hogrider

Looking for any history on the 2015 Grand Cherokee WK with stuck throttle event. Backing into my driveway I got full throttle in reverse and went back into the side of the garage and garage door - damage about $3,000 to repair. The Jeep stopped and I shifted into drive to move back out into the driveway and it went into full throttle, across the street, through the swale and hit a power transformer box, knocking it off the base. I was on the brake and it stopped so I backed it across the street into the driveway. About $15,250 damage there. Good thing I had USAA insurance. But is there any experience with stuck throttle out there, and anyhelp from Chrysler Jeep possible.
Tom

BlueRidgeMark

That's scary stuff. I had a Ford E150 van that would do that from time to time. We scrapped it after multiple shops couldn't fix it.

Is that a fly by wire model?

wingless

Welcome to the forum.

Note that the 2015 Grand Cherokee is a first generation ZJ, not a WJ.

Which engine is in the vehicle?

Note that the throttle cable, starts at the gas pedal and is routed to the throttle body. The throttle body has a large heavy duty torsion spring, wrapped around the throttle plate shaft, as-shown in the image on my '94 5.2L V8.

There are three cables connected to that cam plate, one for the throttle cable, one for the cruise control and one for the transmission.

These are the possible faults: the throttle body is sticky; the cables are sticky; the spring is broken or operator error. Note that operator error is a common problem, when the brake is thought to be pressed in panic, but the gas is instead being pressed, then the gas will be pressed harder, with (in every case) the operator 100% convinced the brake was being mashed.

BlueRidgeMark

Happens mostly to people who think their left foot should operate the brake pedal while their right foot operates the gas pedal. That practice is a disaster waiting to happen. People do it because they think they can brake faster in an emergency. What they don't realize is that when they do that, they automatically stomp the gas pedal at the same time, and hilarity ensues.

That's exactly what's going on in this video in the first two clips, and at 1:56.



And this classic @ 0:56

dave1123

I think Wingless has lost his marbles. The 2015 is a WK and I believe it has an electronic throttle. In my opinion, these are the most dangerous things to put on a vehicle! Maybe electric steering would be worse.

This is why I still drive a 2000.

wingless

OOPS, brain fart...

Yes, looking for marbles now...

BlueRidgeMark

Since it's fly by wire, there are lots of options for nastiness with the throttle. I"m with Dave on this - they are dangerous. Other than checking the obvious (connections, grounds), there's not much a backyard mechanic can do except replace the sensor or the throttle body motor.

dave1123

Judging from what little engineering I know, I think it's a stepper motor and might need to be calibrated, which means dealer. Just a guess, mind you.

Noah911

There are suprisingly way too many reports of these types of instances occurring on newer fly by wire equipped vehicles...

There is basically nothing you can do about about the dangers involved with this type of system for preventative measures. I would recommend placing a small real-time camera pointing it directly at your feet for seeing the throttle and brake pedals, to capture any possible future event. Should a possible future event result in much property damage or worse, any fatalities.. Doing this would at least give you a leg to stand on in court to help prove you were doing everything you could to prevent the accident, and it was not your fault. As I believe the manufacturers are not going to be on your side if something like this was to occur. I also believe they will generally not be very forthcoming regarding possible issues in these systems from the start when it comes to TSBs, recalls, and repairs...

dave1123

These systems were originally designed for aircraft, therefore the operating perimeters are different in that if something goes wrong, you simply exit the aircraft if it's a fighter jet with a single seat.. Not so easily done in an automobile! Plus the problem with danger to other people with a runaway vehicle. Similar problems happened when motor mounts broke and most people didn't think quickly enough to turn off the key. This problem was fixed by switching to cable throttles rather than mechanical linkages. There is no easy fix for this one because it usually happens at low speed with close by obstructions.

Which brings about a point. How many of you would feel totally comfortable riding in an automobile operated totally by an AI? Today, not in the near future. Personally, I prefer to have my life in my own hands and not rely on a machine to make the decisions. Did you know a Tesla is always connected to it's home server?

BTW, the A10 "Warthog" ground support aircraft has the fly-by-wire system, but it also has a cable backup manual system if something goes wrong. It can be flown without any electronics functioning.

Noah911

I know you ask about today. However, in light of tomorrow.. I am sure if I live long enough... I bet

I am not sure if you have heard of MaaS (mobility-as-a-service)? This is probably where things are going in the future. Research shows when you compare human actions to AI processes, the AI makes considerably less mistakes. Human errors are incredibly much much greater than systemic errors of AI. This makes autonomous vehicular transportation very appealing actually.

With MaaS, you will pay a rate for covering a period of time. Most likely it will be a yearly cost. Whenever you want to go somewhere.. you just pull up the app (or whatever it is), and put in an order to be transported. Choices of bus, car, truck, trolley... Any mode you can think of really.

I think the crescendo for all of this will be with high-speed air transport drones! Everyone will have a landing/launch pad as a standard feature of their homes.

Tesla vehicles as of right now in this day and age do not personally interest me in the least bit. I am sure they will become more interesting to me, depending...

dave1123

Hopefully I won't live long enough to be alive when they eliminate human driven vehicles from the roads. I've been driving since 1961 and only had 2 accidents that were my fault and that was by being too aggressive and leaving the road at speed. Both resulted in slight damage to the car and nothing else. I've been run into on several occasions.

Noah911

I don't know?

It is funny to me though, because with the high speed transport drones scenario. The kids indoctrinated into it will probably perceive what we have now in our road transportation vehicles as being synonymous to comparing regular postal mail to email.. Like the Pony Express is to modern day regular postal mail. Or, horse and buggy to the automobile, etc..

Being transported from coast to coast in only a few hours by way of your drone would be possible instead of traveling it in your car over three, four, five days or more.

fb97xj1

Drive by wire, electronic steering, and electric ebrakes can all go away. Ill take mechanical any day. If theres an issue, i know what the problem is. Its mechanical. If it were electrical it could be a sensor or an actuator, the wiring, or the computer that controls it. No need to reinvent the wheel.

Yes, the 2015 Cherokee uses drive by wire. There is a motor on the throttle body, with some gears under the black cover on the side. Never dealt with this stuff myself, but i do believe there is a reset procedure for these things.

BlueRidgeMark

And what happens if you drive into an area with no cellular coverage?