My wife has an 04 jeep grand cherokee, and every time I get out of it, I get a major electric shock. When it was new, I thought it would just "go away" at some point but it hasn't. The other morning, I guess all of the conditions were right, but I get out of the car, grab the door to shut it and ZAP! It shocked me so hard it almost hurt. It's an electrostatic shock like when you rub your feet on the carpet and touch metal in your house, kind of a shock. The rig has performed flawlessly since new & I'm reluctant to tinker with it and screw anything up.
What would or could cause this, and is there anything to do about it?

b62

 

Just ground yourself first....touch the metal on the door etc...before you slide out of the vehicle. See if that helps you.

Hold on to the door while getting out also.

 

what material is the seat?what about youre pants?static electricity can be mysterious.

 

In the wintertime this is a problem for me too. I tuck an unused dryer sheet in the seat cushion and that cures it for me.

I've found that touching the metal door before touching my feet to the ground also prevents the shock.

 

My Dad's ranger used to shock me like that every time I'd get out of it. Nothing wrong with the truck, it's just a build up of static that you get when riding in it. It's a lot worse in winter because of the dry air.

 

during the winter time, I get used to touching everything with the back of my hand (somebody once told me this was the best way to see if a fence was hot, too). I have been holding the door frame while I step out for years. Worst static I ever saw was in Fallon, NV. At night you could see a blue spark sometimes!

 

Well I've tried a couple of suggestions so far. Touching the door before stepping out: No help, actually get a better shock. I guess that I'll attach a cling free sheet to my butt. As fool as that sounds, it'll probably work.

But is this really normal? I can't believe that I can generate so much static by sitting in the seat.

I'll be in touch......

b62

 

Same thing happens to me every winter. I also get zapped by elevators. I always thought that it's because I have very long hair. I've learned that whenever I get out of my truck, I don't touch the door with my hands, and close it by bumping it with my hip or behind.

 

When you touch the door, are you touching a metal portion or the plastic pieces? It has to be the metal, whether painted or bare.

Also, my seats are vinyl sides with cloth upper and bottom. I don't know if the dryer sheet would help if you have leather, pleather, or all vinyl fabric that contacts your body?

If your as immature as I am you could jump out of the truck without touching the door, close it with the bottom rubber sole of your shoe, and run around to the other side and try to zap your wife when she gets out. I can only get away with that once in a while before mine gets mad. heheheheeheheheh

Also, sometimes I'll get out and touch the metal portion of my key and touch it to the metal door. That allows the spark path to go through the key tip instead of me, so it is almost not even felt. And at night it makes a really cool big blue spark.

 

bryyce62--as you open the door--keep hold of METAL portion of the door--incuding as you get out-and then shut door--shouldnt get shocked---dont turn in your seat as you grab the door to get out--thats what generates the spark--had the same problem with the passat--just changed my habit of getting out-solved problem--

 

You need to install a ground strap that hits the ground when stopped. (Like an ambulance).

I had a 83 Mazda PU that had a plastic bench seat that looked "woven". When I wore my old nylon Air Force parka in the winter, the combination of the two together would create quite a shock when I would exit the truck, it was like getting bit by a spark plug wire....Ouch.

 

You win the prize. My Dad had several Fords during the 60's and 70's. He always bought them from the company he worked for at a great price. They were some kind of company cars, and were replaced whenever they were close to 100,000 miles. All the Galaxies, LTD's and Fairlanes came with a pair of rubber looking straps which dragged on the ground at very slow speeds. There was metal molded in where the strap met the road. I'm sure there were wires running up through the straps, to ground the whole car via frame. He removed them from a 66 LTD for some reason, and then everybody began to get shocked by static electricity when touching the door handles. Dad spoke to the head mechanic at his companies garage, and he was given a new set of grounding straps. The box had the Ford logo on it, therefore probably it was a Ford option. Guess who had to install them? Businessmen had to drive a bunch back then. In the northeast large city area, there's a lot of toll boths to stop at on the Thruway. According to the mechanic, the straps were meant to keep the toll booth operators from getting knocked on their butts, and then shocking the heck out of you while handing them the money or whatever.

 

Well, I forgot the fabric softner in the seat this morning, but what I guess that I really want to know is, am I the one that is being charged up and then discharging to the car or is the car charged and I'm discharging it when I step out at touch the ground? Or is it something else. Answering that would go a long way towards a solution, I guess. Dragging the strap on the ground sounds reasonable, but i've had dozens of cars & trucks and this is the first one that i've had that did this.

b62

 

It can be either or both your clothing and the vehicle.

 

If you're not zapped touching a 'grounded' metal piece on the vehicle while in it, likely you AND the vehicle are 'charged' relative to 'earth ground'. In this case, touching the car's metal will have no effect. Remember that the car (without a grounding strap) is electrically isolated from 'earth ground' (and probably has a 'breakdown' in the 10's, if not 100's of thousand of volts). The buildup could have many causes, just air blowing over another material (even air-to-air, i.e. lightning) can cause static buildup.
[BTW, if I were to install a grounding strap - car to earth ground, I'd include a 'current limiting' resistor, maybe 1MOhm, just for safety. This is required in wrist straps, heel straps, etc for humans.]