So many issues with my new GCL. Is this normal?

[Juggernaut]

The only thing a normal user can do is check the software version in the vehicle settings pages. This is only the infotainment software version and basically useless. The only way to identify modules/subsystems that require software/firmware updates is to plug into the FCA WITECH scan tools, which are proprietary. All software and firmware updates are proprietary as well. So, non dealers have zero chance basically to see or do anything about it. It is possible that high dollar 3rd party scan tools "might" tell you the software version, but are incapable of updating it. I am speaking about $1-5K tools, not the free loaner scan tool from autozone.

Unless the update is marked required for all, they are not normally applied unless you specifically complain about a certain issue that has a certain update. Updating software is only done to people with problems, who complain about them, not everyone. Some updates do apply to everyone, some don't unless you complain. Obviously different trims have different features, which have different modules, etc... you get it. The issue is people here see user X with update Z, but it might not apply to them due to options/trims, etc...

That’s very informative, thanks for that post. I had no idea about that. I always thought you bring it in for service and they automatically look for updates and apply them. I already have to schedule an appointment for the airbag software update. I assumed other updates would be applied as well. I’ve never been told otherwise. Now that I know that they aren’t I can bring in my little log that I made to list the quirks I’ve experienced and when.
Thanks! You just save me some future frustration.

 

[eleceng1979]

Unless you take an FCA vehicle to the dealer to fix a specific problem, standard operating procedure is to not plug it in to check for anything. If going in for an oil change, you get an oil & filter change, vehicle multipoint inspection (visual), that's it. If you ask them to check for updates because of an issue, that is different. Understand that updating software can be problematic due to a large variety of modules with a large variety of software/hardware versions. You cannot upgrade module X to version Y because its hardware version is version E not version H for example. Typically this scenario plays out on older vehicles that have been made for some time as the modules change the hardware over time. On a new platform like ours, they're might be 1-3 versions of hardware already for example. On older stuff maybe 8+.

FCA is not Tesla. They are trying to be like Tesla with over the air updates going forward, but that has limitations and appears to not be working well/at all since the first update debacle.

FYI - dealerships hate when forum post are printed out and handed to them about updates due to these facts I've mentioned, because they have to explain it all. The customer just wants latest and greatest, but doesn't understand the "if it aint broke don't fix it" mentality. They only think apple software update mentality, newer is better.

 

[Juggernaut]

Unless you take an FCA vehicle to the dealer to fix a specific problem, standard operating procedure is to not plug it in to check for anything. If going in for an oil change, you get an oil & filter change, vehicle multipoint inspection (visual), that's it. If you ask them to check for updates because of an issue, that is different. Understand that updating software can be problematic due to a large variety of modules with a large variety of software/hardware versions. You cannot upgrade module X to version Y because its hardware version is version E not version H for example. Typically this scenario plays out on older vehicles that have been made for some time as the modules change the hardware over time. On a new platform like ours, they're might be 1-3 versions of hardware already for example. On older stuff maybe 8+.

FCA is not Tesla. They are trying to be like Tesla with over the air updates going forward, but that has limitations and appears to not be working well/at all since the first update debacle.

FYI - dealerships hate when forum post are printed out and handed to them about updates due to these facts I've mentioned, because they have to explain it all. The customer just wants latest and greatest, but doesn't understand the "if it aint broke don't fix it" mentality. They only think apple software update mentality, newer is better.

Very good info. I was surprised to learn it’s not like a computer operating system upgrade where it knows what applies to what hardware. Or even if the dealer had to click a box for what to update based on model and trim level and options. I’m sure the dealerships hate it all because at the root of it it’s a computer issue not mechanical. So it’s like they need an IT person not a mechanic. But that’s the way cars are now. I’m just as guilty as the next person. I want all the tech even though it complicates things. But to me it’s like a watch. I can’t make one but I can sure tell time. Just make it work and I know how to use it.

 

[eleceng1979]

If you want to geek out, watch here...

wiTech 2 is not at every dealer, not at mine. The older version is PC based and supports tablets I think, but not phones like the video. Also every dealer technically only needs 1 wiTech trained tech to complete warranty work. All other workers, work under this persons credentials and the lone tech approves/signs off on their work. My dealership services the entire FCA lineup including jeep. They have qty 7, 2 post racks, like 6 techs, and 1 person wiTech/ASE/FCA certified to work on new/warranty claims/software updates. All employees take online training from FCA to become familiar, they are not untrained by any stretch. What I am saying is the computer updates are reserved for the higher tier folks, very few are at that level due to hourly cost/pay scales.

Watching how the sausage is made is never pleasant, but is how its done...

 

[Juggernaut]

If you want to geek out, watch here...

wiTech 2 is not at every dealer, not at mine. The older version is PC based and supports tablets I think, but not phones like the video. Also every dealer technically only needs 1 wiTech trained tech to complete warranty work. All other workers, work under this persons credentials and the lone tech approves/signs off on their work. My dealership services the entire FCA lineup including jeep. They have qty 7, 2 post racks, like 6 techs, and 1 person wiTech/ASE/FCA certified to work on new/warranty claims/software updates. All employees take online training from FCA to become familiar, they are not untrained by any stretch. What I am saying is the computer updates are reserved for the higher tier folks, very few are at that level due to hourly cost/pay scales.

Watching how the sausage is made is never pleasant, but is how its done...

My grandfather was Italian and ran a small store. I watched him make sausage on several occasions!
Thanks for all this. Very enlightening indeed

 

[dave007]

After 8 days, I finally got my car back. They were able to fix the SOS issue, but the auto stop/start will never work very well, I'm told. The technician said the stop/start battery is undersized and unable to maintain a charge. It works intermittently now, but nothing like other cars with auto stop/start. I have to drive for a while to charge the battery and then it will start to work. Every other issue is unfixable, according to the dealer, because it doesn't replicate during the test drive.

Even more concerning was that as I was about to drive away, it wouldn't move forward. It was like it was stuck on something. I got out of the car and made sure it wasn't hung up on the curb or anything. I thought it might be the parking brake so I released it several times, and then tried to drive again again. This time, it finally broke free with a loud bang. I immediately turned the car off and had a technician take a look. He claims the parking brake was likely stuck to the drum. We took a test drive together and everything sounded OK, but I've never been so startled by my vehicle before.

I called @JeepCares, but there's nothing they can do. They were very friendly on the phone, however. I've had the car 6 weeks, and it's been out of service for 11 days. I can't say I'm pleased about that. I'm a California attorney so I can litigate against Jeep on my own, if needed, but I really like this vehicle and just hope these issues get resolved.

 

[Juggernaut]

After 8 days, I finally got my car back. They were able to fix the SOS issue, but the auto stop/start will never work very well, I'm told. The technician said the stop/start battery is undersized and unable to maintain a charge. It works intermittently now, but nothing like other cars with auto stop/start. I have to drive for a while to charge the battery and then it will start to work. Every other issue is unfixable, according to the dealer, because it doesn't replicate during the test drive.

Even more concerning was that as I was about to drive away, it wouldn't move forward. It was like it was stuck on something. I got out of the car and made sure it wasn't hung up on the curb or anything. I thought it might be the parking brake so I released it several times, and then tried to drive again again. This time, it finally broke free with a loud bang. I immediately turned the car off and had a technician take a look. He claims the parking brake was likely stuck to the drum. We took a test drive together and everything sounded OK, but I've never been so startled by my vehicle before.

I called @JeepCares, but there's nothing they can do. They were very friendly on the phone, however. I've had the car 6 weeks, and it's been out of service for 11 days. I can't say I'm pleased about that. I'm a California attorney so I can litigate against Jeep on my own, if needed, but I really like this vehicle and just hope these issues get resolved.

Wow that scenario with the truck being hung up wouldn’t make me feel very comfortable at all either. The other thing that would really bother me is reasoning the dealer gave for the auto start stop not working. This isn’t a new feature. It’s been around over a decade. It’s been ironed out. I had two Durangos that had the feature. Only time it wouldn’t work was when it was freezing cold out. It might show the battery was depleted. I think that happened maybe 5 occasions out of the 10 years I had them. The vehicle always started and never died. It was just an icon on the dash lit up. I brought it in the first time after it happened and the icon disappeared on its own before I brought it in. Dealer found nothing wrong. I’d imagine these use the same size batteries as the Durangos did. So I’d say something is wrong with your car or the battery if it’s never worked. Only time it shouldn’t work is if it’s very hot out or very cold out or if your battery is low for some reason. If it’s never working there is an obvious problem. The dealers explanation would not be acceptable to me. Bring it to another dealer. See what they say. If they say the same thing I think it’s time to go up the chain.

 

[Sarge]

My '21 Overland 4x4 V8 with all the tech packages is an electrical MESS. Stereo doesn't play anything from any source (sirius, Apple Carplay, FM) except sometimes bluetooth. And you can't adjust the volume. And the screen goes dark sometimes. And other times the screen seems to perpetually reboot. And other times the music will play for about 1 second and stop. And the key fobs can't be set to driver profiles, the McIntosh speakers are vibrating something inside the door panels, etc etc etc. The list goes on.

The dealer tried everything they could but have ordered a new speaker and 'new stereo' and other things that won't be in until mid January at the earliest. $75k with tax and snow tires and wheels and racks and mats etc, and I have to ride in silence and can't access anything on the UConnect system except things that have buttons to control them. Unbelievable.

 

[Juggernaut]

My '21 Overland 4x4 V8 with all the tech packages is an electrical MESS. Stereo doesn't play anything from any source (sirius, Apple Carplay, FM) except sometimes bluetooth. And you can't adjust the volume. And the screen goes dark sometimes. And other times the screen seems to perpetually reboot. And other times the music will play for about 1 second and stop. And the key fobs can't be set to driver profiles, the McIntosh speakers are vibrating something inside the door panels, etc etc etc. The list goes on.

The dealer tried everything they could but have ordered a new speaker and 'new stereo' and other things that won't be in until mid January at the earliest. $75k with tax and snow tires and wheels and racks and mats etc, and I have to ride in silence and can't access anything on the UConnect system except things that have buttons to control them. Unbelievable.

How many miles did you put in before the Radio/

My '21 Overland 4x4 V8 with all the tech packages is an electrical MESS. Stereo doesn't play anything from any source (sirius, Apple Carplay, FM) except sometimes bluetooth. And you can't adjust the volume. And the screen goes dark sometimes. And other times the screen seems to perpetually reboot. And other times the music will play for about 1 second and stop. And the key fobs can't be set to driver profiles, the McIntosh speakers are vibrating something inside the door panels, etc etc etc. The list goes on.

The dealer tried everything they could but have ordered a new speaker and 'new stereo' and other things that won't be in until mid January at the earliest. $75k with tax and snow tires and wheels and racks and mats etc, and I have to ride in silence and can't access anything on the UConnect system except things that have buttons to control them. Unbelievable.

How many miles did you put in before the problems with the radio/car play/ uconnect started? Or was it giving problems right off the bat?

 

[Sarge]

How many miles did you put in before the Radio/

How many miles did you put in before the problems with the radio/car play/ uconnect started? Or was it giving problems right off the bat?

It was fine off the lot, and drove it about 1500 miles (in two days to get home from the dealer) from Arkansas to Wyoming, I only had the screen go 'dark' once, which I fixed by moving the headlight switch to 'off' and it turned back on bright again. Then, within a week of getting home, It started exhibiting more and more bizarre problems, especially after I tried saving 'profiles' and tried linking the key FOBs to the wto driver profiles. Now Uconnect basically doesn't work and won't even be able to try to fx it until parts come in mid January (they hope). They're replacing one speaker and "the radio" (not sure what part, but Uconnect related) and waiting for another software release. It's basically FUBAR. So now we have to drive around with a Bluetooth speaker...

 

[Sharprock]

It was fine off the lot, and drove it about 1500 miles (in two days to get home from the dealer) from Arkansas to Wyoming, I only had the screen go 'dark' once, which I fixed by moving the headlight switch to 'off' and it turned back on bright again. Then, within a week of getting home, It started exhibiting more and more bizarre problems, especially after I tried saving 'profiles' and tried linking the key FOBs to the wto driver profiles. Now Uconnect basically doesn't work and won't even be able to try to fx it until parts come in mid January (they hope). They're replacing one speaker and "the radio" (not sure what part, but Uconnect related) and waiting for another software release. It's basically FUBAR. So now we have to drive around with a Bluetooth speaker...

I picked up a new GCL last week and drove it 1,050 miles home in a day. I paid attention to general break-in guidance but was down a qt of oil when I got home. I changed the oil and I'm hoping that I don't have anymore issues. Did you burn any on your 1,500 mile first drive? Thanks.

 

[Sarge]

I did not burn any oil, and I'm at 3600 miles now.I have read where it's not unusual to see consumption early on, and see it stop as everything seats properly. I would bring it up to the dealer and document it, though, for future reference incase it doesn't stop.I have the V8, fwiw.

 

[Sharprock]

I did not burn any oil, and I'm at 3600 miles now.I have read where it's not unusual to see consumption early on, and see it stop as everything seats properly. I would bring it up to the dealer and document it, though, for future reference incase it doesn't stop.I have the V8, fwiw.

Thank you. I appreciate the info. I did document it at the dealer.

 

[My1stJeep]

I've got a 11/15 build date and had to have a towing service come for a jump start yesterday. The dealer said the dead battery was due to a software issue causing the radio amp to drain the battery while the vehicle was off. Fingers crossed the update fixed the problem. Hindsight, I should have followed the advice of others here and demanded the software updates be checked before taking delivery. Lesson learned the hard way.

 

[My1stJeep]

My JGC Overland also would not start on 4 occasions and needed to be jumped. One time it had to be towed.

 

[Sharprock]

Regarding Oil Burning and Oil Checking...
I had previously posted about driving my new Grand Cherokee WL74 1,000 miles home from the dealer and had lost a quart of oil. I checked the oil today (at 1,700 miles) 1 hour after parking it. It was down one quart. I checked it again 5 hours later and it was exactly on the full mark. I've never had a car that took that long to drain down to the oil pan. Usually 10-20 minutes is plenty of time. Which would you all believe....the 1 quart down / 1 hour after driving or Full at 6 hours after parking the car? BTW, this is the Pentastar 3.6L. Thanks you for any info that you can provide.

 

[eleceng1979]

Hemis do the same with oil level. Both cases have drawbacks. Upper oil pan seepage when using the hot method as the level is higher when cold. Early WK2 hemis would smoke due to this issue and they redesigned the upper oil pan. Using the cold method would leave less oil in the pan potentially and would run hotter in theory due to less volume. I personally use the cold method as the hemi holds a large volume already. Due to the V6 filter being above the head, it will slowly drain back around the check valve as you have noticed. Much oil lays in the top end on both. FCA has installed incorrect dipsticks for years also. There were multiple TSB’s for it. The most important fluid with the least attention…

Manual says check a hot engine, after being off for 5 minutes.