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Two very different problems bring Jeeps in here: a Grand Cherokee with electronics acting up on their own, usually the TIPM module, and a Wrangler that shakes hard through the steering wheel at speed — known as death wobble. San Francisco Auto Repair diagnoses which one it is before touching a wrench, six days a week.
Jeep owners searching for a mechanic in San Francisco are usually dealing with one of two very different problems, and they don't feel alike. On a Grand Cherokee, it shows up as electrical — a no-start, a dashboard lit up with warnings that don't make sense together, wipers or door locks doing something on their own. On a Wrangler, it shows up in the steering wheel — a shake that comes on hard around highway speed and eases off when the truck slows down. Neither is dangerous to drive in for a look, but neither tends to fix itself either, and both get worse the longer they're ignored.
Both are common enough on these two models that a quick description over the phone is often enough to guess which one's happening before the Jeep is even on the lift — though it still gets confirmed with an actual diagnosis, not a guess.
Why does a Grand Cherokee's electrical system act up for no reason?
The part usually behind it is the TIPM — the module under the hood that controls the fuel pump, the starter relay, the wipers, and a handful of other circuits that have nothing to do with each other on paper. When it degrades, the symptoms look unrelated: a car that won't crank one morning and starts fine the next, a fuel pump that keeps running with the key out, warning lights that don't correspond to any actual fault.
It's a frustrating one to chase because nothing about it points straight at the TIPM without someone checking for it specifically — that's a process of elimination, checking the module itself against the wiring and the components it feeds, before anything gets replaced.
What is death wobble, and is my Wrangler actually unsafe?
It's a rapid, side-to-side shake through the steering wheel and front end, usually triggered by a pothole or seam hit at speed. It's almost always a worn track bar, tie rod end, or ball joint rather than anything wrong with the frame — replace the worn part and the shake goes with it.
What does bringing a Jeep here look like versus the dealer?
A TIPM or steering diagnosis doesn't need Jeep-specific software that only a dealer has — this is standard diagnostic work, with parts and labor available same-day and without a dealer's service queue. That matters most on a Wrangler with death wobble, where waiting on a dealer appointment means driving longer on a front end that's already telling you something's loose.
Current hours: Mon–Sat 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM, closed Sun.
How do I know if it's the TIPM and not just a dead battery?
A dead battery is one symptom among several — if it's paired with wipers, locks, or the fuel pump doing something on their own, that points at the TIPM rather than the battery alone. A load test on the battery rules it out in a few minutes before anything else is diagnosed.
Will death wobble come back after it's fixed?
Not if the actual worn part gets replaced — track bar, tie rod end, or ball joint, whichever is loose. It tends to come back when a cheaper fix, like an alignment alone, gets sold in place of the worn part; that's not how it's handled here.
Does the death wobble mean my Wrangler has frame damage?
Not usually. Frame damage is rare and shows up alongside other clear signs, like misaligned panels or uneven tire wear. In the vast majority of cases the wobble traces to a worn steering or suspension component, and replacing that part resolves it without touching the frame at all.