[Aa7911]

Road trip into some slush, heavy snow and ice patchs. Got stuck multiple time at stop signs or redlights with the message coming up for "4WD overheated temporarily unavaible". At that point I'm like thats worst than any possible car...

Continued the road as we are far from home at that point... almost did not made it up some icy hill as the 4x4 was not available... not safe... grinding noise under car starts intermittently. Top speed at 60 as we would slide off road with an inch of snow.

Next trip, clear and dry asphalt, same message comes up multiple time in a row then the "Service 4WD" sticks on.

Finally made it back home with noise everytime I am deccelerating under the speed of 50 km/h. Decided to look under the car and found the PTU (Power Transfer Unit) with heavy leak going from front to back of the vehicle...

 

[sanghill]

Welcome back. Refer to this: P06dd code on 2014 trailhawk
Not sure what is happening, but I have a 2014 so keep us up to date.;

 

[Gary Kline]

Welcome back. Refer to this: P06dd code on 2014 trailhawk
Not sure what is happening, but I have a 2014 so keep us up to date.;

Hi @sanghill , are you thinking oil cooler fail? Take a look at photo #2, does it look dark enough to be engine oil? It's tough to tell for sure from the photo but to me it looks gray/green tinged so since the OP is having a 4WD error message, I thought perhaps his driveshaft seal might be going/have gone?

When the oil cooler fails, does the oil drip that far back onto the PTU? (the front side of PTU looks fairly dry).

Your thoughts?

 

[sanghill]

Don't have a clue.

 

[Gary Kline]

Second thought though, if it were the driveshaft seal, I can't imagine how the oil would travel "up" to the front of the case or "up" the heat shield.

 

[Gary Kline]

Road trip into some slush, heavy snow and ice patchs. Got stuck multiple time at stop signs or redlights with the message coming up for "4WD overheated temporarily unavaible". At that point I'm like thats worst than any possible car...

Continued the road as we are far from home at that point... almost did not made it up some icy hill as the 4x4 was not available... not safe... grinding noise under car starts intermittently. Top speed at 60 as we would slide off road with an inch of snow.

Next trip, clear and dry asphalt, same message comes up multiple time in a row then the "Service 4WD" sticks on.

Finally made it back home with noise everytime I am deccelerating under the speed of 50 km/h. Decided to look under the car and found the PTU (Power Transfer Unit) with heavy leak going from front to back of the vehicle...

Hi @Aa7911, it's tough to tell for sure from the photo where it's coming from. You'll probably have to do some tracing to find where you see the oil coming from and what's wet/dry to find the source. Also, is the oil dark brown/black like used motor oil or lighter like from the PTU (although if it's original gear oil, it could be pretty dark by now). The PTU has a separate reservoir on top with ATF fluid (I think it's AFT). Smell the leaked oil, does it smell like oil or gear oil?

I know you're not going to like this next suggestion but since you have the 4WD error message and an unidentified leak, I would disable your 4WD by pulling the fuse so if it is something fixable, the PTU doesn't get too far along in case it's fixable.

Try to trace the leak...

 

[Aa7911]

Hi @Aa7911, it's tough to tell for sure from the photo where it's coming from. You'll probably have to do some tracing to find where you see the oil coming from and what's wet/dry to find the source. Also, is the oil dark brown/black like used motor oil or lighter like from the PTU (although if it's original gear oil, it could be pretty dark by now). The PTU has a separate reservoir on top with ATF fluid (I think it's AFT). Smell the leaked oil, does it smell like oil or gear oil?

I know you're not going to like this next suggestion but since you have the 4WD error message and an unidentified leak, I would disable your 4WD by pulling the fuse so if it is something fixable, the PTU doesn't get too far along in case it's fixable.

Try to trace the leak...

Hello Gary, thanks for your comments and suggestions. It smells like gear oil. Had a good amount stuck on the protection panel. PTU seems to be leaking from the top. Ill look for the source but its a tight spot without removing further parts.

Ill try to remove the fuse and see if the grinding noise stays or not. Next step will be the dealer for sure.

Does the PTU share the same reservoir as the Transmission fluid?

Cheers.

 

[Gary Kline]

Hello Gary, thanks for your comments and suggestions. It smells like gear oil. Had a good amount stuck on the protection panel. PTU seems to be leaking from the top. Ill look for the source but its a tight spot without removing further parts.

Ill try to remove the fuse and see if the grinding noise stays or not. Next step will be the dealer for sure.

Does the PTU share the same reservoir as the Transmission fluid?

Cheers.

Hi @Aa7911, sorry, my last message was probably misleading as I was thinking about the rear drive module (RDM). The rear unit has two completely separate reservoirs, one for the gears that's filled with gear oil and the other with the shift actuator/locker mechanism which has a separate, isolated reservoir with ATF.

The PTU has just one reservoir (the case itself) using gear oil.

There are five oil seals on the PTU:

• One each for the left & right half-shafts,
• One for the drive shaft,
• One for the two case halves and
• One on the the actuator control on the top to the case.

Try to narrow down if any of them appear to be the source of the leak.

Note, that appeared to be a copious amount of fluid and from the photo appeared to be both under and on the outside of the heat shield so I would think if a seal were leaking, it will show itself.

Also keep in mind that another potential source as @sanghill mentioned could be the oil cooler. When an engine oil cooler starts leaking oil, it flows down the back side of the transmission so if the source of the oil is above the top of the PTU housing, check the "V" in the engine well where the oil cooler is.

Of course as you probably guessed, an engine oil cooler leak shouldn't trip your 4WD Overheat/Service light but anything is possible. It's possible the two are coincidental and unrelated; you have an engine oil cooler leak covering the PTU and you were working the 4WD hard today in the slush and snow and it overheated on its own or perhaps you have an engine oil cooler leak, it leaked hot oil over the PTU and along with the 4WD in the slush/snow today, raised the temp of the PTU and threw the warnings. I'm not suggesting either of these are the cause but just to keep in mind that sometimes a problem may be more than one thing (masquerading the other).

Best,

-Gary

 

[Aa7911]

Hi @Aa7911, sorry, my last message was probably misleading as I was thinking about the rear drive module (RDM). The rear unit has two completely separate reservoirs, one for the gears that's filled with gear oil and the other with the shift actuator/locker mechanism which has a separate, isolated reservoir with ATF.

The PTU has just one reservoir (the case itself) using gear oil.

There are five oil seals on the PTU:

• One each for the left & right half-shafts,
• One for the drive shaft,
• One for the two case halves and
• One on the the actuator control on the top to the case.

Try to narrow down if any of them appear to be the source of the leak.

Note, that appeared to be a copious amount of fluid and from the photo appeared to be both under and on the outside of the heat shield so I would think if a seal were leaking, it will show itself.

Also keep in mind that another potential source as @sanghill mentioned could be the oil cooler. When an engine oil cooler starts leaking oil, it flows down the back side of the transmission so if the source of the oil is above the top of the PTU housing, check the "V" in the engine well where the oil cooler is.

Of course as you probably guessed, an engine oil cooler leak shouldn't trip your 4WD Overheat/Service light but anything is possible. It's possible the two are coincidental and unrelated; you have an engine oil cooler leak covering the PTU and you were working the 4WD hard today in the slush and snow and it overheated on its own or perhaps you have an engine oil cooler leak, it leaked hot oil over the PTU and along with the 4WD in the slush/snow today, raised the temp of the PTU and threw the warnings. I'm not suggesting either of these are the cause but just to keep in mind that sometimes a problem may be more than one thing (masquerading the other).

Best,

-Gary

Got it towed in at the dealership. The PTU is leaking/broken and is the reason of my trouble with the 4WD. Looking at 4k in part and labor. Part is back order until February...

 

[Flybynightcru]

Part is back order until February...

If I'm paying $4000, I'm telling them to go borrow a PTU from a new one on the lot!!! Seriously though, I would be calling every Jeep dealer in my region to see if anyone might have one laying around...😉😎

 

[sanghill]

I think this might be a PTU: LKQ Online
This is for a Latitude.

 

[Aa7911]

I think this might be a PTU: LKQ Online
This is for a Latitude.

Yeah that one is a Awd. I have the 4x4 PTU in the 3.2L. Thanks for looking it up!

 

[Flybynightcru]

Yeah that one is a Awd. I have the 4x4 PTU in the 3.2L. Thanks for looking it up!

There's two different PTU's, ADI or ADII. If you have Low4, then you're ADII, if you don't it's ADI. Active Drive One, or Active Drive Two. Trailhawks are Active Drive Loc, which are ADII with the locking RDM...😎

 

[Gary Kline]

Got it towed in at the dealership. The PTU is leaking/broken and is the reason of my trouble with the 4WD. Looking at 4k in part and labor. Part is back order until February...

Question, did you get a chance to see it? Was there an actual physical hole in the case? (e.g. as if road debris flung up at high-speed and broke a hole in the casing that the oil leaked out?)

Dealer won't do this of course but you could get a used on off eBay or elsewhere (as @Flybynightcru mentioned, there are three models, you have to replace like-for-like.)

 

[Aa7911]

There's two different PTU's, ADI or ADII. If you have Low4, then you're ADII, if you don't it's ADI. Active Drive One, or Active Drive Two. Trailhawks are Active Drive Loc, which are ADII with the locking RDM...😎

Would be an ADII in my case as I have the Low4 and Rear Diff lock.

 

[Aa7911]

Question, did you get a chance to see it? Was there an actual physical hole in the case? (e.g. as if road debris flung up at high-speed and broke a hole in the casing that the oil leaked out?)

Dealer won't do this of course but you could get a used on off eBay or elsewhere (as @Flybynightcru mentioned, there are three models, you have to replace like-for-like.)

Hello Gary, they told me that they've looked into getting the PTU thru their used parts dealers "network" but it was not available in the area. I will check with another garage tomorrow in case they have a different network.

I did not seen the PTU but from what they've told me, it was a mecanical failure as Iv'e challenged them in regards with the PTU recalls and mine was not affected by it.

 

[Einstein14]

Got it towed in at the dealership. The PTU is leaking/broken and is the reason of my trouble with the 4WD. Looking at 4k in part and labor. Part is back order until February...

Mine is in the garage since December 15th for a PTU oil leak. At first, they were supposed to only changes some seals, but they found out there was a loose within the PTU, and they ordered a new one. Part should be in on January 19th. So, I am not surprised about February for you (in Canada). Luckily my warranty ends this coming may, so it is covered.

I did not have any issues (yet), brought it to the dealer because I noticed some oil on my pavement.

 

[Aa7911]

Mine is in the garage since December 15th for a PTU oil leak. At first, they were supposed to only changes some seals, but they found out there was a loose within the PTU, and they ordered a new one. Part should be in on January 19th. So, I am not surprised about February for you (in Canada). Luckily my warranty ends this coming may, so it is covered.

I did not have any issues (yet), brought it to the dealer because I noticed some oil on my pavement.

Luckily for you this is covered and will be dealt with soon. My extended warranty just went out last april... still not something expected to break at 146000km.

 

[Aa7911]

If I'm paying $4000, I'm telling them to go borrow a PTU from a new one on the lot!!! Seriously though, I would be calling every Jeep dealer in my region to see if anyone might have one laying around...😉😎

The whole Mopar network has it backordered. Found very few scrapyards with it in stock within Canada.

Went with the new part so I don't run into that issue again, hopefully...

 

[Gary Kline]

The whole Mopar network has it backordered. Found very few scrapyards with it in stock within Canada.

..borrow a PTU from a new one on the lot!!! I would be calling every Jeep dealer in my region to see if anyone might have one laying around...😉😎

Nobody is mentioning "Option 3"... Contact one of the local neighborhood "catalytic converter inspection" gangs and see if they've ever 'inspected' a PTU before (LoL, kidding of course! 😂 )