2005 Jeep Wrangler Electrical Problems

Your engine shut down while driving, causing your speedometer, tachometer, and all gauges to drop to zero. Power steering and power brakes failed at the same time, though you were able to safely coast to a stop. This has happened before, and you've noticed the ignition switch has a worn copper plate with arcing damage on the contacts. The dealership will likely need to replace the ignition switch to restore normal engine and electrical function.

Your car's engine control unit (ECU) stopped working without an obvious cause. This would prevent your engine from starting or running properly. The fix will likely involve diagnosing whether the ECU needs to be reprogrammed, replaced, or if there's an electrical connection issue.

Your Jeep's PCM (the computer that controls engine performance) is prone to failure due to vibration from the engine, and the internal components are sealed in resin so they can't be repaired—only replaced. When the PCM fails, your engine may run poorly, dump excess fuel, and likely won't meet emission standards. Fixing this typically requires replacing the PCM with a remanufactured and reprogrammed unit.

005-2006 JEEP WRANGLERS ARE INCURRING AN APPARENT LARGE NUMBER OF PCM/ECU FAILURES (AS EVIDENCED IN MANY ONLINE FORUMS AND A HIGH BACKLOG OF PCM ORDERS WHICH JEEP/CHRYSLER IS UNABLE TO FILL OR PROVIDE AN ETA FOR). THE FAILURE OF THE PCM REVEALS ITSELF IN MANY WAYS INCLUDING EMISSIONS SYSTEM FAILURES (AND RESULTANT VEHICLE INSPECTION FAILURES I WILL ADD), TRANSMISSIONS FAILING TO SHIFT, HARD FORCEFUL TRANSMISSION SHIFTS WITH VEHICLE LUNGES AND MORE. ON MY VEHICLE SPECIFICALLY THE TRANSMISSION CODES ARE COMING ON AND THE VEHICLE WILL RANDOMLY NOT SHIFT OUT OF SECOND GEAR AND RANDOMLY SHIFTS TO NEUTRAL WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND PRESENTS ITSELF AS A SAFETY HAZARD WHEN ENTERING HIGH SPEED FREEWAYS AND INTERSTATES. TO THE PCM AND FURTHER ONLINE INVESTIGATION INDICATES THIS A FREQUENT AND RECURRING ISSUE. WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO REPLACE THE PCM THROUGH JEEP/CHRYSLER I AM UNABLE TO BECAUSE THE PART IS BA CKLOGGED. I HAVE PLACED A PRICEY $1600 ORDER FOR THE PART BUT THUS FAR OVER 3 MONTHS MY VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO OBTAIN A WORKING REPLACEMENT PART BASED ON THE LARGE NUMBER AND TYPE OF ISSUES REPORTED ONLINE WITH THIS PCM I AM LEFT WONDERING WHY IT IS NOT A SAFETY, EMISSIONS AND/OR RECALL ISSUE.

2014: DASH AND REAR LIGHTS STOPPED WORKING. HAD TO REPLACE MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH. MODULE AND WIRING MELTED AND FUSED TOGETHER. 2017: DURING INSTALL OF NEW STEREO, MECHANIC DISCOVERED MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH AND MODULE MELTED AGAIN. REPLACED ALL WIRING WITH HEAVIER GAUGE, REPLACED ALL BULBS WITH LOWER WATTAGE LEDS. WONDERING WHEN NEXT ELECTRICAL PROBLEM WILL SURFACE.

FOG LIGHTS WOULD NOT SHUT OFF, HAD TO PULL FUSE. MECHANIC FOUND LEFT SIDE MULTI FUNCTION SWITCH HAD AN INTERNAL DEFECT AND THE CONNECTOR WAS MELTED AT THE SWITCH. BOTH THE SWITCH AND THE CONNECTOR HAD TO BE REPLACED. CONCERNED THAT THIS A POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD. *TR

TURNED MY JEEP ON AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, SENTRY KEY LIGHT, FUEL LIGHT CAME ON AND FUEL GAUGE WENT TO 0, JEEP RAN FOR APPROX 30SEC AND SHUT OFF. FUSES WERE CHECKED, NOTHING FOUND OUT OF PLACE. TRIED IT AGAIN, SAME THING HAPPENED. WAS TOWED TO DEALERSHIP TO CHECK AND FIX. WAS INFORMED THAT THE MAIN WIRING HARNESS NEAR AN O2 SENSOR WAS "FRIED" AND THAT WIRES WERE FUSED AND MELTED TOGETHER. GRANTED, MY JEEP IS 9 YEARS OLD, BUT THIS IS A DESIGN ISSUE, NOT A WEAR AND TEAR ISSUE. WHY WOULD WIRING BE PLACED CLOSE ENOUGH TO A HEAT SOURCE TO WHERE IT'S ABLE TO CATCH FIRE AND FUSE TOGETHER? *TR

HAVE HAD ONGOING ELECTRICAL ISSUES BEGINNING IN AUGUST, 2010. CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS THAT HAVE BEEN PROVEN INACCURATE. HAVE REPLACED FAN MOTOR RESISTOR X 2, ELECTRICAL CONTROL UNIT X1, FAN BLOWER X1. WIRING IS MELTED (BURNT) AT LOCATIONS INDICATING FUSE SYSTEM/ WIRING HARNESS IS NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. *TR

KEY SWITCH SPINDLE WENT BAD, HAD TO REPLACE KEY, THEN HAD TO REPLACE THE COMPLETE KEY SPINDLE AND THE WIRING HARNESS, IT STARTED TO SHORT OUT AND CAUSE A FIRE. HAD TO GO TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR REPAIRS, COST $ 2087.00 DOLLARS. *TR

HAD BEEN NOTICING A PLASTIC BURNING SMELL FOR A COUPLE MONTHS, NEVER FOUND A CAUSE OR ANYTHING NOT WORKING PROPERLY. DRIVING HOME EARLY ONE MORNING I NOTICED MY HEADLIGHTS WERE NOT WORKING, THE BRIGHTS WORKED AND SO DID THE FOG LIGHTS, BUT NO LOW BEAMS. AFTER LOOKING ON JEEP FORUMS AND NOTICING A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM I DECIDED TO TAKE THE COVER OFF MY COLUMN AND TAKE A LOOK. THE WIRING HARNESS CONNECTED TO MY MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH WAS BURNT, PROOF OF AT LEAST ONE SMALL ELECTRICAL FIRE, IF NOT MULTIPLE SMALL FIRES. I CANNOT BE THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS PROBLEM, MULTIPLE POSTERS ON JEEP FORUMS HAVE REPORTED SIMILAR EVENTS. *TR

IN TRYING TO START MY VEHICLE, A PART INSIDE OF THE IGNITION BROKE. I AM TOLD I CANNOT GET THE PART THAT BROKE AND I MUST PURCHASE AN ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN TO REPLACE THIS PART IN BETWEEN THE KEY AND THE ELECTRICAL COMPONENT THAT STARTS MY VEHICLE. IT IS A SMALL PART, AND I CANNOT SEE HAVING THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN TO REPLACE THIS SMALL PART. I AM TOLD BY CHRYSLER THAT THE COST TO REPAIR THIS IS ABOUT $800.00. I THINK THIS IS ENTIRELY UNREASONABLE AND IRRESPONSIBLE ON THE PART OF THE MANUFACTURER. THIS PART IS USED DAILY AND SHOULD NOT FAIL AFTER 60,000 MILES OF WEAR. MY SEVEN YEAR / 70,000 MI WARRANTY HAS JUST EXPIRED AND I AM APPALLED THAT SUCH A LARGE COMPANY CANNOT AFFORD TO FIX OR EVEN STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A DEFECTIVE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT TO HAVE FAILED SO PREMATURELY. IT IS USED EVERY TIME YOU START THIS VEHICLE, AND UPON CLOSER EXAMINATION OF THIS PART, IT SEEMS THAT IT IS MADE OF SUB-STANDARD MATERIAL TO BE A PART THAT MUST ENDURE DAILY USE.

2005 JEEP WRANGLER. CONSUMER STATES WITHIN TWO WEEKS OF PURCHASE VEHICLE BEGAN EXPERIENCING ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS *TGW THE CONSUMER STATED THE HEATER/FAN SWITCH WAS REPLACED NUMEROUS TIMES. ON MARCH 22, 2010, SMOKE BEGAN EMITTING FROM THE VENTS INTO THE INTERIOR OF THE VEHICLE. WITHIN MINUTES, THE VEHICLE WAS FULLY ENGULFED IN FLAMES AND BURNED COMPLETELY TO THE FRAME. CHRYSLER DETERMINED THERE WERE NO MANUFACTURING DEFECTS DESPITE THE NUMEROUS PROBLEMS THE CONSUMER ENCOUNTERED WITH THE VEHICLE. *JB

I PURCHASED MY JEEP WRANGLER RUBICON SAHARA IN JULY 2005. OVER THE YEARS, THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS I HAD WERE THE INFAMOUS SHAKING OF THE CAR AT SPEEDS OVER ABOUT 55MPH AND THE CONSTANT NEED TO JUMP THE CAR AND BUY NEW BATTERIES. THE LATTER PROBLEM SEEMED LIKE SOMETHING I COULD LIVE WITH BUT OVER TIME IT BECAME WORSE AND YOU COULD NO LONGER RELY ON THE CAR TO START. JEEP HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY CAVALIER ABOUT THESE PROBLEMS, BUT THEY ARE REAL. MY CAR NOW HAS ONLY ABOUT 17,000 MILES ON IT BECAUSE OF THE RELIABILITY PROBLEM. IN JANUARY 2011 THERE WAS AN ELECTRICAL EXPLOSION AND SMOKE IN THE CAR. IT WAS TOWED TO LITHIA JEEP IN SANTA FE NM (WHERE I ORIGINALLY BOUGHT IT). THEY COULDN'T REALLY FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM, BUT CHARGED ME FOR SOME REWIRING AND SENT IT BACK TO ME. WITHIN DAYS, THE BATTERY WAS DEAD AGAIN, SO I BOUGHT A NEW BATTERY. WITHIN DAYS, THAT BATTERY WAS DEAD AND THE CAR WAS AGAIN TOWED TO JEEP. THIS TIME, I FILED A FORMAL COMPLAINT WITH CHRYSLER, WHO ACCEPTED THE CASE.THE DEALER FIDDLED AROUND WITH THE CAR WITHOUT SUCCESS FOR A MONTH, BEFORE CHRYSLER AGREED TO ACCEPT MOST OF THE CHARGES FOR A COMPREHENSIVE REWIRING OF THE CAR. THE DEALER ALSO INFORMED ME AT THE TIME THAT IT WAS UNABLE TO DO THE RECALL WORK ON THE CAR'S TRANSMISSION, BECAUSE THE BOLTS SECURING THE TRANSMISSION HAD BEEN STRIPPED AT THE FACTORY. THIS SEEMED ODD TO ME, THAT A DEALER WAS TELLING ME IT COULDN'T DO THE RECALL WORK ON A DANGEROUS CONDITION, SO I JUST HAD TO LIVE WITH IT. IN MARCH THE DEALER COMMENCED THE INTENSIVE REWIRING WORK, AND BY APRIL, THE DEALER SAID THAT THE PROBLEM HAD NOT YET BEEN RESOLVED, SO IT WOULD NEED ADDITIONAL FUNDS FROM CHRYSLER. THIS CARRIED ON INTO MAY, AND I STILL DID NOT HAVE THE CAR. FINALLY, IN LATE MAY, THE DEALER CALLED AND SAID THEY "THOUGHT THE CAR MIGHT BE FIXED" BUT WEREN'T SURE, BECAUSE THE COMPUTER WAS STILL IDENTIFYING AN UNKNOWN DRAIN ON THE BATTERY WITH POTENTIAL ELECTRICAL SHORT IMPLICATIONS. NO MORE PROGRESS. ABOUT $3500 EXPENDED. *TR

DASH GAUGES, INCLUDING SPEEDOMETER/TACHOMETER, SEAT BELT RESTRAINT LIGHT AND ENGINE GAUGES GO ON AND OFF INTERMITTENTLY WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. VERY DISTRACTIVE AS WELL AS DANGEROUS AS YOU SUDDENLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOUR SPEED IS WHILE DRIVING. *TR

WIRING OVERHEATING AND MELTING BLOWER MOTOR FAN SWITCH AT 36,500 MILES. WIRING OVERHEATING AND MELTING MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH FOR TURN SIGNALS, HEADLAMPS, HAZARDS, ETC... AT 37,800 MILES. UNKNOWN CAUSE FOR EITHER FAILURE. REPLACED BLOWER MOTOR CONTROL SWITCH ASSEMBLY AFTER FAILURE MYSELF AS IT WAS ONLY $25 USD AND 10 MINUTES TIME. NOW THE MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH IS DOING THE SAME - MELTING AND CAUSING HEADLAMPS TO FAIL. IS THERE A VOLTAGE CONTROL PROBLEM WITH THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS TO CAUSE THESE FAILURES? WILL THE REPLACED PARTS FAIL AGAIN? WILL A FIRE RESULT THE NEXT TIME? *TR UPDATED 02-01-08 *BF UPDATED 02/01/08 *TR

BLOWER CONTROLS/RESISTOR PACK SHORT OUT, FAIL AND CAUSE WIRING HARNESS TO MELT FOR THE HVAC BLOWER AND BLOWER CONTROLS. BLOWER WIRING HARNESS APPEARS TO PULL THE FULL CURRENT OF THE BLOWER MOTOR THROUGH THE WHOLE SWITCH CONTROLS WIRING HARNESS, THIS CAUSES AN OVERLOAD CONDITION AND OVERHEATS THE WIRING OF THE CONTROL SYSTEM, CAUSING SEVERE MELTING OF THE PLASTIC COMPONENTS AND POSES A SEVERE FIRE RISK. *NM

NOTICED A BURNING SMELL AND THOUGHT IT WAS ONE OF FOUR TRUCKS AHEAD OF ME. PULLED OFF ONTO MY EXIT AND CONTINUED TO NOTICE THE SMELL. SMOKE BEGAN POURING FROM THE DASH. I HAD SEEN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT THE SAME MORNING AND INFORMED THEM MY BLOWER MOTOR HAD BEEN WORKING INTERMITTENTLY. THEY VERIFIED THE PROBLEM AND ORDERED A NEW MOTOR. UPON INSPECTION OF MY VEHICLE I NOTICE THAT THE AREA AROUND THE BLOWER MOTOR IS EXTREMELY HOT. BLOWER MOTOR HAS THE FOLLOWING: LABEL 1 VALEO:KJLHD 929520G REV A -- PASS 11-18-4 10:10:50 LABEL 2 BOSCH MADE IN MEXICO DPL 653 12V 9 000 025 075 19 904 929431H CW 49104 1. *NM