troyatl

Hello,

Please help. I'm at my wits end and am about to sell this Jeep. I don't want to!

I've got the possessed Jeep aka Christmas Tree dash issue. The symptoms:

- Radio turns off then back on again a few seconds later
- This starts off slowly, maybe once every 30 mins or so, then rapidly increases to multiple times per minute.

• Dash lights all light up, an audible ding is heard, gauges drop to 0 then return back a moment later, "CHECK TPM SYSTEM" shows on the Info screen, and the wipers turn on by themselves.
• Once dash thing settles down, only an airbag light is left on for about another 20 seconds or so, then it turns off

The above will repeat multiple times throughout the drive. Eventually the radio will stop freaking out and just remain off permanently, until the constant 12V fuse is pulled and reinserted ~10 seconds later.

These symptoms all survive an ignition off and engine restart.

Things I've tried:

• Replaced battery and negative post terminal connector
• Replaced Radio with different model (worth noting that I am using an RP4-CH11 canbus adapter with my aftermarket radio so I can retain factory amp (it does have one and an Alpine sub) and the steering wheel controls
• Replaced TIPM with a rebuilt MAKS unit. Cleaned connectors with contact cleaner before plugging back in

I replaced the TIPM just yesterday, and today went on an 8hr road trip. The first half of the trip was uneventful. Really thought I had this thing licked, because no issues for the first 3-4 hours. Then, slowly it started... first with the radio infrequently, then more frequently, then the dash, then the radio constantly going in and out. The last couple hours of the drive the whole thing was going nuts. I don't know why it escalated like that.

I was really hoping it was going to be the TIPM since that thing cost a lot to replace. But it doesn't seem to have made any difference.

Another thing I noticed is when I check the voltage with the Jeep running, it's around 14-14.1 volts. If I remove the negative post from the battery, the voltage goes haywire - anywhere from 14.3 to 14.7 volts, and the engine bogs down. Dash lights start blinking (ABS, others) and dinging. Reconnect the neg terminal and everything is steady again.

Could it be the alternator? Did I receive another bad TIPM? Do I have a loose connection somewhere? I haven't replaced the positive battery terminal yet, but that's on my list. It does look solidly connected though; the negative one was a little loose and had dark marks on the inside. So that one was replaced with a full contact connector.

Could it be the RP4-CH11 canbus adapter? I do plan on removing that for science, but unfortunately that means I'l have to be without sound unless I run all new wires and replace all thespeakers to 4ohm ones. Maybe the amp is going bad?

Could it be the hitch brake wiring harness or rear camera I tapped into my reverse/brake lights?

I cleared codes - there were a ton after replacing the TIPM. Only code remains is the "lost communication with radio" code, which I presume will always be there since I removed the OEM radio. After today's 8 hr road trip of radio flickering, dash dinging joy, I read the codes again and just that one radio code, nothing new.

Help pls

user 729872082

Sounds like you have tried many things on this. I assume when you measure the voltage after disconnecting the battery it is on the cables checking the alternator output. If this is correct it seems like the alternator/regulator is bad. You also said the engine bogged down when you disconnected the negative cable again indicating a problem with the alternator/regulator. You can have the alternator tested for free at places like Autozone. Just me 2 cents.

Jay2013jk

Welcome to JKF. Good friendly knowledgeable group on the forum Like the suggestion by RonandJanet.. Easily done, and N/C. Keep the forum posted on the results; could help another some day.

mr.travo

Ok! Well I had this exact same problem. What it ended up being for me was my winch ground was not allowing the ground on the battery to make good contact. The dash lights and ding was at random and the longer it went on the worse it got. Make sure you don't have any wires attached on the terminals where the 10mm nut tightens the clamp. I ended up unhooking my winch and drove it for a few days to confirm that was the issue. It fixed it and I went ahead and upgraded my wires from JeepWires.com and now everything is totally happy. I should have done that upgrade a long time ago. It's crazy how the factory uses such small wiring.

Let me know if this fixes your problem. I will try and post up some pictures of my current battery setup. I have one more phase before I will be happy with the battery wiring.

--Travis

troyatl

I plan on doing the big 7 upgrade. Only stock wiring on the terminals. I did replace the neg terminal. And the pos term is next, but I’m gonna hold off and use the terms that come with the wiring kit.

troyatl

Update. I played around with it today when I noticed the radio wouldn’t turn on. The culprit was the RP4-CH11 canbus adapter I’m using for my steering wheel controls and amp. On the harness there is yellow constant 12v going to a relay that’s controlled by the RP4-CH11 adapter. There’s always 12v, but the relay doesn’t reliably turn on. And when it is on, it wasn’t reliably staying on. I reseated the main connector in the RP4-CH11 (it includes the red switched power going to the relay then to the radio) and it seems fine for now.

ideally i would remove this adapter, but it’s going to require some effort because I need the factory amp right now bc the speakers are all 2 ohm.

JodiMrFixitSykes

I am having the same problem with 2018 JKU can you post some pics for us to see your fix solution. I heard things from it being bad CanBUS soldering to it being the clock spring issue and to bad ground straps. I too am at wits end after replacing so many possible parts trying to fix this without no resolve.