Jeep Wrangler-auto box problem-No Drive/Reverse

[Orionaut]

2014 2.8CRD-Not my car.

From a cold start, one can get drive and reverse for about a minute or so.

Then all drive is lost and the engine revs freely.

Fluid is clear and does not smell burned. Stupid thing doesn't have a dipstick despite having a dipstick tube so I cant actually check the fluid level.

There are no leaks but I put some fluid in just as an experiment but it made no difference.

This came on quite suddenly.

It only has around 30,000 on it.

I have done a bit of googling but have not been able to find accounts of vehicles with a similar problem.

Any thoughts??

 

[Rroff]

I can't really help much but is the brake being pushed firmly down when changing into drive/reverse? not sure why but I've seen similar happen if the brake isn't sufficiently depressed. Also from a cold start diesels can rev a bit high initially sometimes especially if the weather is cold before settling down which might in some way be connected to the issue.

 

[geekman]

My mechanic is currently making a fortune refurbing and updating the old Wranglers, as apparently the new ones have terrible build quality: plenty of cases of engines / gearboxes failing sub 20k miles, as well as more minor trim / warning light type issues, which is making a lot of potential buyers go for the older ones instead. Your issue definitely sounds like a mechanical, transmission type issue rather than an electrical one, definitely worth taking it into the dealer to hear what they have to say.

 

[Orionaut]

My mechanic is currently making a fortune refurbing and updating the old Wranglers, as apparently the new ones have terrible build quality: plenty of cases of engines / gearboxes failing sub 20k miles, as well as more minor trim / warning light type issues, which is making a lot of potential buyers go for the older ones instead. Your issue definitely sounds like a mechanical, transmission type issue rather than an electrical one, definitely worth taking it into the dealer to hear what they have to say.

Thanks for responses.


Autoboxes are not my thing really. But I agree, this sounds, on the face of it, to be some sort of mechanical transmission system failure.

As such, it is likley to be bad. I was just wondering if anybody else had heard of anything similar on this particular model.

In the past when I have come across bad traniies it is usually "Obvious" as to what the problem is IE, Oil leaks, clear low oil level. High mileage, burned/overheated fluid and so on.

But this just suddenly stopped working, its only got 30,000 on it and the fluid is clear and undamaged.

The puzzling thing is how it seems to work, but literally only for 40 seconds or so. Not really enough time for anything to get hot.

 

[vanpeebles]

Does it actually move in that time, or just select it? At first glance it sounds like the clutch plates have gone.

 

[Lashout_UK]

Get it to a dealer; you can buy the dipstick from them but they should have one and they can also scan it for codes.

I know that's not particularly useful but nothing else is going to tell you anything, unfortunately.