BigWidd's Big Adventure

[BigWidd]

@BigWidd , looking great! I really love what you did with the wheels and rear bumper and the tire carrier.

GB,
Again, thank you for the kind words.
As much as I have squawked about the things on the Jeep that needed fixing, it does make me more aware of the vehicle and confident when taking it off road. In getting to learn the systems and how they work, I feel like I could make some repairs on trail if need be.

I have included a few photos of our jaunt to the north end of the Great Salt Lake to see the Spiral Jetty. It is a sight you go to visit just to say you have been there. To access it, one drives to Promontory, Utah. Promontory is where the transcontinental railroads met and the golden spike was placed linking the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. From there it is a 17 mile drive one way on a dirt road to the jetty.

That is my lovely bride.

This is what the front of your vehicle looks like after a visit there. We had to stop at the first gas station we could to clean off the windshield. Around here, we refer to them as "midges" or "no-see-ums".

 

[BigWidd]

CONTINUED FROM POST #329
CHAPTER 8

Now that I had the new tires, wheels and rear bumper, it was time to get serious about finding a solution to the nagging problem of the PCM. It was now the middle of January 2019, we had owned the Jeep for 3 months. I had only driven it about 350 miles by this time. The previous owner had let me take it with his license plates on it. Because the check engine light was still coming on intermittently, it obviously would not pass an emissions test so there was no way to register/license it in our names. We had already registered for the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab which we had committed to for the 18th thru the 21st of April. As luck would have it, the current plates did not expire until May of 2019. As a last resort we could get there using the old plates.

We searched the internet for many hours and finally decided on a company in Florida named The ECU Team/Module Gods. The cost was a wallet busting $990.00. I took a deep breath, submitted the order and paid. I was promised delivery in two weeks. We had read their reviews, some good, some bad. When I spoke with Kasey on the phone he seemed decent enough.

Two weeks come and go, no PCM. Then the third week and the fourth, (warning flag number one). During the third week, I made a call to Kasey to get an update on the status. I was told that they were working through a problem with the PCM particular to the Rubicon models. He said that everything was working with the exception that when the Jeep was started, the 4 Wheel Drive indicator light would illuminate even when it was not in 4 wheel drive, (warning flag number two). They did not want to send out our PCM until they had the issue resolved. I was concerned when I made the call, but Kasey reassured me that all was going to be okay and they would make sure all systems were working correctly. Two more weeks pass, three more phone calls from me and they finally email me with a tracking number. I was able to take a sigh of relief.

When the package arrived, the wife called me at work to let me know it was here. I arrived home and hurriedly opened the box. The first thing I noticed was that all the pins in the housing had some corrosion on them. I was not about to install it in that condition. My wife started crying and suggested I send it back to them, (warning flag number four). The next day, I searched around town to find a can of Deoxit, the closest one was 30 miles away at a store that sold musical instruments, specifically guitars. Drove there and bought the only can they had. At home I cleaned all the pins, (Deoxit is an excellent product), and installed the replacement PCM/ECU. The Jeep started right up and off I went for a test drive......

To be continued:

 

[BigWidd]

CONTINUED FROM POST #337
CHAPTER 9

The test drive proved to be uneventful. The engine ran normally and the transmission shifted smoothly. I believe I drove about 50 miles that evening as I wanted to do most of the necessary "drive cycle" and give the monitors a chance to reset if possible. A good friend of mine, Tony has a nice code reader he got from the Mac Tool man. He offered to let me use it to check for codes and status of the monitors. Over the next few days the Jeep continued to drive just fine with no sign of the dreaded check engine light.

About a two weeks and a couple hundred miles into operating with the newly purchased ECU, I decided it was time to get an emissions test. On a Saturday morning I drove over to a small shop that does only emission testing. It passed with no problem. Yee haw!! Things were looking up. This ment we could get it properly registered and get our own real license plates.

There was however, another problem that I have not mentioned until now. I promise I am not making this up, I am relating it as it happened. Back in October I had met the seller at his credit union. He had a loan against the Jeep and the credit union had the title. We did not need to arrange financing for us to make the purchase. I had with me a cashiers check for the full amount. As it played out, the branch of the CU were we met did not have the title, it was being held at their records repository, which was located who knows where. We filled out all the requisite paperwork to have the title sent to us. The gal said, "You should receive the title in the mail within two weeks." I need to mention here that the seller had accepted a job offer in southern Utah and was leaving in the next few days. Which it turns out, was the main reason for him selling the Jeep. I drive the Jeep home and he goes back to his place to finish packing.

Another two weeks pass and we have been checking the mailbox every day. But no envelope from the CU. So I stop there on my way home from work to ask about it. The guy at the counter doesn't know what's going on, so he asks the Asst. Manager, she makes a couple of phone calls and then comes walking toward me. She is projecting body language that tells me some not so good news is coming my way. She sits down and says, "It seems that one of the records clerks made a mistake and mailed the title back to the seller. We are terribly sorry about this and will get you the paperwork to apply for a duplicate title." Holy crap, he ended up with about a third of the proceeds from the sale and now he has the *#*##*# title! I keep telling myself, possession is nine tenths of the law, possession is nine tenths of the law, possession is nine tenths of the law.

I called the seller, who is now living three hundred miles away. He tells me that in the mess their life has become since moving, he has not seen the title. If it is somewhere in the new house, he says, he would have no prayer of finding it. I chose to believe him and made plans to go to the DMV the next day.

To be continued:

 

[GorillaBiscuit]

@BigWidd , oh my goodness! What an ordeal!!

 

[BigWidd]

CONTINUED FROM POST #338
CHAPTER 10

I stopped at the DMV after work. Armed with the paperwork given to me by the credit union, I patiently waited for my number to be called. A wee bit of anxiety was swirling around in my head. My number was finally called. I walked up to the counter and began to tell the clerk my sad tale of woe. She asked to see the papers I had brought with me. After looking them over for a minute, she said, these papers are not what you need. Since the CU no longer held a lien on the title, I needed a new Bill of Sale signed by the previous owner along with two other forms she presented to me. She was kind enough to let me know that if I could get the previous owner to do it, he could go to the DMV office nearest where he lives, fill out the necessary documents and then that office could electronically send them to the DMV where I was getting helped.

As I headed for home I think to myself, I'm glad I did not call the seller and complain about the actual condition of the Jeep versus what condition he told me it was in. As it turns out, he was willing to help me get this sorted out. He took care of the required paperwork is short order and I received a new title from the state in about three weeks time.

Meanwhile back at the ranch;
It is the first part of March, I now had the title and an emission pass certificate. I could get the Jeep licensed and registered. I had told my wife that I would wait until after our trip to Moab for the Jeep Safari to address the engine oil leak. With everything that had happened up until now I was a bit nervous about removing the engine oil pan and having possible additional problems that could cause us to miss out on the plans for Moab.

In order to ease some of my doubts and get a better feeling for how the Jeep would handle the terrain during Jeep Safari, we planned a day trip to "Little Moab". It was only about a 65 mile trip to get there. Little Moab is a rock outcrop that gives some challenges to both driver and vehicle. I felt it would be a good way to see how well the transmission, gearing, transfer case and lockers worked. We were still close enough to home that it would not be a big deal to have a friend come and rescue us if need be.

This would be the first time I moved the lever into the 4 low position. That worked okay, now to engage the lockers. I have to admit here that I did not know how the system was supposed to function. The vehicle did not come with an owners manual. This was going to be trial by pulling levers and pushing buttons until something good or bad happened. I had tried to engage the lockers in 4 high only to discover after several minutes that they only engage if you are in 4 low. I am a bit embarrassed to admit this in public, but that is how I learn. Anyway now properly in 4 low I push the button and the light showing rear lock comes on but is blinking. I push it again and the light showing front lock comes on but it is not blinking. What the heck did that mean? Of course I figured that out after we got home. The Jeep ran well, it climbed nicely and I started to feel much better about our scheduled trip to Moab.

Little Moab, Utah County, Ut.

 

[BigWidd]

CONTINUED FROM POST #340
CHAPTER 11

Upon arriving home from our jaunt to Little Moab I immediately enrolled in another course on YouTube university. I quickly located a video showing how to diagnose problems with the locker controls and actuators. The video also showed me that when the axle lock light is blinking it means the axle is not locked. I am getting more educated by the day. Back in the garage I activate the rear axle locker and can hear that the vacuum pump just continues to run. I began checking the vacuum hose and sure enough, about 3 inches from the pump the line has a split in it. I spliced in a new piece of hose and the problem was solved. We are now ready for Moab.

I am going to jump ahead in the timeline here. I will come back to our Moab trip later........ We had been home from Moab for about 2 weeks, up until now the weather had been very nice. Springtime in Utah can be idyllic at times. We had not needed to use the air-conditioning in the Jeep since we purchased it. While on a drive one late afternoon my wife mentions it is getting a bit warm and asks me to turn on the a/c. Being the dutiful husband that I am, I readily comply. We go a few miles down the road and I start to notice that there is no cold air emerging from the ducts. Say it isn't so, it can't be another problem, no way in **** can it be another problem. Well it was another problem.

We pulled in the driveway and shut off the engine. The wife went into the house and I set about opening the hood to have myself a look-see. With the hood open I was greeted by frozen a/c lines. I say frozen, but both lines as well as the receiver/dryer were covered with about 1/8" of frost. I'm no a/c expert but even I know that is not the way things should be. I start the engine to see what, if anything was out of the ordinary. The fan is spinning, no obstructions in front of the condenser or radiator. I look closer at the compressor and notice that the clutch is engaged and not cycling as it normally would. Hmmm, now what. I reach inside and turn the controls to the off position, the clutch is still engaged. I then locate the fuse for the compressor and pull it out. The compressor stops compressing. It is getting too late in the day to do anymore diagnosis so I stop for the night.

At this time the Jeep has the replacement ECU supplied to us by ECU Team. I really have no idea if the a/c worked before changing out the ECU. Luckily I still had the original computer. I retrieved the original, swapped it out and plugged the fuse back in. With the original computer in place the a/c compressor cycled on and off. It was cycling fairly rapidly which indicated to me that the refrigerant was low. We had been operating the Jeep for three and a half months with the replacement ECU so the compressor was running the entire time. It had over pressurized the system and pushed out some of the refrigerant. To double check my diagnosis, I swapped the computers back and connected the replacement ECU, sure enough, the compressor started running constantly again. I also unbolted the control panel from the dash and checked the plug and wiring on the back side. It all checked good, nothing broken or melted.

I removed the fuse for the compressor and tossed it into the glove box. I went into the house, pulled out the paperwork from ECU Team and sat down to start making a warranty claim. When purchased I was verbally told that there was a one year warranty. The invoice and other papers stated the same. I sent off an email detailing the situation, my diagnosis and asking for them to warranty the faulty ECU and send me one that worked properly.

To be continued:

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Frost on a/c lines is very common, especially in humid conditions.

 

[BigWidd]

Frost on a/c lines is very common, especially in humid conditions.

Jerry,
Good to know that. Utah is typically pretty dry (low humidity) so it is a condition that I have not been familiar with. Thanks for the information, it's all part of the learning experience.

 

[BigWidd]

CONTINUED FROM POST #341
CHAPTER 12

I apologize for the lag in my postings. I have not been feeling well and I had some other things to attend to, but back to the story.

It was June 3rd when I submitted the warranty claim. I received a response on 6/20 explaining that they were waiting on a chip set from China and it would be a couple of weeks before it would arrive. I sent an email on 7/15 asking for an update. Received a reply on 7/18 stating the new ECU was in process. I wrote back again on 8/1. An answer came back on 8/6 stating they were experiencing bad weather in Florida and also the chip set still had not arrived from China. I wrote again on 8/16. They got back to me on 8/21 saying that the ECU was not ready yet but said it would be by 8/28. I emailed on 8/30, no response. I emailed again on 9/12, no response. Another email sent 9/21, no response. You might be asking yourself, why didn't he just call them? Two reasons for that, first, I wanted a record of all the correspondence and second, the warranty stipulates that contact is to be made via email. At this point in time my wife was planning a trip to Florida to visit her sisters. In the email I sent on 9/21, I mentioned this to them and stated that she would be stopping by their place of business and that they should have it ready for her to pick up.

Frustrated by their lack of response, the wife decided she would see if she could get them to answer us. She is the tech guru in our family. She went on Yelp, BBB, Twitter, Facebook and their own website and posted reviews stating we had been trying to contact them but were not getting a response. She also sent them an email explaining her plans to make a trip to Florida and ask for information as to where she could expect to take delivery of the ECU.

As you might imagine, they did not take too kindly to the reviews and answered her on 9/23. The explanation they gave for not acknowledging my emails was that they had gone into the spam folder. They told her that stopping to pick up the ECU in person was not necessary and they promised to ship it right away. Which they did, we received it on 10/4. They asked her if she would delete the reviews once we received the ECU. She complied with their request and deleted them.

We had been planning a trip with the local Jeep club to the San Rafael Swell. The trip was scheduled for Oct. 18-19. I had also scheduled a trip to the local 4 Wheel Parts shop to have a 4 wheel alignment done. I installed the new ECU and drove the Jeep to work that morning. That afternoon I dropped the Jeep at 4 Wheel Parts and left it overnight. The next afternoon I picked up the Jeep and headed for home. I got about one mile down the road and the check engine light came on. Upon arrival home I plugged in the code reader and got PO 016 Cam Sensor Bank A. The Jeep seemed to run okay but it was extremely bothersome to have the CEL light back on. I contacted ECU Team via email and told them of the situation and the fact we had a 500 mile trip planned in the next few days. They suggested I drive the trip with the new ECU in place and see what happens.

To be continued:

Interstate 70 bisects the Swell, this is where I-70 enters the Swell on the eastern edge.

If you look closely, you will see the Jeeps along the cliff edge.

Part of the group that participated in the adventure.

Utah is an amazing place to live and play.

 

[BigWidd]

CONTINUED FROM POST #344
CHAPTER 13

I realize that I have been jumping around a bit on chronology in our story. I probably should have started with an outline arranged in order of occurrence and used that for reference. Alas this has led me down a rabbit hole and I have gotten carried away. Bear with me, it may make some sense after all is said and done.

Approximately one month prior to our leaving for the trip to San Rafael Swell, I thought it best to take care of that pesky rear main oil leak that was mentioned in an earlier chapter. The parts had been purchased and lying in wait for several months. A sunny Saturday morning provided the perfect starting point for this. One of the advantages of having a lift on the Jeep has been being able to lay on the garage floor and slide right under the vehicle without the need for a jack or jack stands, bonus!

The catch pan was in place and the drain plug removed. As I was lying under there letting the oil drain, I took a good look at the transmission pan and noticed how the paint was flaking off, and rust had started to take hold. There were no noticeable leaks. Here is where that dreaded "painter/detailer" side of my brain jumped to the forefront. Kind of like they picture it in the cartoons, devil on one shoulder and angel on the other. Devil, "You should remove that transmission pan, clean and repaint it. And replace the filter and fluid at the same time". Angel, "It's not leaking now, if you touch it, that is a guaranteed leak." Devil, "Come on man, you can't possibly live with yourself knowing how terrible that looks". Angel, "Remember it's an off road vehicle. It will get dirty and scratched the first twenty feet of your next off road adventure". Devil, "Blah, blah, blah.....". Angel, "Blah, blah, blah......". On and on. It's a wonder that I am ever able to get anything done, too many voices going on at the same time.

The engine oil pan was unbolted and removed. The transmission pan was unbolted and removed. The devil convinced me that since the skid plate did not need to be dropped to gain access to all the pan bolts, the trans pan removal would be easy. It actually proved out that way. The removal of both pans was drama free. Oh, wait a minute, there was a plastic clip that supported the transmission cooler lines. It had to be removed to gain access to one of the bolts holding the engine oil pan. All manner of kind and gentle methods were employed to remove it. Not one of them worked. It came down to brute force and cursing before it relented it's mighty grip. Also total destruction of said clip.

My good friend Tony's name has been mentioned before. What I have not mentioned about Tony is just how good of a friend he is. He and his lovely wife live on a one acre lot and they built a 40' by 60' shop out back of the house. Tony has let me keep many of my tools as well as work out there for over twenty years. Gave me a key to the shop and has never charged me a dime of rent. I may not be wealthy due to money but I have been blessed with good friends. They don't come any better than Tony.

I took both pans over to Tony's place and used the parts cleaner then the blasting cabinet to clean them up. Then surprise surprise, I painted them. I had purchased a FelPro gasket kit for the engine oil pan. The only thing that O'Reilly had for the trans pan was an off brand filter kit with a new filter and rubber pan gasket. The trans pan did not have a formal gasket in place when I removed it, just RTV. Back to the cartoon shoulder scenario. Devil, "Don't use that rubber gasket, it will only cause you grief." Angel, "They include that in the kit for a reason." Devil, "I'm telling you dude, just put it back on using RTV". Angel, "The engineers are smarter than you. Use the gasket". Blah, blah, blah........ I reinstalled the trans pan using the rubber gasket. As I am torquing the bolts, it just does not feel right. The bolts are not holding their torque values and the gasket is squishing out all around the perimeter. I get both pans reinstalled and call it good for the days work. However, I toss and turn all night long. I just don't feel right about that transmission pan. The next morning I slide back under, remove the pan and gasket. Clean everything and reinstall it using only RTV. Hey, this time the bolts torque properly and I feel much better.

Of course you know I had to notice one of the transmission cooler lines was weeping fluid at one of the crimp fittings where the hard line and rubber hose are connected. So I cut the crimp end off, replace the rubber section of the line and use hose clamps to hold it together. Then I had to make a new bracket to hold the trans cooler lines replacing the one I destroyed during removal. Also the four bolts that attach the exhaust crossunder pipe to the manifold were ruined when loosening. I have always been amazed that removing exhaust bolts seems to strip the threads from the bolts during the process. Am I the only one that experiences this?

To be continued:

I cleaned and painted the crossunder pipe as well. The bushings in the upper long arms were worn, so I replaced them. Also cleaned and painted the arms and rod ends.

Just to the right of the crank dampener you can see my repair to the transmission cooler line.
I am proud to say, no leaks from either pan or the cooler line since the repair.

 

[Juggernaut]

CONTINUED FROM POST #340
CHAPTER 11

Upon arriving home from our jaunt to Little Moab I immediately enrolled in another course on YouTube university. I quickly located a video showing how to diagnose problems with the locker controls and actuators. The video also showed me that when the axle lock light is blinking it means the axle is not locked. I am getting more educated by the day. Back in the garage I activate the rear axle locker and can hear that the vacuum pump just continues to run. I began checking the vacuum hose and sure enough, about 3 inches from the pump the line has a split in it. I spliced in a new piece of hose and the problem was solved. We are now ready for Moab.

I am going to jump ahead in the timeline here. I will come back to our Moab trip later........ We had been home from Moab for about 2 weeks, up until now the weather had been very nice. Springtime in Utah can be idyllic at times. We had not needed to use the air-conditioning in the Jeep since we purchased it. While on a drive one late afternoon my wife mentions it is getting a bit warm and asks me to turn on the a/c. Being the dutiful husband that I am, I readily comply. We go a few miles down the road and I start to notice that there is no cold air emerging from the ducts. Say it isn't so, it can't be another problem, no way in **** can it be another problem. Well it was another problem.

We pulled in the driveway and shut off the engine. The wife went into the house and I set about opening the hood to have myself a look-see. With the hood open I was greeted by frozen a/c lines. I say frozen, but both lines as well as the receiver/dryer were covered with about 1/8" of frost. I'm no a/c expert but even I know that is not the way things should be. I start the engine to see what, if anything was out of the ordinary. The fan is spinning, no obstructions in front of the condenser or radiator. I look closer at the compressor and notice that the clutch is engaged and not cycling as it normally would. Hmmm, now what. I reach inside and turn the controls to the off position, the clutch is still engaged. I then locate the fuse for the compressor and pull it out. The compressor stops compressing. It is getting too late in the day to do anymore diagnosis so I stop for the night.

At this time the Jeep has the replacement ECU supplied to us by ECU Team. I really have no idea if the a/c worked before changing out the ECU. Luckily I still had the original computer. I retrieved the original, swapped it out and plugged the fuse back in. With the original computer in place the a/c compressor cycled on and off. It was cycling fairly rapidly which indicated to me that the refrigerant was low. We had been operating the Jeep for three and a half months with the replacement ECU so the compressor was running the entire time. It had over pressurized the system and pushed out some of the refrigerant. To double check my diagnosis, I swapped the computers back and connected the replacement ECU, sure enough, the compressor started running constantly again. I also unbolted the control panel from the dash and checked the plug and wiring on the back side. It all checked good, nothing broken or melted.

I removed the fuse for the compressor and tossed it into the glove box. I went into the house, pulled out the paperwork from ECU Team and sat down to start making a warranty claim. When purchased I was verbally told that there was a one year warranty. The invoice and other papers stated the same. I sent off an email detailing the situation, my diagnosis and asking for them to warranty the faulty ECU and send me one that worked properly.

To be continued:

I had the same issue with

CONTINUED FROM POST #340
CHAPTER 11

Upon arriving home from our jaunt to Little Moab I immediately enrolled in another course on YouTube university. I quickly located a video showing how to diagnose problems with the locker controls and actuators. The video also showed me that when the axle lock light is blinking it means the axle is not locked. I am getting more educated by the day. Back in the garage I activate the rear axle locker and can hear that the vacuum pump just continues to run. I began checking the vacuum hose and sure enough, about 3 inches from the pump the line has a split in it. I spliced in a new piece of hose and the problem was solved. We are now ready for Moab.

I am going to jump ahead in the timeline here. I will come back to our Moab trip later........ We had been home from Moab for about 2 weeks, up until now the weather had been very nice. Springtime in Utah can be idyllic at times. We had not needed to use the air-conditioning in the Jeep since we purchased it. While on a drive one late afternoon my wife mentions it is getting a bit warm and asks me to turn on the a/c. Being the dutiful husband that I am, I readily comply. We go a few miles down the road and I start to notice that there is no cold air emerging from the ducts. Say it isn't so, it can't be another problem, no way in **** can it be another problem. Well it was another problem.

We pulled in the driveway and shut off the engine. The wife went into the house and I set about opening the hood to have myself a look-see. With the hood open I was greeted by frozen a/c lines. I say frozen, but both lines as well as the receiver/dryer were covered with about 1/8" of frost. I'm no a/c expert but even I know that is not the way things should be. I start the engine to see what, if anything was out of the ordinary. The fan is spinning, no obstructions in front of the condenser or radiator. I look closer at the compressor and notice that the clutch is engaged and not cycling as it normally would. Hmmm, now what. I reach inside and turn the controls to the off position, the clutch is still engaged. I then locate the fuse for the compressor and pull it out. The compressor stops compressing. It is getting too late in the day to do anymore diagnosis so I stop for the night.

At this time the Jeep has the replacement ECU supplied to us by ECU Team. I really have no idea if the a/c worked before changing out the ECU. Luckily I still had the original computer. I retrieved the original, swapped it out and plugged the fuse back in. With the original computer in place the a/c compressor cycled on and off. It was cycling fairly rapidly which indicated to me that the refrigerant was low. We had been operating the Jeep for three and a half months with the replacement ECU so the compressor was running the entire time. It had over pressurized the system and pushed out some of the refrigerant. To double check my diagnosis, I swapped the computers back and connected the replacement ECU, sure enough, the compressor started running constantly again. I also unbolted the control panel from the dash and checked the plug and wiring on the back side. It all checked good, nothing broken or melted.

I removed the fuse for the compressor and tossed it into the glove box. I went into the house, pulled out the paperwork from ECU Team and sat down to start making a warranty claim. When purchased I was verbally told that there was a one year warranty. The invoice and other papers stated the same. I sent off an email detailing the situation, my diagnosis and asking for them to warranty the faulty ECU and send me one that worked properly.

To be continued:

I had the same issue with the AC compressor running continuously and exceeding the high limit. In fact I also had the issue with the unit provided under warranty. My PCMs were purchased from Modulegods who was subsidiary or d/b/a company of ECU Team. They told me they knew of the issue previously before my experience and thought they corrected it. Unfortunately their warranty was useless as they never could provide a working pcm. I hope you have better luck than me as their customer service is terrible.

 

[BigWidd]

CONTINUED FROM POST #345
CHAPTER 14

With the jeep loaded we set off toward the San Rafael Swell. We live just north of Salt Lake City, and had made a motel reservation in Green River, Ut. The travel distance is just over 200 miles.

At the suggestion of the supplier, we left home with the newest ECU installed. From now on I will refer to the ECU's by the order in which they were received, so that makes this ECU 2. I had packed what tools I knew I would need as well as those I thought I might need, along with the code reader and ECU 1. Approximately five miles from home the check engine light came on. As previously mentioned, the Jeep seemed to run okay even with the CEL illuminated. We kept on headed south. Something curious I did notice was that the cruise control was not working. Halfway to Green River we stopped to refuel. While the tank was filling I retrieved the error code and found the same PO 016 cam sensor reading. I cleared it and off we went. Once up to highway speed, I tried the cruise control and found it worked. However, as before, about five to six miles down the road the CEL lit up. When it came on, the cruise control stopped working. Hmmm why would that happen? We made it to Green River with no issues beyond the CEL and no working cruise control.

I don't remember if I mentioned that with ECU 2 the a/c compressor was now functioning normally and I had the system recharged prior to leaving home. It was now the middle of October and the weather was such that we did not need a/c on this trip. From Green River we needed to drive about 40 miles to the west along I-70 to meet up with the other members of the Wasatch Outlaw Wheelers (the Jeep club we were joining up with). The majority of them were camping in the Swell. Once I-70 enters the Swell it makes quite an uphill climb. Grades in some spots reach 6%. Our Jeep was slowing significantly up those grades, at one point I pushed the accelerator all the way to the floor to facilitate a downshift and it felt like it jumped down two maybe three gears. The tach jumped up to what appeared to be 5,500 and then the rev limiter activated. I quickly released the throttle, the engine coughed, sputtered then smoothed out. The episode startled me and the wife asked "What just happened?". I can't say for sure, but I suspect the ECU was having trouble sorting through all the inputs and selecting the correct outputs. We arrived at the meeting spot a little early. I opened the hood and swapped out ECU 2 and put ECU 1 back it it's place.

In the rush of trying to get this done before everyone else arrived, I forgot to remove the fuse for the a/c compressor. As you may remember, the fault in ECU 1 keeps the compressor energized constantly. As a result it over pressurized the system again and we lost quite a bit of the refrigerant I had just paid to have recharged. The remainder of the trip when smoothly, we had a wonderful time and made it home safely.

Back at home, I contacted ECU Team and updated them on what happened and asked him what the plan was going forward. He asked me to take the Jeep to a dealer and have it tested. He felt the problem was most likely a faulty cam sensor or maybe a wiring harness issue. I didn't think that was possible, with ECU 1 back in place, the CEL did not come on the remainder of the trip. Anyway, I made an appointment and took it to the local dealer. They checked the sensors as well as the wiring harness and did not find any problems. The invoice from the dealer was $139.00.

Just want to mention here, the Jeep is an absolute beast when going off road. It has gone everywhere I have had the nerve to take it. The torque and gearing of the engine, transmission and transfer case are ideally matched and it is a thrill to drive. We have had our heart rates raised significantly by this machine. We both love it and look forward to many more adventures with it.

To be continued:

 

[Chris]

I'm waiting for the @BigWidd paperback version of this story to come out

New York Times Bestseller? I think so

 

[BigWidd]

I had the same issue with

I had the same issue with the AC compressor running continuously and exceeding the high limit. In fact I also had the issue with the unit provided under warranty. My PCMs were purchased from Modulegods who was subsidiary or d/b/a company of ECU Team. They told me they knew of the issue previously before my experience and thought they corrected it. Unfortunately their warranty was useless as they never could provide a working pcm. I hope you have better luck than me as their customer service is terrible.

Juggernaut,
I feel your pain. We have been dealing with Modulegods/ECU Team, which are in fact the same company.
Without giving up too much of the coming chapters in this saga, it continues to get worse. We never did get a working ECU from them and their warranty ......well you will read about it here soon.
You should contact your credit card company, they may be able to offer some help to you.

 

[BigWidd]

I'm waiting for the @BigWidd paperback version of this story to come out

New York Times Bestseller? I think so

Chris,
First let me say thank you for this forum. It is a fantastic resource and extremely well put together and maintained. Kudos. I will become a paid member soon.
I have been a bit nervous wondering if our story is getting too long or taking up too much valuable space. But is sounds like you are enjoying it so I will continue onward.

 

[Chris]

Chris,
First let me say thank you for this forum. It is a fantastic resource and extremely well put together and maintained. Kudos. I will become a paid member soon.
I have been a bit nervous wondering if our story is getting too long or taking up too much valuable space. But is sounds like you are enjoying it so I will continue onward.

I am glad you’re enjoying the forum, thank you!

It’s a great story, I think the only downside is that you might be doing it a disservice by not giving it its own thread

It’s certainly worthy of one!

 

[Apparition]

I'm waiting for the @BigWidd paperback version of this story to come out

New York Times Bestseller? I think so

But will it be done before the game of thrones books?

 

[Juggernaut]

Juggernaut,
I feel your pain. We have been dealing with Modulegods/ECU Team, which are in fact the same company.
Without giving up too much of the coming chapters in this saga, it continues to get worse. We never did get a working ECU from them and their warranty ......well you will read about it here soon.
You should contact your credit card company, they may be able to offer some help to you.

My CC company did end up getting my money back. I'll wait for the next installment of the saga, but I bet it involves the dealer's diagnostic bill, return shipping and tons of excuses from the owner's son!

 

[BigWidd]

CONTINUED FROM POST #347
CHAPTER 15

I contacted ECU Team and let them know that I had been to the dealer and had the sensors and wiring checked and all passed just fine. They told me that they would build yet another ECU and send it out as soon as possible. I boxed up ECU 2 and mailed it back. Five weeks later ECU 3 arrived on our doorstep.

It is now just after Thanksgiving 2019. I went out to the garage to install ECU 3. Thankfully this is a relatively easy task and takes just a couple of minutes to perform. I turned the key, started the Jeep and could tell immediately the engine was misfiring. Great balls of fire, say it ain't so! I plugged in the code reader and retrieved PO 304. My level of frustration was reaching the boiling point. I took ECU 3 out and reinstalled ECU 1. Back to the drawing board. I mailed ECU 3 back to them on 12/6. With continued conversations back and forth it was agreed that another ECU would be built, programmed and sent to us.

The Wasatch Outlaw Wheelers group that I mentioned earlier, schedules a club run for the third Saturday of each month. The November run was planned as a trip, to what we here in Utah refer to as the west desert. The hope was to search out a herd of wild horses. I have lived here my entire life and not seen wild horses in person. The idea of traveling out there and getting to do this was very exciting for me and the missus. We loaded up and headed west on I-80 for about 60 miles to the little outpost of Delle, UT. It was unseasonably warm that weekend, by that I mean it was just above freezing. We suspected the normally dirt roads might be anything but. We had no idea.....

The group at our meetup spot just south of I-80 at Delle, Ut.

This is were we stopped to eat lunch. We had tried to cross over the mountain range in the background but when we got very near the summit, snow had drifted over the roadway and it was impassable.

You can see in the above photo that we had taken a couple of minutes to clean the windshield and door windows. We did not want to miss a chance of spotting horses. Binoculars work best when peering through clean glass, (what a waste of time that turned out to be).

Here we are at the end of the trail. We did not spot a single horse, but we did manage to find every bit of mud there is in the west desert.

Ugh, just ugh!!!

The next day I spent just over seven hours cleaning the Jeep. Overnight it had dried and setup rock hard. The first five hours were spent on the street in front of the house with a garden hose. I was soaking it to soften up the mud enough to get it to release it's iron grip. BIG MISTAKE doing this on the street in front of the house. All I did was transfer the mud from the vehicle to the pavement. There is not much slope to the gutter out front. I scooped up three wheelbarrow loads and hauled it around back and dumped it by the garden plot. I then spent $35 at the car wash to remove the remainder and spray the frame and suspension. At the request of the neighbors, the following weekend I rented a power washer and finished cleaning the street and the gutter. This is what to expect when your tires stick out beyond the fender flares.

To be continued:

 

[glwood]

I am glad you’re enjoying the forum, thank you!

It’s a great story, I think the only downside is that you might be doing it a disservice by not giving it its own thread

It’s certainly worthy of one!

Agreed. @BigWidd's big adventure needs it's own thread.