[Frank Julian]

My 2017 Jeep Cherokee went nuts when I came out of the grocery store. Every light on the dash came on and odometer was blinking. I talked to a buddy of mine who is a mechanic and he said it was most likely due to a low battery/bad. I removed the battery and took it to the parts store to have it checked out. It came back good and they fully charged it. I reinstalled it and all the lights went out except the Airbag and the Odometer was flashing. I tried the Proxi realignment with the AlfaOBD but it would never run through it completely. I made an appointment at the dealer and they fixed it for free under warranty, that was last Monday when my wife made a deal on a 2020 Challenger G/T. My sneaky salesman (I bought 5 cars from the same salesman and about 10 cars from the same dealer).

 

[ChallyTatum]

So one thing that I learned from one of a HP tuner member is if the vehicle requires a gateway/bypass for the OBD port that not all cables are equal as the member found out. Turns out alfa warns about it.

The other thing with Alfa is depending on the interface you use you might need to also use an adapter cable to access different bus speeds

 

[Frank Julian]

So one thing that I learned from one of a HP tuner member is if the vehicle requires a gateway/bypass for the OBD port that not all cables are equal as the member found out. Turns out alfa warns about it.
View attachment 993752
The other thing with Alfa is depending on the interface you use you might need to also use an adapter cable to access different bus speeds

yeah I hadn't thought of that, Alfa just works on my 2015 Challenger, not worth it to buy the ByPass thing from ZAuto just to use Alfa on my Jeep Cherokee.

 

[A Guy]

I wonder if it has to do with how long the battery is disconnected? I, like many others I am sure, have had my battery disconnected a few times, and never an issue

A Guy

 

[SunnyS]

This is a common problem and really just requires the car being shut off and restarted. Sometimes it takes two restarts to get the system to sync. I have had 4 new Dodge Challenger/Chargers since 15 and this restart works ever time when the battery is either disconnected or went dead and needed charged.

 

[ChallyTatum]

So the wife's 2013 JGC had a completely dead battery (it's an AGM type) yesterday...it is not even a year old. Anyways threw a charger on it and the dash, radio and wipers went crazy. Since the battery is under the passenger seat I had a hell of a time getting to the terminals without having enough power to move the seat. Finally was able to pull the ground terminal and charge the battery directly. The battery was charging all last night (used the 2 amp setting) which was enough to get it started. Everything worked fine but the radio as once it was turned off would not turn back on. Pulled the negative terminal and reconnected it and now everything seems to be back to normal. Jebus, these modules are so touchy. Going to see if any codes were set in the modules via alfa but man I was like this thing is possessed. Still don't know what caused the complete discharge though?

 

[EngiNerd]

So one thing that I learned from one of a HP tuner member is if the vehicle requires a gateway/bypass for the OBD port that not all cables are equal as the member found out. Turns out alfa warns about it.
View attachment 993752
The other thing with Alfa is depending on the interface you use you might need to also use an adapter cable to access different bus speeds

yeah I hadn't thought of that, Alfa just works on my 2015 Challenger, not worth it to buy the ByPass thing from ZAuto just to use Alfa on my Jeep Cherokee.

SGW vehicles don't offer access to CAN bus at the OBD port/DLC, instead the SGW does what's called 'bus mirroring' and that is what you're actually interacting with when viewing data at the DLC. In order to 'truly' access the private side of the network (to measure bus voltage/use an O-scope for example) you have to directly access a star connector*

*Edit (or splice block in Atlantis vehicles)

 

[EngiNerd]

Also I should probably say this:

Since that training book is out of date and there isn't any context here - Proxi alignments are necessary for the Atlantis architecture equipped vehicles (the stuff from Europe developed by FIAT) when new modules are installed/replaced. But North American vehicles that use the PowerNet architecture (like our Challengers) don't use the proxi-alignment strategy. Instead that function is performed by Ign-on power up and/or Restore Veh Configuration.

Bottom line you don't proxi-align a challenger/charger/etc.

 

[ChallyTatum]

SGW vehicles don't offer access to CAN bus at the OBD port/DLC, instead the SGW does what's called 'bus mirroring' and that is what you're actually interacting with when viewing data at the DLC. In order to 'truly' access the private side of the network (to measure bus voltage/use an O-scope for example) you have to directly access a star connector.

So is that what the bypass or smart access module does...grants access to the private side of the bus?

 

[ChallyTatum]

Also I should probably say this:

Since that training book is out of date and there isn't any context here - Proxi alignments are necessary for the Atlantis architecture equipped vehicles (the stuff from Europe developed by FIAT) when new modules are installed/replaced. But North American vehicles that use the PowerNet architecture (like our Challengers) don't use the proxi-alignment strategy. Instead that function is performed by Ign-on power up and/or Restore Veh Configuration.

Bottom line you don't proxi-align a challenger/charger/etc.

Yeah I think Darts and 200s require proxi alignment...from what I have seen.

Proxi Configuration Alignment – Appcar DiagFCA – diagnostic tool

appcar-diagfca.com

 

[EngiNerd]

So the wife's 2013 JGC had a completely dead battery (it's an AGM type) yesterday...it is not even a year old. Anyways threw a charger on it and the dash, radio and wipers went crazy. Since the battery is under the passenger seat I had a hell of a time getting to the terminals without having enough power to move the seat. Finally was able to pull the ground terminal and charge the battery directly. The battery was charging all last night (used the 2 amp setting) which was enough to get it started. Everything worked fine but the radio as once it was turned off would not turn back on. Pulled the negative terminal and reconnected it and now everything seems to be back to normal. Jebus, these modules are so touchy. Going to see if any codes were set in the modules via alfa but man I was like this thing is possessed. Still don't know what caused the complete discharge though?

If the wipers came on you should've set a 'Loss of Com w/SCCM', among many other faults. Chances are you have an intermittent open or STG on the bus. Ignore all the low voltage faults (there will be a lot of them) and lmk which modules reported loss of com DTCs - that's what you want to focus on if you're going to track down a loose/intermittent connection.

 

[EngiNerd]

So is that what the bypass or smart access module does...grants access to the private side of the bus?

Probably so, but I'm not familiar with those...something aftermarket I assume?

 

[ChallyTatum]

If the wipers came on you should've set a 'Loss of Com w/SCCM', among many other faults. Chances are you have an intermittent open or STG on the bus. Ignore all the low voltage faults (there will be a lot of them) and lmk which modules reported loss of com DTCs - that's what you want to focus on if you're going to track down a loose/intermittent connection.

I should have mentioned that things did not go bonkers until I attempted to start the car with the charger on it. Apparently not enough power in the battery to get it going, hit start, heard a click and everything when crazy. I should have known better than to attempt a start on a low state of charge battery.

 

[EngiNerd]

Ah gotcha...yes, very strange & fun things happen when there's low system voltage.