Need help on 2008 Jeep Patriot...

[Brasscatz]

Ok, good news and bad news. Good news is, I get to drive my XJ to work this next week. Bad news, I have to do it because my wife's Patriot has gone into limp mode and she'll be driving my Civic.

Anybody fluent in new Jeep P.O.S. mechanics? Any ideas anybody?

It started out with a little hitch in the gear shifts/acceleration, then went to a little hitch in acceleration with the ETC light doing a quick flash, then both the ETC and traction control light would come on, now it's going into limp mode with the traction control light on full time. The usual symptoms of not going faster than 19-20 mph, and no higher than 2000 rpm.

The Patriot has 80,XXX miles on it and I have changed the spark plugs a few thousand miles ago, and after some of this started happening I sprayed throttle body cleaner in the intake while she brought the rpms up high and that worked for about a week. I took it to Auto Zone tonight to get some fuel system cleaner for it and halfway to the gas station for a fill-up, it went into limp mode and wouldn't come out. I filled it full with Premium and put the cleaner in it, but had to limp it home.

I saw that the throttle body is way down at the bottom and I don't know what all the stuff in the way is and don't know how to get down to the throttle body.

Oh, I also connected my OBDII reader and it isn't showing any faults pending or logged.

[Brasscatz]

Oh, and please refrain from the "Patriots are crappy, send it to the scrap yard" comments... the wife loves it, therefore we have it ;)

[nickxj94]

I know the avengers have been doing something similar and the mechanics at work been replacing the throttle body on them.

That's the dodge avenger with the 2.4 I believe patriot has same engine. I ask tomorrow for more info.

[Brasscatz]

Thanks brother, that's one of the things I've heard as well. I just browsed the Jeep Patriot forums but I trust my XJtalk family's knowledge more than theirs ;)

[nickxj94]

He said they have not had any problems out of the patriots yet. He said you may need to just get it to your local dealer.

[ches30]

With you talking about the traction control light coming on I wonder if it is a speed sensor malfunction, i've had several Chryslers when the input or output speed sensor fails it goes in the limp mode and only give your first gear...


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[Brasscatz]

That could very well be. I am definitely not a fan of electronic throttle control. I bit the bullet and let a tow truck come get it to take it to the dealer. We'll see what happens I guess.

[nickyg]

OUCH!! Be sure to let us know the out come. I'm curious.
I'm lost when it comes to all this new fancy gadgetry under the hood.
I miss the days when all you needed to repair your car was a crescent wrench and pliers.

[nickxj94]

OUCH!! Be sure to let us know the out come. I'm curious.
I'm lost when it comes to all this new fancy gadgetry under the hood.
I miss the days when all you needed to repair your car was a crescent wrench and pliers.

Duct tape too

[Brasscatz]

Needs new throttle body. $800 job. Don't know if that's my total or not. AAAANNNDDD I can't do it because the dealership needs to be able to do their electronic computer resets and relearns and other wizardry. I can't stand newer cars at all...

[XJ Wheeler]

Needs new throttle body. $800 job. Don't know if that's my total or not. AAAANNNDDD I can't do it because the dealership needs to be able to do their electronic computer resets and relearns and other wizardry. I can't stand newer cars at all...

Sorry to hear bro. Sucks how much they are to deal with now. I bet its not any cheaper because they know the average guy can't do that stuff anymore... if you get my drift.

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[nickxj94]

Needs new throttle body. $800 job. Don't know if that's my total or not. AAAANNNDDD I can't do it because the dealership needs to be able to do their electronic computer resets and relearns and other wizardry. I can't stand newer cars at all...

Well guess I was right lol

[Brasscatz]

Yes sir. From reading in the patriot forums, that seemed the most common. I just didn't want it to be true. I wanted it to be a $30 sensor...

Thanks for your help by the way bro. I do appreciate it.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 because my microwave couldn't do it

[Brasscatz]

Sorry to hear bro. Sucks how much they are to deal with now. I bet its not any cheaper because they know the average guy can't do that stuff anymore... if you get my drift.

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Thanks bro. Yeah, and that's with my discount too.

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[ches30]

Sorry to hear it buddy I hate dealership pricing, we charge 65 an hour and half the price of the dealership here in town.


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[nickxj94]

Yes sir. From reading in the patriot forums, that seemed the most common. I just didn't want it to be true. I wanted it to be a $30 sensor...

Thanks for your help by the way bro. I do appreciate it.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 because my microwave couldn't do it

Well it sucks it's so expensive to fix. No problem anytime, I try to keep a watch on most the jeeps and similar stuff to see what problems they have and the fixes.

[Brasscatz]

Sorry to hear it buddy I hate dealership pricing, we charge 65 an hour and half the price of the dealership here in town.


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Thanks man. Yep, the dealership wanted to charge $280 for 2 hours of diagnosing... that's $140 an hour for those that were told there wasn't going to be any math ;). I got an estimate from another shop (my wife works with the owner's wife) and got an estimate of $700. BUT we'd still have to pay diagnosis at the dealership and then a tow over to the other shop. Will come out about the same amount.

[Brasscatz]

So we picked it up tonight and so far so good. The awesome part is that the service advisor told me over the phone that the total would be $721 including my discount, but I double checked with the cashier that my discount was applied. She took the work order to service to check and found the service advisor I knew from a different dealership... she came back and said "you were right, your total is now $331". My jaw hit the floor!! Not only did I get my normal 10% off, but then I got over 50% off of that!!! I made sure to give that service advisor a big hug. She's a nice lady and helped me out a lot!

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[4.3LXJ]

Hmmmmm. Kind of shows how much profit is in the dealers shop

[Brasscatz]

Hmmmmm. Kind of shows how much profit is in the dealers shop

Well, this same service advisor friend of mine didn't charge me for checking the fluid in the CVT transmission and giving the Jeep a once-over a month ago, she wouldn't return my calls on this issue so I went with whatever advisor was available. She made up for not returning my calls tonight ;)

I did price the part at the local parts store and the throttle body alone was $300. Then add labor on top of it, I think they might've lost a bit of money on it. I won't complain though :D

[XJ Wheeler]

Wow, that really helped! She might need a Christmas present!

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