Jeep Recall N23 and P73

[dives]

My 2006 Grand Cherokee has 45,000 miles on the road with about 80,000 towed mileage as of July, 2015. Performed N23 Recall (reprogram FDCM) on Feb. 11, 2014 with no flat towing problems afterward. Performed P73 Recall on July 24, 2015 (reprogram FDCM) and 4 days later tried to flat tow and EVIC displayed "Service 4WD" and transfer case would not go into neutral for towing. Early in the following week, dealer reprogrammed again and diagnosed Code C140F. It was indicated that a new transfer case motor was needed to solve problem. AND they would order motor and install at no cost. In the meantime, I discovered that P73 Recall notice was for Quadra-Trac II and my GC was a Quadra Drive II.

I sent an e-mail to Sergio.Marchionne@Chrysler.com and the next day Mayone Nevils 586-274-8180 called to follow-up. Later I talked to Michael McDonald 586-274-8085. Chrysler reps assured me that recalls are issued according to VIN number and the prescribed fix would take care of problem. If not???....Call them back..... On August 10, 2015, the dealer installed transfer case motor at no cost. I have shifted into flat towing mode almost every day since and all is well so far. Will hit the road again towing soon-like. I'm passing this Chrysler contact information on to possibly help thousands of Jeep owners with recent 4 wheel low and neutral problems.

[gatornmemphis@gmail.com]

I just returned home from my local Jeep dealer.

I have had problems with the Jeep shifting into neutral while driving. I had the fdcm recall done in May since it has progressively gotten worse, like not going into gear at all to jerking like a bronco.

The dealer tells me I need a new transfer case because they can't get a reading and there are no new parts for a rebuild and also that I may need a new fdcm, all for a cost of around 2500 bucks.

After getting home and making some calls I talked to the guys at Mr Complete in Memphis, TN. They only deal in used Chrysler parts, and told me more than likely it is my shift control module on the transfer case and it wouldn't hurt by replacing the flashed fdcm-- cost around $700. A lot better than $2500, but what if it doesn't work?

This is my third Jeep and I am very disappointed in Jeep for not fixing their mistake, which most people in business would consider a deal breaker or just go to something else, which will be my next option.

[aphotowizard]

This "Service 4WD" is a well known and very aggravating problem. As best I can tell there were a few units that had a hardware failure in the transfer case which caused the transmission computer to shift the transfer case into neutral when the car was turned off and sitting in the drive way. Apparently several cars just rolled away. While I can not testify the foregoing is totally true, it does not matter because what happened next was Jeep fixed the problem with recall notice N23 dated 2013-06-13. This so called fix was not really a fix at all. It just changed the software to throw the error code and cease all transfer case operations if anything looked strange. Apparently a lot of things looked strange to the fix because the transfer case shut down frequently. The dealer charged me $90 to refresh the software which solved the immediate problem, but the trouble came back. In addition it appears that at least some of the dealers did not follow all the instructions and after the "Fix" the transfer case would no longer go into four wheel low. Jeep disavowed any problem until 2015-05-19 when they issued a fix to the fix labeled P73. This is another attempt at correcting the problem. I had this fix installed this morning and so far the system is working. Unfortunately I have only had the car back on the road for about 1 hour and tested the neutral switch twice. After my trip to Florida over Thanksgiving I will know as I have yet to take a trip of that length without needing to reset the computer (See Below)

I am hoping this really fixes the problem. If not I have already warned the dealer, back it goes.

I did discover a way to get the system reset when I am on the road so I no longer get stranded with a Jeep that either won't go into neutral or in-gear. Here is a link to one solution (see note 13).

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?502305-Question-about-the-quot-Service-4WD-System-quot-Message

I did not need to actually move the Jeep to solve the problem. Just remove the fuze, start the engine. Wait a minute. Turn off the engine. Replace the fuse. Then restart the engine. Everything works again for a while.

As noted in the FMCA magazine this month, Jeep is offering to pay some of the cost of the problem. Check this link.

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?502305-Question-about-the-quot-Service-4WD-System-quot-Message

This is my first Jeep and I am just a little miffed that Jeep would let this go on so long. I will look harder when I look for my next tow vehicle.