[iGavin]

I left Canada for a trip to the UK. The jeep was fully charged (I unplugged it before leaving) and left in a closed Garage.
About 10-11 days later, my daughter asked permission to take the Jeep. But; it was completely dead- I mean, DEAD. Nothing, no lights, no ignition, nothing. She tried plugging it in - NOTHING.

I then spent the next 4 hours of my life, from the other side of the planet, trying to get FCA to do something about it (do not get me started on the lousy mopar "my garage" that refused to allow access if you are outside of the country) - which was a complete joke and waste of my time. Gave my daughter the Jeep roadside assistance who seemed to think that we didn't know anything about jeeps and would send someone to "boost" the jeep.

The tow truck arrives and tries to "boost" (jump) the jeep. This fails. The tow company says it is the alternator and that needs to be towed to the Dealership.

5 days later (yes 5 days without the Jeep) the dealership informs us that it's done all the checks and updates and the Jeep is ready to be picked up. Only, they will NOT help in any way to get my daughter to the dealership, or the jeep to the home - another fine example of "Jeep does not Care"

The report from the dealership shows they did the factory recalls (daylight running light/fog light update and cable chassis replacement), and checked/updated various modules including the IDCM module. But no real explanation of why it failed so badly.

Around 12 days ago, the jeep was used again and plugged in after returning to the garage. 12 days later, completely DEAD.
i have ZERO faith in a vehicle that was new 6 months ago. Am I supposed to believe that roadside crew who suggest the jeep needs to be run every 10days +/- because there are soooooooo many sensors that drain the batteries (all the batteries including the EV)?????

I love my Jeep - but, how do you reply on the vehicle that you cannot leave for more than 10 days without it completely dying?? When I travel, do I leave it at the airport parking, and pre-schedule a tow for the day I arrive back?????

This is sooooo frustrating, there are no words for how upset I am over the issues. I am not feeling well, I want to see my doctor, but I have NO WAY of going anywhere this giant heap of metal - also, its been more than an hour since I called FCA support and they promised a call back as soon as they spoke to the dealership. I just do not feel the love.

 

[Huntid]

I left Canada for a trip to the UK. The jeep was fully charged (I unplugged it before leaving) and left in a closed Garage.
About 10-11 days later, my daughter asked permission to take the Jeep. But; it was completely dead- I mean, DEAD. Nothing, no lights, no ignition, nothing. She tried plugging it in - NOTHING.

I then spent the next 4 hours of my life, from the other side of the planet, trying to get FCA to do something about it (do not get me started on the lousy mopar "my garage" that refused to allow access if you are outside of the country) - which was a complete joke and waste of my time. Gave my daughter the Jeep roadside assistance who seemed to think that we didn't know anything about jeeps and would send someone to "boost" the jeep.

The tow truck arrives and tries to "boost" (jump) the jeep. This fails. The tow company says it is the alternator and that needs to be towed to the Dealership.

5 days later (yes 5 days without the Jeep) the dealership informs us that it's done all the checks and updates and the Jeep is ready to be picked up. Only, they will NOT help in any way to get my daughter to the dealership, or the jeep to the home - another fine example of "Jeep does not Care"

The report from the dealership shows they did the factory recalls (daylight running light/fog light update and cable chassis replacement), and checked/updated various modules including the IDCM module. But no real explanation of why it failed so badly.

Around 12 days ago, the jeep was used again and plugged in after returning to the garage. 12 days later, completely DEAD.
i have ZERO faith in a vehicle that was new 6 months ago. Am I supposed to believe that roadside crew who suggest the jeep needs to be run every 10days +/- because there are soooooooo many sensors that drain the batteries (all the batteries including the EV)?????

I love my Jeep - but, how do you reply on the vehicle that you cannot leave for more than 10 days without it completely dying?? When I travel, do I leave it at the airport parking, and pre-schedule a tow for the day I arrive back?????

This is sooooo frustrating, there are no words for how upset I am over the issues. I am not feeling well, I want to see my doctor, but I have NO WAY of going anywhere this giant heap of metal - also, its been more than an hour since I called FCA support and they promised a call back as soon as they spoke to the dealership. I just do not feel the love.

I'm so sorry for your issues with the 4XE. When it works its an amazing vehicle. I would immediately get in touch with a lemon law attorney and start the ball rolling. You may just have a bad one.

 

[michail]

Did they replace the 12v battery?

If I had to guess, that's the problem. It seems to die before the conditioning can occur.

 

[iGavin]

Did they replace the 12v battery?

If I had to guess, that's the problem. It seems to die before the conditioning can occur.

No, they didn't replace the battery - I requested this, but apparently was not heard.

It's now 2+ hows since phone for support!!?

 

[iGavin]

I'm so sorry for your issues with the 4XE. When it works its an amazing vehicle. I would immediately get in touch with a lemon law attorney and start the ball rolling. You may just have a bad one.

I agree, I love my Jeep - the color, the ride height, the tops - its amazing .... when it works, but who needs a giant pile of metal

 

[michail]

Did the high voltage battery go dead too? That's a lot of energy to just dissapear.

If the 12v battery isn't working the contact switches to the high voltage battery aren't able to close.

When the charger is plugged in it's supposed to keep the LVB maintained. I forget the time interval but I don't think your battery is making it long enough to reach that maintenance cycle.

I'm not sure why but many new cars seem to come with bad 12v batteries. Perhaps they were just stock sitting around for too long?

 

[Shakes]

No, they didn't replace the battery - I requested this, but apparently was not heard.

It's now 2+ hows since phone for support!!?

Bro, calm down. I mean this in the most sincere way. I know you don’t feel good but, these guys/gals are not on your time frame. In this day and age you must expect this. Just how things work now. The faster you accept this, the better you will be at dealing with these situations. First thing to do is buy the best 12v battery you can buy and put it in. After that, you will know if that was the issue or if it’s something else. My guess is that’s the issue.

 

[Kudzoo]

These Jeeps dont have alternators. A misunderstanding on the tow company. Your high voltage battery tops off your 12v. If the 12v isnt holding a charge, likely your 12v battery. If that's your issue, easiest fix on the planet. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[iGavin]

These Jeeps dont have alternators. A misunderstanding on the tow company. Your high voltage battery tops off your 12v. If the 12v isnt holding a charge, likely your 12v battery. If that's your issue, easiest fix on the planet. Fingers crossed for you.

I know that the 4XE doesn't have an alternator... that's why I told them I would be REALLY surprised if that was the issue)))

But; the battery was an obvious probability and surprised it wasn't just replaced, but I did not see the battery replacement in the first work orders. I am concerned that there could be damage to the EV batteries if they are being drained by the 12v. It's maybe an unfounded concern, but concern.

 

[iGavin]

Bro, calm down. I mean this in the most sincere way. I know you don’t feel good but, these guys/gals are not on your time frame. In this day and age you must expect this. Just how things work now. The faster you accept this, the better you will be at dealing with these situations. First thing to do is buy the best 12v battery you can buy and put it in. After that, you will know if that was the issue or if it’s something else. My guess is that’s the issue.

Please don't use "Bro" or "calm down", in this scenario it comes across as condescending, This is an expensive toy that has completely let me down, it is not a $20 coffee maker that drips. as for your suggestion re: battery, I agree that the battery should be replaced. It is a brand new vehicle under warranty, so would have thought this would have been done - but, I suspect that they ran diagnostics and decided that it was not necessary.

 

[HWEO]

All new cars have many computers drawing power while vehicle is off,most can only set 1 month and will be dead or barely starting,if 12 v battery not bad dealer would need to troubleshoot for excessive key off draw

 

[iGavin]

All new cars have many computers drawing power while vehicle is off,most can only set 1 month and will be dead or barely starting,if 12 v battery not bad dealer would need to troubleshoot for excessive key off draw

I agree a month may fall into the excess timeframe, but this is within 12 days. The service tech did find an excess draw the first time they had the vehicle and believed that they had fixed that. Battery tests (on the 12v) were done, apparently passed. Something must be drawing on the 12v, obviously, it's a heavy draw if it's sucking all the energy from the EV batteries too.

 

[michail]

I know that the 4XE doesn't have an alternator... that's why I told them I would be REALLY surprised if that was the issue)))

But; the battery was an obvious probability and surprised it wasn't just replaced, but I did not see the battery replacement in the first work orders. I am concerned that there could be damage to the EV batteries if they are being drained by the 12v. It's maybe an unfounded concern, but concern.

The HVB will be fine. The HVB remains isolated from the rest of the car and has physical contacts that must be made to access the high voltage system. The only issue is the computer that turns on the HVB can't if the 12v battery is too low, even with the charging port is plugged in.

The computer is supposed to activate the system every few weeks to keep the 12V battery topped off. This is only while plugged in and the hood closed. Even then it should have minimal impact to the HVB to do this.

 

[CNYJason]

I would buy my own 12v battery and install it. Yes I know you shouldn’t have to, under warranty, and 60K + cost toy BUT at least you will know just 1 item is eliminated. Small price for piece of mind knowing the easiest and cheapest fix is done. I always use a $20 maintainer in the winter as my car can occasionally sit for weeks in the garage.

 

[michail]

I'm still not sure the HVB died. OP, did you confirm there was no power left in the high voltage battery? The 12v battery is needed to regulate the HVB usage. If you lose 12v, the high voltage battery is physically cut off.

 

[MikeBoom]

Not that I’m fully up to speed on the 4xe, but I’m going to echo what others are saying here…I’d try a new battery and a maintainer/conditioner. I now use CTEK chargers for maintaining the batteries on all of my vehicles…two motorcycles, a Suburban, a Jaguar, and a Jeep (plus a UTV and a tractor). Modern vehicles all exact some sort of power drain to maintain their on-board electronics, and I repeatedly encountered dead batteries when traveling for extended periods of time, until I started using the chargers. Not since.

 

[mwalton42]

I’m not the fear head some people are, but doesn’t the battery failure option isolate with a jump? In other words, if the battery was the problem, a jump would have worked, right?

I ask because my 4Xe dies repeatedly and needs to have the 12v disconnected and reconnected. It’s something else and I know others experience something similar to me.

Jeep did recently release some patches to a bunch of the software/firmware throughout. Candidly, I’d be sure the dealer installed these. I think the releases were out a few weeks ago.
Good luck, I share your frustration!

 

[4xeNewbie]

I would love the know the actual percentage of people having these issues, I just purchased one last Monday and its been running perfect but reading all these posts I am waiting for something to go wrong and shouldn't feel that way about a new car purchase.

 

[Kudzoo]

The facebook group has taken polls. Of those actually in the group who responded, any and all issues from simple CEL to full lemon is fewer than 10%. And forums are where people go to find answers. When you don't have problems, you dont seek out answers online. But it's good to have a resource if you do have problems.

 

[michail]

Not that I’m fully up to speed on the 4xe, but I’m going to echo what others are saying here…I’d try a new battery and a maintainer/conditioner. I now use CTEK chargers for maintaining the batteries on all of my vehicles…two motorcycles, a Suburban, a Jaguar, and a Jeep (plus a UTV and a tractor). Modern vehicles all exact some sort of power drain to maintain their on-board electronics, and I repeatedly encountered dead batteries when traveling for extended periods of time, until I started using the chargers. Not since.

One issue with the 4xe is you would need to have the hood open to use a maintainer, which then stops the charging process.

It's supposed to run a maintenance cycle for the 12v battery when the charger is plugged in. But the time frame for that is rather lengthy for "iffy" batteries or cases of parasitic drawl.

Another thing the 4xe will do is use the climate control to maintain battery temperature in extreme temps when the charger is plugged in. But most of us are likely to not see those temperature extremes.

One option for the OP would be to remote start it every few days. Unfortunately, Uconnect doesn't have scheduled starting.