[sfdxsm]

Well I've been trouble free for 1300 miles. Coming home today the Service Transmission message came up with a check engine light. I was stopped at a light and when I braked it came on. Car wouldn't move after that. Put it in Park then back into Drive and it got me home but in limp mode. It would not shift past 5th gear and was lumbering bad. Felt almost like the clutch was bad/slipping (I've roasted a few Autos as a teenager so I know how those feel lol). The best description is basically when you drive a manual transmission and ride the clutch. Best description I can make. Once I parked it sounded like a pinball machine underneath (how a car cooling down sounds but more dramatic). I checked all the temps when I restarted it immediately and everything was perfect so I think it's an internal failure of the unit itself.

I saw some people had similar situations/symptoms. Will let everyone know what I find out.

Will be calling dealership tomorrow to get an appointment.

 

[SkipW]

Crap....I hope it's something simple. Glad you made it home OK.

Please keep us posted.

 

[Gator]

Good luck Cherokee brother!
let us know how it goes....

 

[scarpi]

Sorry about your transmission problems. I used to think once you got past a few hundred miles without any problems you were going to be ok with the transmission in these vehicles. But it appears that it can happen at any mileage interval. I guess you never know when your going to get stranded with this nine speed transmission. I really think that if I had to take a long trip I wouldn't trust this vehicle to get me home. So far my Cherokee has been trouble free at about 630 miles. But I think I would trust my 02 Yukon that I traded for the Cherokee to get me home more than my new Cherokee. Sorry to say that on this forum because I really love the Cherokee. It seems that almost every time I come on the forum there is another owner starting to have transmission problems. Basically for the first couple thousand miles I will only use this vehicle around town. Never thought I'd say that.

 

[jkolker]

So far for me at 3200 miles no problems, and that includes a 2000+ mile vacation. Sounds bad in your case but glad you made it home. Hope you get it fixed fast.

 

[Tyler-98-W68]

Was it making any grinding rattling sounds at all while in limp mode, like the videos I posted of my wife's Cherokee when it had all its problems.

It pains me to see a twin Cherokee in trouble!

 

[whitebomber]

Sorry about your transmission problems. I used to think once you got past a few hundred miles without any problems you were going to be ok with the transmission in these vehicles. But it appears that it can happen at any mileage interval. I guess you never know when your going to get stranded with this nine speed transmission. I really think that if I had to take a long trip I wouldn't trust this vehicle to get me home. So far my Cherokee has been trouble free at about 630 miles. But I think I would trust my 02 Yukon that I traded for the Cherokee to get me home more than my new Cherokee. Sorry to say that on this forum because I really love the Cherokee. It seems that almost every time I come on the forum there is another owner starting to have transmission problems. Basically for the first couple thousand miles I will only use this vehicle around town. Never thought I'd say that.

I hope that's not true, as we are planning a trip next weekend, with our 500 mile Cherokee!

But it's not just 9-speed transmissions. With our Wrangler we had the transmission replaced at 8,000 miles. No issue since and at almost 80k now.

 

[priell3]

Sorry to hear about your problem.

We just put 750 miles on ours last week the majority on the highway.

 

[Jeepster1]

That just confirms to me the issue that when you have a sealed transmission, there is no way to check fluid levels. Other than trying to guess: is the trans temp is higher than normal because of load or fluid level?
In reality how much would it cost for a dip stick?
I'm not saying that was the issue. But low fluid and/or overheated transmission will fry if give enough time.

 

[Ghostly1]

I wasn't aware the Cherokee had a sealed transmission. I always thought only manual transmissions had sealed units and automatics allowed for fluid to be checked and added as needed. All my previous vehicles had autos and were not sealed.

 

[scarpi]

I'm glad that many owners are not having transmission problems. So far I'm one of those. But I believe that among those owners that haven't had transmission problems they feel lucky. And most owners are probably uncertain if they really trust this transmission to be reliable based on the posts in this forum. Some of you have gone on long road trips with no problems. But knowing what you know now about the problems with some of these transmissions would you pack up the family and head out on a 2000 mile trip in this vehicle? Not me. :-/. And I'm not being over critical about Chrysler or Jeep. My wife and I picked out that vehicle because we liked it and wanted one. Now we are starting to think we at least should have waited about six months before buying one for Chrysler to sort out the problems. So it's our mistake for not doing that. Now I have a great vehicle in my garage that I will drive, but always wonder (not worry) if I am going to get stuck somewhere because of its transmission. This has dampened the fun of having a new vehicle for us. And no I haven't felt this way about any other new vehicle I have bought. This is my first Jeep.

 

[jkolker]

I'd go, but if something happened it wouldn't be the first time I would have experienced an mechanical detour.

I've always been told never buy the initial model of a vehicle, that I should give them a year to work all the bugs out. And for some reason, I never seem to do that. But I know there are risks.

BTW, taking mine today in for "software updates". Scheduled visit...

 

[sfdxsm]

Just an update for everyone. I checked the oil, coolant, and tranny temps via the center screen last night and everything was perfect. Basically I had to shut the car off and immediately restart it to clear the Service Transmission on the screen (it wouldn't let me do anything else). Once I did that, the Check Engine light stayed on, I had no stored messages, and that's when I checked the temps. Everything was PERFECT. This was not the longest trip in terms of straight driving I've taken yet but it was the most mileage with a lot of stop/go and extended stops (i.e. mini road trip but on highways).

I couldn't tell how it sounded outside because me and the wife were driving home but she could feel it basically fighting for its life to get up and go in 1st gear. It would shift almost immediately to 4th, then to 5th and go no higher. I thought it was just going to die on the road. Really reminded me of a slipping clutch.

This morning it drove with minimal issues. The shifts were a little wacky but it used all 8 gears. Kick down was delayed and kind of random and it wanted nothing more than to hold 1st gear then shift as fast as possible into 4th right after that. Check Engine light was still on. It is now at the dealership getting looked up.

 

[SkipW]

Thanks for the update. It almost sounds like it lost one of the clutches that are integral to the smaller size and is missing one set of gear ratios.

 

[Ottawa86]

The same thing happened to my Cheroke at 1200km. engine light came on, trasmission needs serivce light came on and park assist light came on. They did the TBS updated and all was fixed. The first and second gear are much smoother now. no problems after that.

 

[Texas Trailhawk]

Check Engine light was still on. It is now at the dealership getting looked up.

What is the build date of your Cherokee & did you have the 12/19/2013 flash update of the transmission? Just curious. I hope they get you taken care of quickly.

 

[limey-g]

A a potential owner it sure does not give one a very rosy feeling to hear so many off you mention that you are a little concerned about making a long trip because of the potential of getting stranded.
So you have paid out a chunk of change for a local runabout.

Where I see the concern is the number of problems that are occurring so early in life and yes they are covered under warranty but what are these transmissions going to be like when you have 20,000 miles on them.

Many of the problems seem to be fixed with software so why not a recall and lets give this vehicle a fighting chance of being successful ?
Geoff

 

[Ottawa86]

I dont know much about this but I think this software update with the transmission and other things is a recall. I dont think Chrysler is obliged to notify everyone about this recall because it is not a safety recall. I know for all of us this is a safety issue. Plus its also a ripping us off issue. So this may be up to the owner to check up on... I bought the extended warrently for my Cherokee.

Thank god for this website or then I wuld have never known about the TBS updates

 

[sfdxsm]

What is the build date of your Cherokee & did you have the 12/19/2013 flash update of the transmission? Just curious. I hope they get you taken care of quickly.

I actually don't know my build date. The original window sticker, the digital one, and the extended build list I got from Jeep customer service all have that missing. However I know the Jeep was delivered to a NY dealership early Dec and then traded with my local NJ dealership somewhere around the 17th so it did not have the 12/19 flash. I took delivery on the 20th and it was still in storage when I showed up to get it.

 

[bruceg]

Jeez... I was beginning to think if you made it passed the 800-1,000 mile mark with no trans. issues you'd be ok. Guess this isn't the case.