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Engine shuts off while driving

truesftruesf Member Posts: 1
edited August 2018 in Jeep
My 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee in July of 2014, apx 60,000 miles, engine started to shut off while the vehicle is in drive and driving. Typically this would happen while breaking or making left hand turns. The only way I knew that the engine was off is that the breaks do not work. Nor does the emergency break or power steering. There are no warning light. The radio and light remain on even with this engine failure. After the vehicle comes to a complete stop, you can place in park to restart. At first I thought maybe the key fab was getting hit and shutting off. Upon contacting the dealer they told me to bring it in. At this point I was scared to drive and the dealer would not tow it in. I called the extended warranty company who said they cannot say if the tow will be covered until they know what wrong with it from the dealer to see if it is a covered item. So I drove it I. South Oak Jeep could not figure put the issue but said they cleaned the throttle blade and reset electric throttle and adaptive memor, road tested for 5 miles and verified okay now. This cost me $125.00. They said it was not covered under the warranty. (Turns out they never called the extended warranty to even see). Which now brings me to April 8,2015. On a busy road that is 55 miles I am coming up to a 4 way stop and my vehicle will not stop. Same issue again. This time I bearly avoided a major collision. Called dealer, they can get me in the next day at 10:00 am. So the day I bring in the vehicle they call at 3:30 to say. They our unable to duplicate the problem. There are no codes. They do see a tech case with regards to this issue with possible fixes. So now they suggested I pay $237.50 for a new fuel pump circuit which may or may not fix the issue. Hmm... The extended warranty will not cover this due to the fact that the dealer is guessing physical evidence. They cannot say this will fix this issue. No kidding my thought exactly. Warranty company said the dealer told them it was a tippin power module junction box in the engine bay that need to be replaced. I opened up a case with Chrysler Jeep. Case #26779075. So this time I have to comply and fix/replace parts that may or may not be broken. Charging me for part changing until we can find out which of many it could be. Chrystler Jeep, South Oak Jeep do not seem too concern that there vehicles just shut off while driving. So I am now putting this put there do when I crash into you the next time it dies we all know who to go after. I am clearing not the only one with this life threating issue.
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    jeepgeek01jeepgeek01 Member Posts: 4
    This was happening to me in my 2001 JGC Laredo. It was a crank shaft sensor. No engine codes. 
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    mattergator50mattergator50 Member Posts: 6
    I've had the same issue on my 2011 with the 8-cylinder JGC as well. My local dealer is working with another vehicle as well. It only has happened about 6 times in the last year, but luckily happened to the tech during the first drive of the day. It only happens within the first 3 miles of driving it. Dealer replaced some solenoids (no charge/no help). Then they thought it might be something to do with the push button start. They've removed the button and I have to use the key to start it now....BUT, no problems since then. Not fixed, but now I'm not afraid I'll lose power in a turn (it's happened). It had stalled 3 times in the month prior to trying this. Hope this helps someone else. Please sign on and advise.
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    imajeepimajeep Member Posts: 1

    I also have a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee and have had the engine shut off twice during traffic; both were near collisions. Once during right turn and just today with my wife turning left for a U-turn.  This is a extremely dangerous defect which scares the heck out of us.  I’m going to start using the key to start the car and hope it doesn’t happen again.  If anyone has any additional thoughts on what could be causing this, please register and let us know before someone loses a life.  I would hope someone from Jeep could post a solution.  The dealerships are always flying blind until a recall comes out and fixes the problem 

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    Chandra0138Chandra0138 Member Posts: 0
    I have 2012 jeep grand Cherokee that shuts off while driving. Nearly hit other vehicles every time. The only thing I can do is come to a stop as the power stearing goes out as well. This car is a death trap. No one can help because it doesnt throw any codes after it has happend... now what? 
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    Just_a_carguy81Just_a_carguy81 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude 5.7 Hemi that had the same issues. The Jeep would just stall without warning or any kind of symptoms letting me know something was wrong and it was about to do this. The stalling was random and inconsistent and was always a surprise/scare. It mostly seemed to occur when taking my foot off of the accelerator pedal and coasting before coming to a stop. The engine would stall and I wouldn't even realize it until needing to use the brakes or turn the wheel because everything else functioned fine and worked as it should. I would get the Jeep to a complete stop and either put it in park or neutral and it would fire right back up again without hesitation and drive perfectly normal. There weren't any check engine lights and no codes ever popped up in the computer or on my message board. The jeep would drive perfect and problem free for a month or two and then out of nowhere it would happen again. I figured out that the issue was actually the PCM mounting screws. Not the bolts (there are 3 of them) that hold the PCM to the mounting bracket, but the 4 (one in each corner) torx head screws that hold the PCM faceplate to the protective metal case that the actual circuit board is housed. The 4 little screws were too long and touching the circuit board causing it to short out when there was enough vibration or shift of weight (like coming to a stop or taking a hard turn or a decent bump in the road) and the screw would touch the circuit board shorting everything out and causing the engine to stall! I removed the 4 little T15 screws and put washers on each of them and then screwed them back into place and POOF...….. the issue is now gone! My Grand Cherokee at the time had about 53k miles on the odometer and right now the odometer is at 147k and not one problem with stalling whatsoever. By putting the little washers on each of the 4 screws it caused just enough of a gap that the screws no longer touch the circuit board inside the metal housing of the PCM which stopped it from shorting everything out and causing the Jeep to stall. This may help some of you who are having issues with your GC similar to the issues I was having with mine so I figured I would share. Hope this maybe helps some of you and the headache this issue has caused.
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Gee, how'd you ever figure THAT out? That's a good bit of sleuthing! I wonder if the "wiggle test" would have found that?
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    lsdgarcialsdgarcia Member Posts: 1
    imajeep said:

    I also have a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee and have had the engine shut off twice during traffic; both were near collisions. Once during right turn and just today with my wife turning left for a U-turn.  This is a extremely dangerous defect which scares the heck out of us.  I’m going to start using the key to start the car and hope it doesn’t happen again.  If anyone has any additional thoughts on what could be causing this, please register and let us know before someone loses a life.  I would hope someone from Jeep could post a solution.  The dealerships are always flying blind until a recall comes out and fixes the problem 

    there is a recall on grand Cherokee about the fuel pump relay which is internal in the fuse box. Chrysler has come up with a solution to install an external fuel pump relay. seems to help with the sudden stalls. hope this helps
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    joann2121joann2121 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2012 jeep Cherokee and mine shuts off too! This is very dangerous and I too have almost gotten into a accident. I am afraid that I will when I have my 11 month old daughter with me in the car.
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    upsiiupsii Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2011 jeep grand Cherokee that has been shutting down while driving.  It has happened 3 times in the last month.  Has any recalls or new found information surfaced regarding the issue.  
    Is very scary driving with this issue.  Please help..
    Thank you
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    mtavilamtavila Member Posts: 2
    I’ve been successful in popping the Jeep into neutral and hitting push/start button and starts right up.  Pop into drive and you’re off.  Once you hit the button everything comes back 
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    mtavilamtavila Member Posts: 2
    Just_a_carguy81 said:
    I have a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude 5.7 Hemi that had the same issues. The Jeep would just stall without warning or any kind of symptoms letting me know something was wrong and it was about to do this. The stalling was random and inconsistent and was always a surprise/scare. It mostly seemed to occur when taking my foot off of the accelerator pedal and coasting before coming to a stop. The engine would stall and I wouldn't even realize it until needing to use the brakes or turn the wheel because everything else functioned fine and worked as it should. I would get the Jeep to a complete stop and either put it in park or neutral and it would fire right back up again without hesitation and drive perfectly normal. There weren't any check engine lights and no codes ever popped up in the computer or on my message board. The jeep would drive perfect and problem free for a month or two and then out of nowhere it would happen again. I figured out that the issue was actually the PCM mounting screws. Not the bolts (there are 3 of them) that hold the PCM to the mounting bracket, but the 4 (one in each corner) torx head screws that hold the PCM faceplate to the protective metal case that the actual circuit board is housed. The 4 little screws were too long and touching the circuit board causing it to short out when there was enough vibration or shift of weight (like coming to a stop or taking a hard turn or a decent bump in the road) and the screw would touch the circuit board shorting everything out and causing the engine to stall! I removed the 4 little T15 screws and put washers on each of them and then screwed them back into place and POOF...….. the issue is now gone! My Grand Cherokee at the time had about 53k miles on the odometer and right now the odometer is at 147k and not one problem with stalling whatsoever. By putting the little washers on each of the 4 screws it caused just enough of a gap that the screws no longer touch the circuit board inside the metal housing of the PCM which stopped it from shorting everything out and causing the Jeep to stall. This may help some of you who are having issues with your GC similar to the issues I was having with mine so I figured I would share. Hope this maybe helps some of you and the headache this issue has caused.
    That’s grest need to hear! Any chance you have a pic of the unit so I know what to look for when I do this fix?
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    JaimeJaime Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude with 13,000 thousand miles on it.   While driving full speed without warning it will shift into neutral and engine turns off  But dashboard stays powered up when I try to shifted back into drive it says can't shift at high speeds. 1st time in happen was 2 months ago in April ibrought it in they said maybe an oil change would fix it n maybe I eat low oil. And Now in June it happened again multiple times while driving on the road very dangerous!!  I brought it in again they said i need an alternator  But because it would restart after I put it in park I didn't believe it was the alternator so I called the corporate office who contact with the dealership. All of a sudden  The dealership calls me and says they don't think it's an alternator they would do more testing… 7 days later they're telling me they can't replicate the problem and they want to go on a road test with me driving like it's my driving skills or something. Now they're telling me if they can't replicate  the problem then they'll have to give it back to me and for me top bring it back if it happens again. I don't want it back if they can't find the problem and I don't feel like dying because they can't figure out what the manufacturing flaw is with my Jeep. Someone help please tell me there's a solution to this problem
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    jfl131jfl131 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2019 Jeep Cherokee Latitude and the car shut off while turning from one street to another 2 days in a row. I called the dealership and they said that if the oil needs changed the car will shut off. I'm sorry, but I find that hard to believe that a car with 5,000 miles and 26% oil life left would shut down with no warning because the oil needs changed. That's not a safe feature. I just had it towed to the dealership and will have to wait and see what they say after looking at it.
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    AnnieS64AnnieS64 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2016 Jeep Cherokee and have found for some reason after getting an oil change the stalling stops. The gauge does not seem to work as to how much oil is left. I have been told by various mechanics different variations of what the gauge means. Sometimes it happens at 50%. All I know is when the car stalls out when making a turn its oil change time and that seems to work for a few months for me.
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    ATL2021ATL2021 Member Posts: 4
    Just_a_carguy81 said:

    I have a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude 5.7 Hemi that had the same issues. The Jeep would just stall without warning or any kind of symptoms letting me know something was wrong and it was about to do this. The stalling was random and inconsistent and was always a surprise/scare. It mostly seemed to occur when taking my foot off of the accelerator pedal and coasting before coming to a stop. The engine would stall and I wouldn't even realize it until needing to use the brakes or turn the wheel because everything else functioned fine and worked as it should. I would get the Jeep to a complete stop and either put it in park or neutral and it would fire right back up again without hesitation and drive perfectly normal. There weren't any check engine lights and no codes ever popped up in the computer or on my message board. The jeep would drive perfect and problem free for a month or two and then out of nowhere it would happen again. I figured out that the issue was actually the PCM mounting screws. Not the bolts (there are 3 of them) that hold the PCM to the mounting bracket, but the 4 (one in each corner) torx head screws that hold the PCM faceplate to the protective metal case that the actual circuit board is housed. The 4 little screws were too long and touching the circuit board causing it to short out when there was enough vibration or shift of weight (like coming to a stop or taking a hard turn or a decent bump in the road) and the screw would touch the circuit board shorting everything out and causing the engine to stall! I removed the 4 little T15 screws and put washers on each of them and then screwed them back into place and POOF...….. the issue is now gone! My Grand Cherokee at the time had about 53k miles on the odometer and right now the odometer is at 147k and not one problem with stalling whatsoever. By putting the little washers on each of the 4 screws it caused just enough of a gap that the screws no longer touch the circuit board inside the metal housing of the PCM which stopped it from shorting everything out and causing the Jeep to stall. This may help some of you who are having issues with your GC similar to the issues I was having with mine so I figured I would share. Hope this maybe helps some of you and the headache this issue has caused.

    It works.
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    ATL2021ATL2021 Member Posts: 4
    I did it and haven't had a problem since, 10 cents, 20 minutes.
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    ATL2021ATL2021 Member Posts: 4


    10 cents, for 20 minutes. It's works, I did mine after the death scares, no problem since.
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    Bmn23Bmn23 Member Posts: 1
    edited February 2021
    Okay so I just bought a used 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a Hemi motor, had it inspected by before buying checked out fine. After a week it stalled on me reversing out of my driveway. I brought it into a shop and everyone there was baffled. No codes no nothing runs perfect! Had a complete inspection and let him keep it a few days driving it all over town to and from work. To get it to act up. Nothing of course. Came on here read what people have done that apparently what worked for them i had him Replace plugs, battery, fuel relay, transmission serviced, added shutter fix lube, put on the washers under the 4 screws on the pcm just like as pictured in previous comments. Well guess what it didn't work! My Jeep stalled again in less than 2 days as i was turning onto a highway on ramp tonight. Everything stayed on the dash and head lights just as normal. Would have never known if it wasn't for the power steering and brakes off. Scared me and my whole family in the car. Restarted after i put it in neutral just fine like it never happened.
    I now got an appointment with a crysler dealership to check the recals which from what i know already have been done. Everything is leading to the TIPM. but is that under the last recall too? No one can figure out what the problem is I have never had a vehicle not show any codes for a problem like this. Very very serious problem. I used to love jeeps until this one.
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    thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,747
    Figuring out problems like this takes a very dedicated, knowledgeable technician, a lot of time and a little luck (getting it to act up) doesn't hurt. When I saw the previous post about putting washers under the ECM screws I knew it was just a matter of time before someone was going to try that and not be successful. The only correct answer to any symptom like this besides guessing and throwing parts is to devise a plan, and then patiently take a very disciplined approach towards following the plan. The first thing that who-ever tries to figure this out needs to know is whether the engine is losing spark, fuel or both. Then we need to know is the computer losing power or ground and is communication being lost when it dies.

    It might be difficult to identify but there probably is a set bit of conditions that are more likely to get the engine to stall. Figuring that part out would make the problem more repeatable. Tools should be connected in advance of the failure that will let the technician confirm the primary computer inputs and outputs during a failure event.
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