Manual Transmission - Issues shifting into 1st & Reverse (Compilation thread)

[ajLEEP21]

If I recall correctly, yes there was a noise when I depressed the clutch but not very loud. I still continue to have a noise but much quieter.

Mine has a light squeaky sound when depressing the clutch. I’ve had it for a while even during the warranty period. The dealer didn’t find any issues.

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[bllprk]

Great info on this massive post.

Just wanted to add some quick info:

1. Installed CF2 Clutch myself, not knowing the importance of the spline / grease - 65,000 miles on jeep. Installed in May of 2023

2. July / August 2023 - Started to get difficult to shift into first. - Lots of attempts at bleeding.

3. Submerged jeep in mud in Sept 2023 - Filled clutch with mud.

4. Pulled clutch - cleaned - new throwout - worked amazing. Early November. Only put back together because I was waiting for CF's Internal system to ship.

5. Late November 2023 - Installed Internal Slave, New clutch and New clutch plate. 75,000 miles

6. Its now Feb 2025 - 94,000 miles. Its happening again. Hard to get into 1st and a new issue where it gets stuck in 1 or R after I turn off the jeep and let it sit in gear (parking). When you start the jeep again, its hard to get it out of gear.

I did take the jeep thru water a few times in October - so maybe I caused it, but...

The best I was able to do, was 20,000 miles before that spline got gummed up again. I'll open it up, clean it, and try again. Wish there was a way to run a camera up there and spray some brake cleaner on it....

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

Hard to get into 1st and a new issue where it gets stuck in 1 or R after I turn off the jeep and let it sit in gear (parking). When you start the jeep again, its hard to get it out of gear.

This is my only symptom (ACT), and so far only three times in 14,000 miles. It happens exactly as you said - park in gear and let it sit. Perfectly flat lots. Weird.

 

[bllprk]

This is my only symptom (ACT), and so far only three times in 14,000 miles. It happens exactly as you said - park in gear and let it sit. Perfectly flat lots. Weird.

I think if you shift out of gear before you start the Jeep, then it does not stick. Or put it in 2nd when you park…

Also, my hard going into 1st issue is worse when the engine is really hot. I idled for an hour and it was really bad.

Wondering if taking a wire brush to the female spine of the clutch plate may give it a bit more wiggle room?

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

I think if you shift out of gear before you start the Jeep, then it does not stick. Or put it in 2nd when you park…

Also, my hard going into 1st issue is worse when the engine is really hot. I idled for an hour and it was really bad.

Wondering if taking a wire brush to the female spine of the clutch plate may give it a bit more wiggle room?

Good idea parking in 2nd or killing engine in neutral then putting in gear.

Agree heat is a factor.

 

[luishasmail]

Throwing in my experience here as some more data:

ACT Clutch Install - 16,000ish miles
Installed the ACT Clutch with the pro mass flywheel in my garage at about 16,000 miles. I used the ACT grease that came with the clutch kit. I feel like I didn't use a ton of grease but maybe more than I should have? I did not replace the clutch fork or pivot ball. Only real issue after the install was some vibration when revving the engine hard with the clutch depressed. Otherwise everything was good.

Occasional problems getting into first - 30,000ish miles
Around 30,000ish miles I started having the occasional resistance getting into first as well as the occasional problem getting out of first or reverse. These problems were rare and inconsistent and so I moved on. I do feel like shifts got slightly harder as time went on.

Towing a friend off a trail - 38,000ish miles
In September of 2024 I towed my buddy off a trail and the next day I started having a lot of the symptoms in this thread. The Jeep would be picky about going into first, reverse, or second, and would feel like I was hitting a wall when trying to shift. My brake fluid went from clear to super dark on this trip and I know for a fact that things got super hot. We flushed the fluid after this trip.

Problem gets worse - 39,000ish miles
As time went on the problem got worse, eventually it wouldn't want to go into most gears and I got in the habit of hitting 4th before going into 1st or reverse. Occasionally the Jeep would be stuck in first or reverse and I'd need to creep a little bit to get out of gear. On some days the problem just wasn't there. Sometimes some of the gears (especially 3rd) would feel super notchy going in.

Attempt to fix the problem myself - 39,500ish miles
I tried bleeding the hydraulics myself, the problem briefly got better and then came back. I replaced the slave cylinder and the problem got better, and then came back. I took the Jeep to a shop and had them replace the master cylinder and the line between the two cylinders, and the problem came back. I went to a transmission shop and they replaced the master cylinder again and the problem came back.

Each time the problem came back within a few dozen miles, very similar to everyone else's experience in this thread. I never experienced the Jeep creeping with the clutch pressed in. I'm almost at 40,000 miles now and I'm debating whether to take it to a shop and have them pull the transmission to take a look or to pull the transmission myself and see if I can make sense of what's going on. I will post updates, but feedback or advice is welcome and appreciated.

A fun side note, when the first set of batteries on my Jeep started to die (about 22,000 miles), it glitched out and gave me the money shift warning on the dash and prevented me from going into first even if I was at a stop. I replaced the batteries and the problem went away completely so maybe the shop that recommended replacing the batteries wasn't completely out of their minds.

Also for those of you that are mechanically inclined: I have lots of photos from my install of the clutch. I am attaching a borescope photo of the grease on the shaft but have many more (including some before I closed up the bell housing) if people are interested.

Lastly, I didn't mention this because I felt it was implied but I have bled the hydraulics several times during all of this and like many others in this thread had the problem get better and then quickly get worse afterwards.

 

[ajLEEP21]

Throwing in my experience here as some more data:

ACT Clutch Install - 16,000ish miles
Installed the ACT Clutch with the pro mass flywheel in my garage at about 16,000 miles. I used the ACT grease that came with the clutch kit. I feel like I didn't use a ton of grease but maybe more than I should have? I did not replace the clutch fork or pivot ball. Only real issue after the install was some vibration when revving the engine hard with the clutch depressed. Otherwise everything was good.

Occasional problems getting into first - 30,000ish miles
Around 30,000ish miles I started having the occasional resistance getting into first as well as the occasional problem getting out of first or reverse. These problems were rare and inconsistent and so I moved on. I do feel like shifts got slightly harder as time went on.

Towing a friend off a trail - 38,000ish miles
In September of 2024 I towed my buddy off a trail and the next day I started having a lot of the symptoms in this thread. The Jeep would be picky about going into first, reverse, or second, and would feel like I was hitting a wall when trying to shift. My brake fluid went from clear to super dark on this trip and I know for a fact that things got super hot. We flushed the fluid after this trip.

Problem gets worse - 39,000ish miles
As time went on the problem got worse, eventually it wouldn't want to go into most gears and I got in the habit of hitting 4th before going into 1st or reverse. Occasionally the Jeep would be stuck in first or reverse and I'd need to creep a little bit to get out of gear. On some days the problem just wasn't there. Sometimes some of the gears (especially 3rd) would feel super notchy going in.

Attempt to fix the problem myself - 39,500ish miles
I tried bleeding the hydraulics myself, the problem briefly got better and then came back. I replaced the slave cylinder and the problem got better, and then came back. I took the Jeep to a shop and had them replace the master cylinder and the line between the two cylinders, and the problem came back. I went to a transmission shop and they replaced the master cylinder again and the problem came back.

Each time the problem came back within a few dozen miles, very similar to everyone else's experience in this thread. I never experienced the Jeep creeping with the clutch pressed in. I'm almost at 40,000 miles now and I'm debating whether to take it to a shop and have them pull the transmission to take a look or to pull the transmission myself and see if I can make sense of what's going on. I will post updates, but feedback or advice is welcome and appreciated.

A fun side note, when the first set of batteries on my Jeep started to die (about 22,000 miles), it glitched out and gave me the money shift warning on the dash and prevented me from going into first even if I was at a stop. I replaced the batteries and the problem went away completely so maybe the shop that recommended replacing the batteries wasn't completely out of their minds.

Also for those of you that are mechanically inclined: I have lots of photos from my install of the clutch. I am attaching a borescope photo of the grease on the shaft but have many more (including some before I closed up the bell housing) if people are interested.

Lastly, I didn't mention this because I felt it was implied but I have bled the hydraulics several times during all of this and like many others in this thread had the problem get better and then quickly get worse afterwards.

Thanks for posting this. I have about 16k miles on my ACT. 71k miles on the JL. I’ve experienced the creep twice and it’s no fun. My symptoms are a hit/miss but notice that they seem to happen when the tranny’s warm from extended use (daily driving). The clutch pedal gets softer and the clutch doesn’t engage very well. IMO it’s heat related. Maybe it’s a temperature/software thing since the CPU warns of tranny temps? Ever try measure the tranny temp/fluid to see if it happens then?

 

[SadRobot]

Throwing in my experience here as some more data:

ACT Clutch Install - 16,000ish miles
Installed the ACT Clutch with the pro mass flywheel in my garage at about 16,000 miles. I used the ACT grease that came with the clutch kit. I feel like I didn't use a ton of grease but maybe more than I should have? I did not replace the clutch fork or pivot ball. Only real issue after the install was some vibration when revving the engine hard with the clutch depressed. Otherwise everything was good.

Occasional problems getting into first - 30,000ish miles
Around 30,000ish miles I started having the occasional resistance getting into first as well as the occasional problem getting out of first or reverse. These problems were rare and inconsistent and so I moved on. I do feel like shifts got slightly harder as time went on.

Towing a friend off a trail - 38,000ish miles
In September of 2024 I towed my buddy off a trail and the next day I started having a lot of the symptoms in this thread. The Jeep would be picky about going into first, reverse, or second, and would feel like I was hitting a wall when trying to shift. My brake fluid went from clear to super dark on this trip and I know for a fact that things got super hot. We flushed the fluid after this trip.

Problem gets worse - 39,000ish miles
As time went on the problem got worse, eventually it wouldn't want to go into most gears and I got in the habit of hitting 4th before going into 1st or reverse. Occasionally the Jeep would be stuck in first or reverse and I'd need to creep a little bit to get out of gear. On some days the problem just wasn't there. Sometimes some of the gears (especially 3rd) would feel super notchy going in.

Attempt to fix the problem myself - 39,500ish miles
I tried bleeding the hydraulics myself, the problem briefly got better and then came back. I replaced the slave cylinder and the problem got better, and then came back. I took the Jeep to a shop and had them replace the master cylinder and the line between the two cylinders, and the problem came back. I went to a transmission shop and they replaced the master cylinder again and the problem came back.

Each time the problem came back within a few dozen miles, very similar to everyone else's experience in this thread. I never experienced the Jeep creeping with the clutch pressed in. I'm almost at 40,000 miles now and I'm debating whether to take it to a shop and have them pull the transmission to take a look or to pull the transmission myself and see if I can make sense of what's going on. I will post updates, but feedback or advice is welcome and appreciated.

A fun side note, when the first set of batteries on my Jeep started to die (about 22,000 miles), it glitched out and gave me the money shift warning on the dash and prevented me from going into first even if I was at a stop. I replaced the batteries and the problem went away completely so maybe the shop that recommended replacing the batteries wasn't completely out of their minds.

Also for those of you that are mechanically inclined: I have lots of photos from my install of the clutch. I am attaching a borescope photo of the grease on the shaft but have many more (including some before I closed up the bell housing) if people are interested.

Lastly, I didn't mention this because I felt it was implied but I have bled the hydraulics several times during all of this and like many others in this thread had the problem get better and then quickly get worse afterwards.

Sounds like you're going to have to open it up and see what is going on in there. That's a bummer but may be your only way of getting answers. I have about 3500 miles since the right grease was applied and mine is still shifting normally. I'd be curious if maybe there is rust in the hub on the disc. Whatever it is something seems to be preventing the disc from sliding properly. Please keep us posted what you discover.

 

[toothirtyj]

Sounds like you're going to have to open it up and see what is going on in there. That's a bummer but may be your only way of getting answers. I have about 3500 miles since the right grease was applied and mine is still shifting normally. I'd be curious if maybe there is rust in the hub on the disc. Whatever it is something seems to be preventing the disc from sliding properly. Please keep us posted what you discover.

Any idea how much of the purple grease they used? I'm experiencing this issue and used the purple grease, but only a very light coating you can see in the picture below:

 

[SadRobot]

Any idea how much of the purple grease they used? I'm experiencing this issue and used the purple grease, but only a very light coating you can see in the picture below:

I believe they used all the grease that was in the tiny packet.

 

[gek]

Any idea how much of the purple grease they used? I'm experiencing this issue and used the purple grease, but only a very light coating you can see in the picture below:

I followed what they did in the video, but I coated the shaft with a thin layer before putting the lever and bearing on.

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[AVGeek99]

I had a CFII installed about 2.5 yrs ago (~44k miles). Over the first couple years I very intermittently had issues described in this thread; difficulty shifting into 1st/Rev, and/or trouble getting out of 1st/Rev. This would happen for a day or two every 4-6 months and then be fine.

Not long before this thread started the issues started happening more regularly and now it's everytime I drive my Jeep; and 3rd and 5th are also have a notchy feeling. For the most part my issues are very similar to what has been described in this thread, with some slight variations. Here's what I've experienced over the last several months.

• I regularly have difficutly getting out of 1st/Rev immediately after starting my Jeep when it was parked in 1st/Rev. To avoid this I am trying to get in the habit of pulling it out of gear prior to starting.
• While at a complete stop of more than a few seconds, I am virtually locked out of 1st, 2nd, and Rev when I try to go directly into one of those gears. To avoid this I am now pretty much in the habit of always going into 4th first, and then it slides right into what ever gear I need. This is what I have to do when stopped at a light.
• When approching stop signs I put it in first as I'm slowly rolling up to the stop sign. When I do this it goes into right into 1st with very little effort.
• 3rd and 5th are getting notchy primarily if I'm accelerating. To minimize the notchyness I've been very deliberate about how I shift. I shift straight up to Neutral, let the stick go a split second for it to center, then I push it straight up into 3rd, or when shifting to 5th, I push the stick all the way to the right and then straight up. This shifting action mostly eliminates the notchyness and it's easier to get in to 3rd/5th on the first attempt.
  • On every other stick I've owned, and on my JL until I started having problems, when shifting to 3rd or 5th I've always just pushed the stick at angle up and to the right and never had issues
• One thing that seems very different for me is that all of the issues described above are worse when the engine is cold. As it warms up the issues still persist, but not nearly as bad. I half wonder if this is becuase we've had a pretty normal (i.e. cold) winter in MN, so when my Jeep has been parked for hours, it is cold cold. And because of the cold my Jeep has stayed in the lower end of the normal range (190-200), so maybe it hasn't gotten hot enough to where the issue get's worse?

Other than the work arounds described above I've not done anything to actually fix the issues. I've had no issues with how my pedal feels so I don't think I have an issue with the hydraulics. Spring has finally arived so I'm hoping my issues subside a bit. For the time being I'm content with my work arounds as long as the issues don't get worse. But it is definitely making me wish I had an automatic.

 

[luishasmail]

Thanks for posting this. I have about 16k miles on my ACT. 71k miles on the JL. I’ve experienced the creep twice and it’s no fun. My symptoms are a hit/miss but notice that they seem to happen when the tranny’s warm from extended use (daily driving). The clutch pedal gets softer and the clutch doesn’t engage very well. IMO it’s heat related. Maybe it’s a temperature/software thing since the CPU warns of tranny temps? Ever try measure the tranny temp/fluid to see if it happens then?

I have not tried to measure the temperature but that's a good idea and would be a worthwhile experiment. My experience with temperature has been all over the place. The problem doesn't seem to correlate with ambient temperature - I've had problems when it's below freezing and when it's quite warm out. However, I do feel that the problem gets much worse as the drivetrain gets warmer. I seem to have more and more problems with shifts as my drive goes on.

Sounds like you're going to have to open it up and see what is going on in there. That's a bummer but may be your only way of getting answers. I have about 3500 miles since the right grease was applied and mine is still shifting normally. I'd be curious if maybe there is rust in the hub on the disc. Whatever it is something seems to be preventing the disc from sliding properly. Please keep us posted what you discover.

Will do. I've scheduled an appointment with the transmission shop on Monday and will be bringing some of the information I've learned in this thread. I'm going to ask them if they're willing to take some photos too.

 

[LatteSipper]

Other than the work arounds described above I've not done anything to actually fix the issues. I've had no issues with how my pedal feels so I don't think I have an issue with the hydraulics. Spring has finally arived so I'm hoping my issues subside a bit. For the time being I'm content with my work arounds as long as the issues don't get worse. But it is definitely making me wish I had an automatic.

This is where I'm at, with my ACT. I don't think my symptoms are as bad, and on the days there are no issues it is mint. There's no issues with my pedal, so I don't want to F with it, so I shift more deliberately and work around the quirkiness, but at this point I wish I had the 8spd.

 

[toothirtyj]

I didn't see it in this thread but has anyone tried to track the iterations of clutch slave cylinder revisions?

The newest revision of slave cylinder seems to be "04581906AC"

The part number is etched into the driver side of the slave cylinder and visible from under the Jeep with some careful phone camera placement around the exhaust/front driveshaft.

My '21, manufactured on 07/2021, still has the OEM equipped slave cylinder with part number "04581906AB" .

After my ACT installation, the shifting issue is ever-so-slightly getting worse and worse. I only used the purple grease supplied in the ACT kit on the input shaft and my clutch hydraulics do not appear to be leaking anywhere. I have not tried a re-bleed yet, mostly for fear of making things worse.

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Can we try to figure out when the OEM slave cylinder update occurred and if the shifting issues are limited to one OEM part number?

- What month/year was your JL manufactured (find on driver's door on long silver sticker w/ VIN)?

- If you can confidently say what part number slave cylinder your JL was originally equipped with, what is/was the part number?

- Do you have a new clutch, if so what brand/part #?

- Was your original OEM slave cylinder kept with the new clutch, or replaced with a new OEM slave cylinder during clutch replacement?

- Has the clutch hydraulic system been broken open (for bleeding, line/part replacement, leaks, etc)?

- If the clutch hydraulic system has been broken open, are you confident it has been properly bled and returned to factory spec?

- Do you currently have any of the previously described shifting issues?

- If "YES", to what degree ("noticable", "aggravated", "undriveable") of shifting issues are you experiencing based on what others have described?

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2021 Original OEM Post-ACT Slave Cylinder "04581906AB"

Current OEM Slave Cylinder "04581906AC"

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