That's right, you heard it right here. The cause of the stall bug has been discovered by our local Jeep dealer.
The wifes 07 JK has been pretty problem free, since we got it for her back in Oct 06. Today while she was driving to work, the JK stalled out on her. She was sitting at a red light. It just shutdown, and all the dash lights lit up.This happened once before back in early 07, and the dealer re-flashed. Since then we had had no more problems, except for today.
She called the dealer, and after work she took it in. It only took one hour, and it was ready to go.
The service writer told her that there were numerous communication fault codes, however none were active. They were all stored, so they could not trace it down, however, he did notice her keys, and told her the reason was most likely her keys.
That's right! KEYS.
Told her she had quite a few keys on her ring, and that since the keys were all made of metal, they could have interfered with the chip in the head of her ignition key. Either that or they could have hit the dash with enough force to interfere with the computer that is mounted within the dash.
Well there you have it.
So all you JK guys and girls, limit the number of keys you put on that ring.
We're talking airborne RF interference here!
She was at the dealer when she called and told me what the service writer said. I was drinking some iced tea and nearly choked.
Don't worrythough, I'll get all the information when I go and talk to the service writer in the morning.

 

Sorry, I don't believe it for one second... Funny how only the 07's suffer from this issue.

 

I had a dealer tell me the same thing about a year ago when I caught the stall bug. They flashed me and I limited the number of keys and haven't had it since. Not sure if the flash or the keys fixed it, but something worked.

 

Well, just got back from the dealership. Talked to the service writer about his comment to my wife. He told me she has alot of keys on her ring, and it could cause interfence with the electrical system. I asked if I should be concerned about anyone in the vehicle using a cell phone while driving, or what about going under a large metal railroad bridge. And what about high voltage wires and large generators. There was a service tech standing by the desk that had a bit of a chuckle over all this. I asked if he has any information to verify his key theory, and if not, please don't fill my wifes head with nonesense.
I normally would have never done something like this, but the more I thought about it the more pissed I got about this guy telling my wife something like that. Well I've vented now.

 

We had one issue with the bug back in 07, and this is the first time it has happened since. They did a flash back then, and BTY she has had all those same keys on her ring since the day she drove it home.
I would say the flash may have had something to do with it, after all once flashed, all codes are cleared. Most likely though it's just one of those things, caused by any one of the numerous sensors, or circuits in a very complex electronic system that fails to communicate for a split second, which in turn for safety reasons, shuts the system down.

 

I dont believe this at all, i had the stall bug repeatedly early on & i only have two keys on my key ring.

The Jeep & the house. no heavy ring, its one of those little cord deals with the rubber thingy in the middle. Just like this:



My house key is on one end, Jeep key on the other end. I have had it since the day I picked up the Jeep..

 

Yeah, I'm calling BS on that as well. Thats like Bluetooth not working because the devices you're pairing are too close together...

 

I believe in the manual it describes not having too many keys on the chain and how it could damage the mechanical part of the ignition. I presume from weight. Perhaps he is confused with this statement. I think that the weight damage I mentioned has been proven true though I have never experienced it and have a lot of keys. It's probably BS too. who knows.

I agree the electrical interference idea is bogus and misinformation. I guess I have been lucky. The stall bug is the one JK quirk I have not experienced. I have had the esp/hsa freakout many many times and it will light the dash up like a christmas tree. You would smell the smoke/fire from the brakes if you had that one though....

 

It is an easy mod that helps to boost performance loss from electromagnetic interference.

Materials:
0.0005 inches (0.013mm) thick aluminum sheet

Here are the steps:

• Locate key retainer
• Lift and separate the metallic ring
• Slide appropriate key counterclockwise around metallic ring until it is removed
• Inspect key for damage, replace if necessary
• Insert key into ignition switch
• Important Step!: Neatly wrap aluminum sheet around steering console, key, and ignition. Use multiple sheets if necessary. This is important to shield against electromagnetic interference!

Patent pending
Aluminum Sheet, Part #FOILALUM, obtainable from Machine154. Send $65, ships in 1 week.

 

Now you might be on to something there.
Perhaps the government is sending those nasty waves again trying to get into peoples minds during various times during the day. The beams may be put out to different parts of the country, which would explain why the stall bug happens so infrequently.
I think I'll use part of my aluminum foil hat for this modification.