2014 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited - Loss of torque(power) in top end of RPM range

On Oct 7th, 2018, I was driving home from the mountains. I was driving up a small hill, and as usual, the Jeep shifted into a lower gear in order to produce more power. As I was climbing this hill, the Jeep suddenly lost all power, lunging me forward in my seat, causing me to think my transmission just fell out. A red light, inward curving lines with a lightning bolt in the center, came on the dashboard.
I immediately pulled off the interstate and into the nearest gas station where I turned the Jeep off. After inspecting for leaks and smells, I was surprised when I found nothing out of the ordinary. I got in the Jeep, cranked it, no lights came on, the Jeep shifted into first fine, and I drove around the parking lot to make sure. There were no apparent issues. I fueled up and got back on the road.
Back on the interstate, I was unable to create any sort of power. I could gain speed, but it was extremely gradual. If I encountered a hill, I would decelerate to about 55mph while going downhills, I was able to reach speeds of around 75mph.
I took the Jeep to the dealership, where the Jeep has spent about 4 weeks, and they have performed many “fixes” only to still have the issue when I pick the Jeep up.
This recording is to show exactly what happens when I try to produce ANY sort of power. Nothing about this is normal.
Update:
In the end, the dealer informed me that the fire retardant pad mounted to the inside of the hood was getting sucked onto the airbox, causing the engine to starve itself of oxygen, and ultimately stop working.
Through the process, the dealer did over $1600 if repairs, claiming the entire time that everything was covered under warranty, and the actual fix they went with was to cut a hole in the engine pad where the airbox is. When I returned to pick up the Jeep, they told me I owed them the $1600 and that warranty changed their mind.
After a long drawn out battle, I reluctantly paid $800 and will never use JT's Jeep in Columbia SC again.

[@colebean1426]

Thanks for sharing totally fixed my problem damn hood insulation getting sucked to the intake snorkel. Thanks again!

[@contemporaryprimitiveman3469]

Unbelievable. I have been having the same problem recently. This video popped up on my feed yesterday. I opened my hood and sure enough, torn insulation at the fastener was loose and getting sucked down on my air intake. 10 seconds with a razor knife and problem solved. 2014 JKUR "X" with power dome hood.

[@oscarlebron9088]

I started to experience this problem 6 month after I purchased my jeep in 2016. Took it to the dealer and they couldn’t solve the problem. This must be a typical issue with these jeeps. Speed at 35 mph, but the revolutions is high around in the 3,000 to 5,000 rpm range, drops down to normal once I back off the gas pedal. Kind of scary if I’m on the hwy, loss of power not good

[@stevek9844]

Dude, I have been chasing this same issue for over a year now. I was convinced it was a bad ECU but the dealership told me it was fine and using the latest firmware. I've replaced various sensors and still getting the loss of power under hard acceleration.I only see the problem when on the freeway so I've mostly just put up with it, I'd pull over and thinking it was ECU related I'd turn off the jeep and let it sit for a minute then turn it back on and get back on the road. Sometimes it would repeat right away other times it'd take a while. I tried it just driving normally, using cruise control, manual shifting and no difference. It makes sense now that I think about it but I'm driving a 2015 and the problem only started about a year ago. I'm wondering if the padding started sagging or something? Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for posting this.

[@nicolasochoa2541]

Mass AirFlow Sensor and the hose need to be replaced. When accelerating that allows air to flow from a gap in hose, causing engine to loose power. Sensor can be cleaned and put back before replacing. If it does it again. Then replace sensor....Hope this can help many out there.

[@robinsimmons2934]

The solution on this video was the insulation under the hood being sucked into the airbox

[@dodgeguy071]

Try replacing your crankshaft position sensor worked for me 12 jku

[@davidjordan5925]

Thank you for sharing

[@PixelRubble]

You bet!

[@skippythetownie3123]

Camshaft position sensors. Very cheap part and not too difficult to change. Mine acted up on a 6,000 mile trip last summer, changed mine in an autozone parking lot.

[@cookingwithsamontheblackst3282]

yep

[@skincha3187]

Skippy, my 2015 jkur does the same exact thing this gentle man jeep is doing but only when going uphill. Also when that happens the temperature gauge goes up. Do you still think its the crank sensor?

[@skippythetownie3123]

@@skincha3187 Probably not the same. Is your engine light coming on when it happens?

[@skincha3187]

Skip, no check engine light.

[@skippythetownie3123]

@@skincha3187 Probably not your sensors then, a light would turn on. Not sure what could be causing that.

[@37alexsaez_]

“AIN’T GOT THE POWER!”

[@lsp4050]

There’s two catalytic converter‘s up by the head, if one of those blows out, comes apart, it plugs the third catalytic converter and you’ll feel like you’re either running out of power or the vehicle just die and only would idle. If you shut it off, the piece will fall to the side and unplug and the vehicle will start back up and run OK, that tells me the catalytic converter is going out, I’ve gone through five of them so far and yes, I drive a lot of freeway driving between Oregon and California. If you drive over 3000 RPMs you’ll burn up your catalytic converter. So take out the third Kallick converter, this way if the other ones go out, exhaust will not plug. I have gotten rid of all my cars. It runs great

[@gordo.luchini4808]

Mine won’t even go over 54-55 mph. And the rpms won’t go over 2000

[@gordo.luchini4808]

My 2008 is doing this now it’s driving me crazy. Only has 85k on the odometer. You think I have the same problem ?

[@twoallame]

Wrong place to ask this question....go to the JK wrangler forum for the answers. Will get better response then what haters of jeeps have to spew

[@PixelRubble]

Honestly I posted this here for the stealership. They kept charging me to fix the issue, telling me it was fixed, I would get on the interstate, and the issue was still there. Ultimately, I ended up cutting out the part of the fire retardant fabric under the hood that was over the air intake and that did the trick. Apparently, the intake was sucking the fabric down and starving the engine of air.

[@warehousedog1]

I had the same problem with my Jeep. Took it to the dealer they had it for 4 months did not fix it, If it does not tell them on a computer they can't fix it. So the problem I found out myself after switching Serpentine belt. Your tension pulley is frozen and when it is hot or when you try to pass your belt is slipping, Lower the rpms and it catches again. I had this problem for 2 and half years, at 150000 miles I replaced radiator, hoses, spark plugs, water pump, thermostat , alternator, oil cooler and serpentine belt. The fix is simple

[@allenramirez2778]

Just a heads up before u start to judge the technicians, a computer that tells you what's wrong with the vehicle doesn't exist, all that scantools/ computers do when you're plugged in is allow you to see what the vehicles modules/ computers see, they also allow you to run tests and bi-directionally control some of the components. You see the data that vehicle sees and it's on you to use that information along with your knowledge and testing methods to come up with a diagnostic path and find the issue. The problem is with flat rate pay system of dealerships, the book time alloted for each repair is never enough for the job to be done correctly and they don't pay enough diagnostic time to their techs to spend the proper amount of time finding the issue. They don't pay a single cent above the book time regardless how much time over that is required to do things properly. The engineers who deal with building these things set the book time based on brand new components that don't take into account real life wear, scenarios, rust and so forth.

[@qssneaky]

Seems like you would be able to hear the belt squealing if the tension pulley were to freeze.

[@MEENANTRANSMISSIONS]

What actually fixed it

[@PixelRubble]

Cutting out the part of the fire retardant fabric under the hood that was over the air intake. Apparently, the intake was sucking the fabric down and starving the engine of air.

[@rafaeldejesus4150]

How do you fix that problem

[@robinsimmons2934]

It's in the description.

[@mora850]

Did you ever fix your issue?

[@PixelRubble]

Yes. Cutting out the part of the fire retardant fabric under the hood that was over the air intake did the trick. Apparently, the intake was sucking the fabric down and starving the engine of air.

[@roc3954]

Is this Jeep still even operating? 🤣 the 3.6s were not made to be anywhere near the rev limiter and you had it up there about 3 times in this video alone lmao. Either your trans is cooked or somethings wrong with your air intake. Either way if you keep sending those rpms into Pluto that trans is gonna shit a brick

[@mrbootknockr5802]

what idiot told you that, its the base engine for the challenger, charger, 300, and ram and holds up very well to high rpm.

[@skippythetownie3123]

Camshaft position sensors

[@PixelRubble]

The issue ended up being that the intake was sucking the fire retardant fabric down from the hood and starving the engine of air. Cutting out the part of the fabric under the hood that was over the air intake did the trick.

[@carolynssistercantcook1181]

​@PixelRubble mine just started doing this too. Would it be possible for you to take a photo of the area you removed the insulation from please?

[@America_took_my_zebra_stripes]

Ever get ur lack of power fixed?

[@PixelRubble]

Yes. Cutting out the part of the fire retardant fabric under the hood that was over the air intake did the trick. Apparently, the intake was sucking the fabric down and starving the engine of air.

[@andrenorton750]

Auto trans problem

[@PixelRubble]

That's what I thought at first, but after cutting out the part of the fire retardant fabric under the hood that was over the air intake the Jeep went back to normal. Apparently, the intake was sucking the fabric down and starving the engine of air.

[@infinitedev2697]

Slipping transmission

[@happyguys2k]

Air filter.....your welcome

[@tourajahmadian7106]

It’s a Jeep, it’s not to drive on interstate, it’s to drive off road at Moab or so, or new 392 Jeep’s coming in 2021 might go over 80 miles With power on freeway, nothing wrong with your Jeep, mine is manual transmission and at same boat,

[@skippythetownie3123]

Not true. My 13' wrangler with the 3.6 did over 100 stock with the 6 speed manual transmission. It's got over 120k miles on it now and still going.

[@lsp4050]

My 06 turns off at 92 miles an hour, that’s where the governor takes over and won’t let me go faster than that. Wake up, you can do more than just go in the mud

[@alfredorodriguez9818]

Crack sensor and serpentine belt