Agreed, the diagnosis is expensive and seems unlikely on a vehicle so new as yours. I'm not qualified to answer the technical aspects of your question, but I'll make a few suggestions.

While it may not seem that the transmission light and the ECM are related, electronics are interconnected in many ways. There could be a failure to communicate between them.

You haven't mentioned any symptoms. Is your Jeep behaving strangely in any way? Does it feel normal, shift normal, when you drive it? If not, this would give other readers in this thread something to go on.

If it's running fine and the only problem is the warning light, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Just in case, you probably should get a second opinion from another shop. If you bought your Patriot new, let your dealer have a look at it. It is in their best interest to keep you happy with your Jeep so you'll buy another one from them. In any event, get a second opinion.

I hope you can get this solved quickly and easily. Please report back!

 

Do you mean electronic throttle body?

How did they determine there is loose metal inside the transmission?

 

Do you mean electronic throttle body?

How did they determine there is loose metal inside the transmission?
I have no idea, I couldn't get a straight answer from the transmission shop when I picked up the car. I tried asking more about it and the owner was very evasive when I tried to ask further questions into this. He said that there was loose
brass in the transmission and didn't want me to take the car back. He also told me

Do you mean electronic throttle body?

How did they determine there is loose metal inside the transmission?

I have been going through a very stressful journey trying to figure out what is up with my six speed automatic transmission 2016 Jeep Patriot. It started with the transmission light coming on right when you start the car and now this transmission shop is telling me there is loose metal inside the transmission. I paid $220 for the diagnosis only to be told I would have to pay another $1000 for the shop to take the transmission out of the car to see if they could repair it or if it would need to be rebuilt. He said he highly doubts it could be repaired but if he could that would cost around $1500. If it can't then I am looking at an additional $4800 for the rebuild on top of the $1220 I would have already paid him. That feels like such a trap, because if I have already invested that much for him basically to take a look around then obviously I would keep going to pay for the rebuild.

My car only has 53,000 miles, so this seems really absurd! I am taking it to another shop for a second opinion because I don't know if I am being told fairy tales here. I did have one other thought on the topic. My friend who is not a mechanic replaced the electronic throttle on my car. Does anybody know if doing this incorrectly could set off the transmission light?

Agreed, the diagnosis is expensive and seems unlikely on a vehicle so new as yours. I'm not qualified to answer the technical aspects of your question, but I'll make a few suggestions.

While it may not seem that the transmission light and the ECM are related, electronics are interconnected in many ways. There could be a failure to communicate between them.

You haven't mentioned any symptoms. Is your Jeep behaving strangely in any way? Does it feel normal, shift normal, when you drive it? If not, this would give other readers in this thread something to go on.

If it's running fine and the only problem is the warning light, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Just in case, you probably should get a second opinion from another shop. If you bought your Patriot new, let your dealer have a look at it. It is in their best interest to keep you happy with your Jeep so you'll buy another one from them. In any event, get a second opinion.

I hope you can get this solved quickly and easily. Please report back!

Here is the update on what happened with my transmission. It turned out what I thought was the transmission light was actually the tire gauge light! And the transmission shop owner was not happy to give me my car back because it seemed he already had it set in his mind that I was going to pay him that thousand dollars to pull the transmission out.

He mentioned random lights coming on in the dashboard that had never come on before and didn't come on when I drove it around. Plus, after knowing that I was worried about the "transmission" light being on he had still gone ahead and done this $220 transmission diagnosis without even telling me it was just the tire gauge light. In fact, he never told me this, I figured it out myself after learning more about the dashboard lights.

His notes on the invoice state "Advise on transmission struggles to shift. Transmission light. Found debris in transmission". The car is running just fine as it always has. No strange sounds, burning smells or struggling gears. I had left the car there with over a quarter of a tank of gas but it was completely on empty when I drove it out which I thought was a bit odd. He also didn't offer any explanation as to how he found the "loose metal" , he just said there was some brass in there and that eventually the transmission would go. He had told me on the phone that he thought my car was toast but his attitude was quite a bit different in person as I took a male friend with me to pick it up.

And finally as he saw I was not going to go for a $4800 transmission rebuild he tried to sell me on a $3500 used transmission as an alternative. However, of course I still have to pay a $1000 for him to figure out if this would be needed. So, all in all I am happy that this didn't turn out to be the financial disaster I had thought from a tire gauge light! Plus, I guess I am lucky I didn't get scammed out of more than $220 here.

 

I have been going through a very stressful journey trying to figure out what is up with my six speed automatic transmission 2016 Jeep Patriot. It started with the transmission light coming on right when you start the car and now this transmission shop is telling me there is loose metal inside the transmission. I paid $220 for the diagnosis only to be told I would have to pay another $1000 for the shop to take the transmission out of the car to see if they could repair it or if it would need to be rebuilt. He said he highly doubts it could be repaired but if he could that would cost around $1500. If it can't then I am looking at an additional $4800 for the rebuild on top of the $1220 I would have already paid him. That feels like such a trap, because if I have already invested that much for him basically to take a look around then obviously I would keep going to pay for the rebuild.

My car only has 53,000 miles, so this seems really absurd! I am taking it to another shop for a second opinion because I don't know if I am being told fairy tales here. I did have one other thought on the topic.

 

Wow, just wow! Sounds like he is a crook. I would be tempted to get the $220 back and/or file some complaints. On the other hand, sometimes the stress and aggravation is not worth it. My wife is a bulldog about this kind of stuff and she would have this guy crying after she was done with him, LOL.

Take this lesson to the bank. One has to self-advocate (self educate) for car repairs, no different than getting health care. You cannot trust everyone. Thanks for the follow up and glad to hear of the good outcome.