Mark: Hi, it's Mark Bossert. I'm here with Bernie Pawlik, Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver, Vancouver's best auto service experience, and we're talking cars. How you doing Bernie?
Bernie: Doing very well today.
Mark: So today's guest is a 2016 Jeep Wrangler. What was going on with this vehicle?
Bernie: So this vehicle had basically a Christmas tree of warning lights on the dash, came to us. The vehicle had been at a dealership for a couple of months with some various issues that weren't being solved. The ABS module had been replaced, which is a very expensive part. Still same number of warning lights and they're kind of done with it. So they brought it to us for our expertise.
Mark: So, was it towed in or was it drivable still?
Bernie: Oh, no, it was drivable. Just a lot of warning lights on the dash.
Mark: So let's go to some pictures. There's our Jeep.
Bernie: Yeah, so there's our Jeep. It's actually a fairly plain model, surprisingly just roll up windows, a very basic vehicle. Of course, it's like any modern vehicle, it's highly computerized. In spite of not having a lot of fancy accessories.
Mark: So you mentioned something about a lot of, what the heck is this? A lot of lights.
Bernie: Yeah. This is a printout from a dealership that was working on the vehicle, and I believe this was either another page of similar amount number of codes, or there may have even been two more pages. I just took one just for reference. But this is sort of a quick list of trouble codes, and one thing you can see that's very common amongst all of them is lost communication. Lost messages. And so all the computers in the vehicle, they're all linked together. And there's a network, it's called a CAN Bus Network. Some vehicles have several different networks of communication.
What can cause that to go down, of course, is a bad wire. Or it could be a single module. It's bad, it could be a wire. There's a bus connector that connects all of them together. Those can fail. So there's a number of things that can go bad. I'm not sure why the transmission computer was the next item that the previous shop wanted to replace, but we didn't figure that was a good option.
Mark: So where'd you go from there?
Bernie: Yeah, so first thing we did, the battery was actually dead in the vehicle, so we went to charge the battery. It didn't take a charge well, so we replaced the battery, but in the process too, we found that there's actually two batteries in this vehicle. There's the main large battery under the hood, and then there's actually an auxiliary battery which sits under a fender well, you have to remove the fender well. It's a smaller battery. It's about less than a quarter of the size of the main battery.
This vehicle has start, stop capability and most vehicles that have that have a second battery. So what happens? You're sitting at a light and the vehicle just shuts off. And it's weird because it's a standard transmission. It's just an odd feeling for the engine to shut off when you're at a light. But as soon as you move the clutch or let the brake loose, the engine starts instantly.
Anyways, we replace those two batteries. Cleared the codes and road tested the vehicle. I took it out for a decent road test. No lights came on. And then we basically took the vehicle overnight a few times and noticed actually the next morning started a bunch of warning lights on. So then we had a fresh slate to diagnose things from and determine it was more of a communication issue than anything from there.
Mark: And where did that lead you to?
Bernie: Yeah. Well, a lot of research. We have a lot of research available. I was gonna say it's pure genius or AI, but we have a lot of resources at our shop, with repair information from other shops, from other businesses, there's a network of information. So we did a lot of research and one thing that pointed us to is a CAN Bus Connector. There's two of them in the vehicle, but the one that seemed to be one of the more common faults is the one located in the front right corner of the vehicle, in the passenger compartment.
So we ended up replacing that unit. That was our next step.
Mark: So I guess this is the connector?
Bernie: This is it. And if you look inside that, you can see a number of little slots there, if you look inside there carefully, you can see two pins on each.
Mark: Two or three?
Bernie: Yeah. So those connect all the computers together, they're all connected through this one location. It's not like a one wire that's spliced together somewhere, it's all connected through this connector. Now if you look at them closely, there's no damage to them.
This is the backside of the unit. There's a cover over this, but these are resistors that are located on the unit. It's very simple really. There's not much to it. And again, there's no corrosion or damage to it. But we did replace it as the next step in the diagnostic process.
Mark: And not that expensive of a part?
Bernie: No less than a hundred bucks. Not that expensive.
Mark: And after replacement, how did the vehicle run?
Bernie: Perfect. Yep. We drove it for a couple more days just to make sure. Drove it, you know, hot, cold, kept it overnight. One of my people at the shop lives downtown, you know, a few miles from our shop. Drove it there and back a couple times, no lights. So problem solved. So kind of gratifying.
Mark: Another happy customer.
Bernie: Yeah.
Mark: And not our first story of having the dealers not being able to solve something and Pawlik Automotive being able to.
Bernie: Yeah.
Mark: So if you're looking for service for your Jeep in Vancouver, BC Canada, the guys to see are Pawlik Automotive. You can reach them online at pawlikautomotive.com. You can book your appointment there. You have to book ahead. They're always busy. But you can also call them, (604) 327-7112 to book your appointment. Like I said, you gotta book ahead, Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver, BC Canada. Thanks so much for watching and listening. Thanks Bernie.
Bernie: Thank you, Mark. Thanks for watching.
