1999 Jeep Wrangler

I WAS DRIVING AN OLD WASHED OUT AND BUMPY MOUNTAIN ROAD. DUE TO THE BUMPS, I COULD NOT GO MUCH FASTER THAN 15MPH. THE ROAD/GROUND WAS WET AND SLIPPERY SO I WAS IN 4HI. AFTER GOING DOWN THE ROAD FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES AND GOING AROUND A TURN, THE AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON. AS I TURNED THE WHEEL IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, TO GO AROUND A LARGE DOWNED TREE, IT MOMENTARILY SHUT OFF, THEN RETURNED TO ON. I IMMEDIATELY TURNED THE JEEP OFF AND CHECKED THE AIRBAG FUSES. BOTH ARE GOOD. PUZZLED AND RATHER NERVOUS THAT THE AIRBAG MIGHT GO OFF IN MY FACE, I TURNED AROUND TO GO BACK TO THE MAIN ROAD. AFTER NERVOUSLY DRIVING A FEW MILES DOWN THE ROAD, I RETURNED THE JEEP TO THE SPEED LIMIT AND ATTEMPTED TO ENGAGE MY CRUISE CONTROL BUT, THE LIGHT WOULDN'T TURN ON. I TRIED ALL THE CRUISE CONTROL BUTTONS TO NO AVAIL. PULLED OVER AND CHECKED THE FUSEBOX AGAIN FOR THE CRUISE CONTROL FUSE BUT, I COULDN'T FIND ONE ANYWHERE. AFTER DRIVING ANOTHER 100 MILES HOME, I LET MY SISTER'S FIANCE, WHO'S A MECHANIC, CHECK IT WITH HIS SCAN TOOL. ACCORDING TO HIS SCAN TOOL, THE CLOCKSPRING HAS MALFUNCTIONED. AFTER DOING A FEW GOOGLE SEARCHES, IT'S APPARENT THAT THE COST TO HAVE THIS FIXED IS VERY HIGH. THE PART ITSELF IS OVER $200 AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED BY A MECHANIC! LABOR IS GOING TO BE AT LEAST ANOTHER $200 BASED ON HOW MUCH TIME IT WILL TAKE AND THE FACT THAT IT WILL MORE THAN LIKELY HAVE TO BE DONE AT A DEALERSHIP. SHOULDN'T THIS BE A LIFETIME PART? WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO PAY TO HAVE THIS FIXED IF IT'S A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE? ANY RESPONSE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED AS I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO HAVE THIS FIXED AND I'M RATHER NERVOUS TO DRIVE IT NOW. WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF THE AIRBAG GOING OFF?[XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

EVER SINCE I PURCHASED THE JEEP, IT HAS BEEN A RELIABLE VEHICLE. THE OTHER DAY, I WENT TO START IT AND THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WAS UNRESPONSIVE AND THE AIRBAG LIGHT WAS ON. I TRIED REPLACING THE FUSE AND FOUND IT TO BE GOOD, RECEIVING POWER. I STARTED TO CHECK WEBSITES FOR SIMILAR PROBLEMS AND FOUND A RECALL FOR THE EXACT PROBLEM I WAS HAVING. THIS RECALL DESCRIBED EXACTLY WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO MY JEEP. THE RECALL IS FOUND HERE RECALL 99V117000: INSTRUMENT PANEL GROUND SCREWS LOOSE THE LEFT SIDE AND RIGHT SIDE INSTRUMENT PANEL WIRING GROUND ATTACHMENT SCREWS COULD LOOSEN OVER TIME. IF THE LEFT SIDE SCREW LOOSENS, THE INSTRUMENT PANEL GAUGES MAY NOT FUNCTION WHEN THE HEADLAMPS ARE TURNED ON. IF THE RIGHT SIDE SCREW LOOSENS, THE DEFROSTER BLOWER MOTOR MAY NOT FUNCTION. WELL, I TOOK A COPY OF THE RECALL TO MY LOCAL JEEP DEALERSHIP, BLUEBONNET JEEP IN NEW BRAUNFELS, TEXAS. AS SOON AS I WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR, I STARTED TELLING THEM ABOUT THE PROBLEM WITH THE JEEP AND HOW SIMILAR IT WAS TO THE RECALL. I SHOWED THEM A COPY OF THE RECALL AND CONTINUED TELLING THEM HOW IT WAS BEHAVING. THE DEALER ASKED ME IF I PURCHASED THE JEEP FROM THEM AND I TOLD THEM NO. THEY WERE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT ME NOT BUYING THE JEEP FROM THEM, THEY WENT OUT AND COPIED THE VIN NUMBER DOWN. THE ATTENDANT STATED THEY COULD NOT HELP ME BECAUSE IT WAS NOT SHOWING UP AS BEING A RECALL ISSUE. I TOLD THEM IT WAS GIVING ME ALL THE SAME PROBLEMS AS THIS RECALL AND THEY SAID THEY DID NOT CARE, IF THE NUMBER DOES NOT SHOW UP ON THEIR COMPUTER, THEY WILL NOT HELP. I BELIEVE THE ORIGINAL RECALL EFFECTS MORE MODELS OF JEEP THAN ORIGINALLY STATED AND RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THIS TO BE INVESTIGATED. THANKS. *TR

DRIVING MY 1999 JEEP WRANGLER SPORT 4.0 L6 5-SPEED MANUAL AT APPX. 65 MPH A SLIGHT VIBRATION CAME FROM THE GAS PEDAL. I PULLED OVER, AFTER CRAWLING UNDER THE VEHICLE I FOUND THE FRONT DRIVE SHAFT LOOSE AT THE JOINT CONNECTING TO MY STOCK NP231J TRANSFER CASE. FIGURING IT WAS JUST A WORN U-JOINT I CONTINUED ON MY WAY AT A MUCH SLOWER SPEED APPX. 35 MPH FOR ABOUT 300 YARDS THERE WAS A LOUD POP ALONG WITH METAL AND DIRT FLYING FROM UNDER THE JEEP WHICH MADE ME PULL OVER ONCE AGAIN THIS TIME OUT OF CONTROL AND ENDING UP IN THE DITCH. WHERE I FOUND THE NP231J SHATTERED IN 5 PIECES, MANY MORE WERE THROWN ONTO THE ROAD WAY.

MY JEEP LOST ALL POWER TO THE CONSOLE/DASH DURING NIGHT DRIVING AND I COULD NOT MEASURE MY SPEED, RPMS, FUEL OR ANY OTHER GAUGES. THIS INCLUDED BOTH THE ANALOG (NEEDLE) AND DIGITAL (LED) GAUGES. MY 5-SPEED DROVE FINE THOUGH, NO SWEAT. SO THERE I WAS, DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD, AND I HAD NO WAY TO ASCERTAIN MY VELOCITY. THERE WAS NO WAY TO TELL IF I WAS GOING 20 MPH OR 120 MPH. IT WAS JUST ME, MY JEEP AND MY GUT INSTINCTS. SO, I PULLED A FONZIE AND SMACKED THE DASH, AND GAVE IT MY BEST "HEYYYYYYYY" AND YOU GUESSED IT - AFTER THAT ALL WAS WELL. THE LIGHTS CAME BACK AND I WAS DOING A COOL 60. BECAUSE I CAN'T DRIVE 55. AFTER A LITTLE INTERNET WIZARDRY ON MY FAVORITE SEARCH ENGINE, APPARENTLY THIS IS SIMPLY A LOOSE CONNECTION FROM THE DASH GROUND. BEING A JEEP OWNER, I SIMPLY REPLACED THE FAULTY SCREW AND DIDN'T WASTE MY TIME TAKING IT TO A DEALER OR WHINING ABOUT IT ONLINE. OH WAIT... I'M ACTUALLY ONLY REPORTING THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE I WANTED TO VALIDATE THE NHTSA COMPLAINT PROCESS. LOOKS LIKE IT IS WORKING. HEY V! *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 JEEP WRANGLER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED, ALL OF THE GAUGES ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WOULD DECREASE TO ZERO AND THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT WOULD ILLUMINATE INTERMITTENTLY. THE DEALER ADVISED THE CONTACT THAT THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN ANY RECALLS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 116,251 AND THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 114,000. UPDATED 11/02/2011 *LN *TR

A WHILE AGO I HAD THE CLIMATE CONTROLS GO OUT IN MY 1999 JEEP WRANGLER. UPON INVESTIGATION, I FOUND THAT THE WIRING HARNESS CONNECTOR AND THE CLIMATE CONTROLS HAD MELTED DUE TO THE HEAT GENERATED FROM THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTION. I REPLACED THE CLIMATE CONTROLS IN MY JEEP, HOWEVER, THE ELECTRICAL WIRING STILL GETS VERY HOT. I DID SOME CHECKING IN JEEP FORUMS AND APPARENTLY, THIS IS A COMMON OCCURRENCE IN THE "TJ" JEEP MODEL. I AM ENCLOSING A LINK TO AN ARTICLE THAT ADDRESSES THIS ISSUE, IN IT THE AUTHORS DETERMINED THAT THE UNCORRECTED WIRING CAN REACH 122 DEGREES. HTTP://WWW.JPMAGAZINE.COM/TECHARTICLES/ELECTRICAL/154_0710_JEEP_FIRE_PREVENTION/INDEX.HTML. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 JEEP WRANGLER. WHILE TRAVELING 50 MPH, THE CONTACT NOTICED WHEN DRIVING OVER A BUMP, ALL WARNING LIGHTS WOULD APPEAR ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN RECALL 99V117000 (UNKNOWN OR OTHER). THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE APPROXIMATELY 128,000. UPDATED 12/30/10. *LJ THE CONSUMER ALSO STATED THE AIR BAG LIGHT ILLUMINATED. UPDATED 01/04/11.*JB