23 Mojave 6-speed issues, thoughts, Repairs

[Birds83]

2023 Mojave 6-speed


Backstory : purchase my Jeep mid January 2024 and prior to purchase it had the clutch recall and gear position sensor recalls performed.

At 200 miles I installed nitro 35x11.50r17 trail grapplers which measure 34.76” on manufactures website and I calibrated speedometer with a tazer which GPS confirmed an accurate speedometer.

Opinion is the clutch from day one pedal feel was terrible and after some research it was barely rated to handle the engines output. Also due to poor feed back and probably to light of a fly wheel installed this jeep more than anything I’d ever driven and I’ve been driving them for 20+ years.

Yes I know a lot of people complain about this and I knew it going in and I don’t regret purchase at all.





So…… Now for problems as I’ve run into and what insight I can offer to date (for anyone who cares or that’s still reading?).



At about 4,100 miles I was out offraoding on a beach in thick sand cruising (4Hi and aired down tires). I say cruising because I was doing minimal shifting and was not slipping the clutch. Well the clutch hot display came on and then I stopped and immediately the “service transmission light” came on. The jeep went to limp mode. No matter what I did with the tazer or disconnecting the battery I was unable to reset the light.

I limped the jeep 70 miles to dealer they ended up performing the “PCM Clutch EEPROM reset procedure”. This ended up clearing the light and was not the first they had seen do this. I needed to get back on the road so they were ok with doing this so I could finish my vacation and make it home.


About 2 weeks ago I decided that I was gonna rule out the factory clutch set up and go for a better setup and feel as well. Purchased a ACT JP6-HDSS heavy duty clutch with Pro-Mass flywheel. I spent about $1300 on the kit and another $200 on a transmission jack to do the job as I had the rest of the tools needed. Not my first time doing a clutch but my first time without a lift.

It took me about 7 hours to do the swap on the ground and probably could do it a little quicker on the next one,but hope that won’t be anytime soon lol. All and all not a terrible job to do.

The kit was straight forward replacement and used the factory hydraulics. I’ve put about 150 miles highway and city on it since the swap and it’s still to early for a full review( I’ll keep updates in the post of my opinion as time goes on if your curious). Pedal feel is firmer then the factory (post recall) clutch and very obvious engagement point as well now. Very happy with it so far it has a good bit of chatter when first taking off if no throttle input in 1st and reverse (others have noted this) but this is normal and should get better once it’s broke in as well(others have also noted this).



20 miles after clutch replacement I got the “Service transmission light” a second time in 4Hi. I was unsure if that was the cause or not. Went back and checked everything over and everything seems as it should be.

*Important note here! Worked with JScan and they updated their app within a few days to allow us to do the clutch reset that the factory techs can do. Again no Codes and I didn’t have limp mode this time. I performed the reset and light was gone and everything function as it should.

Last but not least it set the light again about 50 miles later which I reset and it has held currently. My thoughts on this and I welcome opinions is it’s a Jeep software issue that hopefully they will get a fix for sooner or later. Only a matter of time before it comes back I’m sure.



That said ACT product so far is great but will update later and JScan customer service is fantastic I can’t recommend them enough. Hope not to many of you are having these issues and if anyone else has fixes for these issues please share. ?



Some pictures in comments of my ride and ACT & Factory clutch.

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[Birds83]

 

[Birds83]

 

[PuddleJumper]

awesome write up man. Sucks you had to go through all this on brand new truck just to hit the sand as advertised for the specific trim u got.

 

[Birds83]

awesome write up man. Sucks you had to go through all this on brand new truck just to hit the sand as advertised for the specific trim u got.

No shit bud ! I knew of the crappy clutch but not of the issues I was gonna run into with the software which really angered me, but I’ve made some headway with that hoping for an actual repair though. Another member is working with Jeep and I’m curious to hear what they come up with for him.
hopefully this helps some others with the frustrations and insights.

 

[Mad Dog]

Curious, what do you think about the reverse gear ratio. Does it seem to be pretty high speed in reverse for a truck?

 

[Birds83]

Curious, what do you think about the reverse gear ratio. Does it seem to be pretty high speed in reverse for a truck?

You know I think it’s okay I don’t love or hate it to be honest.

 

[Mad Dog]

You know I think it’s okay I don’t love or hate it to be honest.

Mine just feels a lot faster then my '03 Rubicon.

 

[Olivia2023]

2023 Mojave 6-speed


Backstory : purchase my Jeep mid January 2024 and prior to purchase it had the clutch recall and gear position sensor recalls performed.

At 200 miles I installed nitro 35x11.50r17 trail grapplers which measure 34.76” on manufactures website and I calibrated speedometer with a tazer which GPS confirmed an accurate speedometer.

Opinion is the clutch from day one pedal feel was terrible and after some research it was barely rated to handle the engines output. Also due to poor feed back and probably to light of a fly wheel installed this jeep more than anything I’d ever driven and I’ve been driving them for 20+ years.

Yes I know a lot of people complain about this and I knew it going in and I don’t regret purchase at all.





So…… Now for problems as I’ve run into and what insight I can offer to date (for anyone who cares or that’s still reading?).



At about 4,100 miles I was out offraoding on a beach in thick sand cruising (4Hi and aired down tires). I say cruising because I was doing minimal shifting and was not slipping the clutch. Well the clutch hot display came on and then I stopped and immediately the “service transmission light” came on. The jeep went to limp mode. No matter what I did with the tazer or disconnecting the battery I was unable to reset the light.

I limped the jeep 70 miles to dealer they ended up performing the “PCM Clutch EEPROM reset procedure”. This ended up clearing the light and was not the first they had seen do this. I needed to get back on the road so they were ok with doing this so I could finish my vacation and make it home.


About 2 weeks ago I decided that I was gonna rule out the factory clutch set up and go for a better setup and feel as well. Purchased a ACT JP6-HDSS heavy duty clutch with Pro-Mass flywheel. I spent about $1300 on the kit and another $200 on a transmission jack to do the job as I had the rest of the tools needed. Not my first time doing a clutch but my first time without a lift.

It took me about 7 hours to do the swap on the ground and probably could do it a little quicker on the next one,but hope that won’t be anytime soon lol. All and all not a terrible job to do.

The kit was straight forward replacement and used the factory hydraulics. I’ve put about 150 miles highway and city on it since the swap and it’s still to early for a full review( I’ll keep updates in the post of my opinion as time goes on if your curious). Pedal feel is firmer then the factory (post recall) clutch and very obvious engagement point as well now. Very happy with it so far it has a good bit of chatter when first taking off if no throttle input in 1st and reverse (others have noted this) but this is normal and should get better once it’s broke in as well(others have also noted this).



20 miles after clutch replacement I got the “Service transmission light” a second time in 4Hi. I was unsure if that was the cause or not. Went back and checked everything over and everything seems as it should be.

*Important note here! Worked with JScan and they updated their app within a few days to allow us to do the clutch reset that the factory techs can do. Again no Codes and I didn’t have limp mode this time. I performed the reset and light was gone and everything function as it should.

Last but not least it set the light again about 50 miles later which I reset and it has held currently. My thoughts on this and I welcome opinions is it’s a Jeep software issue that hopefully they will get a fix for sooner or later. Only a matter of time before it comes back I’m sure.



That said ACT product so far is great but will update later and JScan customer service is fantastic I can’t recommend them enough. Hope not to many of you are having these issues and if anyone else has fixes for these issues please share. ?



Some pictures in comments of my ride and ACT & Factory clutch.

Great and informative post... thanks for that. I bought a 2023 Mojave this last September and I really, really wanted to get one with the millennial anti-theft device. None were to be found but I did find a Sarge Green one with the 8-speed that was priced incredibly well. My wife wanted it, and we drove it home and haven't looked back since.

Having said that, at times I still yearn for that manual transmission but when I read posts like this I can't help but get past that somewhat - as this 8-speed automatic really is the cats meow with this engine. Would I buy a manual again? Probably yes... but, I would really want Jeep to have it 100% fixed before I did that.

Warning lights going off on new vehicles makes me nuts. Again, enjoy your new baby... I know that my wife and sure are!

Be safe,

Steven

 

[ArchEtech]

I don’t know I drove a manual an 8 speed auto back to back at the dealer, and even though all the reviewers say the auto handles the engine better I don’t agree. In some certain situations, will I be proven wrong, maybe…probably. The manual just felt more zippy and fun, and I got to speed faster.

Could be completely anecdotal and likely is. The auto just felt as if it hunted around more and with the accelerator peddle/throttle more sluggish. I wanted it to stay in the high rpm’s longer which the 3.6 like

The ZF are great transmissions and generally pretty bullet proof but I’ve read about their little issues too in Jeeps and other cars.

I will say that with the 6 speed you really need to get on it to wake the Gladiator up. The engine wants to get up to 5000-6000 prior to a shift. The 3.6 reminds me of the older Civic V tech where it has this boost kind of kick in. Depending on the gear you get some torque 3000-4000 and another sort of turbo lag boost at about 5000rpm. The 6 speed with the 3.6 also remind me of the Honda S2000 because you had to really get up there high in the RPMs to make its peak horsepower and torque. It took effort and good feel of the car - they are a freaking blast to drive because of it.



The motor really likes to rev, and it probably feels uncomfortable for some to make 1-2 2-3 3-4 shifts so close to the red line but man it’s fun!!!! It does tske more effort, and more focus, know what gear your in and paying attention to where each gear makes power. I do read the best 0-60 time for our Gladiators was set in a 6 speed in a lighter curb weight sport model. To get that, they probably had to try pretty hard and practice.

Its not like I pretend I’m at a drag race every time I start out in 1st gear, but I suspect the average 8 speed equipped driver isn’t mashing the pedal to the floor every time they start out from a stopped position either. Most of the time I’m shifting at 4000 rpm and trying to be as smooth as possible, and that’s taken some time to learn on the clutch. It’s a truck not an VW Golf R. Engagement is a little mushy and also abrupt - hard to describe but takes getting used to The shifter itself is as comfortable as and manual I’ve driven. Reverse is easy now after a couple weeks of driving. 1st gear is still hard to shift butter smooth with the 4:10’s. It also just shifts better when driven more aggressively which need less slippage to do. That could be irritating to some and a fair criticism.

What I do know is the 6 speed can chirp the tires in the first 3 gears and the auto can’t lol. Is that meaningful in 0-60 times or every day driving well no, but it sure is fun as hell!

 

[Birds83]

I don’t know I drove a manual an 8 speed auto back to back at the dealer, and even though all the reviewers say the auto handles the engine better I don’t agree. In some certain situations, will I be proven wrong, maybe…probably. The manual just felt more zippy and fun, and I got to speed faster.

Could be completely anecdotal and likely is. The auto just felt as if it hunted around more and with the accelerator peddle/throttle more sluggish. I wanted it to stay in the high rpm’s longer which the 3.6 like

The ZF are great transmissions and generally pretty bullet proof but I’ve read about their little issues too in Jeeps and other cars.

I will say that with the 6 speed you really need to get on it to wake the Gladiator up. The engine wants to get up to 5000-6000 prior to a shift. The 3.6 reminds me of the older Civic V tech where it has this boost kind of kick in. Depending on the gear you get some torque 3000-4000 and another sort of turbo lag boost at about 5000rpm. The 6 speed with the 3.6 also remind me of the Honda S2000 because you had to really get up there high in the RPMs to make its peak horsepower and torque. It took effort and good feel of the car - they are a freaking blast to drive because of it.



The motor really likes to rev, and it probably feels uncomfortable for some to make 1-2 2-3 3-4 shifts so close to the red line but man it’s fun!!!! It does tske more effort, and more focus, know what gear your in and paying attention to where each gear makes power. I do read the best 0-60 time for our Gladiators was set in a 6 speed in a lighter curb weight sport model. To get that, they probably had to try pretty hard and practice.

Its not like I pretend I’m at a drag race every time I start out in 1st gear, but I suspect the average 8 speed equipped driver isn’t mashing the pedal to the floor every time they start out from a stopped position either. What I do know is the 6 speed can chirp the tires in the first 3 gears and the auto can’t lol. Is that meaningful in 0-60 times or every day driving well no, but it sure is fun as hell!

Great and informative post... thanks for that. I bought a 2023 Mojave this last September and I really, really wanted to get one with the millennial anti-theft device. None were to be found but I did find a Sarge Green one with the 8-speed that was priced incredibly well. My wife wanted it, and we drove it home and haven't looked back since.

Having said that, at times I still yearn for that manual transmission but when I read posts like this I can't help but get past that somewhat - as this 8-speed automatic really is the cats meow with this engine. Would I buy a manual again? Probably yes... but, I would really want Jeep to have it 100% fixed before I did that.

Warning lights going off on new vehicles makes me nuts. Again, enjoy your new baby... I know that my wife and sure are!

Be safe,

Steven

I test drove an auto and drove out of town to pick up my manual. I knew full well the crap design clutch and I’d have issues with it overheating. Wasn’t aware I was gonna have a software or sensor issue doing the service transmission light I missed that one during research.
That said I’d buy it again I love driving think manual transmission so no regret just gonna take a little while to sort it out I guess unfortunately for the price shouldn’t have to do that but is what it is.

 

[ArchEtech]

I hope whatever issue you’re having sorts itself out. I’ll remember this thread if I have an issue. I just hope I don’t need a clutch in 24,000 miles!

 

[ArchEtech]

Question:

is the clutch recall both a software and a parts replacement? I’m curious as some thing I read are just about the recall adding nanny warnings when your clutch gets hot, which obviously doesn’t solve the problem, and other thread and info about people get a “new clutch” and or parts replaced and the clutch feel is totally different. My VIN says the the clutch recall was done S well as some other minor thing with the backup camera.

 

[Birds83]

Question:

is the clutch recall both a software and a parts replacement? I’m curious as some thing I read are just about the recall adding nanny warnings when your clutch gets hot, which obviously doesn’t solve the problem, and other thread and info about people get a “new clutch” and or parts replaced and the clutch feel is totally different. My VIN says the the clutch recall was done S well as some other minor thing with the backup camera.

2 recalls on the 6-speeds I know of.

1. 19A which is clutch recall. They are suppose to replace the clutch and reprogram the computer.

2. Gear position sensor. Causes issues with the backup camera and reverse light I believe. Fix is new sensor.

 

[ArchEtech]

My Vin says 19A was performed, so I’m learning on the “new” clutch.

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