F31 Nightmare

CRD_WTF · **Joined:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:39 am **Posts:** 8

Hi All,

Ever since I bought my 2006 CRD a couple of months ago, I have been checking the posts in this forum. This is my first time contributing. Let me start by saying that I absolutely love my CRD, but I am not at all happy with my recent, and ongoing, F31 Recall experience.

10 days ago I stopped by my dealer to wait for the "1 hour" F31 Recall to be taken care of. My CRD had 3,000 miles on the clock with no issues whatsoever. After 2 hours I was given a rental car and sent on my way. Apparently they killed the control module leaving my CRD brain dead. I have been informed that these modules are on "backorder" with a 12 - 15 day lead-time. If I am lucky, I'll be reunited with my CRD sometime next week!

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Needless to say, I am not getting the "warm fuzzies" here.

DZL_LOU · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:27 am

CRD_WTF wrote:

Hi All,

Ever since I bought my 2006 CRD a couple of months ago, I have been checking the posts in this forum. This is my first time contributing. Let me start by saying that I absolutely love my CRD, but I am not at all happy with my recent, and ongoing, F31 Recall experience.

10 days ago I stopped by my dealer to wait for the "1 hour" F31 Recall to be taken care of. My CRD had 3,000 miles on the clock with no issues whatsoever. After 2 hours I was given a rental car and sent on my way. Apparently they killed the control module leaving my CRD brain dead. I have been informed that these modules are on "backorder" with a 12 - 15 day lead-time. If I am lucky, I'll be reunited with my CRD sometime next week!

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Needless to say, I am not getting the "warm fuzzies" here.

Can't say that your experience is typical, but it has happened to others on this board when doing the software flash.
Just so that you understand the process, the flash is done with the DRB-II which is the diagnostic link tool used by the dealer. Once the software download is initiated on the DRB-II, if there is a break or disruption in the software download process they have to start the process all over again. They are basically reloading the entire instruction set for the microprocessor so it would leave a clean slate if the process was disrupted.
The re-flash does take at least an hour to accomplish even if all things do go correctly.
In terms of actually "killing" the ECM, rather than wiping the slate clean with the new mircoprocessor instruction set would mean that somehow a static charge killed either the microprocessor or another peripheral I/O device on the contol module.
If that's the case then yes, I see the need for a new ECM.

BCool · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:02 pm

Its all typical, get used to it, this vehicle will see the dealer many more times.

DZL_LOU · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:08 pm

BCool wrote:

Its all typical, get used to it, this vehicle will see the dealer many more times.

WOW. I can't say that I had the same experience with the F31 update

crdmike · **Joined:** Tue May 16, 2006 7:25 pm **Posts:** 138

DZL_LOU wrote:

BCool wrote:

Its all typical, get used to it, this vehicle will see the dealer many more times.

WOW. I can't say that I had the same experience with the F31 update

Yeah, really! Mine went smooth

no-blue-screen · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:05 pm

Mine went smooth as well. They did have to keep it overnight, but the next day I picked her up and all was good. They kept it overnight because the front rotors also needed replacing. Mine had about 2k on the clock at the time.

tvine · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 4:14 pm

Mine went well except that when I first picked it up it shifted very hard from 2nd to 3rd. The tech did a "Quick Learn" and it has shifted better than ever since.

BIGPAPACRD · **Joined:** Wed May 10, 2006 11:25 pm **Posts:** 29

After the F31 recall I have noticed a difference in my turbo lag and loss of power. Not as peppy as it used to be.

no-blue-screen · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:04 pm

BIGPAPACRD wrote:

After the F31 recall I have noticed a difference in my turbo lag and loss of power. Not as peppy as it used to be.

Mine was like that for a week or two after the update, but now she is back to normal....she will $hit-and-get!

Flying J · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:10 pm

The flash damaged the Tranny Control Module in ours and it took about a week to get the part in, but ours was drivabe in the meantime. I'm wondering if the tcm just wouldn't take the flash.

GilaMonster · **Posted:** Fri Sep 22, 2006 9:55 pm

BIGPAPACRD wrote:

After the F31 recall I have noticed a difference in my turbo lag and loss of power. Not as peppy as it used to be.

Me too. Sucks.

no-blue-screen · **Posted:** Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:19 am

do you know how much they use this equipment...my stealer told me straight out that he didn't want me to bring it in until the end of august because their equipment needed replacing and it was hosing TCMs due to failed flashes. At least they were honest, but lord only knows what else they are trying to do, or if the people operating the equipment are even competant. It happens...but I think for this to happen so frequently has to be a defect in the tool that is used to flash the new image to the TCM/ECM or a problem with how things are programmed. I mean, the logical way to do it would be to transfer the data to the ECM/TCM and then perform a verify or CRC check, then send a command to "load" the updated code....but I guess that makes too much sense.

RFCRD · **Posted:** Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:38 am

no-blue-screen wrote:

At least they were honest, but lord only knows what else they are trying to do, or if the people operating the equipment are even competant. It happens...but I think for this to happen so frequently has to be a defect in the tool that is used to flash the new image to the TCM/ECM or a problem with how things are programmed. I mean, the logical way to do it would be to transfer the data to the ECM/TCM and then perform a verify or CRC check, then send a command to "load" the updated code....but I guess that makes too much sense.

This is not just another "Jeep thing." A few weeks back, one of my friend's new buses (2006 Prevost) required a similiar TCM update. The visiting service rep was very clear and upfront about the risks of the reflash. He went through the same drill, first checked the batteries, hooked up a charger, rechecked the voltage, etc... then made sure every piece of heavy electrical equipment in the shop was turned off as to not even chance a spike at the battery charger. He said there was @ 15 min period where everything had to go perfectly, if not the TCM becomes a paperweight.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:05 am

RFCRD wrote:

no-blue-screen wrote:

At least they were honest, but lord only knows what else they are trying to do, or if the people operating the equipment are even competant. It happens...but I think for this to happen so frequently has to be a defect in the tool that is used to flash the new image to the TCM/ECM or a problem with how things are programmed. I mean, the logical way to do it would be to transfer the data to the ECM/TCM and then perform a verify or CRC check, then send a command to "load" the updated code....but I guess that makes too much sense.

This is not just another "Jeep thing." A few weeks back, one of my friend's new buses (2006 Prevost) required a similiar TCM update. The visiting service rep was very clear and upfront about the risks of the reflash. He went through the same drill, first checked the batteries, hooked up a charger, rechecked the voltage, etc... then made sure every piece of heavy electrical equipment in the shop was turned off as to not even chance a spike at the battery charger. He said there was @ 15 min period where everything had to go perfectly, if not the TCM becomes a paperweight.

Same in the computer field :roll:

Even when everything goes right there may be something about what's being flashed that causes it to go south :shock:

Usally happens in the middle of the night when parts are hard to get :lol:

richardkf · **Joined:** Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:15 pm **Posts:** 167

Had mine done today. no more black cloud behind me when I accelerate hard. Also acceleration was really weak when I left the dealership and shifts between all forward gears were harsh. The harsh shifting is calming down. It feels like they have written code to actually de-tune the engines performance. It will improve as the shift patterns begin to settle down I think.

XJJeepGirl · **Posted:** Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:28 am

tvine wrote:

Mine went well except that when I first picked it up it shifted very hard from 2nd to 3rd. The tech did a "Quick Learn" and it has shifted better than ever since.

I took my CRD in for the F31 recall yesterday and ended up waiting for about two hours. Afterwards I was thinking they must have given me a new vehicle because it shifted so smoothly that I could barely tell that it changed gears! Wow it shifts much nicer now. Then I went on a 4 hour off-road trip on some really tough trails. Got a little trail damage but I'm very impressed with where the CRD would go. I don't think I'll ever go on this trail again because I was in 4 low most of the time and I actually got a bit scared being out in the middle of nowhere on an extremely challenging trail. I was so frealed out I was going to blow my front diff because there were spots where I just had to spin the wheels to get traction. Anyway no problems with the F31 recall. The service manager even told me I needed to come back for the LBJ recall. I have a lift on the CRD so I was a bit surprised when he said that.

longarm · **Posted:** Tue Oct 03, 2006 1:20 am

Whats the F31 Recall? I havn't been notified about anything yet.

RFCRD · **Posted:** Tue Oct 03, 2006 1:54 am

longarm wrote:

Whats the F31 Recall? I havn't been notified about anything yet.

It's a software reflash for the TCM. Apparantly there is a bug in the works that won't allow a data-link to an aftermarket reader or the readers used by various states to do emissions testing (thus you flunk, big EPA no-no). There is a chance that if you already have TSB 18-023-06, you may already have it corrected. Try checking your VIN# on Jeep.com to see if you have any open recalls.

Jim Friese · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:29 am

Hi there CE_WTF.
My CRD 2006 has been in the shop 3 times in less than a month because of the F31. I have my tranny go into limp mode on I70 3 time 4 times. Once I was
taped in the rear by the van following because she was too close at 70 MPH. When your speed drops to 50 instantly anything can happen. By the way my
Liberty is still at the dealer's.. He said it threw a TCM code. ABS code and a Low voltage Code. and as of yet they have now figured out why. Welcome to
the club

Jim Friese.

oldnavy · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 7:21 am

Jim Friese wrote:

:twisted: Hi there CE_WTF.
My CRD 2006 has been in the shop 3 times in less than a month because of the F31. I have my tranny go into limp mode on I70 3 time 4 times. Once I was
taped in the rear by the van following because she was too close at 70 MPH. When your speed drops to 50 instantly anything can happen. By the way my
Liberty is still at the dealer's.. He said it threw a TCM code. ABS code and a Low voltage Code. and as of yet they have now figured out why. Welcome to
the club

Jim Friese.

Jim are you going to be able to make it down to my diesel GTG here in Poplar Bluff next weekend? There will be CRDs and VW's here and lots of wrenching, BSing and eating going on.

F31 Nightmare

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