Jeep Compass starting problems
willieboy1955
Member Posts: 4
2012 jeep compass is experiencing starting problems. it has refused to start 3 times in the last several months and has been towed to dealership each time. analysis indicates no problems. vehicle seems to start after towing episodes and jeep refuses to investigate any further. vehicle presently at dealership after having been towed last night. my daughter drives this vehicle and i am very concerned for her safety. anyone else experienced this problem?
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To explain it simply... Normally, when you shut off the car, the fuel line holds the pressure that the fuel pump has created so the engine will have fuel "ready to go" when you start up the next time. If there's a small leak that bleed off that pressure, the car might not start right away. Have you noticed that the "no start" happens after the car sits for a period of time?
My workaround until we pinpointed the leak was to turn the key to the ON position for a couple of seconds before turning it to START and trying to start the engine. When you turn the key to ON, that starts the fuel pump running which gets that fuel pressure back up. When you turn it to ON, you can hear (at least I can most times) the fuel pump running (will sound sort of like an electric motor running).
Next time your car doesn't start, give that a try. Turn to ON for about 5 seconds, then try to start. If it then starts right up, I'd wager you have a leak in the fuel line somewhere. The leak might be small enough that you won't smell any gasoline. The times I noticed a gas smell were actually just after I shut off the car. The fuel line was under pressure and that's when the smell was most noticeable. If you've been away from the car, the leaked gas had already evaporated and there was no smell.
Hope this helps!
As a technician that would routinely have to figure something like this out there are important details that would help get a sense of direction. When the no-start occurs, does the engine crank but not start, or does it not crank at all? Are there any other systems that are observed to be non-functional such as power windows, power seats, radio, blower motor? Of the lamps that perform their regular key on test in the instrument cluster, are any of them missing when the no-start occurs?
The only scan tool that can be used on a 2014, and especially with a problem as complicated as this one would be is the Factory WiTech. One of the problems you face with this is that it is still under warranty so nobody other than a dealer technician would have any experience with the electronic systems that are on your car, and to make it worse only a precious few independents would have that factory scan tool to even try if it wasn't under warranty. Frankly, problems like this one are exactly why the lemon law exists. They have had three chances and its not that the tech isn't capable, the situation is simply stacked against him/her with the problem being so random I nature. Besides now that it has been looked at more than once its not like the tech would be getting paid for any time that he/she would spend with your car anyway.
Tell them to lemon law it and get your daughter into another car. JMHO.
Try it and let me now.