NHTSA Complaint #11673540 — 2023 JEEP GLADIATOR

The vehicle was being driven on a 4 mile stretch of interstate 26 averaging between 65 and 70 MPH. On the steepest section of the grade the vehicle downshifted into 7th gear and began to lose power. It showed a check engine light and other codes which are attached. I was able to safely pull over to the shoulder but the vehicle lacked power and pulling over and maneuvering on a steep grade was precarious. I received an alert from the Jeep mobile app on my phone shortly after instructing me to take my car to schedule an appointment now. I was able to use a scanner application JScan to clear the code and was able to return home without further incident. I investigated the code that was provided by JScan “P00AF” and discovered that numerous owners had experienced the same situation across all lines of vehicles that use the Gen 3 Ecodiesel. I counted 37 separate reports while using Google in 15 minutes of searching. This is a serious safety issue as I was traveling at interstate speeds uphill and went from 65-70 mph down to a slow rate of travel in a matter of seconds and to my knowledge no brake lights illuminated as cars were changing lanes behind me rapidly due to my sudden decrease in speed. It appears likely to be a programming or electrical malfunction with the turbo wastegate actuator and corresponding sensors that is not indicative of an actual turbo or wastegate actuator failure. If the computer algorithm is using barometric pressure for pairing boost set point and actual boost based on residual data that is not updated in real time, when ascending steep grades and gaining hundreds of feet in elevation over a short duration, air pressure values could potentially be skewed resulting in a mismatch in actual versus expected turbo boost output. My vehicle had only been running for 12-14 minutes as I live at the base of a large mountain and left home and began my ascent within 10 minutes. Therefore my oil and engine temperature were not elevated.