The NHTSA says that it has 15 complaints from Jeep Compass owners saying that their vehicles are shutting off unexpectedly. The nature of the malfunction is similar enough that the NHTSA is opening a preliminary investigation to find out if the issue warrants a full-scale recall. It seems as though the issue is related to a false overheating warning.
According to documentation from the NHTSA “Vehicles experience a dashboard message stating “High Coolant Temperature” or “Coolant Temperature Too High” followed by an immediate engine shutdown.” It also called many of the incidents “self-correcting” or “temporarily corrected”.
It says that because many Jeep owners report that the vehicle would continue as normal after being restarted. In one instance, the vehicle would not restart and had to be towed. As of December 2nd, 2022, it had received 15 complaints specifically about 2019-2020 Compass models.
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One complaint from April 30th of this year seems to sum up the entire breadth of cases save for ones where the Jeep won’t restart. The owner says that “My 2019 Jeep Compass Trail Hawk shuts down either while driving or stopped. The message that appears is “Coolant Temperature Too High”.
It is a severe safety issue as it happens while idling at traffic lights. As soon as I let off the brake it stalls and displays that message. I have to put the Jeep in park, restart the engine. This also happens while driving. Sometimes I can power through.
Once it happened and another error message came up and said “Throttle Engine Service Disabled”. I have had the Jeep to an authorized Jeep service station (Kelly Jeep) many times without resolution. We are concerned about operating the vehicle.”
According to many users on MyJeepCompass, these vehicles aren’t overheating at all. For whatever reason, the ECU detects overheating and subsequently shuts off. A large number of reports there indicate the same exact issue and similar fears about safety. Have you experienced something like this in your Jeep Compass? Let us know in the comments below and keep in mind that you can submit reports directly to the NHTSA via its website.
