2016 Jeep Cherokee: key fob or push-button start problems

Filed Sep 9, 2025 · Electrical · 118,286 miles · MD

The contact owns a 2016 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while the liftgate was closed, there was a warning light indicating that the liftgate was open. The contact stated that upon attempting to open the liftgate, the liftgate failed to open. The contact also stated that there was an abnormal burning odor coming from the rear of the vehicle. The dealer was contacted and advised the contact to park the vehicle outside and not to drive the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the recall repair of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V338000 (Electrical System, Structure) was performed; however, the power liftgate failed to close after the repair, and the battery was drained. The dealer jump-started the vehicle and determined that the liftgate latch needed to be replaced. The contact was charged a fee for the repair, and the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle the following day, the contact noticed that the windshield wipers were inoperable. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where an unknown fuse was replaced, and the windshield wipers became inoperable. Additionally, the contact stated that the rearview camera image was black while reversing, and the infotainment system was inoperable intermittently. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing difficulty starting. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start on one occasion and was jump-started by AAA. The vehicle was taken to Firestone, where it was diagnosed with a lack of electrical connection with the key fob. The contact was referred to the dealer for assistance. The contact stated that the various electrical failures had started after the recall repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 118,286.

Filed Apr 8, 2024 · Electrical · MO

The back lift gate will not open with key fob or by pushing the button at the bottom of the back door. The only way to open or close the back hatch is to manually lift the door and in turn manually close it as well. Completely random and unpredictable but happens quite frequently. I'm physically disabled and this has been very painful for for me to deal with it happens. There's never been any messages or warnings when this happens. I've had my jeep in for oil changes and other maintenance items, it will never do it while I'm trying to demonstrate this to the service representative.

Filed May 19, 2022 · Electrical, Transmission · MO

No messages were displayed when any issues occured. The back hatch stops working randomly. Whether your trying to open or close the back hatch, it will not operate by any of the interior push buttons or by using the key fob. I have to manually pull the hatch open &/or closed. I had a technician see this happen as well. I've had numerous times where my Jeep will be shifting & it lags a little bit and then causes a loud bang & jolt when it shifts to the next gear. I only drive approximately 6,000 miles/year. Any resolution to these issues would be greatly appreciated, Amy

Filed Aug 2, 2021 · Transmission · AR

I got into my wife's 2016 Jeep Cherokee Latitude to drive to the store and heading down the road the message 'Service Shifter' showed up on the instrument cluster and all the gear selectors became illuminated red with no check engine light. Upon coming out of the store I started the jeep and the message was gone until I started heading down the road and same thing happened but this time there was a noticeable decrease in engine power and engine seemed to be running ruff at stop light. When I made it home and put the shifter in park and started to exit the jeep it started to roll forward and I hit the brake. I started the jeep back up and no message or anything and I backed the jeep up some and put back into park and this time it went into gear however I activated the parking brake to safe and instructed my wife to do so as well. This is a serious issue as we have teenage kids that drive our vehicles and poses a serious safety issue not to mention it rolling into our house. I called a dealership and was told they have not heard of this issue and would be hard to diagnose since there is no check engine light but sounds like the whole shifter assembly needs to be replaced and is not covered by the extended warranty that we purchased. After reading online about this issue there appear to be ALOT of people having the same issue and have had the shifter assembly replaced, Shifter bezel and wiring harness replaced, updates performed, and batteries changed(car and key fob) and is still having this issue. This issue poses a great risk to owners and anyone else around these Jeeps especially as it seems that there is not a fix only guesses on what the problem is since it keeps happening. This should be a recall and Jeep should be made to find the real problem and fix it before anything serious happens. We have had shift problems before and had update performed. I wasn't able to get pics or video as I was driving and the rolling forward happened out nowhere.

Filed Feb 11, 2021 · Airbags, Brakes · 91,081 miles · CA

Several dashboard warning lights lit up at the same time (with alarms sounding continuously): check engine; parking brake; service airbag system, traction control off, seatbelt warning gear indicator lights were all on at the same time: p, r, n. D and the manual shift +/- indicator (all lit red) the transmission would not shift (out of what felt like 3rd gear) while driving down the freeway. A few times, the transmission would not shift out of neutral, and I could not get the car to move (after coming to a stop) on the off ramp and on the side streets. Key fob would not lock or unlock the doors or set the alarm

Filed Sep 15, 2020 · Electrical · NJ

It first started with 911 vehicle phone "vehicle phone requires service" please contact dealer. Then after a few months the display will take a while to turn on, at one point during that time I went to turn on my car and it wouldn't start, it said "key fob not found" when key was with me. It did finally turn on after I removed the key from fob. I immediately took it to the dealer and they did some updates on it, couple hundred dollars later. Was working fine after that, but two days later I got the initial message from above and my GPS was not working. I took it back to the dealer and they said they will do updates again. Dealer came back and said during the updates the radio went (stop working)and they had to replace the radio. They ordered one, I took it in for replacement and it's been in the shop for 3 days, they don't know what is wrong with it. They said they are waiting on factory to advise them.

Filed Jun 26, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · 54,000 miles · MS

First this jeep uses oil fast. I have to put oil in the car way before it's due to be ch aged. The car will stall and stop and have no power. It has shut off on me in the middle of a busy hwy and would not go. I had to cut it off and back on it would go about 500 feel and do it again. Now this jeep has left me stranded a few times. It just would not crank. Replaced battery in key fob and still nothing. The car will randomly shut down and flash codes. It told me to service transmission about 54000 miles and wouldn't go. Brought it to a dealership and they updated it but those problems only fixed it for a few months.

Filed May 1, 2018 · Electrical · 40,500 miles · CO

I've owned this vehicle for three weeks. I parked my cherokee outside my office at work, shut it off as normal, and came back out a few hours later to run some errands. I received a message that stated 'no fob detected'. I tried the auto start, which worked, the lock and unlock from the key fob worked, but when I tried to start the vehicle the only message received was 'no fob detected'. I called jeep and they tried to walk me through a reset, which did not work. Aaa came out to try to assist. They disconnected the battery, tried jumping the vehicle, and performed the reset as well. None of this worked. I had to have it towed to the dealership and am still waiting on diagnostics to tell me what was wrong with it and how much it will cost to fix.

Filed May 23, 2017 · Electrical · 10,648 miles · MD

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 jeep cherokee. While the vehicle was parked inside the garage, the automatic start feature erroneously activated and the engine started. The automatic start feature and key fob had not been used. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure, but the rfhm was reprogrammed and the keyless ignition software was improved. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 10,648.

Filed Dec 8, 2016 · Electrical · 3,000 miles · FL

Uconnect system key fob with remote start capability is able to start the vehicle accidentally if the fob start button is depressed in a pocket. In the instance in question, vehicle was parked in home garage, fob was in pocket of owner inside the home. Owner walked into garage to find vehicle was running. Remote start feature of fob cannot be disabled.

Filed Jul 25, 2016 · Electrical · 18,500 miles · MN

Vehicle had run unattended in enclosed garage. Vehicle consumed all fuel in gas tank (about 14 gallons) resulting in excessive heat build up in garage that items in garage melted. Parts on the vehicle melted. The battery was ruined from excessive heat, the fuel pump, inside the fuel tank, melted. The fuel tank became distorted. Plastic was found in the valve train and is believed to have been sourced from the melted fuel pump. Interior was damaged and flat spots on the tires were created due to excessive heat. Vehicle was stationary and in park. This jeep is equipped with a keyless ignition and engine stop / start function that shuts engine off when braking to a complete stop and then restarts engine when brake is released. Either the vehicle started on it's own, or vehicle was not shutoff prior to driver exiting. Jeep does not provide any audible alert to the driver that the vehicle is running after the key fob has left the vehicle or fob is out of range. It is also a concern that the vehicle control modules would let the vehicle run for at least 24 hours and not shutoff. Given that remote start will shutoff after 15 minutes and the acc position is only good for 30 minutes, how can jeep design a vehicle to idle unattended until the fuel tank emptied? Vehicle was also observed to be running in a parking lot two weeks later. Witnesses parked next to the jeep have no recollection of it running when driver left the vehicle.