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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
 
#354 ·
Totally agree about the cold shifting. I just use the paddle shifter to upshift for the first pass through the gears then go back to D. I consider this temporary while I wait for better software. It becomes second nature once you have comfort with the paddle shifter.


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#357 ·
Well, I have to say that my transmission is back to it's old self and dare I say even worse. Tried the battery, fuse and relearn procedure to no avail.

Even worse, I don't know if any of you have experience this, I was on a long stretch empty road one night and decided to try out the paddle shifts, when flooring it and shifting from 1st to 2nd, there was a terrible shift delay making me hit the redline. I have duplicated this 2 more times thinking it was a one time thing, has anyone else encountered this?

I have to make an appointment now with the dealership now to get the trans checked again, they give me a loaner car but I seriously have no time to be going to the dealer so often.
 
#358 ·
I have tested the paddle shifts many times. Not a problem here.

However, I have had so many issues and lost so much time with this Jeep - called my dealer and said I want to return it. I have had enough.
I will gladly trade for another Jeep with a later build, but this Lemon is driving me insane and makes me cry for the Money I spent!


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#359 ·
I have had a number of issues with the transmission, primarily with the shifting in and out of 1st and 2nd gears being rough. I finally convinced the dealer to take action and they replaced the SOP control valve. Since I've picked-up the car yesterday, the transmission has been running very smooth and what I anticipated when buying a $45K vehicle.

For anyone continuing to have issues with a rough transmission shifting (my build date was November '14), I suggest you get the dealer to replace the control valve, it has worked wonders so far.
 
#361 ·
I have asked my dealer's service people to check into it, so far what I hear is along the lines of "Chrysler say's this normal expected operation of the transmission currently and they are working on a fix". I don't care for the first part but if they are aware and working on another fix I hope it comes out soon. Since the warmer temps started my eco/normal shifting is still having issues though not as bad as winter/spring but I won't even try sport mode anymore after the last time.
 
#362 ·
Agree, transmission is a big problem especially when cold.
I also use the paddle shifter to upshift for the first pass through the gears then go back to D. I consider this temporary while I wait for better software. It becomes second nature once you have comfort with the paddle shifter.

When is Fiat/Chrysler/Jeep fixing this?
Pretty much decided that there will be no Fiat/Chrysler/Jeep in my future.
I'd rather get a VW, BMW, Mercedes even if it's a smaller vehicle, I'd rather drive refinement and quality and not cheap.
 
#364 ·
My 14 SRT, trans has been giving me some concern, seems to up shift just fine, but at times when it's down shifting, all at very low speeds, it feels almost like the brakes are dragging or being applied somehow,its hard to describe, like perhaps the trans can't make up its mind between two gears and kinda hangs between them.....weird sensation, I'm still not 100% sure if its a trans problem or perhaps a transfer case problem or even a brake problem.....as this is a new trans, 8 speed, with which I have no previous experience, perhaps it is operating as designed, but it sure feels different than any Auto trans I've ever driven in my long past
 
#367 ·
I have a 14 GC Limited (March build) and I've been noticing it more as it's slowly getting worse no matter which mode I drive in. Just hit 3k miles the other day and have an appt to take it in to the dealer Wednesday. They said they've been hearing more and more about the problem and said they were going to do a "relearn" and it would take half the day. I've heard of people going through this and having the shift quality improved greatly, but it doesn't last.
 
#368 ·
Thanks for the replies and comments, at least I now kinda know that what I was experiencing may be semi normal for this new 8 speed tranny, or we all may have a similar issue for Jeep to try and rectify......My vehicle seems to run and shift fine, other than that annoying, at least to me, feeling like the brakes are being applied when downshifting at low speeds, especially around the 5-4, 4-3 shifts....Sometimes its worse than others, and sometimes it almost seems to go away..... I currently have less than 2000 miles on my Jeep, so we shall see :)
 
#369 ·
I lease this jeep and besides the trans I love this thing. Its I believe the best looking SUV out there. I want to buy it once lease is up and to deal with the trans I will just buy the extended warranty. But I hope they figure it out soon.


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#370 ·
Recently traded in my '07 and purchased a Demo '14 Overland. I love the car so far with the exception of the Bass being kinda high (Im 25 and I know my ear drums arent completely gone yet), the seat taking some time getting used to and the transmission..

The 3-2-1 downshifting, especially in sport mode is rough..and very sdimilar to everyones experiences here..like the brakes arre coming on..almsot like downward hill decent. Mine has around 9,000 miles on it now and Im hoping we see a fix soon.

Also noted how quickly the thing shifts..Its definitely an eco mode thing but frankly im below 45 and the thing is in 7. Is that not weird? Especially on the highway and a situation arises where i need to pass quickly..Nevertheless im glad I have a full warranty+ a solid extension.
 
#371 · (Edited)
So I dropped my '14 GC Limited off at the closest dealer Wednesday and picked it up the same day. Long story short, they said what I was experiencing was normal. I told them I was feeling every downshift, enough to throw my body forward a bit (lots of engine braking and very annoying when trying to brake) and there's a 2-1 bump right before a dead stop. They had 2 techs and the service manager drive it (with some scanner hooked up) and their conclusion was that I'm just not used to driving the 8 speed. I was told they do have some customers with the 8 speed that have real harsh shifts, feeling like the tranny is going to fall out, and they have done relearns for those cases but my "problem" is expected. Luckily my daily drives are relatively short..

I'm just over 3100 miles and this has been very disappointing. This is my first Jeep purchase and no other vehicle really appeals to me as much....so I guess I have a "good" Jeep, just a bad taste in my mouth.
 
#372 ·
So I dropped my '14 Jeep Limited off at the closest dealer Wednesday and picked it up the same day. Long story short, they said what I was experiencing was normal. I told them I was feeling every downshift, enough to throw my body forward a bit (lots of engine braking and very annoying when trying to brake) and there's a 2-1 bump right before a dead stop. They had 2 techs and the service manager drive it (with some scanner hooked up) and their conclusion was that I'm just not used to driving the 8 speed. I was told they do have some customers with the 8 speed that have real harsh shifts, feeling like the tranny is going to fall out, and they have done relearns for those cases but my "problem" is expected. Luckily my daily drives are relatively short..

I'm just over 3100 miles and this has been very disappointing. This is my first Jeep purchase and no other vehicle really appeals to me as much....so I guess I have a "good" Jeep, just a bad taste in my mouth.
Have you had any of the transmission TSB's done? There have been 3 of them since early 2013.
 
#375 ·
I had some updates done 2 weeks ago, I'll look into the specifics, but the hard downshift at 3-2-1 is 99.99% gone.


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That's good to hear. I'll have to be stern with my dealer about getting the updates. Did they do the relearn procedure or a quick flash update? I'm not sure what's all involved in the relearn but the dealer said it takes most of the day to do when I dropped it off (before they drove it and said everything is "normal")
 
#379 ·
So I think my transmission is "out of sync". I still haven't brought her in to check up on the CEL. I can tell you that after they updated, on certain starts, there's a loud transmission clunk. Keep in mind this happens simply by starting the engine. I really hope Jeep gets this sorted out soon.


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#382 ·
I found a post from "GCLimited", He describes how he did a Battery disconnect, and how that improved his 8-Speed trans operation, the thread has responses from others who also tried it with positive results....So, still being very skeptical, I figured what the heck, it's easier than taking my Jeep back in for service at the Dealer...So I disconnected the batteries neg. terminal, at the battery itself, let the car sit for 30 minutes and reconnected the battery. I was not really expecting much, but wow, was I surprised. The first drive after doing this was entirely different. The car remained in 7th gear when going about 40 mph until I almost came to a stop...Before it would keep downshifting, as soon as my foot lifted from the gas pedal, and the car felt like the brakes were being applied between every downshift.... Now it feels more like all the other automatic transmission cars I have owned and driven....The thread seems to indicate, that this fix has been lasting for the people that have done it so far......We will see, but it has corrected my one biggest bitch about my new SRT....as a long time mechanic on cars, airplanes, boats and motorcycles, if someone had told me this in the past, I probably would have thought they were nuts, but really it has worked for my GC SRT, and I recommend anyone having 8-speed trans problems give this a try, it's simple, quick and painless...hardest part getting the battery clamp to come off, suggest a small screwdriver to gently spread the battery clamp just a little, so it will easily lift off.....anyway my thanks to GCLimited for his post, hope this works as well for others
 
#383 ·
As I posted a few weeks ago, anyone that has transmission problems should head to their dealer and demand an SOP control valve replacement. I tried the battery disconnect and various software updates w/ no luck. When they replaced the SOP control valve, they connected a laptop to the car to automate an accelerate the adaptive learn process. The dealer explained it that instead of the car learning your driving patterns over a few months, the computer runs through the process in a matter of 30 minutes. No idea if this is monkey business, but bottom line is that the trans operates seamless and now my car is running great, no harsh down or upshifts, even when cold.

Chrysler knows about the issue and seems to be trying to put a band-aid on the issue rather than solve the cause of the problem. Hope this helps everyone.
 
#384 ·
you need to clear the adaptives with the battery disconnect.

disconnect negative terminal
step on brake pedal or turn on headlights for 20-30 seconds. (of course you dont see anything happening since ground is undone but the idea is that capacitors and such have something like cache that needs to be emptied once in a while)
wait 30 minutes
reconnect negative terminal
 
#385 ·
I find it ridiculous that we have to do this these vehicles, this all should have been weeded out in testing. I had mine re flashed in April and is now worse than it was before with the hard down shifts/ not moving from a stop. All of this non sense makes me yearn for the 5 spd of the WK or WJ, it also makes me seriously rethink purchasing this vehicle after my lease is up. Sorry for the rant everyone.
 
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