ISO advice on 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland -- check engine light is constantly on
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Anonymous
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In 2017, we bought a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland for $40,000. It had been my dream car, and I was pretty excited.
It has about 55,000 miles on it. We take good care of it. We bought the maintenance plan when we bought the car, and we've taken it in for all routine maintenance. In the summer of 2020, the check engine light started coming on regularly. Each time, we'd take it in, and the dealership would replace a part or do some fine tuning. They even opened a ticket with corporate headquarters in Michigan to try to find the problem. (The problem had to do with the environmental system.) Fortunately, there were no big costs to us. And the dealership genuinely did a lot of evaluation and work on the vehicle. This last time, they thought that they had fixed it and that the check engine light would not come on again. Unfortunately, the light is back on. It makes me think that this Jeep, even though I love the look of it, is kind of a piece of junk. (In the past, I always owned Hondas and Toyotas, and never had any problems other than routine maintenance.) Do you have any advice? Just bring it back to the dealership again, and keep hoping that they can find the problem? I would sell it and get an Acura SUV, but I worry I would not get much for it, since the check engine light is a perennial problem. (The current value is $23,000.) |
Anonymous
| Would be very helpful to know what codes it is throwing. |
Anonymous
| If you lost 17k in value over 4 years of use, I'd say that's probably an okay level of depreciation. Get it fixed, sell it or trade it in. If there is a persistent problem, you don't want to keep fighting it. |
Anonymous
| Buy a handheld code reader and clear the code. Sell it to Carmax or Carvana. Buy a Lexus RX or lease Jeeps if you want to stick with the brand. |
Anonymous
They will know you cleared the codes if you go that route--they check to see if any monitors are still unset. Plus, dont be that guy anyway. |
Anonymous
OP here. The codes were having to do with the environmental system. (The Jeep rep explained the codes, but I did not write them down at the time. She said the vehicle was still safe to drive.) They have tried to clear the code (by doing different repairs) multiple times. After each repair, then they would drive the vehicle for 50 miles or so to make sure that the CEL does not come on, all before returning it to us. So I know that the Jeep techs are working as hard as they can. I just wonder if I got a lemon. |
Anonymous
| Get on some of the Jeep groups on facebook. Lots or really helpful (and some nasty) folks there who may be able to answer it better. |
Anonymous
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I’d bet $100 it’s the downstream O2 sensor.
You can drive it forever with the light on for this issue. Makes absolutely zero difference. The upstream O2 sensor does all the work in terms of F/A mixture, the downstream sensor just measures whether the cat is within normal NO2 and HS2 specs. |
Anonymous
Yep. I have the same issue with my ML 350 (2011). Check Engine light keeps coming on. Had the code checked several times and everything was related to the O2 sensor. |
Anonymous
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It's pretty easy to read your own codes on most newer cars, without a mechanic or a scanner. Googling your make and model and "get codes" brings up a lot of results, here's one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEdooV1XliI Then once you have the code you can google that and learn a lot more. Not saying you don't need mechanics to figure out your specific problem but knowing your codes and reading up on the specific problem yourself also helps. Good Luck! --a grandma in my 60s, I did it, you can too |
Anonymous
That was my initial guess but why do you think dealer guys couldn't fix it then? - np |
Anonymous
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OP here again.
The dealership finally thinks that it has a solution to our check engine light problem. (They are making a repair to the fuel lines that they believe will clear the problem. We've had the vehicle there now for 10 days, and it will take another 2-4 days.) They are not charging us for the repairs. But we still feel frustrated because our Jeep has been in the shop now for 10 weeks over the course of 2020-2021. They've never let us use a loaner vehicle. A few times, they have given us a $100 credit for Lyft. (This covers very few rides because there appears to be a shortage of Lyft drivers, and so the prices have really shot up, at least at the times we've tried to use Lyft.) (Prior to owning this Jeep, we always had Hondas and Toyotas, and never had need for extensive repairs and diagnostic issues. We would sell this vehicle, but would anyone even want to buy it? It still "looks" branch new, and has a lot of great features, which we can use when it's not at the dealership under repair.) Here's my question: Given that the vehicle has had to be in the shop for so many weeks, I feel like I should send an overall complaint to the Jeep corporation to let them know that at least 1 of their vehicles out there is a lemon. Maybe they won't care, but I feel like the dealership kind of feels like it's doing us a favor (by not charging us for the maintenance). But we're just kind of bummed to have such a lemon of a car. It's kind of a joke in our household -- "Where is the Jeep? Of course, it's at the dealership where they are working on the check engine light." Other than just not buying a Jeep again, would u write a letter to corporate? |
Anonymous
^^^^ This, 100% guaranteed. Downstream O2 sens. Can’t believe a dealer didn’t find this, it’s common knowledge. ^^^ |
Anonymous
I guessing they just cleared the code and dumped a bottle of Seafoam in it, figuring it wouldn’t come on again got a while, while still billing you for an hour labor for 3 minutes work. |
Anonymous
| Get a roll of electrical tape. Cut off a small piece. Tape it over the light. |