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-38 Jeep Suspension doesn't like it

5K views 28 replies 13 participants last post by  comnjeep 
#1 ·
2014 Wk2 overland,

For a few weeks I have had some errors pop up.

First was I left car outside for 4 days in a snow storm. I immediately got service air suspension when I started it.

Never returned but 3000 km later, I saw air suspension cooling message.

Brought it to the dealer yesterday. They said they checked for codes and ran the diagnostic suspension test. No codes found or issue? I have an extended gold warranty but they wanted to charge me for an hour diagnostic since they didn't find an issue.

After some arguments they said they would keep the work order open. The service advisor claims there are many factors. Sensors freezing on the control arms? Cold weather. Since I also stated sometimes coming out of park height it says raising for 5 minutes but the jeep is at normal ride height.

In Ottawa the past 24 hours have been colder then the North Pole.

I was driving today and got service air suspension immediately again which shut done the air suspension.

Are all these errors related to extreme cold weather? When the weather is warm the air suspension operates without any issues.

What are your thoughts ?
 
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#3 ·
At -38 air temp I'm not surprised that the air suspension would act up. If that continues when warmer weather returns then your issues are probably covered under this TSB... http://wk2jeeps.com/tsb/tsb_wk2_0808213.pdf

Yeah not sure why they haven't applied that TSB. It is freezing here
So I wasn't surprised things are acting up.

I need to move out of here!!
 
#6 ·
I normally run into this issue when it goes below 15°F

They never find codes but my best guess it that the N² pressure drops below the threshold and the suspension system won't work because it believes it doesn't have enough.

I asked the dealer to just ensure the pressure is higher....shockingly they said no and couldn't find codes.
I have pictures as I have had to drive home in Entry/Exit height before.

Best solution I have found is to put it into Snow Mode before I go to park as this prevents it from lowering to Entry/Exit height...at least when the air suspension doesn't work I am at normal driving height
 
#7 ·
That's not acceptable. We get similar temperatures here in the Capital District as you in the Syracuse area (but much less snow!). I was running errands all morning at -5F and my QL worked as it should. This is my 2nd winter with QL and I have not had any issues (yet) with it.
 
#8 ·
My 2011 GC Overland was getting same error messages on the dash when temps got below about 25 degrees. Last winter front suspension collapsed, took it to the dealer and they re-flashed the program...sounds like the same as the TSB mentioned above for the 2014's...it worked for a little while but the temps were also warmer...put up with it for the rest of the winter...no more collapses just annoying messages and dings...a few days ago the rear collapsed, now I am trying to figure out a way to replace the air suspension with coil springs...no luck so far, but I can say that I would never buy any vehicle with air suspension again. Even if it works fine for a few years, the system will fail and the cost to fix will be high.
 
#9 ·
Yeah well every time I bring it in they say they don't see any codes.

Makes me nervous that the reliability on this air suspension is not up to par.

I had a Mercedes that was 10 years old before I had to replace a shock.

Again on Saturday it triggered service air suspension.

Again today at -11. I went in for a bit came back out. And go no system messages. Car Vehicle Compact car


Car Vehicle Auto part Compact car Rim
 
#10 ·
So my dealer really has no explanation and still want's to charge me for a diagnostic since there is no issue?


He said I have to come in when the warning turns on since every time i bring it in the system says no errors and for some reason the system doesn't log any faults.


Why would the system give an error and not log it? Is that normal for air suspension systems on Jeeps?
 
#11 ·
No, it isn't, and you shouldn't accept such shoddy service.

Have you contacted Jeep themselves?

Is the dealer pulling codes from the diag interface or just from the evic?

If your evic keeps showing "raising" when coming out of park, it looks like you
don't have the latest software for the '14.

And if they refuse to even check that your nitrogen supply is full, well, sounds like time to go up the food chain a bit.
 
#14 ·
The air suspension is a weak point of the wk2. I just had major repairs on my 2011 summit. None related to cold weather but FCA is having part issues at least for mine. I'll have to research I'd the same system design was used in 2014 and newer but suspect so.
 
#15 ·
Finally found this thread, and reviving it for winter. It's about 5F here and every time I'm parked outside this winter, it says service air suspension immediately. When I drive out of my garage, nothing, works fine. Clearly not a leak. System has worked fine but had a module replaced a couple years ago, then worked fine again... I hear stuff working. Maybe more than usual. I suspect and hope this is low N2 pressure after 5 years, but worry they will soak me. Taking it in tomorrow.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I hope this helps guide someone in the future...

see above post. I brought my jeep in (2012 v8 overland, 66K miles) and they tested it, found the N2 level was ok, no error codes, could not replicate. Wanted to keep it two days, I said no, they said well for $2K, new compressor is a good idea.. because it was "making some noise". Seriously? No error, no issue, but wanted to replace the pump?. So I said just recharge it with new N2 up to full, but they couldn't that day, so I left without any service. Since then, it has been warm, then really cold. ...

AND...

I washed the undercarriage really well.

The codes that were everywhere, went away! I literally did nothing but clean it (sensors for height?) It had been driven in a near ice storm on hwy, so it was really dirty underneath. And now it's been below 0F all day and sitting out and would have gone crazy two weeks ago, it is lifting to ORH 2 and down no issue.

Go figure. (I'm sure now that I've posted this it will error again.)

So I'll wait until it errors again, and keep it clean. Looking for a non-dealer to charge the system. Anyone ever trusted one to do the suspension work on these?
 
#18 · (Edited)
Funny this thread just came up again - I had the dreaded "Service Air Suspension Immediately" two nights ago in bright red on my dash. I was leaving work at 06:30 at night and of course the dealership was closed. Air temp was like 5 with a -10 wind chill.

Called Jeep Cares to see if it was drive-able or I had to tow it (Google did not help me darn it) – of course they would not advise either way so I set up for a tow. Hubby got off work and looked at my air bags– all were up, EVIC said normal ride height, so had the tow guy follow me to dealership 2 miles away. FYI, I had washed it the night before when it was like 20 and it went below zero, so hubby thought maybe that caused it, I got ice in/on something or a sensor was froze.

They thought they found it yesterday, a kinked exhaust hose that wouldn’t let the jeep go down/exhaust air. Advisor said car wash in cold weather was not the cause. The fixed that but on the way home the message came up again while driving 40 MPH but jeep height was okay (message in white this time). Turned it off at home, raised/lowered everything seemed fine, 3-5 mins after exiting and vehicle off it did it’s little mini lowering dance when exhausting air like it always does.

On my way to work this AM (-5 temp) when slowing down under 55 got the message again in white text, and “Aero” mode would not come off.

Took to dealership showing Aero on the EVIC in Park mode. They looked at it and say the compressor is bad now. And they are back ordered nation-wide, no ETA.

The good thing is he said it is drive-able unless it’s all the way down like for “Easy Exit”, so just ignore it until the new compressor comes in unless that happens, and if it does have it towed since the tires will be spread out too. Let’s hope that does not happen, don’t like loaner cars.

So glad I got the Lifetime Maxcare warranty, I’ve had my Jeep for more than 3 years so factory is done. This repair will pay for the warranty in one trip!
 
#19 ·
It was unusually cold here in KC,MO this week, and the other morning, It was -12 f and I got the " Service air suspension immediately " message. Car drove fine, but you couldn't cycle suspension up or down. Also noted a chirping noise day before when engine was on, kind'a sounds like it's coming from the rear.

Next day, temp was above 0f, everything works, can raise as normal. chirping noise is still there, when engine runs, stationary or rolling.

Reading through the thread, seems most have had it work once temp's rise?.

WK2 is a 2014 Eco with 60k miles.
 
#21 ·
Of course many of us may have different issues going on. But I would personally not replace the compressor until they emptied and replaced the nitrogen in the system up to upper limit of full (as the service shop is 68F, and you're going into ?-10F).. You could replace the entire compressor under warranty or otherwise and still have it fail, as others on this forum have...

It seems like the techs have no clue and stab at a diagnosis like a third year med student. The computer monitoring this system seems to be of little help.

Mine was either a dirty or frozen sensor - which I was able to clean off, or moisture in the system that froze and blocked something temporarily - then somehow cleared on its own, because it is now working perfectly in very cold weather! At least that's my diagnosis...
 
#27 ·
You still having good luck since you washed the undercarriage? I thought I might have dirty sensors so I washed mine as well and the warning has not returned. And we've had some very cold and messy weather. Hoping it stays this way. Wondering how you fared. Thanks for the suggestion about washing the undercarriage.
 
#23 ·
Similar problem here. First got Service Air Suspension light in the morning after some messy snow at about 2 degrees F, about a week before Christmas. On restart code was not stored. Took it to dealer. They scanned it and couldn't find anything wrong. Didn't come back until this week. It has come back intermittently since Monday while cruising on the highway. For example, this morning I got on the highway and it went into Aero mode quickly, as usual. 5 miles later got the Service Air suspension light. When I got back to surface streets it stayed in Aero. Parked in work garage, stopped engine and restarted. I was able to cycle through all the levels, all the way up to OR2 and down to exit/entry. It only seems to happen after it's in Aero but once I restart it always goes back to "Normal" and functions properly. WOnder if there is some electrical or fuse issue. We've been having temperature swings from 40F down to below 0F. Car was at airport in Detroit in subfreezing temps for 4 days and had no problems on the drive home, no errors etc. But the temp swung wildly in the last couple days and I got the errors again after not getting them for a couple weeks, including on a 12 hour trip back and forth to New England through Canada for Christmas. Anyone have a similar experience? Thanks guys. Really loving this forum.
 
#24 ·
Adding to the post I made earlier in this thread - when mine acted up, stopping and restarting did not clear it, tried that multiple times and using the buttons could not get it to move up or down.

I will note when I got to the dealer the morning after my 'tow' and started the Jeep it was like 2 degrees. The compressor made a hell of a racket for 10 seconds and stopped, but the warning light did not come on again when I pulled it in the repair bay. So after setting in below zero temps all night it did clear but it didn't go easy so to speak.

The next morning after they replaced the exhaust hose I too had the issue coming down from Aero where warning message appeared while going down the highway and did not go away even when in Park. I left it at the dealer so I can't say if it would have cleared if I turned off my Jeep.

This is when they determined my compressor was bad, I kinda wonder if when it made that hell of a racket on start if that damaged it, resulting from the hose issue and sitting in the cold instead of my comfy garage.

I can say that since it's warmed up to a 'balmy' 20-30 degrees the message does not come up anymore. The original issue did result from a wild temperature swing, but in my case the kinked hose was mostly the result that 'perhaps' damaged the compressor. Who knows...
 
#28 ·
What kind of sensors are used? It would be interesting to know what effect washing could, or could not have. It would seem odd they would use sensors that could easily be impacted by dirt/mud/snow.

-john
 
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