2014 Jeep Patriot: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Nov 5, 2019 · Electrical · 48,000 miles · SC

The horn stopped working on this car about five months ago. I looked for a fuse or relay and discovered on the web that this was a common chrysler problem across all products. I replaced the clock spring which appeared to be identified as most probable problem on the web; not so. Two months ago I went to the dealer and said for $150 they would identify the problem. The horn itself worked, which I tested. I took the steering wheel apart once again and traced the two operational horn wires back to the the steering wheel mounted cruise control module. For grins I went to the local service yard and obtained said module. Replaced the module and now the horn works. First, why would the horn circuit be so convoluted since a relay and fuse was the norm since the 1940's. Second, for safety's sake, the common items needed to be working in a car are horn, lights, brakes; these are common minimum inspection items. Chrysler should make good and repair/ replace cars with this problem because this major failure could have serious consequences because the mindset of most backyard mechanics is that they can fix it and many have conceded failure and have put a horn button on the dash and wired to a better horn , fuse and relay. Check the web and you can see the multitude of traffic on the chrysler horn problems. I tried to get wiring diagrams for this car which cost $100 but I stopped when I found that they were not complete. I believe that chrysler like probably all manufacturers have let the electronics take over common sense.

Filed Nov 13, 2018 · Acceleration · 137,000 miles · VA

Tl* the contact owns a 2014 jeep patriot. While driving 35 MPH, the contact attempted to re-engage the cruise control. Without warning, the cruise control engaged and the vehicle accelerated up a hill. The contact had to forcefully depress the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. The contact deactivated the cruise control and was able to drive the vehicle. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 137,000.

Filed Apr 16, 2018 · Suspension, Transmission · 38,000 miles · NY

This car needs to be investigated! Not safe. Multiple problems. I bought this car about a month ago. I was driving on highway with my 5 year old son when the car started shaking and clunking uncontrollably. I pulled over thinking I had a flat tire but did not. Went to mechanic, where they replaced faulty sway bar and also installed an exhaust spring bolt kit that was never installed to begin with. Get the car back to not only have the same issues again along with issues with transmission seeming to slip. I was approaching a red light- again with my son in the car, while breaking- the car jumps RPM and almost ran into car in front of me. Also on cruise control the car wouldn't stop rev'n the engine. It was stuck over 4 RPM. I bought this car for safety but it is far from safe. There was an airbag recall but when I purchased the car it was marked as a seat belt recall. I would of steered clear if I knew about airbag but now I know airbag may not work in crash or will deploy randomly even if it was fixed it's not a legit fix due to electrical?! Also I believe the recall on 2.4 engines should also be looked into for more possible cars affected. My car follows same problems as those recalled and same engine but mines not recalled. This car clunks in and out of driveways. It feels like it will fall apart. The weather striping is poor allowing water to get in causing moldy smell. The brake lights accumulate water. There seem to be signs of electrical problems however mechanic can't see it. Can't charge phone an listen to radio unless you like static! Same with aux cord, just stopped working. Aside from looking nice- crysler did a terrible job with this particular patriot. Poorly built, not worth the money. They rather have people die or get seriously injured before looking into recalling it right? Multiple attempts to fix it have been made and car is still in the shop.

Filed Jun 12, 2017 · Acceleration, Engine · 600,075 miles · SC

First - oil is changed on time and spark plugs with coils were replaced. Maintenance is done on the car. Approximately at around 58k miles, the car began to "skip" when accelerating when it reaches over 20 MPH and reaching between 3-4 RPM. This was a random occurrence. Today at 60k miles, the car on cruise control, on a small incline in the road, came to an almost complete stop (from 65 MPH) and then accelerated as if I stomped on the gas - reaching almost 5 RPM before I was able to cancel the cruise control. The lights flashed briefly on the dash board but no error messages remained light. I called a reputable repair guy and without error lights there isn't much anyone can tell you. There are several other threads about this issue but nothing being done by chrysler due to the limited number of accidents. My incident today occurred during rush hour traffic and I could very well have been rear-ended or rear-ended someone else. Will be contacting the dealership first thing in the morning but am very concerned as I work over 20 minutes away from my home. Also verified no recalls by calling 1‑800‑247‑9753 for this issue.

Filed Sep 26, 2015 · Engine, Transmission · 23,107 miles · ND

I was on a 300 mile road trip. I was on the highway with cruise control on around 70-73 MPH and driving on fairly level road (no hills). The transmission downshifted and the engine RPM went up between 4500-5000. The transmission would not down shift automatically. I had to turn off the cruise control and slow down for it to shift. This happened 3 times on the trip. There is less than 25000 miles on the vehicle. Thinking seriously about getting rid of this vehicle before I get stuck with it.

Filed Aug 1, 2015 · Engine, Transmission · 10,211 miles · ND

Driving down the highway around 70 MPH with the cruise control on, vehicle stopped pulling and engine RPM shot up over 6 on the needle. It has happened twice in 4 months.