[Blooleader]

Ran fine yesterday. Went out to start it. All the lights came on press the start button, hear the fuel pimp, but not starter. Not a sound. A message comes on briefly saying to charge the battery to achieve selected ride height. Of course, I had not attempted to change the ride height. The battery seem fine. horn, light..etc. Just no starter. Any thoughts?

 

[Realfish03]

Hi,

We just had this problem with our 14. Dealer said it was bad starter. Trying to put a new starter in but I can’t get the darn thing out. Anyone have any luck replacing the starter and tips on how to get the old one out?

 

[Bnks334]

Hi,

We just had this problem with our 14. Dealer said it was bad starter. Trying to put a new starter in but I can’t get the darn thing out. Anyone have any luck replacing the starter and tips on how to get the old one out?

Any update on this? I'm at 89k and my 14' just lost its starter. Click and no crank. I dropped the under panel and I can just barely see the starter from the driver side. I cant see how I could get at this thing from below... just too much crap in the way. Just as much in the way from above too.

 

[Realfish03]

Any update on this? I'm at 89k and my 14' just lost its starter. Click and no crank. I dropped the under panel and I can just barely see the starter from the driver side. I cant see how I could get at this thing from below... just too much crap in the way. Just as much in the way from above too.

hey, unfortunately you do have to access the two bolts holding the starter from the bottom of the car along with the wires to the solenoid portion. You also do have to loosen the motor mount bolt on the driver sides and jack the motor up from the pan to get the starter out. It also gives you better clearance for access to the bolts. I tried every which way to not jack the motor up but you have to do it. It’s not that bad. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Bnks334]

hey, unfortunately you do have to access the two bolts holding the starter from the bottom of the car along with the wires to the solenoid portion. You also do have to loosen the motor mount bolt on the driver sides and jack the motor up from the pan to get the starter out. It also gives you better clearance for access to the bolts. I tried every which way to not jack the motor up but you have to do it. It’s not that bad. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Ouch. I was hoping it would be a quick job but I feel like this is going to suck. So, support engine, remove engine mount, jack engine up, and then starter is accessible? Anything else you can think of that might be helpful? Any guides or manuals for these cars on the internet?

 

[Realfish03]

Ouch. I was hoping it would be a quick job but I feel like this is going to suck. So, support engine, remove engine mount, jack engine up, and then starter is accessible? Anything else you can think of that might be helpful? Any guides or manuals for these cars on the internet?

That’s the procedure. We bought a one day subscription to the service manual. That gave the step by step for the procedure. Really helpful. But I can’t remember where on the net it was. But it is there.

 

[Bnks334]

I just wanted to update:

This job was awful. Remove under trays, remove engine mount, jack up engine as much as possible, remove all bolts, remove start. Seems simple enough but the engine mount itself is hard to remove. The bolt closest the the front of the car is blind. I tried all sorts of swivels and what not from above and below and there is just no direct path. Reach in there and remove it by feel. Then the starter bolt holding the positive wire is hard to get to... again-- do it blind. No wya to fit your face and your hand up in there to see what you're doing lol. A ratcheting wrench helps. Pro tip - the top start bolt is threaded in from the transmission side... remove the transmission under-tray and you should see it up top. I struggled for a while until I realized where the bolt threaded through.

Everything went back together way faster than it came apart. I can see these trucks being an absolute nightmare to work on. All the technology of the latest European cars but packaged by an american brand lol. Brutal combination. This coming from someone who has rebuilt entire BMW engines. Starter probably dies so damn fast because it is literally touching the exhaust manifold... Oh and where the hell is the battery located? I disconnected the positive cable running near the passager side of the car because I couldn't find it LOL. That worked but I still don't know where the battery is.

 

[CaseyGV]

The actual battery is under the passenger seat. Easiest to get to it if you move the passenger seat as far forward as you can.

 

[littleg]

Ran fine yesterday. Went out to start it. All the lights came on press the start button, hear the fuel pimp, but not starter. Not a sound. A message comes on briefly saying to charge the battery to achieve selected ride height. Of course, I had not attempted to change the ride height. The battery seem fine. horn, light..etc. Just no starter. Any thoughts?

My 2014 Jeep Grand Diesel is doing the exact same thing. It starts one day, then wont start the next time I need to drive it. It started up this morning and I moved it in the driveway to wash it. Now an hour later it won't start. I wouldn't start yesterday either. So it is intermittent failure. I would like to know if the starter really is the problem? I read elsewhere about the brake light switch, push button starter, key fob, low battery and loose connections. This failure seems to be fairly wide spread. I do not want to go to the dealer or replace several things with bad results. Has anyone got to the bottom of this?
These diesel Jeeps are great when the run. Well at least mine is because I eliminated the DEF system and flashed the computer. Now it is a great running and powerful Jeep. But it just won't start when I need it.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks LittleG, Somewhere west of Boston, GOD Bless America!

 

[littleg]

I ordered a new starter, arrives today.

I thought this would be worse than the emission delete job, but so far the removal was cake. I jacked up the Jeep and removed the drivers front wheel. Placed the drivers jack stand on the frame to give plenty of room under the starter. I already had removed the two skid plates when I did the emissions delete and left them off as most of the sensors that get wet or damaged are gone now. I only used three tools for the actual starter removal. A 15mm ratcheting wrench with flex head, a 1/4 drive 13mm socket and wrench and a 15mm socket, wrench and short extension (I only had 1/2 drive on hand which worked perfectly.

Using 15mm ratcheting wrench remove the top nut of the drivers motor mount. Use floor jack with small block of wood under drivers side of aluminum oil pan and jack up a couple inches. There are two 15mm starter bolts holding the starter in place. One on the engine side and one on the transmission side. Using the same tool, remove the starter bolt that you can see that threads from the engine side through the starter and into the transmission housing. Now use the 15mm socket, wrench and short extension to remove the starter bolt you cant see from the transmission side. If you look at the transmission housing where it mounts to the engine you can easily see where the case has indentations to allow for bolts. So you know where you removed the engine side bolt and if you go up from there you will see the indentation for where the bolt is. Just reach up there with the tool and you'll be surprised how easy it is to remove. Next grab the solenoid and pull to unseat the starter. I needed to jack up a 1/2 inch at this point to get the starter all the way out of its location, but still up there with the wires connected. Now move the starter enough to see the nuts on the front of the solenoid. There are two wires to remove, the small one was just a squeeze clip, so squeeze and pull it right off which also makes more room for the two nuts. The two nutsy are 13mm and I found my 1/4 drive socket and wrench worked perfectly. The two nuts hold the same big positive wire to the solenoid. After that I slid the old starter out the rest of the way. The install should be as simple.

I'll post again if the new starter does NOT fix the problem.

LittleG

 

[littleg]

Correction. There is only one 13mm solenoid bolt to remove. The second one is from the negative which doesn't need to come out as the squeeze clip is used instead. So even easier.

LittleG

 

[2014JGClemon]

I just wanted to update:

This job was awful. Remove under trays, remove engine mount, jack up engine as much as possible, remove all bolts, remove start. Seems simple enough but the engine mount itself is hard to remove. The bolt closest the the front of the car is blind. I tried all sorts of swivels and what not from above and below and there is just no direct path. Reach in there and remove it by feel. Then the starter bolt holding the positive wire is hard to get to... again-- do it blind. No wya to fit your face and your hand up in there to see what you're doing lol. A ratcheting wrench helps. Pro tip - the top start bolt is threaded in from the transmission side... remove the transmission under-tray and you should see it up top. I struggled for a while until I realized where the bolt threaded through.

Everything went back together way faster than it came apart. I can see these trucks being an absolute nightmare to work on. All the technology of the latest European cars but packaged by an american brand lol. Brutal combination. This coming from someone who has rebuilt entire BMW engines. Starter probably dies so damn fast because it is literally touching the exhaust manifold... Oh and where the hell is the battery located? I disconnected the positive cable running near the passager side of the car because I couldn't find it LOL. That worked but I still don't know where the battery is.

Do you have any photos? I can’t locate it. I have had the dealer install 3 starters in my 2014 over the past 3 years and I am currently stranded again. Hoping to try to tap on the starter to see if I could get it running again.

 

[littleg]

 

[2014JGClemon]

Thanks, is this taken from the bottom of the vehicle? Trying to figure out how to access it with a broom stick or something to give it a couple whacks. I’m 2 hours to the nearest dealer and it cost me $500 to have it towed there last time.

 

[littleg]

Yes all access is from the bottom of the Jeep. You can look from the driver side fender-well with you head on the ground behind the drivers front tire look up through the suspension toward the back of the engine. Or from under the jeep a little further back an by the transmission and look towards where the big space is where a duel exhaust pipe would come down from the engine if we had duel exhaust. For comparison it's the opposite space from where the exhaust comes down on the passenger side. That gaping hole is where you can access the motor mount bolt and the rear starter bolt and where you will pull the starter out from. But the best view is from the rear of the tire looking up through the suspension. That is where I took the pictures from.

You can do this job!!

 

[Chriis26]

My 2014 Jeep Grand Diesel is doing the exact same thing. It starts one day, then wont start the next time I need to drive it. It started up this morning and I moved it in the driveway to wash it. Now an hour later it won't start. I wouldn't start yesterday either. So it is intermittent failure. I would like to know if the starter really is the problem? I read elsewhere about the brake light switch, push button starter, key fob, low battery and loose connections. This failure seems to be fairly wide spread. I do not want to go to the dealer or replace several things with bad results. Has anyone got to the bottom of this?
These diesel Jeeps are great when the run. Well at least mine is because I eliminated the DEF system and flashed the computer. Now it is a great running and powerful Jeep. But it just won't start when I need it.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks LittleG, Somewhere west of Boston, GOD Bless America!

I have the same trouble with mine actually. Did you find the problem if yes can you tell me how and what it was?! Thanks

 

[icfish]

Is this premature starter failure only on the 2014? Or are there any reports of similar problems with other years?
Im still hoping Jeep comes out with a recall to replace leaky rack and pinion boot that is a problem with all GCs.

 

[Chriis26]

My 2014 Jeep Grand Diesel is doing the exact same thing. It starts one day, then wont start the next time I need to drive it. It started up this morning and I moved it in the driveway to wash it. Now an hour later it won't start. I wouldn't start yesterday either. So it is intermittent failure. I would like to know if the starter really is the problem? I read elsewhere about the brake light switch, push button starter, key fob, low battery and loose connections. This failure seems to be fairly wide spread. I do not want to go to the dealer or replace several things with bad results. Has anyone got to the bottom of this?
These diesel Jeeps are great when the run. Well at least mine is because I eliminated the DEF system and flashed the computer. Now it is a great running and powerful Jeep. But it just won't start when I need it.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks LittleG, Somewhere west of Boston, GOD Bless America!

I have exactly the same problem! They change alternator and I was thinking the trouble was gone but finally 4 month later.. the same thing happens twice.. go to the dealer again and it start and run well as nothing happens. Since 2 others months past and now same thing again, every light come on, hear the fuel pump and just never start.. really love this jeep.. when it runs but need to repair this problem or I will sell it...

 

[BrokenDownDieselJeep]

I am having the same problem. It usually starts fine, but it will randomly not start about once every 2 months. If I try to start it the next day it's fine. Dealer has no idea what to do. Will need to sell it if there is no fix.

 

[BrokenDownDieselJeep]

Update: Totally won't start now, towed to dealer. Having a new starter put in. VERY EXPENSIVE.

TRADING IN THIS LEMON ONCE FIXED AND WILL NEVER BUY THIS DUMPSTER TRASH BRAND AGAIN.