Hi. I have an ‘01 Wrangler TJ that has 140 K mi. on it. Its been great for many years until recently it won’t go into first or second. 3rd- Reverse still work normally. I checked the fluid which was only about 20% below full . Since the fluid had never been changed I drained it and added Penzoil Syncromesh Manual Transmission fluid to the filling hole. I test drove and still no improvement. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
Manual Transmission Issues
- Thread starter DarinN
- Start date
Some people have reported better success with different fluids. Other popular ones are Redline MTL and Royal Purple. I say give one of those a shot. After a while though, things just begin to wear out. My 02 starting having finicky 1st and 2nd shifting around 140-something thousand miles too.
Pantera99
TJ Enthusiast
Well that sounds pretty bad but just changed to Redline MTL & my '02 feels like a brand new transmission. 2nd & 3rd were kinda touchy but yours sounds worse. Pennzoil Synchromesh is garbage...
If you put it in first or second before starting the engine, do either gears work still? If so, synchro issue, if no, she’s fubar.
C.J. Roberts
TJ Addict
The Redline MTL is the way to go. Just don't expect immediate results. It takes a few hundred miles to really notice the difference. It has to get into all the little places, chase out the old stuff, and coat everything.
I had the "won't go into second" problem a few years back. I changed to Redline MTL, and after a couple weeks driving, it was like a new transmission.