No wheel spin in 4-Low?

[Jaym]

I was in relatively deep snow today, on a slight incline and was trying to move forward. I knew I needed some wheel spin because it was fairly steep and regular 4 high wasn’t cutting it. I turned off ESC by pressing and holding the button for 5 seconds and made the attempt again. No dice. I mean, I could have made it happen but I wanted to try out the different modes since I was in a safe spot to do it.

I thought I’d change into 4-low—as the manual says to in deep snow—and I could NOT get the wheels to spin fast. They were just barely spinning and would start to go fast then slow down again. It was just like the throttle reduction was activating but from what I remember from my JK, this should not be active on 4low. I gave it a bit more throttle and engaged the rear locker, still, no fast wheel spin on the rear tire. It was looking like it was moving at an idle speed. I didn’t do this for more than a moment and I started smelling burning.

What happened?
I could NOT get out in 4 low. I had to go back to 4 high and disable ESC to get enough movement to make progress.

I never had any issue on this type of terrain in my JK in 4low.

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[Shenanigans]

Was your jk a rubicon? Might try 4 low and 3rd or 4th gear. 1st and 2nd gear are too low. 4 low and first gear in a rubicon isn’t going to get much wheel speed because of the low gearing.

 

[Jaym]

Yeah, I had a 16 Rubicon. I tried it in D and also in D1. It was barely moving forward. It when started bucking. I did HEAR the fans or maybe the transmission and that was right before I noticed the smell, so I immediately cut back on throttle. 4 high was fine and got me out.

 

[mwilk012]

You can manually put the auto transmission in 3rd gear at a standstill for some extra speed.

 

[Jaym]

I’m planning on going to the same spot tomorrow to test.
The engine RPMs were not close to red lining even in first or second. I’ll try 3rd gear manually and report back.

 

[Shenanigans]

Did you ever make it back out there and try it again?

I had a weird issue this last weekend with mine in 1st gear. Lost almost all power. I was in the middle of a water crossing and felt a huge cut in power. With very little traction In a river on granite rocks, I couldnt get the wheels to spin at all. I thought I lost all engine power but realized it was still idling. This was first gear 4 low (4:1). I put it in reverse and had limited power and was able to get myself back out.

I’ve been rock crawling with jeeps for 15 years. This isn’t a user error issue. I’ve had to really watch my gauges in this JL because it is so quiet.

I was able to manage the rest of the trail on the way out as I needed very little throttle input.

I got it home and put it back in low range. Found out I have a very poor throttle response in 4 low throughout the midrange. From just off idle to WOT. The throttle is essentially an on/off switch. This strikes me as weird as well because I was standing on the throttle in the water crossing with nothing happening. The erratic behavior and intermittent issue is concerning. The other difficult part is going to be replicating this issue for the service guys.

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