My '05 Renny WON'T GO? **UPDATED**

PBrug · **Posted:** Thu Jul 28, 2005 11:10 pm

I have an '05 Renegade with just over 4400 easy miles on it. The wife, kid and I enjoyed a nice dinner, went to Wal-Mart to spend half my pay check, then we returned to the Renny. I started it up, it ran, but I could tell it had NO power. When I would Rev the engine, it had little power, and would kind of cut out every other second or so. The "MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LIGHT" was lit. I am no mechanic, so I have no idea what is wrong with it. I was a lot closer to the Jeep dealer then I was to home, so I slowly drove it there (only about 1 - 2 miles). They were closed, so I left it there till tomorrow morning, when I will call them. When I was driving it, it seemed like it just wanted to die, and it had no engine power. Also when I was driving it, the "MALFUNCTION INDICATION LIGHT" started to blink. It would just chug along, putting down the road. I though these days were over when I got my first new vechicle.

My dealership was really nice to deal with on my first oil change and when I noticed my fog light had taken on some water, which they replaced. I hope I have a good experience this time.

Anyone have a similar experience, or know what might be wrong? Maybe a sensor or something?

PBrug · **Posted:** Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:31 am

I called the dealer this morning, and explained to them what was going on. They said they hoped to get it taken care of by the end of the day. Hope she comes home soon.

KJTX · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:56 pm **Posts:** 216

That really sucks. Let us know what they find. I'd hate for it to happen to anyone else. Hope it's something simple.

PBrug · **Posted:** Sat Jul 30, 2005 2:29 pm

Well, after not hearing from the dealership by 3:00pm yesterday, I called them, and was told they "may" get to it that day. They closed at 5:00 so my hopes weren't to high. I got a call at 5:10pm and it was the dealership, telling me my Liberty was ready. They said they stayed late to get it done. I service guy told me the problem was a "Multiple Cylinder Misfire". He said that they needed to update something on my computer system, and that would fix the problem. I asked if this was something I had to worry about happening again, and he said "no". I know very little about this stuff, so I really didn't know if there was anything else I should of asked.

I drove the Liberty about 20 miles after I picked it up last night, and it was running like new. This morning, the wife was leaving for work around 6:15am, and was taking the Liberty, so that I had the baby seat in her car at home. About 5 minutes after she leaves, she calls me and says that the "Malfunction Indicator Light" was back on, and she was heading back home. I went out to check on how the Liberty was running, and it was the same S##T as the other night. That fix really lasted a long time. I called the dealership when they opened, and talked to the same service guy. He was suprised that the problem came back, and said maybe I had a bad something or other. This stuff is like Chinese to me, so I really don't recall what he said. Not to mention I didn't get in till after 2:00am the night before.

So, I'm taking it back on Monday. They say it is OK for me to drive it to the shop (about 5 miles), and should not need a tow. I guess all the cylinders aren't firing or something, so I really don't know if it will hurt anything to drive it or not. I'll let you all know what happens.

Slapshot · **Posted:** Sat Jul 30, 2005 3:56 pm

I don't know if the 3.7l uses them or not, but it sounds a lot like a spark plug coil pack has gone bad. It would certainly explain the symptoms...

Good luck.

hillcountrykj · **Posted:** Sat Jul 30, 2005 4:29 pm

The 3.7 uses C.O.P. (coil on plug). one coil for each cylinder right on top of the spark plug. no plug wires..as for PBrug's liberty, I belive the dealership is reprograming your computer to take care of your misfire..

hoss75 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 30, 2005 4:45 pm

Could someone explain what a coil pack is and how it works?

acbafam · **Posted:** Sat Jul 30, 2005 8:07 pm

http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troubleshooting/l/aa062902f.htm
Hope it helps!

Se7enLC · **Posted:** Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:14 am

Well, the good news is they get three tries to fix it, and if they fail, you get a new one (yay for lemon law). You can probably at least get a free rental out of the dealership, especially since they failed to fix the problem the first time.

PBrug · **Posted:** Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:51 am

I tried to drive the Liberty to the dealership Sunday evening, but it was a no go. It had so little power, and just kept chugging along. The engine seemed to be briefly cutting out every other second or so. So I returned home, and had it towed in today. I just heard back from the service guy, and he said that my POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE was bad. He said it could not be fixed by computer reprogramming, and it would need to be replaced. They can't get the part till tomorrow morning, so I'll have to wait till then. I'm not in need of a vehicle that bad today, so I'd rather not deal with the hassle of a rental for such a short period of time.

Yep Se7enLC, I did see that three time to fix thing in my Lemon Law book I received with my Liberty. But if I recall, it said either replace or refund the purchase price. Not sure who would decide this, but a refund would do me no good, because I would not be able to get the 0% financing and $2,000 cash back I got on my Liberty, so the payments for the same priced vehicle would go up a lot. A total replacement is another story, but to be honest, I would rather just have mine fixed. Going from 4,500 miles to 0 miles is not big of a deal to me, as long as I don't have a repeating problem on my hands.

Se7enLC · **Posted:** Mon Aug 01, 2005 3:23 pm

Obviously just fixing it would be preferred, but bringing it in for a day or two at a time every few days makes it not worth dealing with.

Even though on paper it might not seem worth it for the lemon law things, but there's a chance that DC or the actual dealership might try to make things right with you. (ie, if the dealership is firm on not being helpful, feel free to call up DC and tattle :-P

)

OKJeep · **Posted:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 9:45 am

My Liberty did the same thing with 217 miles on the odometer the day I picked it up. I was stranded in Kansas City, 4.5 hours from home. They trailered it to a freakin' Dodge dealership (the closest DC affiliate), I sat there for 6 hours then told them to get me a car cuz' I'm headed home, call me when it's ready. It was a bad PCM. It has been perfect ever since.

PBrug · **Posted:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:55 am

OKJeep, That's good to hear. Not your day long experience, but that the problem has not returned. I just got a call from the dealership, and they have replaced the Powertrain Control Module. I will be picking it up later today. I hope this corrects the problem, as it has done for you.

My '05 Renny WON'T GO? UPDATED

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