Some hesitation and weird shifting

[JT202006]

Hello.
Do any of you know if this issue is ongoing at all?
I recently purchased a Sport S with max towing package (which I totally love), and have been experiencing similar issues with mine, only 900+/- miles. Hesitating at times like as if I was feathering the clutch in and out (illustration purposes only, it is an automatic) slightly, occasional clunky shifting, jerky downshifts, sometimes feeling like power drops off. All at in town speeds. All just occasionally. I took it to my local dealer and they said it didn’t have any codes and road test was normal. They gave me the “the transmission learns from your driving” spiel. They asked me if anyone else drives the Jeep, nope. Then they said sometimes you just have to floor it a couple of times for it to generate better shifting points. This is my sixth Jeep (YJ, LJ, JKU) and I've never experienced any issue like this. Any thoughts about how long it actually should take for these trannys to learn my driving habits? I feel like 900 miles is enough. Thanks for any input/opinions. OlllllllO

I have 6K on mine, same issues as you described. Some days its fine others its almost underivable at low speeds. Also seems to be worse when cold. I've taken it to the dealer two times and they say everything is normal....

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[JeepCares]

Hello.
Do any of you know if this issue is ongoing at all?
I recently purchased a Sport S with max towing package (which I totally love), and have been experiencing similar issues with mine, only 900+/- miles. Hesitating at times like as if I was feathering the clutch in and out (illustration purposes only, it is an automatic) slightly, occasional clunky shifting, jerky downshifts, sometimes feeling like power drops off. All at in town speeds. All just occasionally. I took it to my local dealer and they said it didn’t have any codes and road test was normal. They gave me the “the transmission learns from your driving” spiel. They asked me if anyone else drives the Jeep, nope. Then they said sometimes you just have to floor it a couple of times for it to generate better shifting points. This is my sixth Jeep (YJ, LJ, JKU) and I've never experienced any issue like this. Any thoughts about how long it actually should take for these trannys to learn my driving habits? I feel like 900 miles is enough. Thanks for any input/opinions. OlllllllO

I have 6K on mine, same issues as you described. Some days its fine others its almost underivable at low speeds. Also seems to be worse when cold. I've taken it to the dealer two times and they say everything is normal....

We're sorry to hear that you are both experiencing this. Are you considering having your dealers take a look? Please feel free to send our team a private message.
Alex
Jeep Cares

 

[JTgrayce]

Hello.
Do any of you know if this issue is ongoing at all?
I recently purchased a Sport S with max towing package (which I totally love), and have been experiencing similar issues with mine, only 900+/- miles. Hesitating at times like as if I was feathering the clutch in and out (illustration purposes only, it is an automatic) slightly, occasional clunky shifting, jerky downshifts, sometimes feeling like power drops off. All at in town speeds. All just occasionally. I took it to my local dealer and they said it didn’t have any codes and road test was normal. They gave me the “the transmission learns from your driving” spiel. They asked me if anyone else drives the Jeep, nope. Then they said sometimes you just have to floor it a couple of times for it to generate better shifting points. This is my sixth Jeep (YJ, LJ, JKU) and I've never experienced any issue like this. Any thoughts about how long it actually should take for these trannys to learn my driving habits? I feel like 900 miles is enough. Thanks for any input/opinions. OlllllllO

Hello All,

Jumping back into this thread. I wished I had better news for you on this.... but quite simply, I believe that this is a severe issue and is quickly becoming a black eye for the Jeep Gladiator.

First off, I love so much about my JT and sure hope that Jeep does the right thing and admits to the problems with the transmission so that we "customers" aren't tasked with exhaustive troubleshooting with local dealers.

There are those on this thread all reporting the same or similar issues. I know another owner personally experiencing the same issues. In fact, I had a guy ask me in a parking lot randomly if I had any issues with the transmission or death wobble (separate issue). He said he has been planning to buy one, but then heard about both issues from other owners, but couldn't substantiate them. I overwhelmingly shared my experiences, but for some reason I focused on the positives and endorsed ownership as if the issues weren't that big of a deal. I am immediately regretted this! I think I wast trying to make myself feel better instead of being completely honest about troubling these shifting and acceleration issues are.

You can see my original post, and all of these symptoms remain. Now I can articulate that in addition to this strange and erratic shifting and down shifting, the JT will erratically accelerate on it's own, after the driver has disengaged from the gas pedal. All at very slow to moderately slow speeds. I have tested it a number of times and up until I diagnosed this, I didn't realize how much of a challenge slow, parking lot speed driving is in this truck and this is the primary reason why.

I can enter a parking lot (tested 2x a local drug store) disengage from gas pedal, and the JT will drive around the entire building, with some autonomous acceleration without ever being given fuel from driver! Even if it was not accelerating, which it is, the lack of response from disengaging the throttle vs idle, would be cause for concern.

My wife experienced this on her own while coming to a stop at an intersection. She very nearly hit a biker in front of her because she did not anticipate the lunge like feeling of this unexpected acceleration.

Now to be fair, I have not yet taken to the dealer. Amidst the craziness of CV19, I have not needed to drive much plus I have been extremely with work and life. I do intend to address with the dealer soon, but am honestly not looking forward to it. It just seems like it's going to be a pain in the neck and quite frankly this is precisely the reason I plopped down $$$ on a new vehicle! I don't want to wait a dealership for hours, drink S****y coffee and get to know the service techs.

Bottom line is that any car, wether it's a BMW, Honda or a Jeep should not have issues like this. Let alone a brand new $$$$ Jeep Gladiator Rubicon. When your 9 year old truck with 149K miles is driving more smoothly a low speeds than your 2020 JT something is not right.

Jeep needs to own this. Making it right in ad hoc form for just the customers who complain or notice it and are successful in convincing local dealer of it is not owning it.

 

[nhjt09]

Hello All,

Jumping back into this thread. I wished I had better news for you on this.... but quite simply, I believe that this is a severe issue and is quickly becoming a black eye for the Jeep Gladiator.

First off, I love so much about my JT and sure hope that Jeep does the right thing and admits to the problems with the transmission so that we "customers" aren't tasked with exhaustive troubleshooting with local dealers.

There are those on this thread all reporting the same or similar issues. I know another owner personally experiencing the same issues. In fact, I had a guy ask me in a parking lot randomly if I had any issues with the transmission or death wobble (separate issue). He said he has been planning to buy one, but then heard about both issues from other owners, but couldn't substantiate them. I overwhelmingly shared my experiences, but for some reason I focused on the positives and endorsed ownership as if the issues weren't that big of a deal. I am immediately regretted this! I think I wast trying to make myself feel better instead of being completely honest about troubling these shifting and acceleration issues are.

You can see my original post, and all of these symptoms remain. Now I can articulate that in addition to this strange and erratic shifting and down shifting, the JT will erratically accelerate on it's own, after the driver has disengaged from the gas pedal. All at very slow to moderately slow speeds. I have tested it a number of times and up until I diagnosed this, I didn't realize how much of a challenge slow, parking lot speed driving is in this truck and this is the primary reason why.

I can enter a parking lot (tested 2x a local drug store) disengage from gas pedal, and the JT will drive around the entire building, with some autonomous acceleration without ever being given fuel from driver! Even if it was not accelerating, which it is, the lack of response from disengaging the throttle vs idle, would be cause for concern.

My wife experienced this on her own while coming to a stop at an intersection. She very nearly hit a biker in front of her because she did not anticipate the lunge like feeling of this unexpected acceleration.

Now to be fair, I have not yet taken to the dealer. Amidst the craziness of CV19, I have not needed to drive much plus I have been extremely with work and life. I do intend to address with the dealer soon, but am honestly not looking forward to it. It just seems like it's going to be a pain in the neck and quite frankly this is precisely the reason I plopped down $$$ on a new vehicle! I don't want to wait a dealership for hours, drink S****y coffee and get to know the service techs.

Bottom line is that any car, wether it's a BMW, Honda or a Jeep should not have issues like this. Let alone a brand new $$$$ Jeep Gladiator Rubicon. When your 9 year old truck with 149K miles is driving more smoothly a low speeds than your 2020 JT something is not right.

Jeep needs to own this. Making it right in ad hoc form for just the customers who complain or notice it and are successful in convincing local dealer of it is not owning it.

Same issues with JT Overland, I did take mine into the dealer and they fed me the line “transmission performing as designed, no issues”and this was after waiting several weeks to get the JT in to see the “transmission specialist”.

Apparently they couldn’t reproduce the issue, but of course as I navigate off the lot, after picking it up, I immediately get the issue. I was quite upset and went back into the dealer to talk to somebody “important”, but of course anyone mechanical had left for the day so we couldn’t do the suggested ride along with the technician while I am driving. I was supposed to come back, but COVID-19 indefinitely delayed the ride along.

I will say I’ve taken the top off a few times and really enjoyed the vehicle in the interim, hauling my kayaks for fishing and etc., but this needs to be fixed.

editing to add in, this is totally a safety issue and the unpredictability of the shifting behavior at low speeds has nearly caused me to crash into objects in my garage or parking lots and structures. You live in constant anticipation of the shift at lower speeds! It’s a bit nerve wrecking. Traffic circles are unbearable and I live in an area where they’re more common than stop signs or traffic lights.

 

[Jeepyy]

Wow! Thanks for the replies everyone! It’s good to know (or bad I guess) that I’m not the only one experiencing these issues. I was actually turning onto my street a couple of days ago as another vehicle pulled up from my street to pull out. The Jeep lurched forward as I just started to turn in and I had to jam the brake pedal forcibly to avoid hitting them.
Don’t get me wrong @JeepCares I absolutely love my JT! It rides great, and it’s very Jeepishly awesome! After 5 Wranglers, the Gladiator was exactly what I was looking for. BUT I just really want to feel safe, and confident that I can take this thing out in the williwags without possibly getting stranded, or just driving in town, which is most of my traveling, without feeling that sputtery hesitation feeling (looks like 6th gear at 30mph is the worst), or suddenly ramming into someone turning onto my street.
A lot of things people complain about Jeeps are totally “It’s a Jeep thing, you wouldn’t understand.” You know, noise, ride, blah blah blah. BUT Issues like these transmissions are NOT a Jeep thing. Please take care of this.

 

[chrisblaze]

I need to stop reading these forms, its makes me want to cancel my purchase....

 

[Jeepyy]

Hey Chris.
I wouldn’t worry about your purchase. If you’re a Jeep person, you’ll love the Gladiator! Our issues are surely a minority of cases compared to the number of vehicles sold. Unfortunately it sounds like we’re now put in the spot that Jeep will likely NOT take care of it for us until it catastrophically fails which will very likely be under warranty anyways. Just bad PR for what for me has been a great brand for ALL of my life experience up until now.

 

[Scrubb84]

I have all of these same symptoms +2 that I’m wondering if anyone else has/had. There’s one road in town where I don’t always come to a complete stop and when I accelerate it feels like its not in any gear, as if it has an extremely worn clutch ( but its an 8spd auto). I have to let OFF the gas for it to figure out what gear it wants to go into.
Also, during the hesitation while its shifting at lower speeds I get a spun bearing noise.

 

[JeepCares]

I have all of these same symptoms +2 that I’m wondering if anyone else has/had. There’s one road in town where I don’t always come to a complete stop and when I accelerate it feels like its not in any gear, as if it has an extremely worn clutch ( but its an 8spd auto). I have to let OFF the gas for it to figure out what gear it wants to go into.
Also, during the hesitation while its shifting at lower speeds I get a spun bearing noise.

Hi Adam,
We're sorry to hear about this. As mentioned to your fellow forum members, please feel free to send us a private message should you decide to visit your dealer.
Alex
Jeep Cares

 

[JTgrayce]

I need to stop reading these forms, its makes me want to cancel my purchase....

Hi Chris,

I agree about not canceling your purchase. However, I would get something in writing from your dealer ensuring that they will replace transmission of these symptoms occur. I would settle for no less than this. In fact I would print this thread so that they fully understand the potential defect.

 

[pdril]

Took the kids out tonight in the Overland 8 speed automatic to look at Christmas lights. When driving through neighborhoods at lower speeds, there seemed to be a lot of hesitation and very strange shifting happening. It would rev pretty high and take forever to shift sometimes and other times it would hesitate a lot and seem to bog down. I turned the ESS system off with no change. Anyone else experience this? Wondering if a trip to the dealer is in order.

i purchased a 2019 chevy trail boss 60k$ and traded it in for a 2020 zr2 because of transmission problems.. traded the zr2 in yesterday for a new gladiator rubicon because of transmission problems [not as bad as the trail boss]. Did some research into the transmission that is placed in the jeep, and determined it to be of good design. [had a transmission repair shop decades ago] hope its a good one or back to toyota i go. Why can't we build a properly working transmission?

 

[BaconAndBullets]

Same issues with my 2020 rubicon JT, clunky shifting going up or down and especially when in 4wd. Having the issue with cluncking forward on downshifts too. Fresh start the Jeep drives nicely for about 30 mins and then gets rough. Off-roading has been minimal to none due to this issue. I’ve have a few jeeps and this is not how any of the past transmissions have acted. Bringing it to the dealer today.

 

[cecaa850]

My Gladiator was January build I believe. There was actually a newer transmission software flash that's come out since mine has been built. You might check into that. My daughter had ragged shifting in her 200 and after a TCM flash it shifted like a completely different transmission.

 

[TheHime]

I’ve had this same issue and was getting a “service shifter” message. One day I wasn’t able to start my gladiator because the transmission thought it was in a different gear. I finally got a code and took it into dealer. A month later they found the issue and it was the valve body. I still have a little rough shifting at lower speeds and hoping it gets better as the transmission learns.

 

[Gladman]

My 2020 GC trans was doing the same things as described in multiple posts almost right off the lot.
My usual break-in for an engine is to go to a 3-5 mile long hill at about 5 or 6% grade and stop at the bottom. Then I pretty much just floor it and run through all the gears at max shift point until I get past 6th gear, and then resume a normal shift in the 2 overdrive gears, along with keeping the speed down.

Once at the top of the hill I let off on the accelerator and coast all the way to the bottom.
Turn around and repeat going up the other side full throttle with 6 full runs. Puts about 80-90 miles on the vehicle, and at this point I call it broken in.
With the GC, after doing this the transmission has been smooth as silk now for 18,000 km.
So, I guess I agree with the dealer/ tech that said to run it hard through the gears.

Did the same with my 2016 Ram eco diesel, 2015 VW Touareg diesel, 2014 Volvo SX60.
The transmissions in all of them ran really well, as well as the engines. Never has a shop day on any of them for anything.
I believe this procedure will also ferret out any flaws and I would have an infant mortality component before finishing all the runs. This means the dealer would get it back the same day I drove it off the lot.
But that’s just me.

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