ESP Malfunction?
 

Sorry, I didn't know if I qualified as still being stock or if I should post here.:thinking:

I have been having some strange issues with my 08 2door X. It first all started with the throw-out bearing squeal shortly after I bought it (which no one else seems to be able to hear btw).

Now along with the squeal there is an intermittent loss of acceleration that almost feels like I am pulling something heavy. This only seems to happen in 2nd gear and 3rd with 2nd being more prominent. After a split second or so the acceleration returns to normal. Now I know some of you are thinking it is due to the underpowered motor but that is definitely not it as it doesn't happen all the time. It feels to me like the ESP is engaging but the light is not flashing.

Today as I was going down the road (straight paved road at 25mph) the ESP kicked on and would not disengage. The guy behind me was not paying attention and almost rear ended me. I had to manually disengage it (with the button) to get back to work.:banghead: Now after it has set for a bit the ESP light is off and drives fine.

There has been no modification to the suspension (still riding stock but on the 35" tires) and I run a Superchips programmer with a Gibson Split exhaust. Spark-plugs have been changed since I thought it may have been misfiring but this did nothing.

I was just curious if there has been other issues with the computer falsely thinking it was going to tip over. I have had it at the dealership and they are unable to reproduce either the squeal (they need someone that can hear high pitched noises!) or the loss in acceleration.

Are you sure that it is the throw-out bearing making the noise (squeaks only when the clutch is pressed and held down)? Because if it is a different bearing (such as a wheel bearing) the two could be connected. If one of your wheels was binding because of a bad bearing, slowing it down compared to the other wheels on the Jeep (also creating extra drag and slowing you down when you say it feels like your engine misfired), then the computer could interpret this as the wheels that aren't binding are "slipping" and it would kick on the traction control/ESP.

Hope this helps

Everything looked and felt tight when I swapped out to the larger tires a week or two ago. I spoke to the service manager at the dealership I go to and they would like to keep it for a few days to get a better chance of driving it. Only problem with that is no rental cars and my place of work requires a lot of driving. :naw:

With 35" tires, my esp came on all the time, at very inopportune moments. It actually became dangerous. I did a permanent disable on it, and havent had a problem since.

Did you have a lift installed? I am stock with the 35s which I would think would make it even harder to throw the ESP into convulsions because of the lower center of gravity.

Tomorrow after work I am going to try the Contra Code to disable it to see what happens.

Check your air pressure as well, many tire shops over-inflate. It might sound funny, but if I run 28 psi, usually no esp problems. If my tires are pumped up to 36 psi, the esp kicks in all the time.

Yep, all tires are aired down. Shop had 50lbs in them. :naw:

Sorry I must not have read your original all the way through. Yes mine does have a 4" lift. And it was almost undriveable with the ESP on. With the larger tires though, it is still probably throwing yours out of whack, I would assume as it sounds just like what was happening with mine. You can try the dealer, but I am pretty sure that will be their answer.:thinking:

This doesnt sound like what I did. I printed something off from Jeep which advised how to do it (turning wheel, pushing buttons and etc. in a proper order). This permanently disables it (until you do the order again to reinstate it). The only downfall that I have had in this whole process is that a light on the dashboard comes on and stays on while it is disabled. It pissed me off at first that I couldn't get rid of it, but I eventually just got used to it.

Not sure if mine is doing the same thing but it sounds just like my problem.. Question for you.. is the squeal after you let off the clutch and start to accelerate again in 2nd and third gears? The squeal is brief and only for a few short seconds after you let off the clutch?

I have the same problem with the hesitation in 2nd gear as well. It's not as bad as yours because it does not feel that I am pulling anything.. but you can definately tell that the pick-up is better half way through the accelleration.

I have looked all underneath and cannot for the life of me figure out the squeal.