tomgarrett

There is a bit of a touchy subject I would like to bring up since this is a FMCA Forum. I think we would all be a lot further along with this nightmare if FMCA had been willing to send out a shotgun e-mail to all 80,000 members about this problem and request that anyone dealing with this issue please let them know. That is the only way we will ever have any idea of the number of vehicle owners dealing with all this. But they refused. They said they had a policy of sending out as few e-mails to members as possible so as to minimize the bother to members. My comment was that they sure didn't mind sending me e-mails all the time trying to make money off of me for one reason or another. I would appreciate it if each of you also protested this policy. I feel very strongly that they need to adjust their policy based on the situation. In my opinion they left every single member dealing with this issue hung out to dry so to speak. Without some idea of the number of owners affected we had no leverage with Chrysler. I couldn't even get Chrysler to tell me how many N23 Recalls were issued. I finally learned it was approx. 295,000 from the National Traffic Highway Safety Board on my third attempt. But it is my assumption that this number includes many more vehicles than the ones configured like ours for being towed. FMCA is the only one who could have both alerted everyone affected that they had a problem and get us all an approx. number of those affected. AND they could have also alerted everyone that Chrysler was paying all expenses for some and none for others. I guess we all need to write a letter to both the Publishing Director Pamela Kay and the Editor Robbin Gould. Thanks, Tom Garrett

I just heard from Alex at Chrysler. He is my contact with the Special Engineering Group that was assigned to resolve my problem. He said that they had completed testing and confirmed that their new "fix" was a go. It was released to all US dealers on this past Friday. It goes out as an e-mail and dealers do not need to receive a disk. So as of this morning your dealer should have this new fix. If you are having problems please contact your dealer ASAP for the new flash. Then everybody make a posting on this Forum as to the results so we all know were we are. Since I have a new module installed that seems to be working I am going to sit pat and think my vehicle is fixed. I will keep testing it every few days to make sure. But it is up to all of us to keep each other advised as we know that Chrysler won't admit to yet another problem. We have to work as a team. Alex had told me that Chrysler would begin to notify owners to take their vehicles back in but I'll believe that when I get something myself. I'm not doubting Alex but I am doubting Chrysler. Thanks, Tom Garrett

Here is the latest on the N23 problem. First I, like Gayle Marlowe, had a new module installed by my dealer and it has been in for a month. I have tested it almost every day since installation and it has worked w/o fault. So that is one route to resolution. I have been dealing with this issue since January and Chrysler has picked up every single expense involved with my issues. That includes a new transfer case motor, several re-flashes, one tow and a loaner car for almost two weeks. The other update I have is this. When I wrote Chrysler I copied 15 others. I have gotten help from the Detroit Chamber of Commerce, the Arizona Attorney General's Office, the Michigan Attorney General's Office, my Congresswoman and my biggest stroke of luck was that the NBC affiliate in Phoenix aided me. They did not do a news feature but they contacted Chrysler direct. Within an hour I got an e-mail from the Manager of Media Relations with Chrysler. I forwarded info to him and he in turn brought the problem to the attention of what Chrysler refers to as their "Top Care Team" (neither claimed to know anything about an issue with the N23 Recall "fix"-what a surprise, huh) What then happened is that the coordinator (Alex) for the Top Care Team took over as my contact after getting all the info my Claim Manager (who had called me every week for almost two months saying there was no update but that they were still working to find a resolution) had collected. Alex then calling me every Monday with updates. Last week he said the Team thought they had come up with a new re-flash that would stick but that they needed more time for testing. This Monday when he called he said that the Team was certain that their "fix" was working and that he expected that later this week it would be released to dealers and that a letter would be going out to all owners with our towable configuration that they should take their vehicle back to their dealer and have this latest "fix" re-flash done. Alex is to contact me when the "fix" is released. So hopefully this nightmare is about over for us all. I'll let you know when I hear from Alex about the release. Good luck to all!!! Tom Garrett 928-300-7554 tomgarrett1946@gmail.com

There is some confusion on the Forum about which used modules are acceptable. It is not true that any 2005-2010 module will be a match for your vehicle. I've learned this the hard way. In fact during that window of time the module was assigned four different part numbers. This number is shown on the top of the module. The used module's part number needs to match the part number on your vehicles module exactly. Otherwise it will generate a number of error messages on your dash. My service manager thought these error messages were being generated because the old vehicle's VIN is embedded in the module. His service manager had told him that even though the module had been assigned four different numbers they were all the same. THIS HAS BEEN PROVEN NOT TO BE TRUE. Even 2008 model years had two different module part numbers used during that model year. This I learned the hard way too. Sooo today my dealer is going to install a brand new module (he ordered it yesterday out of LA) into my 2008 Grand Cherokee. I've been trying to contact Gayle Marlowe who had this done in early May to find out if his is still working properly but haven't heard from him yet. Will keep you posted. It is really going to upset all of us if this is the solution that Chrysler has supposedly been searching so hard for all of this time while we have all been dealing with this issue. But if it does work long term and Gayle Marlowe should know this by now then then we can all celebrate.

Could Gayle Marlowe please respond to me. After almost two months with that new final drive control module what results are you having? Have you had any problems shifting in or out of the neutral towing position or with shifting into four wheel drive? My dealer is about to try that solution and I would like to hear from your ASAP!!! Tom Garrett Sedona, AZ 928-300-7554

I have a 2008 Grand Cherokee with the N23 problem too. After dealing with it since January when I discovered I couldn't tow I have tried many things. When I discovered this forum and saw the success folks were having after locating a used module I began to go this route. I found one (the guy in New York is sold out and every contact he has is sold out too due to the previous posting with his contact info). I met with my dealer and we had it shipped. But like the other person the old vehicle VIN number is in the module and it won't work in my vehicle. The Service Manager and his tech have tried everything they know to do to remove the old VIN w/o success. He wants to know what others did to get around this problem? Please respond ASAP!!! my cell is 928-300-7554