Already regret the JKU

[BoldlyGoing]

6 months of owning this thing and it’s already in the shop. Looks like a new transmission is in order.

100k on the odometer and it’s already coming apart like a cheap suit.

This is why I stick to TJ’s. I’m a bit grouchy.

 

[JMT]

I’m a bit grouchy.

And with good cause. That sucks. Very frustrating. Oh, and the only person I know who has a JKU had to have the transmission replaced sub 100 on the odometer (I think it’s a 2015 or 2017)

 

[BoldlyGoing]

And with good cause. That sucks. Very frustrating. Oh, and the only person I know who has a JKU had to have the transmission replaced sub 100 on the odometer (I think it’s a 2015 or 2017)

To make me even more pissed, this is a VERY common issue.

It started when we got an message on the dash that says “Hot Oil”

Ok, No biggie, we pulled over and let it cool down. No other symptoms. Assuming “Oil” meant engine oil, I went ahead and did an engine oil / filter change. Come to find out that meant “Hot TRANSMISSION oil”. This was 2 weeks ago.

Who the hell thinks transmission when they see “oil”? I know it IS oil, but no one says “get me a few qts of transmission oil”.

Had I googled it, I would have learned, but we weren’t getting any symptoms of a failing transmission. Odds are had I changed the fluid and filter and added a tranny cooler we could have prevented this whole issue.

So, yesterday, my wife heads to her parents house about 2.5 hrs from here. Hot Oil light pops again, so she pulls over, checks the Engine oil again, sees it looks fine. And decides to have a cup of coffee and let it cool and makes an appointment with the Stealership near her parents house.

After about an hour, she goes back out and tries to leave and it won’t go in to gear. This is the FIRST sign of transmission trouble. She has it towed to the closest shop which happens to be a Jeep dealer. It’s late on a Saturday so they do a cursory once over and see that the transmission fluid is burnt badly.

They said that Usually this means a new tranny or at best a rebuild. They’ll know more on Monday.

I’d rather not have the dealer do it, but we’re a little bit stuck. Where she broke down is nearly 100 miles from our house (she’s actually lucky it happened where it did - had she gone further, she’d be in the middle of nowhere- thank god for small graces)

Here’s hoping they can flush it out and get it going again, but the forum posts I’m finding elsewhere aren’t encouraging.

/vent

 

[Chris]

I read a lot on the internet. One of the things I’ve noticed with JKUs is that they seem absolutely plagued with problems. Most of them are smaller issues, but it always seems that people are dealing with lights on the dash for various things. I’m very glad that I pulled out of that decision I had made months back to buy a JKU in addition to our TJ. I have a feeling it’s one I would have regretted.

When we were looking for a Minivan I kept coming back to the Chrysler Town and Country because how cheap they were for what you get. Low and behold after doing research on them, I found that the number one complaint about then was failing transmissions! I can’t tell you how many things I read where people talked about the transmissions not shifting right and then eventually failing on them. Funny enough, the Town and Country also uses the 3.6 Pentastar and the same setup as the JKs.

I’ll NEVER (I repeat NEVER!!!) own a Fiat / Chrysler after 2006. Hell, I think the only reason that the TJ doesn’t have all the issues it could is because it was largely designed by AMC (including the engine) and just refined by Chrysler. It’s not like they designed an entirely new engine for it or anything, or just stuck one of their shitty 3.8 or 3.6 Minivan engines in it and called it a Jeep.

Stick to the TJ. They are simple enough that they won’t leave you this frustrated.

 

[Mike_H]

Transmission problems are very common with Chrysler vehicles...and why I specifically bought a TJ with a manual.

That sucks that you have to replace a transmission with 100k on it. Hoping for the best for you!

 

[BoldlyGoing]

I read a lot on the internet. One of the things I’ve noticed with JKUs is that they seem absolutely plagued with problems. Most of them are smaller issues, but it always seems that people are dealing with lights on the dash for various things. I’m very glad that I pulled out of that decision I had made months back to buy a JKU in addition to our TJ. I have a feeling it’s one I would have regretted.

When we were looking for a Minivan I kept coming back to the Chrysler Town and Country because how cheap they were for what you get. Low and behold after doing research on them, I found that the number one complaint about then was failing transmissions! I can’t tell you how many things I read where people talked about the transmissions not shifting right and then eventually failing on them. Funny enough, the Town and Country also uses the 3.6 Pentastar and the same setup as the JKs.

I’ll NEVER (I repeat NEVER!!!) own a Fiat / Chrysler after 2006. Hell, I think the only reason that the TJ doesn’t have all the issues it could is because it was largely designed by AMC (including the engine) and just refined by Chrysler. It’s not like they designed an entirely new engine for it or anything, or just stuck one of their shitty 3.8 or 3.6 Minivan engines in it and called it a Jeep.

Stick to the TJ. They are simple enough that they won’t leave you this frustrated.

I was really hesitant to go for the JKU. I tried my damndest to convics her to go for another LJ. She definitely wanted another Jeep.

Stupid me just convinced myself “how bad could it really be”?

Lesson learned.

 

[Chris]

I was really hesitant to go for the JKU. I tried my damndest to convics her to go for another LJ. She definitely wanted another Jeep.

Stupid me just convinced myself “how bad could it really be”?

Lesson learned.

There are certain auto manufacturers I deeply trust in terms of building something that will last without major issues. Toyota, Honda, Subaru, and maybe a few others. However, Fiat / Chrysler isn't one of them. I read a lot about the new JLs, and coincidently enough, people are having a number of issues with those things as well. Mostly electronic issues thus far, but the point is that this seems to be something Fiat / Chrysler is known for.

I think the JKU can make a fun family vehicle, but I simply don't trust Chrysler enough to make it our family vehicle, as I figured I would almost certainly run into an issue like you are having.

Now if the JKs were to have been built my Toyota or something, then I'd be 100% all-in. But Chrysler just can't ever seem to get it right.

I'm sorry to heat about this issue. I hope that it doesn't end up costing you an arm and a leg, as most transmission work seems to. My buddy just had to put a new transmission in his Ford F-350 Powerstroke, and it was something like $4500 for all the work he had done!

 

[BoldlyGoing]

I’ve only owned 1 automatic

I'm sorry to heat about this issue. I hope that it doesn't end up costing you an arm and a leg, as most transmission work seems to. My buddy just had to put a new transmission in his Ford F-350 Powerstroke, and it was something like $4500 for all the work he had done!

The parts girl already tried to talk my wife in to $6500 for a remanufactured transmission and cooler.

Seems a bit outrageous to me, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings

 

[Chris]

I’ve only owned 1 automatic


The parts girl already tried to talk my wife in to $6500 for a remanufactured transmission and cooler.

Seems a bit outrageous to me, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings

I would definitely add a cooler to the new transmission. Heat is the number one killer of automatic transmissions, and this is why most of us add the transmission coolers to our 42RLE automatic transmissions on our TJs (I added one on mine). It will increase the life of the transmission, and it should have come with one from the factory. So definitely do the cooler.

But wow... $6500? That'a absolutely mind blowing. I can buy a remanufactured 42RLE for my TJ for around $1500 I believe, maybe $2000 at most.

 

[TomTJ]

As for Chrysler transmissions, I have the 8spd (designed by ZF, built by FCA) in my 2016 Charger, and its great. Only 3yrs, 30k miles so I can't say much for long term durability, but functions quite nicely.

 

[BoldlyGoing]

I would definitely add a cooler to the new transmission. Heat is the number one killer of automatic transmissions, and this is why most of us add the transmission coolers to our 42RLE automatic transmissions on our TJs (I added one on mine). It will increase the life of the transmission, and it should have come with one from the factory. So definitely do the cooler.

But wow... $6500? That'a absolutely mind blowing. I can buy a remanufactured 42RLE for my TJ for around $1500 I believe, maybe $2000 at most.

A cooler will definitely be getting added, but I won’t pay a shop for that.

 

[ac_]

I bought a brand new JK in 2010 and immediately had buyers remorse. There wasn't much I liked about it. I grew up with Jeeps and had all sorts of them, but I just couldn't like it. It couldn't enter the freeway at highway speeds, The shift between 3-4 was clunky and the RPMs would stay high for 3 seconds, before I could actually shift and would be too slow for 4th by the time I got in there especially entering traffic or towing. I took it back to the dealer more than once and they said that that is a federal mandated fuel map and there was nothing they could do about it. Sold it in less than a year. That was just one of the issues and I didn't even own it for one year. I was not happy and I agree with @Chris not chrysler products newer than '06. I would probably even say even '03.

Anyways sorry to hear about your woes and welcome back to the land of TJ's! I think this forum will last much longer than any competing jk forum in my opinion.

 

[UPJOHN]

I have my 97 TJ and like it for it's simplicity, but also bought a 15 JKU because I feel if I have any problems even engine or transmission problems, I can still replace them myself.

 

[BoldlyGoing]

I have my 97 TJ and like it for it's simplicity, but also bought a 15 JKU because I feel if I have any problems even engine or transmission problems, I can still replace them myself.

Same here.

I’ve only been stranded once in my LJ when my fuel pump died. Everything else I’ve managed to repair at least enough to get home.

Impatiently waiting to hear from the stealership what they make of our situation.

 

[Hawkeye]

Damn sorry about your transmission that's messed up. Hopefully if you need another one you can get a good deal on one and install it yourself. I too have had a problem with a Chrysler transmission. I had a 300M that I was driving home one night when the car in front of me suddenly swerved and I then drove right over a large rock that someone had put in the street. Cracked the transmission. If I'd been in my TJ it probably wouldn't have been a problem.

 

[Sancho]

I will offer a counter opinion...

My dads dodge charger is near 100k.. and jas had zero issues.. in fact... he is on his original set of brake pads.

My 2012 WK2 Grand Cherokee... 3.6l. Over 150k.. solid as a rock. Only repair was a Transmission control unit box.

There are sooooo many damn jkus on the road... is this a design issue or a maintenance issue? If it was a design issue... we would of all heard about it.

I would guess it was a maintenance issue, I think they want fluid changes every 60k.

 

[glwood]

I guess the reason we hear about more problems with JKUs vs. JKs, is there are so many more on the road...? Or is the term JKU being used for anything post TJ?

 

[Edward Turner]

I guess the reason we hear about more problems with JKUs vs. JKs, is there are so many more on the road...? Or is the term JKU being used for anything post TJ?

Very few posts are about equipment success in any forum so you read a lot more about failures. This is one of the few forums I’ve participated in where actual users write about success as well as failure, that’s why it’s so good.

 

[BoldlyGoing]

Damn sorry about your transmission that's messed up. Hopefully if you need another one you can get a good deal on one and install it yourself. I too have had a problem with a Chrysler transmission. I had a 300M that I was driving home one night when the car in front of me suddenly swerved and I then drove right over a large rock that someone had put in the street. Cracked the transmission. If I'd been in my TJ it probably wouldn't have been a problem.

Sort of over a barrel on this one- the Jeep broke down half way between my house and my wife’s parents place. Nearly an hour and a half from either stop.

In a way, we’re lucky it happened where it did, because at least there’s a decent town there.

The downside is that I can either bite the bullet and pay the inflated dealership cost, or, pay to have it towed the 90+ miles home and get a local shop to do the work.

I’m actually working out of town at the moment, so my wife is in Atlanta, I’m in Charlotte, and the Jeep is in between Atlanta and Augusta GA. Good times!

 

[Edward Turner]

How far is it from Athens?