No Gears on a trail????? Beware stock JK's
#1
JK Junkie
Thread Starter
No Gears on a trail????? Beware stock JK's
you can look at my sig I have pretty much a stock JK 2 door with 17"s
There I am driving on some old logging trails and.....
I start to go down a steep hill,
thinking it may be like the one I just came up I stopped and put it in neutral and pulled the shifter back to put in 4 high and......
(this is the picture I took while I was stopped getting ready to shift into 4 high)
I suddenly have no gears????Not even park. The 4wd drive shifter just slides forward and back.
You can see the road is not rough and those were the type of trails I had done for the previous couple hours,
I also had not been 4 wheeling for a few weeks, but had just used 4 high 15 min earlier for about 4 min and went back to 2wd.
I was stuck.
I had jeep friends on another trail and luckily had a signal and they came to help one of the guys popped something in gear with only 2wd and not supposed to touch the shifter.
and I just got it back from the dealer ---
The dealer said they replaced , Transfer case Shift Rod caused by gromet missing.
Has anyone heard of this?
Explain it to me can a stick on the trail or road for that matter just hit a gromet under there and leave me helpless???? If it wasn't for them I could have been stranded. I know the rule is don't go 4 wheeling alone but look at what I was on that could have been a country road really.
Isn't there a guard for this.
Help me
Do I need to pay someone to teach me how to flip the little shifter thing under the jeep because this could happen anywhere?????
Help
RED
There I am driving on some old logging trails and.....
I start to go down a steep hill,
thinking it may be like the one I just came up I stopped and put it in neutral and pulled the shifter back to put in 4 high and......
(this is the picture I took while I was stopped getting ready to shift into 4 high)
I suddenly have no gears????Not even park. The 4wd drive shifter just slides forward and back.
You can see the road is not rough and those were the type of trails I had done for the previous couple hours,
I also had not been 4 wheeling for a few weeks, but had just used 4 high 15 min earlier for about 4 min and went back to 2wd.
I was stuck.
I had jeep friends on another trail and luckily had a signal and they came to help one of the guys popped something in gear with only 2wd and not supposed to touch the shifter.
and I just got it back from the dealer ---
The dealer said they replaced , Transfer case Shift Rod caused by gromet missing.
Has anyone heard of this?
Explain it to me can a stick on the trail or road for that matter just hit a gromet under there and leave me helpless???? If it wasn't for them I could have been stranded. I know the rule is don't go 4 wheeling alone but look at what I was on that could have been a country road really.
Isn't there a guard for this.
Help me
Do I need to pay someone to teach me how to flip the little shifter thing under the jeep because this could happen anywhere?????
Help
RED
#2
Not enough information to make any type of diagnosis. However, obviously people do allot more without any issue. One question I have for you is why are you stopping and putting your transmission into neutral to shift into 4HI? Even going into 4LO you usually need to go a few miles per hour.
#3
JK Freak
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: washington, mo
Posts: 869
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
When you have your jeep in 4low and shift to 4hi or 2hi you need to be rolling a little. You were at a dead stop and probably pushed the shifter to hard and broke the piece off the transfer case. When I say shift on a roll it means your tires barely need to be turning. Remember when we fixed it I had wiredawg push your jeep a little and you push on the cable.
This problem had nothing to do with your jeep or the road you were on.
This problem had nothing to do with your jeep or the road you were on.
Last edited by mikesjk; 11-06-2008 at 04:48 PM.
#4
JK Junkie
Thread Starter
I was told by the dealer repair department
a. I could shift into 4high while in drive but stopping would be easier on the transmission, he even said he shuts off the engine and shifts to 4 low.
What is the best way to switch gears???
on, off, neutral moving at idol, ???
My last 4x4 was a rodeo stick so I put the clutch in (nuetral) and shift the other shifter into 4 h or 4l and then put it in 1st so I figured neutral was easier
Red
a. I could shift into 4high while in drive but stopping would be easier on the transmission, he even said he shuts off the engine and shifts to 4 low.
What is the best way to switch gears???
on, off, neutral moving at idol, ???
My last 4x4 was a rodeo stick so I put the clutch in (nuetral) and shift the other shifter into 4 h or 4l and then put it in 1st so I figured neutral was easier
Red
#5
JK Junkie
Thread Starter
MikesJK, thanks again Bro (this is the friend that got me going).
I know you must know best you were there and you fixed it but,,,,,
do you think that shifter is so fragile that if puled improperly (not hard) it will snap that gromet everytime????
I figured a stick or something hit that gromet in a one in a million way to pop it off. I didn't here a pop when I shifted, as soon as I pulled it back 1 inch from 2 to 4h it was like the cable was disconnected and I had no gears???
I understand if I was yanking on it but as I said I am so worried to mess up my jeep I gently pulled back while in neutral at a stop and it happened.
What is the best way to shift?
What if your stuck you can't shift stopped without the risk of snapping the gromet???
How can I makes sure this doesn't happen is there a way to reinforce that gromet connection?? a solid piece or back up wire??
Red
I know you must know best you were there and you fixed it but,,,,,
do you think that shifter is so fragile that if puled improperly (not hard) it will snap that gromet everytime????
I figured a stick or something hit that gromet in a one in a million way to pop it off. I didn't here a pop when I shifted, as soon as I pulled it back 1 inch from 2 to 4h it was like the cable was disconnected and I had no gears???
I understand if I was yanking on it but as I said I am so worried to mess up my jeep I gently pulled back while in neutral at a stop and it happened.
What is the best way to shift?
What if your stuck you can't shift stopped without the risk of snapping the gromet???
How can I makes sure this doesn't happen is there a way to reinforce that gromet connection?? a solid piece or back up wire??
Red
#6
JK Freak
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Corpus Christi, TX
Posts: 528
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
why are you stopping and putting your transmission into neutral to shift into 4HI?
The 4wd system on the Wrangler is a shift on the fly system. There is absolutley no reason what so ever to stop. Going to 4lo requires you to be rolling very SLOWLY, and have the transmission in N, but you should still be rolling. I would think stopiing every time would actually cause wear over time. No reason to stop, or reverse when going back to 2wd. You are not locking the hubs like older 4wd. You are simply locking the two driveshafts together.
Check out this link...
http://www.jeep.com/en/4x4/how_systems_work/rock_trac/
#7
JK Super Freak
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Springfield, MO
Posts: 1,176
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
4-hi to 4-lo is typically done while rolling in neutral at 5 MPH or less. I have heard of people who stop to do this switch, but that can be problematic if your syncros are not lined up at that time. (not that it would hurt anything, but you might not be able to pull the stick back into 4 lo)
Going out of 4-lo to 4-hi should be about the same as the hi-to-lo switch, and
4-hi to 2wd you can do at any point going forward. The only time I have had problems is getting into or out of 4-lo, and that was before I read on here about doing it with the tranny in neutral while rolling forward slowly. Since then is has been easy!
Most of this is in the manual as well. Give that section a quick glance and you should be good to go.
Trending Topics
#8
First off, if you were moving this probably wouldn't have happened. Even for 4-LO, follow the procedure stated in the manual and you won't have any problems. I'll bet because you were stopped and trying to shift the gears weren't aligned and the extra force on the lever is what popped the shift linkage off, this has happened to a few others. They do have a plastic connector on it somewhere, which is probably a bad decision by them. Sounds exactly like what happened based on your information.
#10
Yeah, there was actually just another one about a week or two ago and he did a trail fix with zip ties. It does seem like a good spot for someone like Woods to come up with an improvement for.