6000kms - Friday 13th - Service Transmission

[PJohnno]

My TH has been purring along perfectly for about 6000km - until last Friday 13th.

Cruising on the SE Freeway towards Adelaide @ 110km/h when the digital "110" is suddenly replaced by "Service Transmission" together with the orange engine warning light. The car was running smoothly with no weird noises or anything so I kept going, although I slowed down to about 90.

A bit later I lost throttle response and the car seemed to slow down (limp mode?). So I pulled over and rang the missus to tell her it looked like I wouldnt be getting to Adelaide Oval in time for the Crows v Cats blockbuster.

Mrs. Nostradamus reminded me "I told you not to buy a Jeep" so I hung up - why does she know everything except the winning xlotto numbers?

Anyway after about 5 minutes I started the car and the "Service Tranmission" message was gone, although the orange warning light was still on. Throttle response was back and I drove about 40km home uneventfully with the car driving fine.

When I got home I rang the dealer and they told me to bring it in first thing Monday to check it out.

The Crows lost and to compound my misery over the weekend I got myself into a lather reading about all the US KL Cherokee owners who had multiple transmission replacements after service transmission errors.

The dealer had the car all day today and I was prepared for the worst when I rang them about 4pm to see when/if I could pick my car up. Turns out it was good news - I could pick the car up after 4.30.

Upon pickup I was told there was a TCM error code and that the car was given a software upgrade and now it was all good.

The service guy was reluctant to give me any specifics about the error code or the software upgrade because "you will just Google it and read a heap of stuff that won't apply to you". I didn't press the issue because I was happy enough that I could get my car straight back.

Driving home the car seemed to drive like before although I'm not 100% sure - maybe I'm just paranoid now.

One thing I am certain of is that there is a longer hesitation to engage when shifting from P to D or P to R than before the software upgrade.

I'm doing an intro 4WD course this week - theory Wed and prac Sat - so here's hoping the car behaves.

To be continued............?

[260DET]

The TSB dated 1 Oct 15 here? http://www.jeepproblems.com/tsbs/Cherokee/2015/

[Pokergee60]

Transmission........... ouch...
Bought a new 2014 Limited, came to pickup at the dealer and "transmission service" lights up... "looks like we forgot to reset from delivery mode"..... reset and i was sent with a new car home...
2 days after "transmission service" light up again, not engaging into gears.. restart engaging but not driving.. restart, put into gear, big crunch into gear and driving... warning light gone after a few hours... back to dealer and after 10 days, "we have fixed an electrical problem, here is the car"... 2 days after... do I need to repeat?!
New transmission installed... good for 1 year until Easter weekend.. same as before, after spending a weekend at service, another electrical problem fixed... a month after same again... now i got a 2nd new transmission installed..... let say, I had enough and how I could reject a "generous offer of 1 extra year warranty and 1 free service.." so after a legal letter, I'm getting a new car as a replacement...
Don't get me wrong, i think the car is one of the better ones as a whole package around, love the drive (once they fixed the wobble), the engine is good (slightly thirsty) and inside it's as good as some European cars.
The issue with transmission from reading a lot of forums was fixed by March 2015 and on the models before that build, the software now doesn't kick down to 2nd gear (something to do with a seal pressure), hence sometimes when you come to a stop and want to get into traffic, there is a hesitation when you press the accelerator.
I'll willing to give a go to the new car, as i still love it.... despite all the people saying to me... don't buy a Jeep

[PJohnno]

Originally Posted by Pokergee60

New transmission installed... good for 1 year until Easter weekend.. same as before, after spending a weekend at service, another electrical problem fixed... a month after same again... now i got a 2nd new transmission installed..... let say, I had enough and how I could reject a "generous offer of 1 extra year warranty and 1 free service.." so after a legal letter, I'm getting a new car as a replacement...

Man that sounds like a horror story............well done on getting your car replaced.

I did my 4WD course a couple of weekends ago and the car performed flawlessly. I got to workout the low range and diff lock and use the hill descent and crawl modes.

I've done approx 1,000 kms since the TCM software update without any more issues and the car is purring along perfectly as it was before.

[Pokergee60]

great to hear.. i was driving the Trailhawk whilst my car was repaired and in comparison found it a better drive than my Limited, so can't wait to put the hands on the replacement next week (Trailhawk)