Similar to the problem above. Recently I’ve been walking out to my Jeep and the lights have been greeting me as if I’ve pushed the button on the key fob… don’t think I have.
And then today, when I would begin to press the accelerator, the 4 way flashers turned on for a moment as if to say, ‘watch out everyone’. It was strange. Then when I turned off the car, the driver and passenger windows went down midway by themselves and the 4 way flashers continued to go on and off randomly (with the car turned off). I returned to my Jeep about an hour later, turned the Jeep on, put the windows up and turned it off, and all was good again.
I expect to continue to see such strange things happen randomly and have tried to set up a consultation at the service center. On the phone, they say they’ve never heard of such a thing before.
Next time I’ll make a video for sure.
In automotive electronics, body control module or ‘body computer’ is a generic term for an electronic control unit responsible for monitoring and controlling various electronic accessories in a vehicle’s body. Typically in a car the BCM controls the power windows, power mirrors, air conditioning, immobilizer system, central locking, etc. The BCM communicates with other on-board computers via the car’s vehicle bus, and its main application is controlling load drivers – actuating relays that in turn perform actions in the vehicle such as locking the doors, flashing the turn signals (in older cars), or dimming the interior lighting
lol … Think of that as a feature. Your Jeep is looking out for you!
As mentioned above, most likely some sort of problem with the vehicle’s body control electronics. Will likely require a shop’s diagnosis. Before taking to shop, suggest to test lighting/window/lock functions to see if some work one way but not the other, fob vs inside switches, etc. That info will be helpful to your shop to make the correct diagnosis. If it is possible to use the vehicle sans fob, or batteries removed from fob, that’s a useful experiment too. None of my vehicles use a fob or complex body control electronics, so no personal experience w/this problem myself.
@Purebred … do you know if OP’s vehicles uses Chrysler’s TIPM gadget? Or is that the same as the body control module? Vehicles have dozens of computer-containing electronic modules these days, so hard to say sometimes which one is at fault.
Some module repairs are cost effective, but most aren’t. One of the cost-effective ones seems to be the GM instrument cluster module. Actuators replaced, rest is touched-up soldered. I don’t think the Jeep/Chrysler BCM is in the cost-effective repair list. Probably best to just buy a replacement, if you think that’s the problem. No harm done to google “automobile electronic module repair”, see what that has to say.
Note that a common “module failure” isn’t a problem with the module at all, but one of the connectors to the module has come loose or a pin has oxidized. Good idea to disconnect then reconnect all the module connectors, could work.
And be sure to check the electronic’s power supply voltage is correct. First test: Before first start of the day battery should measure about 12.6 volts; then immediately after starting engine, 13.5-15.5 volts.
If you Google “BCM repair”, or something similar, you will find that there are indeed mail-order places that repair BCMs. Since removing your old one and sending it away for repair would leave your car idle for at least a few days, the best way to handle it would be to order a replacement, and have it sent to you, so that your mechanic can remove the old one and install the “new” one.
If your mechanic has definitely diagnosed this as a BCM problem, then you might want to go ahead with what I described above, but a skilled mechanic definitely needs to be involved because the “new” BCM has to be properly programmed in order for it to “read” your car’s system correctly, and for everything to work optimally again.
Does your Cherokee have the UConnect system? My 2015 Cherokee does and there was a news item on TV regarding the fact that some FCA models (the example they used, with video, was a 2015 Cherokee) could be hacked through the UConnect system. They issued a recall item, which consisted of a software update. Might be something to mention when you have your consult.
The bad news for me (and others like me) is Jeep no longer supports the UConnect services as they are 3G and they’ve updated their system to 4G (or maybe even 5G). There is no way to update my system so now I have to do without it.