2008 Jeep Patriot 6800 Miles. Purchased in late August 2007

Issue :

Under load starting at cold at approx 2600 - 2800 rpm, there is a ratlle coming from the engine compartment. It sounds EXACLTY like a loose bolt rattling. The noise lessens as then engine warms. After sitting for 1 hr or less, the noise is back. The noise in annoying, and new passengers in the car freqntly ask " What is that noise?"

I have it at the dealer for the fourth time today

1. The first time, the dealer said they couldn't hear the noise
2. The second time, I rode with a Tech, he heard it, tweaked with the heat shield, exhaust..couldn't fix it.
3. Third time, Numerous mechanics in the shop (dealer) heard the noise, but the shop foreman couldn't hear it when he rode in the car. Upon pick-up, I had the foreman ride with me and he acknowledged that he hear the noise, acknowledge that it is not supposed to be there , but said that becuase of the way the mechanics are paid, there is really no incentive for them to spend any amount of time trying to track down this issue.
4. Fourth time - I returned the car to the shop again today, with the hope that the foreman or some other mechanic will spend time with the car and get rid of this rattle



So my questions are:

1. Anyone else have this problem?

2. How much time can I reasonable expect a mechanice to spend on fixing this. Obviously it's under warranty and I really don't care how much Jeep spends on trying to fix this, but at what point do I make this a bigger issue with Jeep?

Spencer
Seattle

Sounds to me like it is time to find another shop. No matter how long it takes I would expect them to fix it to my satisfaction. I had a chevy dealer spend 4.5 hours finding a clunking sound in the front end of a suburban. All this for a loose bolt and they charged me .5 hours of labor.

Good dealers are out there, I would keep looking.

If you haven't already, you can also talk to the service and sales managers at this location. One of the dealers I had trouble with corrected themselves when I went to the service manager (tech, foreman, salesperson, sales manager and regional sales manager were all useless at that location so it might take time to find the one with brains). I am not going back there except for my free oil changes, but maybe I educated them a little....

Also, I agree with taxman, if this dealership isn't working for you, try another dealer.

There are some things that they should find and fix and I think this is one of them.
Hopefully you find a knowledgable and honest dealer in your area - Good Luck! Keep us posted.

There was another post a couple of days ago from a person who had a similar problem. It turned out to be the catalytic converter.

http://www.jeeppatriot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4784&highlight=catalytic

Thanks guys. I printed this out and dropped it off at the dealer this morning.

Spencer

1. Tell them to put the chassis ears on it to isolate the noise.

2. If this is the dealership from which you bought your Patriot, then it's their problem to fix. They profited from the sale, they need to stand behind the vehicle and make sure you're satisfied with it. I'd call the service manager, the sales manager, and the owner himself. I'd write a letter or email to Chrysler about the issue and CC the dealership telling them that you're not going away until it's fixed.

Make sure you make mention in your letter or email of your state's lemon laws, contacting your state's attorney general's office, contacting the BBB, and that you'll be letting everyone know about the quality of your Patriot and the service you've received from that dealership at all of the car and dealership rating web sites that you can find.

Basically, make it clear that your new mission in life is to keep as many people as possible from either buying a Jeep or buying from that specific dealership as possible until you're satisfied.

1. Tell them to put the chassis ears on it to isolate the noise.

2. If this is the dealership from which you bought your Patriot, then it's their problem to fix. They profited from the sale, they need to stand behind the vehicle and make sure you're satisfied with it. I'd call the service manager, the sales manager, and the owner himself. I'd write a letter or email to Chrysler about the issue and CC the dealership telling them that you're not going away until it's fixed.

Make sure you make mention in your letter or email of your state's lemon laws, contacting your state's attorney general's office, contacting the BBB, and that you'll be letting everyone know about the quality of your Patriot and the service you've received from that dealership at all of the car and dealership rating web sites that you can find.

Basically, make it clear that your new mission in life is to keep as many people as possible from either buying a Jeep or buying from that specific dealership as possible until you're satisfied.

PS - This is all from personal experience. I had a problem with my Jeep and the dealer kept trying to make me go away. I made the biggest stink I could and now I've got a free loaner car from the dealership that I'm keeping until my problem is resolved. I'm not taking my car back from them until they prove to me that they actually fixed the problem.

Speezy,

I am the one who posted the comment about the catalytic converter. I went through a very similar process and it was quite painful. I had several different techs and service managers ride with me and was only able to replicate the noise a couple times. They eventually were able to isolate the noise with the listening tools mentioned in the last post. A couple different locations emitted a vibration - the fuel neck leading to the gas tank and the catalytic converter. Earlier in the process they tightened the heat shield - only because I directed them that way upon reading a different post.

The only way my issue was resolved was by stubbornness on my part - every time I picked up the vehicle and heard the noise I pulled back around and left the vehicle. Luckily, I am able to get by with one vehicle between my wife and I. I believe someone somewhere takes notice when the same vehicle is in so often for the same problem.

Your problem does sound quite similar to mine and I hope those posts help and good luck getting it fixed quickly!!

Everyone Thanks!

As an update, I printed out the info about the cc repair and gave it to my dealership. They said that it wasn't the cc and they still thought it was the heat shield or somehthing.

I complained to the service manager. They kept the car for another 3 days and have now ordered a new cc to replace the old.

Will let you know if that resolves the issue. I did put them on notice today, in writing, that if this does not solve the issue, I am going to go the lemon law route.

Will post updates

Spencer

Hi Speezy,

Any update on this? I'm curious as my 2 week old Patriot has the same type of rattle, and have been working with the dealer on it. I faxed them this and the other thread on the catalytic converter, and am pushing them in this direction as they are currently stumped. So far they've adjusted heat shields and covers, and agree now that it is something other than a shield or a cover.

Thanks,

Dave

All -

Dealer replaced the catalytic converter, and now the noise is even more audible!!

I told the service manager that I was fed-up with this car and I wanted to talk to the Jeep Rep (whom i'm told will be eager to keep this out of a lemon law situation). However I was told that he was notified 7 days ago, and I still have not heard from him. I reminded the service manager again this past thursday

Will keep you posted

becuase of the way the mechanics are paid, there is really no incentive for them to spend any amount of time trying to track down this issue.

Sad.... :(

sad the pay structure is not set up to ENCOURAGE technicians to try and hunt down the cause of new problems....

"customer brings in new to database unsolved issue, technician joe does some nice detective work and fixes it, twenty dollar bonus to joe and a mystery gets labeled solved in the db"

or somehing...

March 31st, Still have the noise, no contact from Factory Rep yet. Am stepping up the level and frequency of communication with the dealership

good luck AND stand your ground!!!

The noise on mine just kind of disappeared on its own. Once I got to 1100 miles on the Patriot, it stopped and hasn't been back. I'm up to 1900 miles now on the jeep. I'm hoping its gone for good, since the dealer really didn't know what it was. Something must've just worn in I guess (I hope).

I think it was something in the exhaust system, since it always sounded like it was coming from there.

Dave

Some of you have had the same problem I guess.Yes,I can hear very slight rattling from the engine compartment.It sounds like some exhaust part is slightly loose.It's such a faint noise that I'm not taking it to the dealer yet and will wait for the time when it gets louder.I'm pretty sure it's a very minute problem and the car is under warranty so I'm not frustrated in any way.I can hear it only when I'm ready to downshift and only sometimes.

The noise has gotten worse, or my tolerance and patience of the noise has finally been ground down to none.

Finally got fed up waiting for the Jeep Rep to contact me. Actually quite frustrated with the dealership as well becuase they don't really seem to care. However, the dealership gave me the number for Chrylser Customer Satisfaction (800.992.1997) which is what they should have done in the first place. OR I should have demanded at the onset..so shame on me for being stupid.

Customer Satifaction was actually quite helpful and seemed to jump right on this.

I explained my issue, they contacted the dealer while I was on hold, apparently to get a list of the repair history on the car . The holding part took awhile, but the rep frequently returned to tell me she was still talking to the dealership, which was nice to at least know that I wasn't put on forget.

I made a complaint against the dealership (see my other issue under "Rear Floor Soaking Wet" ). My service rep at the dealership, Jessica, was fine. However, I'm not too fond of the service manager right now.

I was told that by calling the 800 number, a notice goes out to the dealership and the Jeep Factory Rep and that I would get some type of resolution presented to me in 2-3 business days.

Will let you know what the proposed "resolution" is.

Speezy
Seattle

Update 4-16

Just got off the phone with Chrysler. Apparently the promised "2-3" business days for a resolution doesn't mean anything. I was told to call the Dealer, and the Service Manager at the Dealer told me that the file was "in the hands of the DM" and that he would be calling me. But that is what he told me a month ago. No one could tell me when I would be called or if there was a committed time line that I could hold them accountable to.

Speezy
Seattle

Wanted to follow up on this. Chrysler finally used some "special" listening eqt on the car and was able to isolate the problem. Two weeks later, they relaced an exhaust shield and now no more rattles.

However, my patience has reached it's limits with this issue and the leak (see my other post about "soaking wet" ) and I told Chrysler I want a new car based on Washington State's Lemon Law. Chrsyler agreed to replace the car.

I want everyone to know that if you are having trouble with your car, YOU need to call Chrysler direct and YOU must do the complaining because the dealership IS NOT going to be an advocate on your behalf.

So, I'll beleive it when I see the new car, but what I learned from this, I should have been on the phone to Chrysler a long time before I finally did call them !!

Hey Speezy. I am in the same boat as you. Noise from engine/ tranny area at 2600 rpm, and now starting at 1800rpm as well. been to dealer 4 times. Now trying new repair shop. Q. What type/part# of exhaust shield was replaced.

Theomac -

Sounds exactly like my rattle. 2600 rpm. I bet if you take it up to about 5200rpm it will make the noise as well.

The main part numbers that they replaced are :

CH4693326AC and CH4693327AC. There were also some new bolts that they ordered as well, but you dealer should be able to figure that out with the two part numbers above.

Good Luck,

Speezy
Seattle

//This is the worst October I've ever had in June!! Where is my summer!!

Thanks Speezy, for the info. Took it to another dealership to have it dyno'ed. They couldn't reproduce the noise on the machine but according to them the variable timing valve train switches settings at that exact rpm. They are trying to tell me that the noise is normal for these vehicles, its like ... Right! ... I will pass along your info. Thanks once again bud, have a good one!

Chrysler did indeed agree to replace my car. Last Wednesday the dealership called to tell me that , although my car is black, they have a white Patriot that they will give me in exchange for mine.

Went to the dealership on Thursday to look at the car, and although they would have given me the car on the spot, it was lacking some options that I really liked, like the compass, auto adjusting mirror, etc..it didn't have the same convenience pkg as mine. I told them that I didn't want it.

The dealership tried the approach .."Now that we've finally fixed your car, why don't you keep it and I'll work with the factory to get you reimbursed a car payment or two." Again I told them, "No, I want a new car." The dealership responded that since gas prices have shot up, Patriots are becoming hard to find and that there wasn't one exactly like mine in a 5 state radius. I told the dealership that I really didn't care;order one from the factory and I'll wait.

So...they ordered one.

I want to make a note that since my claim has been accepted under the lemon law, I have been working with the owner of the dealership. Although in my narrative above it may seem that the dealership was trying to force a different car on me, this wasn't the case. The owner was very polite and in no way did I feel pressured to have to accept their offer. It was laid on the table, I refused once, and that was that.

Will update when I finally get the new Patriot.

i was driving with the windows up over the weekend and i noticed a noise identicle to the one that was described by the thread starter here. I thought that it was my a/c compressor at first but then i turned that off and the rattle was still there. its only at lower rpms from 2000-3000ish. It sounds like something in bouncing around in the engine compartment.

Ill have to call my dealer and make an appointment. I was kind of hopeing to avoid ever having to do that since there are so many horror stories on here about the dealers. Ill keep you all updated on how this goes. :(

2008 Patriot FDII 15 000 miles. PUrchased in Feb. 08

I have the same probleme.

The dealer couldn't hear the noise and he billed me for 1/2 hrs. of labor.

I developed an almost ringing sound at about 4k miles. It happens at 2.5k rpm on the dot. Dealer couldn't hear it but said it was resonating and couldn't be fixed...

Dear Speezy, what the service manager meant about the techs was that they get paid commision only. They may spend 5 or 6 hours on the clock trying to repair your problem and warranty will only pay them for the time it actually takes to fix your problem once they have found it..let's say a half hour to repair it. Trying to get paid for the other 5 1/2 hours takes an act of Congress so to speak. The Tech did not make anything when you bought your vechicle and he is trying to feed his family like the rest of us. This may sound crazy; but that is the way all dealerships work.

Wantd to let everyone know that I finally got my car replaced by Chrysler on October 7, 2009. You can read about it here

http://www.jeeppatriot.com/forum/showthread.php?p=102750#post102750

Best Regards,

Speezy

Same problem. Dealer had no clue? Going to get under it check out the heat shield. Thanks :smiley_thumbs_up:

FIXED!!!
I purchased my 2008 Patriot 4x4 new back in 08. I've never had any problems out of it but I do all of the service work myself. Back in November 2010 with 20k miles it started a slight rattling noise that I wasn't really worried about but it continued to get worse, almost unbearable. After reading this post I decided to check it out on my own instead of hassling with the dealer. First I checked the part #'s posted here (CH4693326AC and CH4693327AC) and they turned out to be both pieces of the catalyst/exhaust maniforld heat shield. No doubt they could have caused an awful rattling noise but mine were tight and that wasn't my problem. Tracing the exhaust all the way back I couldn't find anything that could have been loose or rattling all the way back to the fuel tank.
There is an aluminum heat shield under the fuel tank that resounded very loud when barely touched. It slid out pretty easily and I wrapped the tabs in some rubber self-amalgamating tape (electrical tape would have probably worked as well) and after driving around the block that seemed to quiet the rattle only partially.
Confused at this point I removed the exhaust manifold to see if it was the catalyst as mentioned in some other threads on here. My manifold has the cat built into it unlike some others I've found looking at parts sites. Shaking it I could tell that this was no fault of the cat as there was no noise coming out. However this piece as a whole turned the main culprit. Much to my surprise the cat had a holddown bracket welded onto it with bolt holes and it was hidden on the engine side that you cant see without removing it completely. The engine block also had a thick steel bracket bolted onto it that there were supposed to be bolts in attaching it to the cat bracket. Without bolts in these 2 brackets they were just vibrating against each other. Looks like Chrysler saved a couple bucks per vehicle by leaving these out. A simple fix would be just to put new bolts into them but since I didn't have any laying around and it obviously didn't need the support I simply unbolted the bracket from the engine and put the manifold back on. Engine is incredibly free of anything resembling a rattle and haven't had any problem since. Now at 24k miles.

They eventually were able to isolate the noise with the listening tools mentioned in the last post. A couple different locations emitted a vibration - the fuel neck leading to the gas tank and the catalytic converter. Earlier in the process they tightened the heat shield - only because I directed them that way upon reading a different post.
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