2012 Jeep Patriot: engine failure

Filed May 29, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · CO

I submitted a form yesterday and forgot to mention that there have been a few other odd things about the jeep which I'm not sure how to explain. 1. There has, since day 1 of my purchase, test drive, etc, always been some weird whistling sound when driving. Very light, like the kind of whistle made with just your tongue at the roof of the mouth. Not a "full" whistle sound. 2. When going uphill, the engine squeals. And honestly has poor acceleration uphill in general. Very poor. But I thought it was how this make and model is. 4 cylinders aren't known for their awesome power and speed, after all. 3. Occasionally, the jeep "tugs"? Seemingly like how manuals switch between gears, but mine is an automatic. It does so unprovoked, not by my using the cvt option, randomly, at any speed. 4. Occasionally there would be a "dropping" kind of sound. Can't remember any particular details about that, but I think it may have happened more in the summer months. Again. All of these things, other than the last, had always been happening. I attributed it to make and model idiosyncrasies. I have noticed other recall issues listed with this jeep that I glanced over, did not read them. Just so you know. But, after my engine went out, it made me reconsider all of these "odd" things that are probably connected. Oh yeah... Also... 5. I had to replace my engine throttle, supposedly brakes plus says it's also "normal" for this model. 6. My engine blew very shortly after an oil pan gasket fix, which I put off for a while. Makes me think there's a pressure problem with the engine in general, when combined with the other "symptoms", on hindsight. Like I said, I was an oil tech for Jiffy Lube, i am not a mechanic. But this experience may have taught me a thing or two about suspicious auto mechanisms.

Filed May 29, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · CO

Along with complaints 11466544 11466577 I want to add that I bought this car in November 2015. The engine blew in May 2021 with 104k miles. Not at all what would expect from a 2010+ model vehicle. And another thing .... I'm used to needing more regular tune ups. So, once a year -ish... I'd take the jeep in for spark plug replacement, etc. Well, when I switched to the other brkes plus closer to my home, the tech told me that's not required for this jeep. We actually kind of got into it. But, we're able to amicably come to agreement. Anyways, the other brakes plus did so without argument, at least twice. After me and dude from brakes plus had our Lil tiff... I reevaluated my owners manual, and confirmed the spark plug thing. He was right. But one thing I always found odd... was that transmission fluid replacement was not recommended untilb130,000. Did I find that odd?? YES! Because I've was an oil tech at one point in my life. BUT! If that's what the manual says... who am i to argue with that? I mention this because that was one of the things I saw when perusing over recalls, etc. A reviewer recommended to not wait until the manual's recommendation. Who was this person? IDK. Is this accurate? The 130k thing? Because when I got into my "argument" at brakes plus, my exact verbiage was I'm here for a tune up, I'm here to get done whatever needs to get done on this car. If manufacturer information is incorrect, that's a problem. I've had 2 cars repossessed. It was extremely important to me to maintain this vehicle and pay it off. I do have a little bit of a fondness for working on engines. No, I have not done anything to this engine myself. I know this isn't some top of a model line car, but it seemed like the perfect kind of engine to tinker on someday. But not at 104,000 miles. Not on a well maintained vehicle. I would also think that if the manual recommends 120000k trannie fluid replacement for the first time that the engine would last at least until then? Lol.

Filed May 29, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · CO

Ah... yes. And the most absolute weirdest thing of all about this jeep- The manual that came with the jeep (which i cant seem to find) stated 85 gas is recommended. Did I think THAT was weird? YES! It's a truck. Kinda heavy... didn't expect 85 gas. But it's a 4cylinder, so ok. That manual was also not very thorough, for lack of a better term, so I purchased one. That manual stated 87. Put 87 in it. The jeep lost acceleration power. Couldn't get above 35mph. Boomerang only takes 85. Weird. Didn't put too much thought into it. If I remember correctly, this issue always resolved on its own somehow. Not sure why. Anyhow. That has happened about 4 or 5 times under my ownership. Every now and again, after regular maintenance, I would kind of check it, to see. On several occasions, when i took it in for regular oil changes, i'd mention that issue, no one had anything to say about it. Other than it was weird. Agreed. Aside from the issues mentioned in complaints 11466583 11466544 11466577 It ran fine. I never considered those issues as disrupting my driving needs. I'm pretty much a city driver. Jobs were close by. Groceries. Occasional mountain and hiking trips- drives out of town, never towed anything. Thinking back to when I fixed my engine throttle and was told that would probably be a recurring theme, bc it's a patriot, that whole gas thing really started nagging at me. Ok, jeep gave me something to tinker on. No biggie. It's almost a 10 year old car. Something's bound to happen. Uh- but not a whole blown engine, that's for sure. This was, however, within the first year of covid, and i was driving considerably less, so that concern subsided. 3-4 months later, fixed oil pan gasket. 2-3 months after that, engine blew. Lastly, unless I remember something else- Over the years I've seen numerous patriots on the side of the highway and wondered what kinds of issues they had. Weird? Yes. My engine literally never stalled out until last year. I must've been something right.

Filed May 29, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · CO

Ah- yes, The absolute most weirdest thing about this jeep. When putting the recommended 87 gas in the tank, it loses acceleration power. The manual that came with it (which i cant seem to find) stated 85. Did I think THAT was weird? Yes! It's a truck, kinda heavy, but it is a 4 cylinder- so ok jeep. That manual, however, was not very thorough, so I purchased one. That one stated 87. Put 87 in it. Nope. Boomerang only takes 85. When 87 is put in, it loses acceleration power and won't go above 35 mph. The issue always seemed to resolve on its own. Not sure why, and I didn't put much thought into it. Every now and then I would try 87, same thing happened. This happened about 4 or 5 times under my ownership. I mentioned this several times at regular maintenance and oil changes. No one had much to say about it other than that was weird. Agreed. Aside from the issues mentioned in complaints 11466577 11466544 11466583 It ran fine. I never considered it as disrupting my driving needs. I'm pretty much a city driver. Jobs close by. Groceries. Some trips out of town and to the mountains. Never towed anything on it. So now, thinking back to when I fixed the engine throttle and was told that would be a recurring theme because it's a patriot- ok, something's bound to happen, it's almost a ten year old car (at the time). The jeep gave me something to tinker on- no biggie. But not a whole blown engine at 104k, that's for sure. And the combined issues started nagging at me. But it was after covid happened, I was driving considerably less, and that concern quickly subsided. 3-4 months later, fixed oil pan gasket. 2-3 months after that, engine blew. Lastly, unless I remember something else- over the years I've seen numerous jeep patriots on the side of the highway (looked like about the same year, make model)- and I always wondered what kind of issues they had. My engine never literally stalled out until last year. Weird? Yes.

Filed May 28, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · CO

Something is wrong with the engine. I was told the engine is blown. I've maintained my vehicle and completed recommended repairs by Brakes Plus. I'd like to mention that as a former lube tech for Jiffy Lube, I am familiar with oil top offs. Naturally, I periodically checked my dip stick to confirm oil levels. It ALWAYS read at an acceptable level. Did I think it was weird? No, because I'm not a mechanic. I just thought that's how Jeeps are. Go Jeep! I'm a fan... well, my engine blew. Took it to Brakes Plus,l (towed), after a few check ups (towed each time)asked the techs how much oil was in the tank. Was told 2 quarts. I'm thinking that should have been reflected somehow on the dipstick. It wudnt. Since my car's been dead, thought I'd "experiment" with the oil readings. I have NOT driven the jeep. Anyhow, put a quart in- low and behold... it reads WAY above the max fill marker. As far as I know, there's only about 3 quarts in there. Also, my engine always had this 'tick' . Again, did not find it weird, thought that's how Jeeps are. Noticed it on day one, asked the salesman, he stated that's normal for the patriot. After this issue happened, I've found several YouTube videos with explanations of valve cover adjustments being needed, cheap fix, supposedly. I've been quoted 4000-9000 for engine replacement. The valve adjustment thing.. I don't know, maybe they have selective hearing, or 4-9k sounds better, cuz no one has even acknowledged that I mentioned that, or cared to confirm. Regardless, the dipstick is wrong. Seems pretty important. Especially if my engine is, in fact, blown.

Filed Feb 27, 2021 · Suspension · 35,076 miles · OH

Took jeep patriot to firestone service center for full inspection. Upon completion of inspection was told by the tech that my vehicle had severe underbody rust/ rot and that the front and rear crossmembers needed to be replaced among many other components needed repair/replaced such as complete brake job, cv axles, gas tank bracket and two seized lug/studs. Apparently, fca has a warranty extension called x69 bulletin that repairs the crossmembers for rust/rot but it is only for vehicles manufactured before 24 january 2012. My vehicle was manufactured on may 2012. This is unacceptable. It is clear that this issue was not rectified for vehicles manufactured after 24 january 2012 and this issue should be subject to a full recall and not a narrow warranty extension. Broken/compromised crossmembers could result at a minimum of vehicle destruction and serious injury to driver/passengers and a maximum loss of life due to this manufacturing defect. The federal safety agency should act accordingly and force fca to start a recall immediately.

Filed Mar 17, 2019 · Acceleration, Engine · 50,000 miles · PA

Around 50000 miles the engine started to stop accelerating during operation. During driving on a highway or city street (at all speeds) the engine would begin to malfunction without warning and the maximum speed that could be met was about 10mph with gas fully engaged. Pullingnover and restarting the vehicle would override this for a short time. It started to occur more frequently to the point I would have to restart my car a approximately 15 times to make a 9 mile trip to work. Happened several times driving on a highway at speeds of up to 65mph and almost caused accidents several times before I could pull off on to the shoulder. Eventually after months of this occurring at random intervals the car shut off while driving resulting in total loss of engine power and steering ability of the vehicle thankfully on a quiet back street where I was able to leave it after pushing it in neutral and have it towed. After several months of being in the shop and thousands of dollars later its running with a new engine. Multiple friends and family members with the same vehicle model make and year have this issue all around 50k miles.

Filed Dec 14, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 37,000 miles · PA

I was driving home from work at approximately 55 MPH while passing a tractor trailer up a moderate incline when the engine of my 2012 jeep patriot latitude failed. Upon passing the tractor trailer, all of the indicators on the dashboard began to light up - then the indicators, as well as my headlights, completely died. When the lights went out, the engine failed, and my car began to slow to a complete stop on a busy highway. I was barely able to get into a small space on the shoulder of the highway before a tractor trailer very nearly took my life. At first, I thought it was the car battery. I purchased this vehicle 13 days ago, so perhaps the battery had gotten weak on the dealer lot in the winter months. And, after my car was jumped, it began to work. However, the car could only be started once, and the engine will no longer turn over. It has been towed to a local dealership. I drive extensively for a living, and I am afraid that I will die in a car accident in this jeep patriot because the car failed completely at highway speeds. I have researched this and have found that it is a problem with 2011-2012 jeep patriots. Please enforce a recall!

Filed Jun 16, 2013 · Engine, Steering · 24,014 miles · AZ

While driving my vehicle on the highway, we experienced a total loss of engine power. The jeep was at speed 75-80mph when the vehicle began to decelerate, power steering was lost, and the engine died completely. Fortunately we were in a sparsely populated highway and were able to pull over safely, but it could have been far worse had there been anyone around us. I have no idea what happened exactly, but we were unable to start the engine again and had to have it towed 30 minutes to the nearest dealer. Upon this happening, I spoke with the jim click chrysler / jeep dealership in tucson where it was going to, and this is where it all went further downhill. Not only did they not really care that this had happened, but hey, it's saturday man, and we're out of here soon, so good luck and sorry about that. We can help you on monday, but can't answer any questions, hope you can find a ride home, oh and just leave your car outside the nissan shop (really!?). Not only was this a highly unsafe failure at speed, on the highway, but the followup was so poor that I am furious about the customer-service level from the folks at the local place. I guess it's a good thing nobody was seriously injured.

Filed Oct 21, 2012 · Engine · 1,900 miles · NM

Accelerating on the interstate when the engine died. Would not start for the next 2 1/2 hours. Dealership found nothing wrong the next morning. Electrical systems all appeared fine, car would not turn over. No "error codes" appeared when diagnostics were performed.

Filed Oct 20, 2012 · Acceleration, Electrical · 3,150 miles · CA

This is the first of 2 incidents I have had with this car. I was coming back into california from arizona on the 40 west with cruise control on at 75 MPH. Without indication, the throttle revved to 4500 RPM and the car lost speed. The engine was unresponsive to the gas pedal. I cancelled cruise control, and from the left lane was able to get over to the right shoulder. When we came to a stop, the engine died. The fuel gauge read just over 1/4 of a tank. The car would not start again. We called roadside assistance and they called a tow truck. The dealership was closed and we had to stay the night in a hotel. The next morning the car was taken to the dealership. The tech found no issues and was able to start the car with no incident. The diagnostic revealed no codes or errors. We were able to drive home the rest of the way. My jeep is a 4x4 with the trail rated package.

Filed Jul 23, 2012 · Engine · 1,884 miles · MI

We were driving the 2012 jeep patriot from michigan to new mexico, had just crossed nm state line. We were traveling at 80 MPH on a 95 degree day when the engine suddenly quit causing the vehicle to stop almost immediately in the middle of the expressway. We were able to get into the expressway median (barely!) and attempted to restart the vehicle--nothing! We had no warning lights or indications of any problems with the vehicle; it had just over 1800 miles on it. Vehicle was towed to a nm dealer who told us he had another patriot in the prior week with the exact same problem. Dealer did not know the "fix" for our engine failure --even suggested we just drive the car (in the desserts of nm) and if it died again we could just wait until it might restart! We had to leave the car in clovis, nm and rent a car to complete the trip. The 2012 jeep patriot previously written about has had a second engine failure at highway speeds. The clovis, nm chrysler dealer assured us the car was safe to drive after the first engine failure; we drove the car less that 250 miles and the engine suddenly died on the expressway again! Vehicle was again towed after stranding driver in the middle of nowhere. Does someone have to be killed before chrysler will fix this problem? There are several incidents reported at nhsta between may and july of 2012. I can only imagine how many people have had this happen and didn't report it at the federal safety agency. Please let me know what I can do to get this resolved--this car is a death trap!