HEK

So with the Summer I have the top down and noticed the "sneaker squeal" when shifting between 1st and 2nd so I dug up the TBS from this wonderful site and made an appointment...I get a call from the service technician at the end of the day and she says that she cannot hear the squeal....
I went to pick up the JK and asked what day they were open late so I could take a mechanic out for a ride and show him that I'm not hallucinating, this was on Tuesday and the late day was Thursday so I show up and take the mechanic around the lot demonstrating that the squeal was there.
His response is that he hears it and I should make another appointment for next Thursday (yesterday) so that he can have all the time necessary to fix it.
I get a call yesterday saying that he is still diagnosing and he need to keep it until today...Today I had made plans to use the JK so I already had a day off....well no news yet if he has was about to "diagnose" the cause of the squeal...and did I mention I copied both TBS for him to read....now I'm beginning to think that dealer's don't like to do warranty work...am I right on this...is it that it takes longer for them to get reimbursed by Chrysler??....any thoughts, I'm thinking of driving in and seeing for myself if they are actually working on the Rubicon.....

RedneckJeep

Yes, you are correct. Dealers nowadays don't like admitting a problem because it opens up a can of worms. The reason it does is because there are few and far between truely QUALIFIED mechanics out there. ANYONE can take a spoon fed class from a school and become a "certified technician". It takes REAL mechanical ability to do the job RIGHT, and there are fewer of those type people out there than you might think. Most are just overpaid parts replacers at best. They have no imagination, no ambition, and no drive of their own. I got sick of it and went into business for myself successfully for almost ten years before I became disabled. I still do occassional consultation work for dealers in the area, including the Chrysler/Jeep dealer where I bought mine. They actually became interested after I took mine in with the leaking timing cover ALREADY DIAGNOSED and with the TSB IN HAND, just like you did. It STILL took them three times to diagnose and repair it with the answer right in front of them. Their "best" mechanic is a twenty something be bopper with only 5 years prior experience as a tire buster?!?!?!?!?!?! The reason it's so tough to find good mechanics at dealers is their own damn fault. They have over charged people for YEARS on customer pay repairs, so people have seen the light and now take their vehicles to the dealer only for warranty repairs. Warranty has a lesser pay rate than customer pay, so the good mechanics do the smart thing and go where the money is. The aftermarket, or like me and open their own shop. I wish you luck in your endeavor.

HEK

So I decided to call the dealer at about 10:30 AM and by the way your Jeep is ready we need to order a new drive shaft ( the one here on ..." Attention all JK clunky steering wheel people" click here ), so I asked if that's the reason why I'm getting the squeal ..".yes sir it's been diagnosed as the cause and we called Chrysler and they will agree to replace it so when it comes in we will call you.... "

I guess I should be thankfull the dealership is about 10 minutes away , that I have a reliable TL that I can use and mostly that I will be making many more trips to have them eventually fix the "squeal"...., because I will not give up....

GreytSilly

Wait until they come back with "Chrysler says this is a characteristic of this transmission" and the dealer won't touch it then because they won't get reimbursed for the work. I've got a six speed that shifts like crap when it is cold out, two dealers have given me the Chrysler speech. When it gets down near zero, my wife hardly has enough strength to get from 1st to 2nd gear. But I guess it's okay because "This is a characteristic of this transmission". I don't have the lifetime warranty but I think it's best use will probably be toilet paper anyway judging from my warranty experiences in the first year of ownership. Chrysler's customer service truly is pathetic. This is our third Jeep and will be our last unless something drastic happens at corporate.

BIGG

Redneck nailed it! Not enough money to be made @ OE as it used to be. Private shops are where it's at, and the smart wrench's know this.

Ex tire and battery hacks are now turning wrench's in area's they shouldn't. Not to bash those two positions but I really don't think anyone w/o proper training and actual hands on should be allowed to be responsible for a customers safety! And beleive it or not, that's what it boils down to.

You want you're family driving down the highway after some guy just did a brake job on your rig by loosening caliper bolts with channel locks!?! I've actually seen this @ a Nissan dealer.

Establish a good relationship with the service department at "A" dealer. The dealer where you purchased may not be the best when it comes to your service needs!

RedneckJeep

Get a high wattage light bulb in a small, portable "bell" shaped fixture. Stick it on the ground under the Jeep when it's gonna get real cold out and point it up at the transmission main case. You might need to put it on a block or something to get it close. Leave it there all night and it'll keep the manual trans fluid warm and solve that problem. If that's too much trouble, you might think of trying synthetic manual trans fluid. It's flow characteristics are better, but that's mighty cold you're talkin about. The light bulb trick WORKS, cause I've used it on over the road trucks a lot. Make sure it's a high wattage bulb.

SASQUATCH

Of course Dealers don't like warranty work, there is no money in it. Just got mine back and the entire clutch assembly EVERYTHING was replaced per the latest 2 week old TSB per the Tech. My tech couldn't duplicate the noise but they didn't question it and fixed the problem, runs absolutely great now and whisper quiet. Bring that JK back and tell them it needs to be fixed and have them provide a free rental while your at it.

GreytSilly

I have Royal Purple in it already. This helped some but it still sucks. Pretty hard to put a light bulb under the Jeep when at work. It definitely is the transmission, I think it's the syncro rings. It shifts fine into all gears except 1st to 2nd, it really takes a bunch of push to get it into 2nd from 1st. On the other hand, it will shift easily and smoothly from 3rd down into 2nd. Every other gear change is okay. What really irks me is if Chrysler knows the transmission is a POS, why don't they do something about it instead of keep on making excuses about "characteristics" of it. It's been to two different service departments at different dealers and both gave me the same corporate answer after talking to Chrysler on the phone.

RedneckJeep

why do any of the auto makers make crap? Cause we keep buyin it. I don't know what your problem might be then. You said it only happens when it's real cold. That's always an indication of some kinda oil flow trouble. Always. It's also normal for a manual trans to be a little more touchy going into lower gears because the lower gearsets spin faster. that in itself coupled with the low temps might explain it. It would be worth a try with the light bulb. If it made a difference, you 'd know for sure.

GreytSilly

This only happens shifting from 1st to 2nd, no other gear change is a problem. All the other changes are easy and smooth. My gripe is that Chrysler won't take it apart and fix the problem. I shouldn't expect to have to warm up my transmission with a light bulb on a $20,000+ new vehicle and have the manufacturer say the crappy shift is a characteristic of this transmission. When it gets cold I've taken to shifting from 1st to 3rd and just skipping 2nd altogether until things get warmed up. Piece of crap!!!