The last half-dozen vehicles I've owned came with GPS. None of them were worth a crap. I buy a Garmin Drive Smart and put it on the dash and for about $150, I'm miles ahead. Just say "OK Garmin" and it asks you where you want to go and bingo you're navigating. I've used it in Canada, throughout Mexico and in at least 30 states in the US. I recently packed in my suitcase to travel around Tucson and Phoenix in a crappy rental car.

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Then tell him: "Y'know, I've maintained my Jeep religiously. Your service department has gotten all that service business. Here's what your service department and Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram have accomplished by trying to bend me over: I'll be taking my Jeep elsewhere for service, going forward. A non-CDJR elsewhere. And, when it comes time to replace this Jeep, it won't be replaced with another CDJR product. Good day, sir!"

Then watch as he does a Dr.Evil laugh, and points to the empty lot where new vehicles used to sit and the scores of people waiting for you in the torture chamber of sales where $5K markups are normal plus months of waiting.

Check around salvage yards in the area or online for a replacement unit, or there might be a company that does refurbs on those units, enough have been sold, and it's probably not just a MOPAR unit, one I saw said Harmon on the back, probably Harmon Kardon,

HD head units are made by Harmon, and there is an outfit that does repair and upgrades to them for HD radio head units. http://www.ironcrossaudio.com/ maybe they can help or lead you to an automotive equivalent service.

a Jeep forum may have options and it's probably something you could pull and replace yourself.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HRK,

FWIW today I spoke to a ex-coworker who is the service manager of a different Jeep dealership than ensigmatic originally contacted.

He looked over everything I sent him and said that the charges unfortunately are pretty much in line, big issue is in all of the reprogramming necessary when replacing the radio head.

Replacing the radio with a salvage yard part is not as easy as it used to be. At least with Chrysler/FCA/Stellantis, whatever they call themselves this year, since 2010 the radios have a built in security code that is factory set, without that the radio head is a paperweight. Well, unless you have the code from the vehicle the radio came from or have sent it to one of the rebuilders out there that can crack into it.

Also Chrysler,Ram, Dodge and Jeeps have two data streams, low speed and high speed, not interchangeable even though they look the same and plug in the same. So you have to make sure they are compatible or again you have a paperweight. Ran into this when I replaced the radio in my Wrangler when it’s original radio quit. I bought mine off one of the Jeep forums and the seller included the security code with it.

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Originally posted by shovelhead:
He looked over everything I sent him and said that the charges unfortunately are pretty much in line, big issue is in all of the reprogramming necessary when replacing the radio head.

I read your email and thought "Well that's that, then."

Then I got to thinking about it. In all the threads I found in various and sundry CDJR forums, nobody's ever once mentioned any reprogramming being necessary, save...

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Replacing the radio with a salvage yard part is not as easy as it used to be. At least with Chrysler/FCA/Stellantis, whatever they call themselves this year, since 2010 the radios have a built in security code that is factory set, without that the radio head is a paperweight.

That ^^^^^ Which takes all of a few seconds to tap in.

There's a 4-digit PIN code for unlocking the device. Any used or re-furbished I'd buy would have to have that PIN included.

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Also Chrysler,Ram, Dodge and Jeeps have two data streams, low speed and high speed, not interchangeable even though they look the same and plug in the same.

Yeah, knew about that too. That's why those of us with Uconnect head ends that don't have Apple CarPlay can't upgrade to newer Uconnect head ends that do.

Thank you, again, CDJR

Most of my career I worked for companies that did work for the not-so-big-anymore-3. From working closely with all of them, at one time or another, I learned to dislike them. All of them.

Anyhoo...

On our way back from doing some shopping my wife and I stopped by a highly-rated local car audio place. Talked to them about a Pioneer DMH-W4660NEX + Maestro RR. He'll call me when the Pioneer becomes available.

Driving away from the place: "I wonder if it's working again?" my wife wondered aloud, reaching for the Uconnect NAV button. "It's not," I replied, "I've checked several times."

She hits the button, I tap "View Map" and... lo and behold: The flippin' thing is working again!



Now what? On the one hand I'd like to be happy. (I must be one of the few people on the planet that actually likes Uconnect.) OTOH: It's probably safe to assume it's going to go tits up again, someday.

Thanks again for reaching out to that dealership for me, shovelhead.

You are welcome.

Since it’s now working I’m going to assume that it’s RoHS compliant solder and poor contact somewhere inside.

You might try United Radio in Syracuse New York, I think that is the factory authorized repair facility.

CDJR is just as bad as GM in requesting out of warranty assistance for a problem even if it is a known issue, got the single finger salute from them myself.

Article I came across. Might not be your issue but applicable to some vehicle systems

https://www.popsci.com/cars/fi...&utm_medium=news_tab

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Originally posted by shovelhead:
Since it’s now working I’m going to assume that it’s RoHS compliant solder and poor contact somewhere inside.

Probably. Since it failed during a fairly extreme cold snap, and today, when it hit 51°F, it magically started working again, I suspect a temperature-sensitive solder joint.

It's supposed to get fairly cold again. Though not quite as cold as earlier. Perhaps we shall see.

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Originally posted by HRK:
Article I came across. Might not be your issue but applicable to some vehicle systems.

Yeah, I've been aware of that for some time. No, not related.

Even had I been using Uconnect Access, which is the suite of cellular-delivered features for my system, I'd have lost things like real time traffic info, POI info, and so on, but not a complete loss of navigation.

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Also Chrysler,Ram, Dodge and Jeeps have two data streams, low speed and high speed, not interchangeable even though they look the same and plug in the same.

Yeah, knew about that too. That's why those of us with Uconnect head ends that don't have Apple CarPlay can't upgrade to newer Uconnect head ends that do.

Actually you can. It's just not cheap. That video I posted on page one of this thread shows an upgrade to a newer unit with Apple CarPlay on your generation Grand Cherokee. You would just have to pay the 2 Grand for the head unit from that company that they reprogram for you.