Top 5 Problems Jeep Compass SUV 1st Generation 2007-17

In this video, we're gonna go over the top five problems of a first-generation Jeep Compass.

So number one, a no start condition. Sometimes it cranks and does a start, or sometimes you just turn the key and there's nothing. The dash light's up, but no cranking. Now, if you're squeamish, please look away because I'm going about to show you an engineer nightmare.

So on this particular model, most of them, they had the 2.4 that fall under Compass journey, it doesn't matter. If it's got a 2.4 in it, this is where Chrysler decided to put this relay box that has the ASD relay, and the starter relay in it, and the cooling fan relay.

It is located in the driver's side fender well. Where if you're someone that likes to really beat on cars, you're gonna have an issue because right here is a whole system of electrical, and it doesn't drain, and it gets water and it gets sand and it sits in there and it rots.

This is an ASD relay, which is the main relay for a Chrysler. It stops it from doing anything, starting anything. So all these electrodes get corroded and break off. So if you have the problem, look here. If you feel like you can tackle it, it's really not that big of a deal. You go get the relays and you can rewire the junction box like this has been done.

This is just a test design anyways, it's going to get done a lot cleaner. But what happens is the back of it here, it gets corroded. You see all the corrosion in there? And Chrysler will sell you this whole what they call a relay module box for a lot of money, and then you have to rewire the whole harness up into the firewall. Where if you just simply can cut the wires, recut them, put new connectors on them, and put new relays in, clean this up, tighten it up, make it waterproof, you might save yourself a couple hundred to a thousand dollars.

Number two, rough handling, like steering suspension, noise. And it just doesn't seem to handle it correctly. Well, they had a problem with the front struts. The seal in them would prematurely leak and cause some really rough handling. So they say replace them, I say replace the whole strut assembly. It's so much easier. And you can see here, we got one up here that's already got the factory struts in it, and you can see the oil coming right out.

Number three. Yeah, here we go again, an EVAP code. I know all the new cars have EVAPs, and they can be real headaches. Well, I'm just going to give you a quick tip on what to do, what to look for because there's variants of a million different codes.

So on this particular model, it's P0441, which is a purge valve, which is gonna be up in the engine compartment. But I'm going to start from underneath and we're going to go forward to check our EVAP system over so we could do a quick check before we pay someone to do the check, because if we find a broken hose or wire, that's a problem.

So on this Jeep, the charcoal canister is located way back here, and look how close it is to a tire that's gonna spit up mud and rain, snow. Well, it depends where you live, but it's right here. And here's the connectors and here's the hose for the vent. The purge valve that gets the air going through. I don't know. It could have been a better location as far as I'm concerned.

But we're gonna do a quick check. We don't see any broken wires. The connectors are all there. The canister itself is not cracked. A lot of mud on everything, which can cause a lot of problems, but we'll do a quick visual and then we'll move right up to the front of the engine.

So the lines from the gas tank, the top of the gas tank, actually the fuel lines and brake lines, they all kind of run together here and then run up underneath the car. So if you could see this car, you can see that they took the word Jeep literally. They look like they wanted a full wheeling.

And they did a lot of scraping and mud. So I would particularly look for any damaged lines that go to the gas tank and to the vapor system, EVAP system. Everything down here looks good. It's not pinched, surprisingly. So now we're going to go up to the engine.

So here under the engine compartment. We have the air box right here and on top of it is the control module. Please don't disconnect these, just remove your air box. See if you can tilt it aside if you want to get into this. And you can see right back here, and there is that rest of your EVAP system. You get a nice little val canister right there, like a solenoid canister. You want check that for cracks, cracked hoses, bad connections. And then if you look it up, you can find testing to see if that valve is any good and go for from there.

Number four, water leaks up here on the roof line, especially if you have a sun roof. Let's get a closer look. Let me just get right up there. We'll see what we can do.

So now that we're up here, we can see a closer look. They say to check your seals around the sunroof and these guides. They have these classic guides with rubber seals that run here. Apparently they lift up, water gets down into the bolt holes, how they're mounted, and that leaves for a messy headliner.

So the fix is actually basically a body shop or a mechanical shop that is into this. If you can take these rails off, you can replace the seals underneath. Check them out, make sure the metal's not rotted because that'll happen. It'll just rot, separate, then you'll have bigger problems. But, you know, tackle it yourself, take it up. Maybe use some RTV sealer or water sealer.

And then the same with the sun roof. What you're going to do is open it and you're gonna check the seal and make sure there's no tears in it at all. Because sometimes the mechanism, when it works mechanically, it can tear the seal. We don't like that.

Number five is brake lights. So neither side on the back work, but the third brake light does or the center brake light, however you want to call it. So they have a problem with the TIPM. It's a T-I-P-M module, but it is located inside of the car. They have a lot of tests for checking voltage at the brake switch and all that. So if you're into it, you can do some deep diagnostic and check it out. But if you do end up going to the dealer or a tech that can do this kind of work and they say you need your TIPM module, they're probably right.

So that's our top five we came up with on this Jeep Compass first-generation. If you have anything to add, leave a comment below. Don't forget to subscribe. Ring that bell and turn on all the notifications so you can't miss a video.