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If your 8spd trans is rough, put your hand up

137K views 757 replies 150 participants last post by  BHBHANY 
#1 ·
I keep seeing these rough 8 speed transmission threads, but both at the dealership and when I called Chrysler Corporate they tell me that they have NO idea this is a problem. So I'd like to get a list going and see if it's substantial. If you have a rough or unsmooth 8 speed transmission, reply here-just reply with what model you have.


as for me:
2014 GJC Limited 3.6l
 
#564 ·
How can one tell if they applied the TSB. They said they updated the trans, but I still have the rough downshifting and when on cruise control the constant in and out from 7-8 gear.
 
#565 ·
If they did the adaptive relearn you have to put some miles on it to give it a chance to relearn. Mine took about 300 miles before the shifting straightened out. Haven't had a problem since.
 
#566 ·
I most likely have put that mileage on already as well My trans only downshifts to gear 1 at a complete stop as well.
 
#571 ·
Yeah I brought in to the dealer and they said nothing is wrong with it of course. The work order said updated tcm. I think they didn't do anything.
 
#572 ·
I am not a fan of the quick relearn. The dealership did it back in January and again a week and a half ago. The shifting started deteriorating after the January visit. The more recent one has been even worse. The shifting was really clunking bad when coming to a stop. I've had numerous transmission updates in the past without the quick relearn and had positive progress. I couldn't take it anymore yesterday and did the battery disconnect. Today it has been shifting much better.
 
#574 ·
Just got my 2014 Grand Cherokee Overland V6 4x4 back from the dealership today...and guess what...the transmission is STILL downshifting rough from 2nd to 1st gear while crawling in traffic.

The dealership had my Jeep for over a week, had a special Jeep tech take a look at the vehicle, and waited for the Chrysler technical dept. to contact them for guidance. Supposedly the PCM software was not up to date, and the transmission counters were all not learned for all clutches. After conducting the work, they road tested the vehicle...yet while I was driving it home in rush hour traffic on rt. 93, the transmission felt like they didn't do a damn thing.

I've sent 3 emails to my case Manager Debbie at Chrysler Customer Care in the past 3 days, and I have yet to receive a reply. Sounds like I will just have to lemon law this shit box.
 
#576 ·
The dealership gave me the latest PCM update and quick re-learn a few weeks back. The service guy warned me the transmission will have some hard shifting while it learns driving habits. I was okay with letting in slide but within days it as really doing hard clunking and jerking when coming to a stop. I did the battery disconnect bandaid and although not perfect, the shifting was night and day improved than after the dealership visit. I took it on an hour highway drive yesterday and it encountered a few transmission "bumps" after coming to a complete or near stop. I've done a lot to stay in the game but losing faith.

BTW, I think Jeep Chrysler care doubles as a call center for wireless carriers. I have had a case opened on my shifting issues and we constantly trade voicemails, if and when she calls. She said she would text me at the beginning and that never happened.
 
#575 · (Edited)
Check your state lemon law. I got a return call the day they received my lemon law letter. In Michigan they have 5 days to respond. I wish I'd have sent it earlier than I did. I'll be getting my original SRT back while I wait for its replacement. It's been in the shop 50 days now. I had to go to the dealer to get my registration out to renew it today. It expired in January if that tells you anything. I'm now on my third agent from ISG(impartial services group) and have sent all my info to each of them. The one I spoke with this morning said she had left a message with my sales manager to call me to begin the replacement, so for the heck of it I introduced myself to him while I was at the dealership and discovered he has not heard a word about my case. Huh.


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#577 ·
I can second that. I've tried to go with emails only with ISG. It's just less phone tag. There is nothing more irritating than trying to catch a call everyday that you know you only get one chance at answering. You return the call then wait another day to hear back from them(hoping you catch the call)....and then you get a new agent and it all stars over again.


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#581 · (Edited)
Just chiming in here....

I just bought a 2015 JGC Limited a few weeks ago with the V6. I'm sorry to hear some of the issues some of you seem to be having. I know it can be frustrating to spend the kind of money these vehicles cost and not have them work the way they're supposed to.

So far, with around 800 miles, I haven't encountered anything close to what has been described here.

I've had maybe 3 instances of the transmission kind of chunking into gear on the downshift to 2, but it felt no worse than if I were to wind it out to higher RPMS, then shift - just not as smooth as a normal shift. I'd hear a faint thunk and barely feel any change in the vehicle dynamics.

I only had one shift where I could say it felt anything close to being like receiving a light bump from behind. That was after many, many shifts between 1,2 and 3 (and a mix of those up and down) while trapped for close to 30 minutes in a traffic jam on the interstate. It's never happened before and hasn't happened since.

I keep Eco on all the time, except when using the paddle shifters, since it turns off for that. Around town in stop and go traffic, I keep it in drive with Eco on. I've never had any bucking issues and haven't had the vehicle feel like it was taking off on me.

On the highway or rural highways where my speed is more constant, I generally lock it into the gear I want and only down shift if I find it needing a little boost on a hill. On the interstate, I can leave it in 8 and only shift down to 7 on some steeper hills at around 70-75. For those really steep hills where the trucks really need that truck lane, I occasionally need to step down to 6. I find that gives the tamest ride with best fuel economy.

If I let the Jeep decide, it very often wants to go down to 5 with 4 popping up if I need to speed up on a hill. I find that unnecessary, but not uncommon with automatics with anything less than a V8. I've been in 4 cylinder cars where they never stop hunting and sound like they're hitting the rev limiters on some hills.

I haven't had any issues starting off with it not being in the right gear, so it has plenty of power when I need to step on it a bit, but it shifts up pretty quickly on a tamer start. It still wants to jump down too many gears when I give it gas to overtake someone, but I've encountered that with other automatics. When it does that, I simply bump it back up manually, then go back to D when things settle.

I'm almost always in D when coming to a stop since it's hard to use the paddle shifters if I have to turn when starting off. Occasionally, when I start off quickly, but don't want to wind it out to too many RPMs, I'll shift up manually to keep from sounding like I'm flooring it.

I will say, since I started occasionally "interfering" with the automatic shifting and shifting manually the way I want it to do it, it has started to shift up much sooner when starting off when traffic starts moving quickly. It's rare it goes much above 4-5K, even under heavier acceleration. It winds out a bit further if I actually do floor it.

My point in all this is, I'm hoping this is the sign of things to come for the vehicle and maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel for those of you that are having issues. Please don't take this as gloating about not having problems - I'm just reporting that a newly purchased 2015 with close to 100 miles on it isn't having any of the issues. That could be a sign of things to come for those vehicles out in the wild already. Perhaps I'm beta testing yet another update....

...on the other hand, I hope I'm not jinxing myself. ;)

Edited to add: I do occasionally have a little bit of a chunk happen when I only come to a full stop for an instant, then start going again. It seems the system isn't scooting into first fast enough and is still shifting when I start moving again, so it sounds like it's having a bit of a hard time meshing properly. I hear it, but I feel almost nothing - no lurching or jerking or anything.
 
#585 ·
Well, my hope is the more recent builds will at least postpone the issue until later builds can hopefully eliminate the issue. Should the issue get anywhere close to what others are experiencing, the dealership will certainly know me by name because I won't let them ignore me.

BTW, I meant to type "close to 1000 miles" instead of 100 miles in my post. Unfortunately, once there was a reply, it no longer lets me edit it.
 
#586 · (Edited)
Here I am as well....

Mine was fine till around 7500km... Now the transmission shifts bad. Worst time is in the mornings on the cold trany, 1-2 it's OK.. sometimes slips but 2-3 and 3-4 is pretty bad..almost like you get hit from the back. It doesn't matter if Eco is ON or OFF. Once the transmission gets above 55C (131F) it's getting back to normal. I'm going for 10k service soon so will see if the TSB will make a difference. I hope so...
 
#587 · (Edited)
Get a regional customer service manager involved. I completely bypassed the "resolution dept." even though I had one prior case and current case open. He was able to authorize a buy back almost right away, only took one phone conversation and the process started. I expressed my disgust for the jeep product and the entire customer service process. I even mentioned the fact that I had owned a WK for 6 years prior and that I thought I was doing the right thing trading up for a new model, etc...That actually seemed to go a long way surprisingly.

All the meanwhile my dealer was still trying to hunt down my electrical problems with STAR. Fast forward 2-3 weeks after initial contact with my rep, I get a call from the resolution rep that they found the cause to my problem and that my case was reviewed and denied for buy back!! LoL ... and that all they could for me was give my the number for an arbitrator (if I wanted to dispute their decision) and offer me money back for the 2+ months I haven't been able to drive my jeep. I basically hung up on them laughing. They had no clue I was already approved for a buy back and paper work has been flying.

Anyways get a region rep on the phone, they will review your case and get you out of your Jeep, I guarantee it!! If you go the legal route you will be out of the loop on everything happening and it will take a lot longer.

Keep all of your invoices together from the dealer so you can show the amount of attempts to fix your tranny. I went as far as making an excel sheet and documenting every conversation or communication I had with someone about my jeep, incase I forgot something that was said to me or if I needed contact info.

As of today my new 2015 Altitude is being delivered on Monday and should be ready by the end of the week.

Good Luck!


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#588 ·
^^^ I did the same thing, although I went through the owner of the dealership. I communicated almost daily and built my case. After two weeks, a buy back was the resolution.

Now that I'm having problems with my 2nd, I've already got the relationship built.


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#589 ·
I have the 2014 Overland V6 with 8300 miles. I began to notice that the transmission was jerking when slowing to a stop at around 5000 miles, especially when it downshifted into first gear. I read on CarComplaints.com that someone referenced bulletin" 21-012014 Rev. dated July 9, 2014. He had his Jeep updated in November and it appears to have solved his transmission problems. I am having my Jeep checked by the dealer this week and will let you know how it turns out.
 
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