.  for what she paid i think we'll let the dealer keep chasing it down rather than eat a big loss with trade in for something else (which is what the dealer suggested).

-mc

A Jeep probably wouldn’t be as big a loss, if any, on trade as you think.

Also most “aftermarket” electrical work on vehicles is about the equivalent level of letting a monkey loose with wire strippers in a vehicle. The first order of business with almost anything such as this it to remove or render inert the added and/or hacked up stuff.

There is a known issue with what is called the Totally Integrated Power Module that affects several Chrysler/Jeep models. Another member has apparently had extensive problems with it in a similar year JK. @Rossi.

What is it doing? Just saying it is having issues does not help those of us that know Jeeps inside and out. What are these Gremlins?

Eric O on SMA YouTube channel has had a couple of jeeps with bad grounds in the same spot. I believe it is c103 or c104 and lives on the right (passenger) side rear engine block. It's between the cat and the heat shield tucked up under there, easier to see from underneath. Watch his video and check yours.

I posted this issue here before.  My JKU started by acting weird out of the blue.  Luckily, I was in a highway's long straight stretch and could stop it safely.   In a different highway segment, my family and I would be dead.

Everything was normal when suddenly the wipers started working by themselves, very slowly.  They were off, since it wasn't raining.  My first instinct was checking the control knob by turning it.  As soon as I did, the engine stalled, and with it the brakes and assisted direction.  

I put all my weight on the brake pedal while pulling the parking brake and veering towards the shoulder.   After a mile or so the car finally stopped (I was around 70 at the time).

My wife was startled and after checking on her I opened the hood to see if there was anything loose.  Everything fine but the engine wouldn't start.  So, I decided to apply the computer's "general fix" (= reboot).  I disconnected the battery, waited around a minute and reconnected it.  Now the engine started as if there was nothing wrong.

I drove slowly back home and the next day started researching on the Internet so see what could be the problem.  That's when I found about the very poor Chrysler design and the company dodging lawsuits about the issue.

I took the car to a dealer that (as expected) did not find anything wrong.  Of course, the dealerships' flying monkey are not trained to deal with sophisticated issues.

So, I took it to a shop where the owner isolated the problem to a faulty TIPM and replaced it.  After he replaced it the car behaved normally for abut six months.  After that the problem came back.  This time I knew better to not touch the wipers' knob until I stopped in a safe location.  Repeating the previous behavior, the engine stalled again.  After the "reboot" it started again.   I took it back to the shop where this time the guy could not find any problem and he said he lacked the full diagnostic equipment that only Chrysler dealer have.

So, I took it to a different dealer, where its flying monkeys replaced the TIPM again. They told me that Chrysler knew about the issue but never issued any corrective action or recalls about it  Problem came back a couple weeks later.

Then they replaced the wipers' control module, and the TIPM, again.  Problem came back.  I left the car there for two weeks and they said it was fixed.   It wasn't.

The problem persisted and became more frequent until the Jeep simply did not restart and I had to tow it back home, where it has been sitting in the driveway since. I'm considering options such as simply sending it to a scrap yard, selling as it, or whatever.

The fact is that Chrysler vehicles are not reliable, the company it not reputable, and the almost-300,000 miles Camry and 200,000 Odyssey proved to be very reliable and really take me where I want to go aims back.   Jeep has a false statement about it, and, sincerely, I came to the conclusion that those POSs only work because their owners are always tinkering on them, and only go to difficult places after thousands of dollars of upgrades.  

My next 4x4 will be a Landcruiser, 4Runner or Highlander.  


ETA for spell and more details.

This sucks!

Try this; look around up under the dash with a flashlight for any "wire taps" (see the pic below), especially along the steering column.  I HATE those things.  Do the same under the hood.  

The wiper circuit is often used because it's power that's available when the key is in the ACC or ON positions, and dead when the key is OFF.  Chuckleheads like to power radios or even lights from there.  If you find them, try to carefully remove them and cover the holes with liquid electric tape (or just regular electric tape).

If you don't find any taps, try to pull all the plastic from around the steering column and inspect the wires- you're looking for two or more wires chaffing together.  Somewhere there's insulation rubbed off and putting power to the wipers is sending electrics down a wire that really doesn't like it.  It sounds like it might be a wire somewhere around the steering column, so look anywhere there's moving parts near wires; steering column, brake pedal, etc.

Find the fuse that works the wipers and put some tape on it, and the next time it shows the symptoms you describe, stop and pull the fuse, that might get you home without stalling.  


Attached File

Thanks!   Others suggested a bad ground somewhere, which I never found.

I use the sPOD distribution box for the accessories (lights, compressor, etch) to not have to branch out the circuits.  Nevertheless, can take a look in the steering column for insulation issues.  The dealer I used to take it to said that it replaced the clock spring in a recall.  I say "said" because they might have not some anything.  

One thing about bad contacts or short circuits is, why the engine would restart after I did the "reboot" (disconnect and reconnect the battery)?   It suggests a software issue, like the descriptions of the TIPM problem.  Why disconnecting the battery would fix a bad contact, at lest temporarily?  Of course, now even that does not fix it.  

Also, the problem never happened during trail rides, when the car would twist and bang, but usually in paved streets, and out of the blue.  Of course, could be a coincidence, but always got me wondering.  

Another thing is that I could never use the wipers again, since if the issue happened, it would immediately cut the engine off.  Once happened in a parking lot. I had just started the car and as I was pulling out of parking spot with the wipers on, the engine stalled.

For what I read, it can happen with any Chrysler car because of the TIPM.  It shows how bad the design is.