MistyCherie
New member
Hi there,
This past Saturday I went out on a local poker run. While on the run, I went to engage 4WD and it made a (really) horrible racket. It did go into 4WD but seemed to slip out a couple times while navigating through (light went off), and 4WD lever was a bit sticky shifting. This was on a farm, mostly mud/dirt. I didn't do any rocks/trees or flexing. At the end of the day everything seemed fine, drove home (about 60-70 miles away). Until this year I had never needed 4WD as I hadn't done anything really offroad with my jeep yet. Just mentioning this in case it matters, 4WD lever and functionality got its first use in February.
Monday morning I get in to go to work, pull out of my parking space, and proceed forward and all of a sudden the jeep lurches forward like a really bad shifting.
Symptoms are... hard jolt/lurch like when it's shifting from 1st to 2nd pretty rough the first time, then it may do it again once or twice in the first 5-10 minutes (but not as rough, but still lurchy) after I start the jeep and get going. (Usually happens between 10-20MPH.) After that it doesn't happen, but the overall shifting between gears does still seem to be a bit more sluggish than it used to be. But no jolting after that initial bit. If I park and it sits for a while, it does it all over again.
I have felt like she hasn't been as powerful, get-up-and-go-ish, as she used to be but I figured that was just due to lift/tires and to be expected. I had a 97 TJ years and years ago but it was a manual transmission so this is my first experience with an automatic having issues.
I have been researching the symptoms of my jeep issue since Monday while I wait for shop appointment (upcoming Monday) and it seems like this has happened to other people for TJs. They have flashed their PCM to reset it to factory and I was wondering if there's any cons against trying that out myself? I have the instructions(pretty simple to do) and just wondered if there is a real downside to doing it. Seems like it has to re-learn after that but... I'm not sure exactly what all that means as far as how it will handle/drive, etc.
I went to a 4" lift and 33s in February. I had 30s on it before that, but no lift. I do not have an SYE/driveshaft upgrade. It is on my very near future to do, but so far I have had to do other repairs first and have a limited budget. (new ball joints about 6 weeks ago, replace inner seal on front axle, added locker) The inner seal was added about 2 weeks ago because it was leaking. It was caught before much leaked out. At that time the mechanic suggested some outer seals as extra protection, and due to low cost I said sure. Also, while yapping about jeep stuff lockers came up and I figured to save myself labor cost down the road and went ahead and had that added at same time. It's a lockright automatic locker on the front axle. I did have to replace the shifter cable a couple of years ago at about 40k, the plastic bushing on one end just gave up the ghost. Switching from P-N-D etc, it's not super tight. There is a little play but I have never figured it to be a concern?
I'm like 3 miles away from 50,000. I bought the jeep in July 2006 with 12k miles on it, and all the rest of the miles have been put on by me since then. This is my daily driver and only vehicle. It's a 4.0L with inline 6.
Canvas JK said to post in this part of the forum, since he also thought maybe my shift points needed to be updated. So I figured I'd ask and see what input you guys have as to what my issue may be. If the PCM reset would help me or not, if I need to update shift points, etc.
Thanks,
-M
Edited to add: I know I have the appointment on Monday, but I'm trying to learn more about my jeep and not be completely in the dark (and I'm impatient and this is really freaking me out potential $$ wise). I got totally ripped off on the ball joints installation (chain store) and it has made me extra leery. The seal/locker was put on by a good jeeper, the appt is with another jeep specialty shop - but I'd like to have a clue or at least some extra insight into what may be going on with my vehicle.
This past Saturday I went out on a local poker run. While on the run, I went to engage 4WD and it made a (really) horrible racket. It did go into 4WD but seemed to slip out a couple times while navigating through (light went off), and 4WD lever was a bit sticky shifting. This was on a farm, mostly mud/dirt. I didn't do any rocks/trees or flexing. At the end of the day everything seemed fine, drove home (about 60-70 miles away). Until this year I had never needed 4WD as I hadn't done anything really offroad with my jeep yet. Just mentioning this in case it matters, 4WD lever and functionality got its first use in February.
Monday morning I get in to go to work, pull out of my parking space, and proceed forward and all of a sudden the jeep lurches forward like a really bad shifting.
Symptoms are... hard jolt/lurch like when it's shifting from 1st to 2nd pretty rough the first time, then it may do it again once or twice in the first 5-10 minutes (but not as rough, but still lurchy) after I start the jeep and get going. (Usually happens between 10-20MPH.) After that it doesn't happen, but the overall shifting between gears does still seem to be a bit more sluggish than it used to be. But no jolting after that initial bit. If I park and it sits for a while, it does it all over again.
I have felt like she hasn't been as powerful, get-up-and-go-ish, as she used to be but I figured that was just due to lift/tires and to be expected. I had a 97 TJ years and years ago but it was a manual transmission so this is my first experience with an automatic having issues.
I have been researching the symptoms of my jeep issue since Monday while I wait for shop appointment (upcoming Monday) and it seems like this has happened to other people for TJs. They have flashed their PCM to reset it to factory and I was wondering if there's any cons against trying that out myself? I have the instructions(pretty simple to do) and just wondered if there is a real downside to doing it. Seems like it has to re-learn after that but... I'm not sure exactly what all that means as far as how it will handle/drive, etc.
I went to a 4" lift and 33s in February. I had 30s on it before that, but no lift. I do not have an SYE/driveshaft upgrade. It is on my very near future to do, but so far I have had to do other repairs first and have a limited budget. (new ball joints about 6 weeks ago, replace inner seal on front axle, added locker) The inner seal was added about 2 weeks ago because it was leaking. It was caught before much leaked out. At that time the mechanic suggested some outer seals as extra protection, and due to low cost I said sure. Also, while yapping about jeep stuff lockers came up and I figured to save myself labor cost down the road and went ahead and had that added at same time. It's a lockright automatic locker on the front axle. I did have to replace the shifter cable a couple of years ago at about 40k, the plastic bushing on one end just gave up the ghost. Switching from P-N-D etc, it's not super tight. There is a little play but I have never figured it to be a concern?
I'm like 3 miles away from 50,000. I bought the jeep in July 2006 with 12k miles on it, and all the rest of the miles have been put on by me since then. This is my daily driver and only vehicle. It's a 4.0L with inline 6.
Canvas JK said to post in this part of the forum, since he also thought maybe my shift points needed to be updated. So I figured I'd ask and see what input you guys have as to what my issue may be. If the PCM reset would help me or not, if I need to update shift points, etc.
Thanks,
-M
Edited to add: I know I have the appointment on Monday, but I'm trying to learn more about my jeep and not be completely in the dark (and I'm impatient and this is really freaking me out potential $$ wise). I got totally ripped off on the ball joints installation (chain store) and it has made me extra leery. The seal/locker was put on by a good jeeper, the appt is with another jeep specialty shop - but I'd like to have a clue or at least some extra insight into what may be going on with my vehicle.
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