JKUR Sway Bar Controller Causes Failed TIPM Symptoms
11-06-2023, 04:28 AM
#1
JK Freak
Thread Starter
JKUR Sway Bar Controller Causes Failed TIPM Symptoms
I'm certain this has been noted before, but on Halloween last week we had a very strange series of issues arise with our tour JK (2008 JKUR) that I thought I'd post in case anyone else is confronted with this wacky series of faults.
Our JK has been in tour service for about ten years. Long ago we disabled the electronic sway bar control, but when the Jeep returned from some tours at our Moab operation a couple weeks ago the Sway Bar light was flashing. When I investigated I discovered the connector housing on the sway bar was broken. I didn't know how the bar had been disabled in the past, Procal, dealer, etc.
Last week while driving the rig I experienced a cascading series of illuminating warning lights that ended with a dead battery and a stranded Jeep. First as I was driving the security system light started to flash, then the ABS light, then the ESB/BAS light, then the Check Engine light and the Brake light, followed finally by the electronic throttle light and the battery fail light. The tach & speedometer dropped to zero and the cooling fan went on high. I shut the JK off and it would not restart. I tried to diagnose the check engine light with our scan tool but it could not communicate with the PCM.
We replaced the battery and on initial startup everything was fine, but then the issues all slowly came back.
All this pointed to a bad TIPM. We ordered a new one from MAK's TIPM. It was delivered promptly (the guy is awesome) and installed yesterday AM. We did the required setup routine and all seemed well. I took it for a test drive and was astonished to find that all the previous problems slowly returned. I made it back to our shop OK and started to investigate.
Now comes the shocker. We could find no wiring issues, loose connectors, nothing. On a hunch I removed the connector from the sway bar and all the symptoms completely disappeared. At the same time I discovered water coming out of the cracked connector housing, and a melted terminal on the connector itself. Apparently the water intrusion caused havoc with all of the circuits and caused the dash panel "Christmas Tree." I'm astonished to learn that the electronic sway bar is so integrated into the PCM and other controllers that it could cause such a catastrophic series of faults.
So, should you ever be confronted with your JKUR suddenly acting like it is possessed, try unplugging the electronic sway bar connector and see if the symptoms disappear. Years ago I disabled the one on my '09 JKUR with a Procal and replaced it with a Teraflex Dual Rate Sway Bar. Not only was the trail performance improved significantly I'm now fairly sure I avoided the voodoo symptoms described above. It was a spooky Halloween, after all, and I missed our office party!
Our JK has been in tour service for about ten years. Long ago we disabled the electronic sway bar control, but when the Jeep returned from some tours at our Moab operation a couple weeks ago the Sway Bar light was flashing. When I investigated I discovered the connector housing on the sway bar was broken. I didn't know how the bar had been disabled in the past, Procal, dealer, etc.
Last week while driving the rig I experienced a cascading series of illuminating warning lights that ended with a dead battery and a stranded Jeep. First as I was driving the security system light started to flash, then the ABS light, then the ESB/BAS light, then the Check Engine light and the Brake light, followed finally by the electronic throttle light and the battery fail light. The tach & speedometer dropped to zero and the cooling fan went on high. I shut the JK off and it would not restart. I tried to diagnose the check engine light with our scan tool but it could not communicate with the PCM.
We replaced the battery and on initial startup everything was fine, but then the issues all slowly came back.
All this pointed to a bad TIPM. We ordered a new one from MAK's TIPM. It was delivered promptly (the guy is awesome) and installed yesterday AM. We did the required setup routine and all seemed well. I took it for a test drive and was astonished to find that all the previous problems slowly returned. I made it back to our shop OK and started to investigate.
Now comes the shocker. We could find no wiring issues, loose connectors, nothing. On a hunch I removed the connector from the sway bar and all the symptoms completely disappeared. At the same time I discovered water coming out of the cracked connector housing, and a melted terminal on the connector itself. Apparently the water intrusion caused havoc with all of the circuits and caused the dash panel "Christmas Tree." I'm astonished to learn that the electronic sway bar is so integrated into the PCM and other controllers that it could cause such a catastrophic series of faults.
So, should you ever be confronted with your JKUR suddenly acting like it is possessed, try unplugging the electronic sway bar connector and see if the symptoms disappear. Years ago I disabled the one on my '09 JKUR with a Procal and replaced it with a Teraflex Dual Rate Sway Bar. Not only was the trail performance improved significantly I'm now fairly sure I avoided the voodoo symptoms described above. It was a spooky Halloween, after all, and I missed our office party!
