USB non-functional

[dashmatrix]

So Just bought a new 2019 Limited and day one couldn't get CarPlay to work. Plugging in any device results in DEVICE NOT SUPPORTED. Took it back to the dealer, and their guys monkeyed around for an hour to no avail. They couldn't even get it to recognize their many UCONNECT update USB devices. The USB still provides power to a device just no data connections. So they scheduled me to come back out to "diagnose and repair". That 1-day estimate turned into a 5-day fiasco. They replace the media hub. Didn't fix it. They worked with FCA STAR to approve a new radio swap out. Supposedly (according to the dealership) swapping out the radio is frowned upon and STAR/FCA/Uconnect makes them jump through many hoops to get that approved under warranty. I imagine it's because of all the required nonsense they must go through with SiriusXM/Guardian to get it sorted out on their backend. Anyhow, once they got the swap out approved, the dealership informs me that the radio is "still in production" and FCA hasn't started making spare parts so it will take a while to get a replacement. That doesn't quite sound kosher, but anyway I wait. A week goes by (not a long while and I was pleasantly surprised.
I go back, they put the NEW radio in and it's DOA. Dead out of the box.
So far I have owned this truck for 2 weeks, and the dealership has had it in their service lot for 1 week. I've driven it the 50-mile round trip 5 times on this issue and I'm pulling my hair out. Can't figure out if this is a case where the dealership doesn't know what they are doing and is giving me lies to cover their incompetence, or if these radio units are just garbage. Maybe a little of both ? But I'm pretty sure 2 defective radio units in the first 2 weeks of owning a 50K$ vehicle is a red flag that something ain't right.
It's not like you can really pop that piece of trash out and put an Alpine in. Everything is controlled via that system. I'd be happy to just go back and say I'm good with no Carplay or ability to update the vehicle's firmware ever again. But now that they have monkeyed with it so much the satelite radio doesn't work and the NAV is constantly losing GPS reception.
I think they may have either not got the sat antenna plugged in right or the wiring is damaged after plugging, unplugging, plugging, unpl....
I'm fed up.

 

[riccnick]

Welcome to the forums, congrats on the truck and sorry your experience has been less than stellar!

There have been a few reports of issues with radio replacement around here on the forums, and a few media hub replacements (they updated the part number for both multiple times)

Send a private message ("start conversation") to @RamCares with your vin and give them the backround on what's going on. They are kind of a "middle man" between FCA and you and the dealers, and have been able to escalate and expedite SOME things to help people out. They are not technical support and cannot SOLVE your problem, but at the very least, they record the issue formally and it becomes part of FCA's data.

Hope things turn out well for ya!

 

[Hemileadfoot]

I had the same thing happen last week. Radio does not recognize Phone or Flash drive connected, but phone shows it is charging. Have an appointment next monday with local dealer (rural town) and I'm pretty sure they will be clueless about this. I have had several dodge products over the years, and I am getting tired of the clunky uconnect issues. If local dealer cant figure it out, will trade for another brand.

 

[riccnick]

I had the same thing happen last week. Radio does not recognize Phone or Flash drive connected, but phone shows it is charging. Have an appointment next monday with local dealer (rural town) and I'm pretty sure they will be clueless about this. I have had several dodge products over the years, and I am getting tired of the clunky uconnect issues. If local dealer cant figure it out, will trade for another brand.

Well if you don't have faith in the dealer or the product, why have you had multiples, including a recent brand new one?

Why are you not sure the rural dealer will be able to figure this out for you? If you want to be more prepared for their failure, cruise through the TSB / Recall section of the forum, and present them with the TSB numbers ahead of time (nicely) to help them out. There have been multiple reports of media hub failures, and the parts have been updated, so depending on your build date, you may just need to have it replaced. (You'll need to know your build date in order to know if any of the TSB's apply to you, and there definitely are some related to the issue you're having).

Welcome to the forums and congrats on the new truck! Keep your chin up, don't let minor, fixable things ruin the rest of the amazing truck you spent hard earned money on.

 

[Neurobit]

So Just bought a new 2019 Limited and day one couldn't get CarPlay to work. Plugging in any device results in DEVICE NOT SUPPORTED. Took it back to the dealer, and their guys monkeyed around for an hour to no avail. They couldn't even get it to recognize their many UCONNECT update USB devices. The USB still provides power to a device just no data connections. So they scheduled me to come back out to "diagnose and repair". That 1-day estimate turned into a 5-day fiasco. They replace the media hub. Didn't fix it. They worked with FCA STAR to approve a new radio swap out. Supposedly (according to the dealership) swapping out the radio is frowned upon and STAR/FCA/Uconnect makes them jump through many hoops to get that approved under warranty. I imagine it's because of all the required nonsense they must go through with SiriusXM/Guardian to get it sorted out on their backend. Anyhow, once they got the swap out approved, the dealership informs me that the radio is "still in production" and FCA hasn't started making spare parts so it will take a while to get a replacement. That doesn't quite sound kosher, but anyway I wait. A week goes by (not a long while and I was pleasantly surprised.
I go back, they put the NEW radio in and it's DOA. Dead out of the box.
So far I have owned this truck for 2 weeks, and the dealership has had it in their service lot for 1 week. I've driven it the 50-mile round trip 5 times on this issue and I'm pulling my hair out. Can't figure out if this is a case where the dealership doesn't know what they are doing and is giving me lies to cover their incompetence, or if these radio units are just garbage. Maybe a little of both ? But I'm pretty sure 2 defective radio units in the first 2 weeks of owning a 50K$ vehicle is a red flag that something ain't right.
It's not like you can really pop that piece of trash out and put an Alpine in. Everything is controlled via that system. I'd be happy to just go back and say I'm good with no Carplay or ability to update the vehicle's firmware ever again. But now that they have monkeyed with it so much the satelite radio doesn't work and the NAV is constantly losing GPS reception.
I think they may have either not got the sat antenna plugged in right or the wiring is damaged after plugging, unplugging, plugging, unpl....
I'm fed up.

Sorry to hear about the issues with your truck.

If you could, please post your dealer experience on this thread, as we are compiling a list of good/bad dealers to help fellow forum members:

Dealer Service - Share your Experience!

I've been noticing many folks here being hesitant to take their trucks for service (even under warranty), which got me thinking... It would be great to have a list of the good dealers, and also a list of bad ones, so we can avoid them. I myself was apprehensive when my truck needed a few things...

5thgenrams.com

Thanks,

 

[Hemileadfoot]

Well if you don't have faith in the dealer or the product, why have you had multiples, including a recent brand new one?

Why are you not sure the rural dealer will be able to figure this out for you? If you want to be more prepared for their failure, cruise through the TSB / Recall section of the forum, and present them with the TSB numbers ahead of time (nicely) to help them out. There have been multiple reports of media hub failures, and the parts have been updated, so depending on your build date, you may just need to have it replaced. (You'll need to know your build date in order to know if any of the TSB's apply to you, and there definitely are some related to the issue you're having).

Welcome to the forums and congrats on the new truck! Keep your chin up, don't let minor, fixable things ruin the rest of the amazing truck you spent hard earned money on.

Sorry, guess it's one of those "grass is always greener" moments when you get frustrated. Which build date are you refering to? The Truck build date, or the Radio? Thanks.

 

[riccnick]

Sorry, guess it's one of those "grass is always greener" moments when you get frustrated. Which build date are you refering to? The Truck build date, or the Radio? Thanks.

All good, no apologies required, the frustration is understandable for sure. There's two build dates on your vin sticker on your drivers door jam, one is just the month and year it was built (ex: 08-18), which I believe is towards the left side, and then there is a build date code on the right of the sticker (ex: 081512) that is the month, date, and time it was built. This is the one that will help with the TSB's, as they are date specific, not just month specific.

Some of the TSB's tell the techs to check the software version of the radio, and that's done by entering "dealer mode" on the radio and scrolling through the info, but it should not affect your eligibility for the fixes, as the newest software version should not have the issues to begin with.

 

[Hemileadfoot]

61218 is my build date. My software on the radio is way out of date as well. But that probably wont fix the USB issue. Hub probably bad.

 

[riccnick]

But that probably wont fix the USB issue.

How could you possibly know that without bringing it in?

 

[Hemileadfoot]

How could you possibly know that without bringing it in?

I am clairvoyant . Actually, I read on another thread that heat can be an issue. So I started the truck and plugged in, no good. Drove around a bit till the AC cooled off the interior, and it started working.

 

[riccnick]

I am clairvoyant . Actually, I read on another thread that heat can be an issue. So I started the truck and plugged in, no good. Drove around a bit till the AC cooled off the interior, and it started working.

Still sounds like an issue to me. If you're able to be in the truck without any major issues in whatever ambient temp it is, then the USB module should too.

 

[Patsy1099]

I’ve posted on this in another thread. I had lots of glitchy issues with my CarPlay and USB ports. Finally had the hub replaced and software “flashed” (?). It’s been perfect ever since. Even in the scorching heat. I leave my truck outside all day in the sun. No issues. Not saying the heat isn’t making it more wonky, just saying it shouldn’t.

I do still have one issue where if I plug my dashcam into any of the USB ports, CarPlay will stop working. Happens every time. It seems like the usb hub gets confused with this external device. As soon as I unplug it, all is good again.