[di1in]

My Jeep Compass 4x4 from 2017 had its wet clutch replaced under extended warranty in Feb this year (service history says differential assembly rear axle was replaced), and then in June it got another complaint (metallic knocking sounded from rear below vehicle when reversing under load) and is now having its propeller/drive shaft replaced under warranty.

Is there any underlying issue that I need to be looking out for? Warranty ends next year, and I want to work out if a proactive decision can be made that prevents my bank account losing traction next year.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by di1in

Is there any underlying issue that I need to be looking out for? Warranty ends next year, and I want to work out if a proactive decision can be made that prevents my bank account losing traction next year.

Time to sell your car.
With so many major components having problems in first 4 years of ownership, does not guarantee that you will not have problems in the future.
Parts like drift shaft, differentials, clutch do not wear out so easily. It could be due to manufacturer defect or incorrect driving. I presume it is manufacturer defect and hence they are doing it in warranty.
Also remember, such parts are costly and will cost a bomb after expiry of warranty.
Plus there is a big difference between factory fitted parts and hand repaired/ replaced parts.

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by di1in

My Jeep Compass 4x4 from 2017 had its wet clutch replaced under extended warranty in Feb this year (service history says differential assembly rear axle was replaced), and then in June it got another complaint (metallic knocking sounded from rear below vehicle when reversing under load) and is now having its propeller/drive shaft replaced under warranty.

Is there any underlying issue that I need to be looking out for? Warranty ends next year, and I want to work out if a proactive decision can be made that prevents my bank account losing traction next year.

I am guessing Wet clutch is a component in the rear differential. So it might have been replaced as a whole. The clutch pack has electro-mechanical actuation.

Propeller shaft has a center carrier bearing which if faulty, can make the shaft jump about make a juddering / hammering noise under certain load conditions.

If you have driven above 75k km you might want to have them check the health of the clutch and flywheel too. Preliminary checks only.

Originally Posted by Tgo

Wanted to update about the recent 70K km service and the Differential change for the 2015 AWD I have.

Last month I had dropped off the duster for a check up regarding drive train shuddering under acceleration from standstill. I had assumed it was an issue with the mounts of the 4WD transfer case. However I got a call from the service guys at Renault Jaipur that the whole differential needs to be changed. They did a thorough test of the car and found that the differential was jamming up causing some extra resistance on the engine when accelerating from standstill.

After facing this issue in my AWD duster, I too live in fear of heavy repair bills in case of similar failure in future. I have altered my driving style to a large extent. Also read about AWD system maintenance from various sources and picked up some tips:

• There should be no difference in tyre circumference. Replace all 4 tyres together. Rotate them frequently. Maintain correct tyre pressure. All the time. Difference in these parameters causes the system to detect slip and engage the clutch even on surfaces with good traction causing the clutch to fail prematurely.
  
  
• Avoid severe acceleration while turning and on low speeds (U-turns, traffic signals, junctions etc.) especially on roads and surfaces with good traction. The system detects slip and engages the clutch even though it should be smart enough to detect the steering angle and decide not to do so.
  
  
• Differential oil to be replaced every 20 / 30k km (to coincide with alternate service based on your service intervals).
  
  
• No towing over long distances with all four wheels on the ground. Disconnect the drive shaft if it is really necessary. Otherwise, keep your RSA active and insist on a flatbed pick-up for towing.
  
  
• If yours is a manual transmission, engage the clutch fully before getting hard on the accelerator. I feel the prop shaft juddering has something to do with DMF (Dual Mass Flywheel) and its expected service life. As the DMF ages it's ability to dampen driveline vibration reduces and if it fails it might contribute to the problem severely.
  
  
• If required, replace the full differential. Opening it to replace the clutch might mean opening the pandora's box of problems.

[di1in]

Originally Posted by Tgo

I am guessing Wet clutch is a component in the rear differential. So it might have been replaced as a whole. The clutch pack has electro-mechanical actuation.

It's just run 35k, 10k of which happened this year.

Thank you so much for the tips you shared. Accelerating on turns has been a habit of mine, so that is a definite fix for me. I stay right near a highway, so whenever I take the vehicle out I have to accelerate pretty quickly to keep pace with other vehicles. On the other hand, I am not happy if I should drive so sedately after buying a manual with a 2L diesel because the car was fun to drive. Trying to figure out the economics of moving on to another vehicle.

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Time to sell your car.
..
Also remember, such parts are costly and will cost a bomb after expiry of warranty.

That's what I have been thinking of too, not sure how to figure out if maintaining this one will be more expensive than buying a new SUV.

I'm thinking:
• The total cost of repairs (if I paid for them) from this year equals 2L, if this isn't part of a deeper or more expensive problem (which hopefully this thread will help me with answering)
• If I sell this car and buy a new one from the same class, I will have to spend an extra 16L from savings, and that eats away at almost 1.9L in interest/invest returns every year on its own apart from losing 16L in the capital. Any other perspective to look at this?

Ironically, the TBHP new-reply page where I am typing this right now has a big ad glaring at me with, "Your Vehicle is a Huge Investment".

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by di1in

That's what I have been thinking of too, not sure how to figure out if maintaining this one will be more expensive than buying a new SUV.

You need to do the Math yourself. It is quite evident that selling this car and investing in a new car will incur more money. However you need to guage the reliabilty of your current vehicle as well. How long will it sustain without giving you frequent visits to the workshop.

[di1in]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

You need to do the Math yourself. It is quite evident that selling this car and investing in a new car will incur more money. However you need to guage the reliabilty of your current vehicle as well. How long will it sustain without giving you frequent visits to the workshop.

Yes, I know. I did do some basic math in the same post you quoted, and would like to have other perspectives on variables to add.

That said, my main aim is to find out if these issues could be due a larger underlying technical problem.

[GTO]

Man, the infamous FCA / Jeep reliability have hit, huh? I would expect more niggles as the car ages. But you know what? Even if you have 1 serious part replacement a year, it will still be FAR, FAR cheaper than buying a new car. Now that you bought a Compass - which is a sexy crossover by the way - stick with it. My C220 gave a lot of problems in its 4th - 6th year, but once they were sorted by an expert indie & good quality parts, the 7th - 9th years were far better.

Please do read this article of mine (Want to sell your car because of repairs? Think again!). I know the car has let you down and you'd be in a foul mood right now, but stick with it. Don't incur a lot of 10 - 20 lakhs on the depreciation + replacement costs. Plus, how do you know that your next car will be super reliable? Of late, even Hyundais are reporting so many niggles as did the Innova Crysta when it was new. A known devil is better than an unknown angel.

If I were in your shoes, I would extend the warranty to the max possible duration. Post warranty, go to a nice independent garage run by an expert. You'll be happy. My 530d is now 8 years old and I am mentally prepared for 1 major part failure a year (in the last 2 years, the air-con compressor & ABS board have been replaced). The replacement cost of my 530d is a minimum 50-lakhs. Better I spend 1 - 1.5 lakhs every year and keep it in top shape. It sure doesn't feel outdated by current standards, just as your Compass won't.

Originally Posted by di1in

Is there any underlying issue that I need to be looking out for? Warranty ends next year, and I want to work out if a proactive decision can be made that prevents my bank account losing traction next year.

Keep your eyes & ears open and replace whatever you can in the warranty . Since you are worried, keep getting the car checked up periodically by an indie and keep pushing for replacements. Get all the warranty work you can get done.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by di1in

My Jeep Compass 4x4 from 2017 had its wet clutch replaced under extended warranty in Feb this year...
...then in June it got another complaint (metallic knocking sounded from rear below vehicle when reversing under load) and is now having its propeller/drive shaft replaced under warranty.

Is there any underlying issue that I need to be looking out for?

Is there a likelihood that you are driving the car very hard on all sorts of roads, including hard tarmac and gravel roads? Unlike the Duster's 4x4 system, where there's an option to remain all the time in FWD, the Compass uses electronics to transfer power to the rear wheels as it deems fit. So hard acceleration from standstill on a sealed road will cause the rear drive to engage.

Now, there are 2 components to the Compass' 4x4 system that are meant for limited use, and not full-time.
(A) The rear axle has a light-weight differential to transfer power to either side - and this has a clutch to recreate a limited slip effect.
(B) Also, there is no centre differential, so before the power arrives at the centre diff, there is a multi-plate clutch pack that evens out the rotational differences between front and rear drives, by allowing some slippage. In addition, the rear prop shaft is designed to self-destruct in case the clutch pack that acts as the centre diff, fails. This saves the owner from super-expensive repair costs in case of transmission wind-up, breaking something in the gearbox / transfer case.

So, if you love harsh acceleration and attempt wheelspin (or go off-road and attempt obstacles that require pedal-to-metal kind of driving), you will end up damaging / wearing out the 3 parts quickly - the clutch pack, the rear diff, and the prop shaft.

[di1in]

Originally Posted by GTO

Man, the infamous FCA / Jeep reliability have hit, huh? I would expect more niggles as the car ages. But you know what? Even if you have 1 serious part replacement a year, it will still be FAR, FAR cheaper than buying a new car. Now that you bought a Compass - which is a sexy crossover by the way - stick with it. My C220 gave a lot of problems in its 4th - 6th year, but once they were sorted by an expert indie & good quality parts, the 7th - 9th years were far better.

Thanks for the detailed reply, GTO! This clears up a lot of the doubts that I had.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Is there a likelihood that you are driving the car very hard on all sorts of roads, including hard tarmac and gravel roads? Unlike the Duster's 4x4 system, where there's an option to remain all the time in FWD, the Compass uses electronics to transfer power to the rear wheels as it deems fit. So hard acceleration from standstill on a sealed road will cause the rear drive to engage....
... harsh acceleration and attempt wheelspin (or go off-road and attempt obstacles that require pedal-to-metal kind of driving), you will end up damaging / wearing out the 3 parts quickly - the clutch pack, the rear diff, and the prop shaft.

Yes, there indeed was a lot of gravel and off road runs in the last 6 months. I'll ask them to take a look at the clutch pack since the vehicle is at the service center anyway. Thank you for explaining the technical details, this gives me a better understanding of what's happening.

[viXit]

These damages sound like repair items that occur after a ride height change with either a bigger set of wheels/tyres or lift kits.

All these mods raise the sprung mass of the car but leave the unsprung mass i.e(differential, axles, suspension) at the same height. The propellor shaft in most cars is on the sprung mass, coming from the GB most of the time and goes to the Diff/clutch here on the unsprung mass.

As the ride height of the car changes, the stress on the shafts build up due to the angles changing. The knuckles can only take so much of wear and tear. Even if there was no change in these parameters which affect ride height, stress (hard acceleration) during constant jumping(badroads) of the car, will put a lot of stress on the axle linkages and knuckles. In which case, it's just bad engineering for the use case you're having.

Hopefully I'm wrong and it was just an isolated issue. Otherwise, I can already see you buying a toyota as your next car. Wishing you luck.

[ValuableRecluse]

Originally Posted by di1in

Thanks for the detailed reply, GTO! This clears up a lot of the doubts that I had.



Yes, there indeed was a lot of gravel and off road runs in the last 6 months. I'll ask them to take a look at the clutch pack since the vehicle is at the service center anyway. Thank you for explaining the technical details, this gives me a better understanding of what's happening.

I’m sorry, but I don’t see the point in owning a vehicle, that doesn’t allow you to drive the way that you enjoy.

On purely financial terms, as GTO has reasoned, keeping the compass is a no-brainer.
But of those of us who like to drive aggressively when conditions permit, the vehicle has to perform adequately and reliably.

A few years ago I had a XUV500 AWD with a Racechip installed with a claimed 182bhp/420NM. Accelerating hard in a second gear corner, feeling the clutch pack engage and drive sent to the rear axle with the rear suspension squat under load and being slingshot out was a joy.
Nothing failed. Maybe I was lucky, but I made sure the ASS changed the oil in the PTU and rear axle on schedule. As an AWD XUV was a rarity, they hadn’t heard of a PTU, so an oil change without my intervention was out of the question.

Here is the XUV’s maintenance schedule





And here is the Compasses’ maintenance schedule


Disclaimer- I have downloaded this of the net from jeeps website, it may not be the latest edition.

Pertinent to note- Jeep never recommends an oil change for the PTU/RA.
This strikes me as odd for a vehicle marketed as an off-roader, or am I missing something.
Are they setting themselves up failure? If that’s the case, getting rid of the vehicle before the warranty expires sounds like a good decision.

[di1in]

Originally Posted by ValuableRecluse

Pertinent to note- Jeep never recommends an oil change for the PTU/RA.
This strikes me as odd for a vehicle marketed as an off-roader, or am I missing something.
Are they setting themselves up failure? If that’s the case, getting rid of the vehicle before the warranty expires sounds like a good decision.

Thanks so much for sharing this. I went down a long road of videos on YouTube explaining about all the different 4x4s across brands (a lot of Fords too) with PTU issues due to a lack of oil change. I'm trying to find an independent mechanic in Thrissur who can help me figure out if this vehicle has more problems, or if the PTU maintenance is enough (and whether the indie can do it, since Jeep claimed the PTUs are 'sealed for life').

I'm having issues with my car as discussed in this thread here (Jeep Compass 4x4 | Differential replaced & driveshaft complaint), and am searching for a good independent mechanic in Thrissur who can help me do a thorough check on the whole vehicle (Jeep Compass from 2017 with a 4x4) so that I can plan things ahead with more information about whether to retain this vehicle after warranty.

I did do my own search and only found Central Motors in Thrissur with whom I have had a couple of works done around 12 years ago, but want to know if there are any others that are better. Thanks in advance!

[Kosfactor]

Why not ask for a General checkup from a Jeep dealership in a nearby city?

Meet the dealer GM, ask for an experienced QC \ test driver to evaluate your vehicle inside out, test drive, lift inspection etc and then tell you how the scenario is. Based on the evaluation whatever needs attention can be looked at.

An independent workshop would not expect you to be a customer when the vehicle is already in warranty.