Five problems related to lose power steering have been reported for the 2018 Jeep Wrangler. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
While driving down the road at any rate of speed my steering wheel locks up on me if turning even slightly. It almost feels as if I am losting power steering. When this happens I have to pull really hard to get the vehicle to turn but then it could let loose at any time so when that happens it almost puts me iij n the ditch because I am already pulling so hard on the wheel. The only time this seems to happen is when it is below about 30�f. Which over half the year where I live. It is a daily occurrence in these temps and will happen if I'm going 10mph or 90mph.
I was driving at 45 miles per hour when my service shifter light went off. Within 1 minute I lost my power steering, and brakes. My car locked into gear and I lost all ability to accelerate. At that point the car started dinging and prompting every code in the car. Sway bar engagement, rear electronics, fuel low, tire pressure, change oil. . . . . I can't remember every one. When I got my car to stop I could not get the car to turn off and all of the fans were blowing on high along with the motor reeving. I finally got it to turn off and called for a tow. The repair shop told me the car had thrown over 100 codes but none were active. They kept my Jeep for 10 days and told me they took it apart and checked everything. I was told because no issues were current they could not find a problem though. I picked it up and not 8 miles down the road the same exact thing happened. This time however I was in heavy traffic where I was almost hit and because I had no brakes or power steering I almost hit a person walking. Thank god I was able to avoid all of that and get pulled over to safety. It is currently in the shop again.
While driving the steering wheel has a deal spot and the truck wonders all of the road. On cold days during initial start up, below 40 degrees, the truck loses its power steering function and it doesnt return till after truck has warmed up.
This is the second time the vehicle has experienced a total computer failure while it was being driven. My fiance' was driving this time and lost power steering, brake assist, as well as the ability to shift gears or even turn off the engine. As before, indications are a complete failure of the can network - multiple cels and error messages, from fuel low to tpms fail to electronic start stop disabled to check shiftier, as well as a loss of power steering and the engine going into limp mode. The first time this happened I was doing 70mph on the freeway. It occurred at night, thankfully, as it caused me to swerve between lanes during the sudden loss of power/steering assist. If it had been during rush hour, I would have hit another vehicle. This time the computer failed while in a parking garage. Thankfully it occurred after turning into a straight away as my fiance' took the entire length to stop due to the loss of breaking; she blew through a pedestrian walkway and could not stop and, if it had happened during a turn, she most likely would have hit a car or hit the edge of the parking garage. Both times we were very lucky that we did not have an accident that resulted in major damage or a fatality. Jeep has found 2 electrical wiring problems so far with this Jeep and obviously there are additional wiring defects present in the vehicle.
While starting the vehicle for the third time in two days after picking up the car following a pcm flash for a cruise control recall, I noticed the prnd lights flashing on the shiftier approximately 10 seconds after vehicle start. I subsequently received a cel and a "service shifter' message. I shut off the vehicle, let all displays go dark, and restarted; the cel went away. I proceeded to continue my drive home. About 10/15 min later, I noticed the lights flickering once again on the shifter. I once again elected to continue home as it was late at night. Approximately 2/3 miles later, I received errors on the start/stop and traction control systems. The vehicle appeared to go into a "limp mode" - I it would not shift out of 8th gear and I experienced reduced power and an inability to maintain the posted 70 mph. I decided to exit at the next off-ramp as I could maintain 65mph. While exiting, I noticed the gauge needles (speedo and tach) sweep and got airbag warnings. I heard the electric fan go 100% high (very loud) and I lost power steering. I pulled over to the side of the road and shut off the vehicle. After letting it sit for approximately 5 min, I restarted the vehicle and while the cel remained no other errors were illuminated or presented. I was less than 2 miles from a Jeep dealer and decided to try to continue there on access roads. About 1/8 mile down the road, I once again lost power steering and say various error messages like before. I pulled into a parking lot and aborted my attempts and called for a tow to the dealer less than a mile away. Posted are pictures of the errors read using an obd-2 scanner I had in the glove compartment. While I have driven cars without power steering in the past, it was rather difficult with the larger ~32" tires and I am not sure a crash could be prevented if a smaller person was driving.