KnownCarProblems2016 Jeep Wrangler Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 462 complaints with NHTSA about the 2016 Jeep Wrangler, most often about the brakes (30% of complaints, typically around 58,000 miles). It is 16th of 27 Wrangler model years by number of complaints and has 5 recalls.
⚠ Safety advisory1 recall for this car came with a do-not-drive warning. See below and check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Most common 2016 Jeep Wrangler problems
Brakes
137 complaints · 30%Half of these problems showed up before 58,000 miles. Parts named most often: antilock, antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip, foundation components.
My ABS and traction control lights come on and off plus the hill descent comes on while driving randomly then the descent control starts. I also have had the brakes start surging on and off and the engine want to cut off or stop fuel. Then the lights go off no codes to check then and everything is alright. The fuel…
The contact owns a 2016 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the traction control and ABS warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that as the warning lights illuminated, the vehicle decelerated and then attempted to regain traction control. The contact stated that the failure was…
Engine
94 complaints · 20%Half of these problems showed up before 47,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine, cooling system.
Engine mis fire also vehicle was sold as new to me and had over 200 miles on it parts were missing from roof engine mis fire cytinder 2 factory says not warranted how ever I have been toild by dealer was warranted as the heads are made by two different companies said repair is back logged and will take at lase 3 weeks…
I had the check engine light come on and it was reading a p0302 code. This code is associated with the "pentastar tick". I knew that this meant that the cylinder head may be cracked as there are many Jeep owners that have had the same issue. I took it to the dealer ship and they confirmed that the cylinder head was…
Air bags
77 complaints · 17%Half of these problems showed up before 62,500 miles. Parts named most often: frontal.
Tamara recall. I was hit by a drunk driver at highway speed here in texas on 12/7/2018. Air bags didn't deploy in my 2016 Jeep jku. All air bags deployed in the drunk drivers vehicle. She walked away and I was taken to the hospital. If my airbags had deployed from such a hard impact I might have walked away like the…
Received notice from Jeep that a recall was in effect for the airbag sensor switch located somewhere within the front bumper.. The switch maybe disconnected at time of impact and not message the air bags to deploy... The hard rock addition Jeep has an access port located within the front bumper specifically for the…
Transmission
74 complaints · 16%Half of these problems showed up before 31,000 miles.
Upon first start of day, usually colder mornings, once the Jeep has been warmed up, upon going from park into reverse, the Jeep will shudder hard but keep running or it will completely die and need to be restarted.
Upon my first start of the day (cold start) my Jeep starts no issue at all both remote start and standard ignition. When I put my Jeep into reverse, the RPM's drop and the Jeep shutters and then stalls. Sometimes it does a hard shutter low idle and can stay alive but usually stalls. Dealer says they can't find the…
Electrical
57 complaints · 12%Half of these problems showed up before 37,000 miles. Parts named most often: instrument cluster/panel, alternator/generator/regulator.
The Jeep Wrangler has 37k miles and the front passenger side break caliber locked up. When this first occurred/identified the vehicle was in motion on the highway doing 70 MPH. When breaking the Jeep made a strong pull to the right almost sending the vehicle off the shoulder of the road..
The wheel speed sensors are notorious to give out in these vehicles. Even at low mileage. The ABS and traction control lights come on limiting performance and causing issues requiring immediate service. Their are many Jeep owners I have encountered with this issue and it can be either location or inappropriate guard…
Other or unspecified
54 complaints · 12%Half of these problems showed up before 17,000 miles.
I have a 2016 Jeep Wrangler unlimited with 20,000 miles., today I was going up a hill stopped at a mailbox then started to take off and the motor stalled while in drive. It cased me to roll back about 3' befor I could hit the brake almost caused a accident. I then restarted the Jeep placed it back in drive and it…
The vehicle leaks water from the front doors and fills the floor with water when it rains. I took it to the dealership last winter under the manufacturer warranty but it started leaking again this winter. Upon doing a google search I discovered this a pervasive wide spread problem with alot of Jeep Wrangler owners. I…
Speed control
36 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 27,500 miles. Parts named most often: cruise control.
The contact owns a 2016 Jeep Wrangler. While the driver was at a complete stop at a red light, the vehicle independently accelerated while the brake pedal was engaged. As a result, the vehicle rear ended a dump truck. The driver was able to drive the vehicle home. There were no injuries. A police report was not filed.…
Rear passenger side ABS wheel speed sensor failed in september, 2019 at 23,469 miles and repaired at a cost of $310.31. Rear driver side ABS wheel speed sensor failed in march, 2020 at 26,835 miles and repaired at a cost of $244.41. With each failure, vehicle's ABS, traction control system, and cruise control became…
Steering
28 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 30,000 miles. Parts named most often: column.
Jeep death wobble - whilst taking my son to school I was traveling at approximately 45 MPH, I stuck a small pothole with my right front tire. The vehicle front end began to shake violently as the steering wheel oscillated about 6 inches back and forth. It was very difficult to maintain control of the vehicle and…
I first experienced the "death wobble" within a year or so of purchasing my new 2016 Jeep Wrangler...very scary (seems to happen on a rough spots in the road, traveling at 45 MPH or higher).the front end was shaking so badly that I thought I had a flat tire, or that a wheel had fallen off. It has now happened at least…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2016 Jeep Wrangler recalls
Air bags: driver clockspring/spiral cassette
Risk: An air bag that does not deploy in a crash can increase the risk of injury.
Fix: Dealers will replace the clockspring, steering wheel back cover, and steering column shrouds, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed april 4, 2024. Owners may contact fca US, llc customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Fca US, llc's number for this recall is 27b.
Full defect summary
Chrysler (fca US, llc) (stellantis) is recalling certain right hand drive 2016 jeep wrangler vehicles. Debris contamination may cause the clockspring to fail, preventing the driver's air bag from deploying in a crash.
Seat belts: anchorage
Risk: A separated or severed seat belt buckle strap will result in an inoperable seat belt, increasing the risk of injury in the event of a crash.
Fix: Fca US will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's seat belt buckle, free of charge. Interim notices informing owners of the safety risk were mailed november 19, 2019. Owners will received a second letter and the recall began march 26, 2020. Owners may contact fca customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Fca's number for this recall is va6.
Full defect summary
Chrysler (fca US llc) is recalling certain 2011-2018 jeep wrangler right hand drive vehicles. The driver's seat belt buckle mounting strap may fracture and separate from the seat frame.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could explode with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the recall repair is complete. Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began february 4, 2019. Owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is v01.
Full defect summary
Chrysler (fca US llc) is recalling certain 2010 dodge ram 3500, ram 4500/5500, 2010-2011 dodge dakota, 2010-2014 dodge challenger, 2010-2015 dodge challenger, chrysler 300, and 2010-2016 jeep wrangler vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to explode.
Air bags: sensor/control module-inactive
Risk: If the orc module does not receive a signal from the front impact sensor, both frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners will not deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will reroute the front impact sensor wiring and relocate the impact sensor branch, free of charge. The recall began on november 10, 2016. Owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is s76.
Full defect summary
Chrysler (fca US llc) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 jeep wrangler vehicles manufactured june 16, 2015, to august 14, 2016. In certain crash conditions, the front impact sensor wiring may be pulled until it detaches before a signal can be received by the occupant restraint controller (orc).
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: Failure of the air bag circuit may prevent the driver's frontal air bag from deploying in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the clockspring, wheel back cover, and column shroud, free of charge. The recall began on august 11, 2016. Owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is s40.
Full defect summary
Chrysler (fca US llc) is recalling certain model year 2011-2016 right hand drive jeep wrangler vehicles manufactured february 16, 2010, to may 2, 2016. The clockspring assembly may become contaminated with dust and cause the air bag circuit to fail.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Desiccated air bag inflator rupture
Summary
From 2000 through 2017, takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("psan") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004l. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 blomquist report at www.NHTSA.gov/sites/NHTSA.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substa
Seat belt buckle bracket failure
Summary
On july 17, 2019, NHTSA's office of defects investigation (odi) opened preliminary evaluation (pe) 19-008 after receiving three vehicle owner questionnaire (voq) reports alleging the driver's side seat belt buckle separated from the seat frame, rendering the seat belt non-functional. The voqs involved model year (my) 2015 and 2016 jeep wrangler (jk platform) that were configured for right-hand drive (rhd) use. On august 8, 2019, odi issued an information request (ir) letter to fca.the scope of the ir included all jk wrangler produced for sale in the u.s. (both left- and right-hand drive), and amongst other things, requested any reports or allegations of driver's seat belt bracket failures on
Electrical overstress
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect.â during the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (acu) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) electronic control unit (ecu) manufactured by zf-trw. â the ecu receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with m
Questions about the 2016 Jeep Wrangler
- What are the most common problems with the 2016 Jeep Wrangler?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: brakes (137 complaints, typically around 58,000 miles); engine (94 complaints, typically around 47,000 miles); air bags (77 complaints, typically around 62,500 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2016 Jeep Wrangler have?
- 5 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from March 14, 2024 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2016 a bad year for the Jeep Wrangler?
- It is 16th of 27 Wrangler model years by number of complaints, with 462 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.