I will go ahead and make this post now and then come back and edit the dates/times when I have time to go through all my documents.

In August 2021 months ago the CEL lit up. P0304, cylinder 4 misfire. Okay, great. I'll take it to the dealer since I have the lifetime warranty.

Trip 1 (8/13): The service guy (SG1) says, "The code was stored 8,000 miles ago and the computer says there's no current misfires so we cleared the code. All done, pay us." I told him I can still physically feel it misfiring and asked why it would store a code for a year and not throw a CEL until now. As I get in the Jeep to leave, the CEL is on. I let him know, and he brings it back in to clear it. He said it was the same code from 8,000 miles ago, so they must have forgotten to clear it. He leaves while I walk back out to my Jeep. Guess what's back... I catch some other service guys walking out and tell one (SG2) what's going on. He says bring in back in the morning (Saturday) and he'll help me out.
Reading the receipt for the day, he never put in anything about the misfire. He did an oil change (which I had done a few days prior) when I asked for the 60,000 mile service. He did not do the 60k service. (I have attempted to do a few of these and the dealers always... just don't.) He rotated the tires, which I didn't ask for, and only did 4 tires, not 5. They did nothing about the transmission. It also had a P06DA code in addition to the P0304. The ECU logged no misfires, so they did no work, and they charged me for them. This trip cost me $299.48.

Trip 2 (8/14): I get to the dealer, park in line and go find SG2. He acknowledges me so I go back to wait at the Jeep. Someone asks us all to pull forward. I do and the light goes off. SG2 gets to me and I tell him. He says just come back Monday and see SG1 since they probably won't get to mine today anyway.

Trip 3 (8/23): I drop it off for SG1. Now they say it's misfiring, according to their computer, so they can look into it further. They say the head gasket is blown. He then calls to tell me it costs several hundred dollars to do the coil and plugs because they should do all 6 and they have to take the intake off to get to the plugs on the other side. I tell them to just do the 3 on that side and I'll have my better mechanic do the other 3. He calls me and says they went ahead an did all 6 plugs for me, so pay up. I asked if they were able to get to the other three plugs because they had to take the intake off to get to the head gasket. He admits that was the case.
The receipt shows this work. They say it logged no more misfires, but I could still physically feel it misfiring. They charged me for the plugs, let the warranty charge for the previous visit cover this one, charged me for a multi point inspection but then gave me a labor credit, and then charged me for the disposal fee. Bill was $155.56.

Trip 4 (8/xx): Code came back after a week or so. I take it back to SG1. I don't hear anything for a week, so I start calling the guy and having the front desk secretary physically hunt him down. He finally calls back. They can't do anything because their diagnostic computer says it's not misfiring. (It is.) So I suggested flashing the ECM since that's what the the CA and WA dealers do to my brother's Jeep annually (he gets P0306). He calls a couple days later and says to come get it. No charge. They flashed the ECM.
Receipt says... (still looking for this one).

Everything is "fine" until a couple months ago. Fine as in it still physically misfires, but no CEL and I have no idea if it's logging the same singular event as before, or if it's actually recording properly now. The CEL is on... then off... then on... then off... and I can't get any consistency to bring it in because I still don't know what the ECM is logging, or not. Turns out that doesn't matter when I called the dealer because they had no openings for 3 weeks anyways. So the CEL was on for that long.

Trip 5: On the way to the appointment last Friday (9/9/22) the CEL goes off. Figures. I get to the dealer, which is a different one since the first dealer obviously can't get the job done, and talk to my new service guy (SG3). I give him the history and some notes. Turns out he used to work with SG1, and really doesn't like the guy. He also got irate when I told him they did the head gasket, since apparently these engines eat heads and they should've done the head. He warns me that they probably won't get to it until Monday or Tuesday because the scheduling service is a 3rd party and has no idea what they're doing. I get a call Tuesday morning. SG3 says his master mechanic looked at the history and notes and refused to work on it. He said the other dealer is liable for their work. I pick up the Jeep and he gives me a receipt for no work done. I call the first dealer back up and get to make another appointment for Monday (9/19/22) with SG4. But at least the light came back on.

I also found out that I can get a rental car for 5 days max, after they determine it's a warranty issue, and this repair will take MUCH longer than that. So I probably have to go buy another car to get to work, or get the $500 Mustang roadworthy, which I don't have the time to do.

 

SG4 called this morning. The mechanic (M3) looked up the history and noticed that there were a couple re-flashes done on the ECU, and they didn't work. I asked if this means they are investigating whether the ECU is bad, and if it is being replaced. SG4 said he couldn't answer that, but said he agreed it should be looked into. He also asked me for permission for M3 to start manually digging into the P0304 code since the ECU is not capable of logging or diagnosis.

 

That is an interesting read, and a frustrating as heck situation.

 

Wow, what a run-around. I had a P0302 code (same code, just cylinder 2) a few months back after washing my engine. Engine would not run at first, then when it did, would run very roughly. I gave it a few days to dry out, but problem kept returning with an occasional P0302 code and rough engine. Swapped out the coil pack and problem is gone. There was a ticking noise at times when it was acting up. 292K miles on the motor and that coil pack. When I took out the old coil pack, there was one drop--literally just one drop--of water that leaked out right next to the cylinder 2 spark plug wire tower. Water apparently got inside and was unable to dry itself even after several days.

 

I got a call from Jeep Customer Care (got there by talking about the problem on bird app). So now I have a Jeep Customer Retention Specialist (JCRS). He went through the history of the problems I've had with this JK, mostly focusing on the P0304 code. He could verify most of what I told him through the history he had on hand. He said he would have to contact the dealer to get more information on other specifics. He was very upset that they did not immediately replace the ECU once they found that it was damaged. He said he was going to email and suggest that a "factory tech" or mechanic or whatever they call them be consulted for the issue, and that if the mechanic did not accept his request, then he would go up the food chain until someone does. (Side note: This happened with my parent's Gladiator Rubicon, including having their truck sent to the "trouble vehicle" dealer further north. The end result with that was more bad mechanic work, Factory telling them to plug every exterior hole in the block with sealant and trying to pay them off to ignore the problem and not Lemon Law it.) He also said that he doesn't know for sure, but me saying okay for M3 to do a "deep dive" means I'm on the hook for the charges. I asked if the dealer was supposed to tell me that. He said yes. I told him they did not, and if there is a problem then it will go to court. It's a warranty issue and the warranty needs to cover it. He said he would look into it. He was also highly amused with my statement that, "These dealers are more dishonest and slimy than DC politicians." Took him a few tries to stop laughing and tell me that he'd probably call back on Tuesday.

I still don't have a rental or loaner. I would like to know what they are, or aren't, going to do about that pretty quickly here so that I can snag a cheap beater to drive.

They replaced the coil when they did they did the head gasket. They said it was all full of oil. Still misfired after that. As for washing, I just wipe down the larger plastic surfaces. If water is in anything, it's from regular driving.
This also isn't the worst run around my family has dealt with from Jeep.

 

I got an email from JCRS saying they can't do any work due to inclement weather... but I'm at work in said weather. So... yeah.

I just called SG3 and talked to him real quick. He said M3 took in another vehicle while waiting to get permission from factory/warranty company to crack open the engine and poke around, which he got, so he'll be doing that sometime today. SG3 doesn't work tomorrow, M3 doesn't work Friday, and probably not Saturday since that's "oil change day." So I likely won't hear anything back until Monday or Tuesday, unless M3 finds something today or tomorrow and leaves notes for SG3 to give a list of warranty items to Mopar. From there he'll have to see how long it'll take to get parts in, and how long to install them, and then they'll figure out when's the most efficient time to get a rental, for 5 days only. I also let him know that I've gotten corporate involved, not to step on his or the mechanic's toes, but because this thing clearly has several ongoing issues that haven't been solved and I want more people looking at it.

I probably need to find a beater to drive. It'll ultimately cost me less. Who knows, it could even replace the Jeep entirely.

 

I called the dealer this afternoon (two weeks and two days into not having a vehicle), directly to SG3 once, and to the receptionist 3 times. I was sent to voice mail twice, got hung up on by the service manager once, and the service manager finally got SG3 to talk to me after I told the receptionist what was going on and that I was about to borrow a car and drive up there. I have noticed a pattern with this dealership: You get ignored until you threaten a physical presence.

Apparently M3 had just told SG3 that the head and valves were sticking/bad, and he was just about to call the Mopar Warranty (Fidelity, apparently) people to get permission for coverage for: head, valves, coolant, gaskets, and oil... but the oil is iffy... so that me calling is now holding him up. Now they can't do anything about the ECU until all of the misfire stuff is done, and M3 thinks the ECU might be good now, even though we know it doesn't log correctly, take re-flashes, or diagnose properly. So now the ECU might be "good" AND now they can't submit it all at once, they have to do it one at a time. I let him know about a TSB I had heard of for the transmission issue, which I read about here going back to 2010-11. I asked why the head wasn't changed a year ago (August 2021) when I came in before. He didn't know. I'll be bringing the receipts they gave me when I pick it up, especially if they try charging me for anything this time, and asking for that money back.

SG3 said he was going to stay late, so I might still get a call from him tonight with what the warranty company agrees to handle. We'll see.

I started working on the $500 beater I have in the garage this weekend. I am back to 50/50 on selling the Jeep or not. If I get this pile of junk going and usable before I get the Jeep back and it's still marginally functional, or they do anything screwy with warranty coverage, then I'm probably out of the Jeep gang. Sorry, homies.

EDIT: They're covering everything and the hours for the misfire. I am picking up a 5 day rental in the morning. Then they can look into the ECU and transmission issue.

 

Apparently the Mopar warranty only covers rentals if it's a Chrysler product. (That or this dealer has something going with the closest car rental place, Enterprise.) At any rate, I had to sit and wait for a Pacifica to show up. The girl at Enterprise called the dealer to ask if there was any way they'd cover a different vehicle so I didn't have to wait any longer (it had been like 45 minutes) and then said, "I called the dealer and [redacted] said you can get whatever car you want because they're not covering it because you don't have a warranty." I asked if his last name was [redacted] because he doesn't know what he's doing there, so she had me call SG3 up and ask. He confirmed for her that it does need to be a Chrysler, and that [redacted] doesn't know what he's doing at their dealership. If you're wondering, Mr. [redacted] is SG1 in this story.

So anyway, M3 is putting a new head and valves in my Jeep. He thinks he can have it done today. Neither I nor SG3 agree with him on that timeline.

I guess I'll go see if I can pick up some single moms in the Pacifica while I have it.

 

I returned the rental this morning. It was due back. I got a ride over to the dealer to see what was going on. Turns out the Jeep had just been fixed(?) and was ready to pick up.

They charged me $100 for the warranty claim on the head being bad, which is normal, and they charged me another $100 to tell me that they couldn't find a problem with the transmission. The mechanic said I probably just don't shift correctly, even though there is a TSB for this issue, and I've not had the problem with a half dozen other manuals I've driven. They also charged me $30 to use the trash can, which appears to be standard. They also gave me a key for the other issue I am having, which does not solve that problem at all. The mechanic also decided that the ECU is perfectly good now too.

Then they said the rental isn't covered, after they said it was covered, and stuck me with the bill. I am in contact with Jeep Customer Care, after getting bounced around to 5 different people at Jeep/Mopar, about them possibly having that taken care of for me since the dealership is either incompetent or dishonest. If that doesn't work, I am getting lawyers involved.
I am also trying to find the service manager's name. I got a first name and first initial of his last name. The front desk secretary is playing dumb and won't give it. You can't get the guy on the phone because he either lets it go to voicemail or hangs up on you. I found his boss's name on their website, and through the rental company.

I'm out, guys. I am selling the Jeep. I am done with Mopar. (This isn't even my family's worst experience with them.) I don't even know if the misfire is actually fixed yet either. The light could come back on in 3 days, like it did last time.

 

That sucks, have you tried contacting any of the executive team? Elliot advocacy lists exec contacts, even if you are done with it, it might be beneficial to let them know how bad the f'd up.

https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/chrysler/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christia...ynziZOQA%3D%3D