Help?! 2020 JLU Fishtailed and Rolled From Potential Clutch and ABS System Failure

[coldstart]

Let's see if @JeepCares holds this dealer accountable. Jeep needs to have a periodic audit of all dealers, technician training and certification program. Most of these dealer owners don't care about anything but money. Vehicles aren't their passion, just a revenue stream.

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[SlowPoke21]

That is scary. I’m glad you are ok.

flipped that bad boy over on all fours and drove it home 2hrs.

 

[Chupacabra]

Interesting, mine is very stiff.

As is mine. It takes a fair amount of grunt to get it into 4H. Going back to 2H is pretty easy but moving it into 4H takes some doing. I tried a few others when I bought it and they were all this way.

 

[Chupacabra]

Yes, based on the manual and my understanding is that 4WD (High) can be engaged at speeds up to 55MPH. 4WD Low however is MUCH different, you need to be in neutral when transitioning in and out and and be rolling/moving very slowly (<25 MPH) you need to take care not to shift too quickly while you're doing it.

Ummm, I think you dropped a decimal point there? It's more like <2.5 MPH to shift into 4L, not 25MPH.

 

[roaniecowpony]

As is mine. It takes a fair amount of grunt to get it into 4H. Going back to 2H is pretty easy but moving it into 4H takes some doing. I tried a few others when I bought it and they were all this way.

While mine is a 2018, taken delivery in December 2018, it only has about 14000 miles on it and only one trip where it was off-roaded for a week. It's not smooth to shift to 4HI or other drive selections, but it's getting better quickly. Recently, I started pulling it into 4HI while at stoplights in traffic. I shift the auto trans into neutral first, then pull it into and out of 4HI a couple times. It has really loosened up very quickly after starting this.

 

[JDJeep85]

Yes, based on the manual and my understanding is that 4WD (High) can be engaged at speeds up to 55MPH. 4WD Low however is MUCH different, you need to be in neutral when transitioning in and out and and be rolling/moving very slowly (<25 MPH) you need to take care not to shift too quickly while you're doing it.

For further clarity, since someone else asked, in 4WL you need to be rolling during the transition (like 2-3MPH), and it's not recommended to travel faster than 25MPH while in that gear, which is what I meant here, but again, I was not using 4WL at all during this time.

 

[JDJeep85]

Ummm, I think you dropped a decimal point there? It's more like <2.5 MPH to shift into 4L, not 25MPH.

I made sure my post was more clear just now with a reply, but what I was trying to convey in that post was that you need to be rolling during the transition (2-3 MPH) and you can't be traveling more that 25MPH while in that gear, but again, I was not using 4WL at all during this time , just trying to point out the different between the gears for the poster who asked.

 

[JDJeep85]

Depending on how you want this to go down, you might consider hiring a professional accident investigator or even a product liability attorney, before you take the Jeep into a dealer. If you take it to the dealer, they will likely clear all the recorded accident data, if any still exists. Also, your insurance may likely attribute the accident to you and raise your rates. Something to think about.

Oh that's interesting, I had not thought of that, thanks for the idea.

 

[JDJeep85]

No offense but this is another reason why I like the good old fashioned manual transmission. Step on that left pedal and the drivetrain is disengaged.

No offense taken, everyone has a preference

 

[JayJay]

Interesting, mine is very stiff.

Bunches of them are. Enough that there's a multi page thread about it. Most folks in that thread say that it's normal and will loosen up with use. Mine is 9 months old and still tight as heck.

 

[JDJeep85]

Let's see if @JeepCares holds this dealer accountable. Jeep needs to have a periodic audit of all dealers, technician training and certification program. Most of these dealer owners don't care about anything but money. Vehicles aren't their passion, just a revenue stream.

Thanks for all the ideas, support and suggestions. The part that sucks is that I LOVE my Jeep so much, when I got it I was like, OH MAN I have been doing cars wrong my whole life! Right after I got it I even took a 1:1 vehicle off-road safety class up here in WA to learn as much about as I could.

Now I just feel, to be honest, pretty scared. I'm worried something is wrong with it that won't be addressed properly (b/c of what happened when I brought it in to the dealer the first time). And something like this could happen again down the line .

 

[calemasters]

Yesterday I was driving the same drive back up to the mountain, the roads had a pretty mild amount of snow/slush mix so I decided to turn on my 4WD High. The second I shifted the transfer case it felt like my wheels locked up and the Jeep started to fishtail wildly. I tried to mange the movement but couldn't control it. The jeep bounced softly into the snow bank on the right shoulder and the my Willy's ROLLED onto the drivers side and I quickly climbed out. No glass broke, no airbags deployed, no injuries to me or anyone else (that's the good news).

The bad news is....WTF just happened?

During your transfer case shift from two wheel high into four wheel high, were you on the throttle or on the brakes? I am not sure what happens if the rear driveshaft speed is different than the front driveshaft speed while shifting from 2WH to 4WH since in 4WH both driveshafts have to rotate at the same speed.

Sometimes I wish my Rubicon had the full time automatic Selec-Trac® transfer case instead of the Rock-Trac NV241.

 

[JDJeep85]

I’ve shifted all of my 4x4s, including my current Jeep, into 4hi at speeds up to 60 MPH. I’ve never had an issue.

You will want those codes from the airbag control module. That is where the crash event codes are stored. Since you said it happened at a near stop, it may not have triggered an event.

Yeah given the slow speed of the tip over

Did you test out the 4wd after the dealer gave it back to you? The concerning thing to me is the noise when you got the codes the first time. But then again, transfer cases are noisy. But I'd love to know their test drive protocol. Sounds like they just didn't look very hard at it.

The stiffness of the shifter is normal in the JL. Every one I know with a JL has said something about that. Mine is 3 years old and has been in and out of 4wd many many times and while it has eased up a bit, it is still very stiff compared to my JK.

Did you get any pics of the skid marks in the snow leading up to where it rolled?

I'm really sorry to see that happen to you. It is good though that you are fine and it didn't cause more damage.

Thanks for the support. No I don't have any pictures of the road area, it was an active lane of traffic so cars were driving through the area the whole time.

This is what the invoice said about how they tested the 4WD system when I first brought it to them 3 weeks ago (plus the code information from the original post):

"during my test drive i
shifted from 4h to 4L and the check engine light never came on.
shifting from 4L back to 4H the check engine light never came on during
the test drive. shifted both directions 3 times with the same result no
check engine light coming on. test drive verified that the vehicle is operating as designed"

 

[JDJeep85]

During your transfer case shift from two wheel high into four wheel high, were you on the throttle or on the brakes? I am not sure what happens if the rear driveshaft speed is different than the front driveshaft speed while shifting from 2WH to 4WH since in 4WH both driveshafts have to rotate at the same speed.

Sometimes I wish my Rubicon had the full time automatic Selec-Trac® transfer case.

I wasn't doing anything weird when transitioning, I used it exactly as intended and how I've used other part-time 4X4 systems.

 

[calemasters]

I wasn't doing anything weird when transitioning, I used it exactly as intended and how I've used other part-time 4X4 systems.

If it fishtailed when entering 4WH, both rear wheels must have been sliding.

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