bill_h

A few weeks back I'm on the highway in a traffic jam, putting along at 5mph and I hear the bell, get the ESC and engine light, then the engine quits. Mine's an automatic so I drop it into neutral, turn the key and it restarts, drop it back into drive. It's still got error lights on the dash and it's revving really high for the speed, but it at least gets me where I'm trying to go.

I learn later that it went into "limp mode" there. (thanks to this forum.) I take care of my appointment, and when I go back to the Jeep an hour later, it still seems to be in limp mode. I was about a mile from a dealer so I took it in, dropped it off and left it there.

The guy calls me a day later, said they cleared a bunch of codes, updated the firmware and everything was fine. They couldn't find anything wrong with it.

Two weeks later it happens again....once again, in stop-and-go traffic - bell chimes, ESC (I think that's what it is?) and engine light come on. This is in traffic on a major highway and I can't get over too well...I'm coasting, manage to get the engine restarted, once again in limp mode. Have to drive several miles to get to an exit and then find a place where I can pull over. Turn it off. Wait about 10 minutes. Drives fine, not even in limp mode. Doesn't happen again for a couple weeks.

Until today. Today was different....

This time, when it happened I was in traffic but not heavy...going about 40 mph. But it was different....

Chime goes on and EVERY light on the dash lights up. The sway bar alarm lit up and went out a couple times. The engine seemed like it was fighting to stay running - I'd watch the speedo and tach both jump wildly, and I could feel the transmission bucking trying to shift, or at least the engine stopping/starting trying to engage the transmission - not sure there, and it was noisy (top was down - in December in DC!) so I couldn't tell for sure. Finally it dies, but fortunately I'm on a downhill, and manage to turn and find a parking spot on the street RIGHT in front of me. (Serious karmic victory there.)

Once again I shut it all down. Wait about ten minutes. Start up. Drives fine all the way home.

So I've gotta take it in to the shop again, but I need some ideas on what to tell the dealer to look for. I fear that he may just clear the codes and that will be it, especially if he can't troubleshoot this.

Other posts I've read of similar behavior sound like wheel sensors or a faulty abs sensor or something? I dunno.

It's got 95K mi on it, and it's in reasonably good shape. Just wondering what I might be able to do here to fix it.

Thanks in advance. This forum is a pretty cool resource.

jlocker

Sounds like a tipm to me.

Mark Doiron

Yep, probably TIPM. Mine has been doing similar things for a while, but only rarely. My wipers also turn on. Last time, the rear spray washer turned on and stayed on after I stopped Jeep. I needed to get at tools to pull battery terminal. Must have been pretty comical me fighting my way past rear window sprayer to get into tool drawer in back of Jeep!

That said, it has happened only ten or so times in the last three years or so. So I deal with it. But I drive a standard--if I'm at speed when engine dues it immediately restarts. Like push starting. Chalk up yet another advantage for driving a stick. ;-)

jk_sea

Any chance it's just a bad battery?

Mark Doiron

That's sure easy to check and a good idea before replacing TIPM. I pull my TIPM and clean the connector contacts and add a bit of dielectric grease to protect against moisture when it acts up. Hoping it doesn't just strand me someday.

jlocker

Definitely do the full diagnosis before dropping the money on a tipm, but I bet that's where you'll end up unfortunately. The 2007 I had, I had to replace one same sporadic craziness. Lights, wipers, locks, run not run. Good luck!

phljeeper

X2 on checking the battery. I had similar symptoms and found a loose battery terminal was the culprit. Very unusual electronic issues and a shut down while driving.

JP.

I had exactly same issue on my wife's 2013....(hers was not killing the engine)....no codes at dealership and they don't know much anyway. So I went home and it Turned out to be a battery terminal issue, the nut was tight but the terminal was loose around the battery.....quick fix was loosen the nut and use large vice grips to squeeze the terminal than re-tighten the nut......problem was solved for us. I will be replacing battery terminals if it happens again........so it's worth a try for anyone

Mark Doiron

The problem with "this and that fixed my problem" is how intermittent the problem is. The last time mine did it was last month--4,000 miles ago. It did it one time. What did I do to fix it? Nothing. I could have fussed with the battery cables, but as I was getting the tools out to do so, it quit acting up. So I did nothing. The previous time was in April. I was with a group of Jeeps heading into Capitol Reef when my engine died, then restarted (because I was rolling and have a manual). About two minutes later it did it again. And that was it. That was probably about 14,000 miles ago. Had I taken it to a typical dealer, he would have pulled the battery terminals, cleaned them, and sent me on my merry way knowing I was unlikely to experience this again for many miles and months. But the problem has not been fixed. When the TIPM finally does go, your Jeep will be dead. Meanwhile, I've seen weak batteries cause weird issues that are similar. It is worth checking. And by all means clean the terminals while you've got it apart. But please don't claim you've fixed the problem. Maybe. But give it a year or two.

JP.

Well you keep doing nothing....I wanted a fix for my wife's issue and was only sharing our problem.....not claiming I had a fix for the OP