Unlimited Rubicon JL Manual 3rd gear rattle

[DanW]

There's the old trick I used with my service manager when I had a TJ and they declared a noise "normal":

Tell them to pick their choice of another manual JL on the lot, and tell him and the dealer management that if it's "normal" the new one will do it too, and if it doesn't you want to swap for the new one for free. Both can come with you to test drive both your vehicles.

It's amazing how many "normal" issues I had turned out not to be when management was given that option.

Finding another manual is the problem. He may need someone on the forum with one who lives nearby. OP, where are you located?

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[wahlsaint]

Finding another manual is the problem. He may need someone on the forum with one who lives nearby. OP, where are you located?

Looks like Krazysphere ... hey, don't we all live near there?!?

 

[JeepCares]

Hello Guys,

I just finally got my Rubicon JL, and straight away I noticed something that bothers me a little.

I have to say it is the first Wrangler for me, so I don't know how usual/unusual that is, but I saw some posts on the internet about people having that issue quite back on the JK generations too.

Let's say I am driving on 3rd gear in the lower RPMs and I decide to accelerate. All of a sudden there is this noise and I don't know if rattling is the right description, some people describe it as kicking noise as well, but it sounds like one metal on the other. So it happens at the beginning of the acceleration and then the car accelerates just fine. If I decide to suddenly interrupt the acceleration or decelerate the noise appears again short and the cars decelerate as expected.

That is on 2H, without any differential locks or sway disconnect.

Some people on the internet suggest it might be the transfer case.

I will be making more tests tomorrow, to see where exactly the noise comes from, but any ideas or suggestions are highly appreciated.

~Cheers~

Hi jeronimo,

We can certainly get a case created and escalate to a Case Specialist for further handling. That way this can be formally documented and get a second set of hands to look more into this with the dealer. We're available via direct message if this is of interest.

Jasmine
Jeep Social Care Specialist

 

[LABLUE]

Hello guys, I just took a ride with a mounted mic next to the engine and here is what it sounds like:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApTrB9gODPZ-gTRyRryLj58sV36J

It definitely doesn't sound right to me. Ideas?

That noise doesnt sound normal by any means. Contact FCA/Jeep and start a case. Now you have another person helping you get it taken care of. If that dealer can't get it handled/fixed then they will route you to a dealer that can fix it.

 

[jeronimo]

Finding another manual is the problem. He may need someone on the forum with one who lives nearby. OP, where are you located?

I am located in Oakland, CA very close to Berkeley. Anyone with manual in the same area? Looks like the dealer doesn't have any manual JLs based on their web inventory. I found two other dealers who have a manual, but it's the Unlimited Sport or Sport S. No manual Rubicon's around here.

 

[DanW]

I am located in Oakland, CA very close to Berkeley. Anyone with manual in the same area? Looks like the dealer doesn't have any manual JLs based on their web inventory. I found two other dealers who have a manual, but it's the Unlimited Sport or Sport S. No manual Rubicon's around here.

I'd go ahead and talk to them. The transmission and clutch are the same, as are the gear ratios. The only difference would be the axle ratio. My money says they won't make the same noise.

 

[jeronimo]

Hello guys, I just took a ride with a mounted mic next to the engine and here is what it sounds like:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApTrB9gODPZ-gTRyRryLj58sV36J

It definitely doesn't sound right to me. Ideas?

You can hear the clicking noise at the following time on the recording: 10,15,18,22,27,32,38,41,44,48,55,1:04,1:07

I went further and investigated doing the following:

1) When parked in neutral gear I forced the engine with the gas pedal and I can hear a noise that was like a sound from the air intake. The noise isn't the same noise that I am complaining about and is quieter and you can not hear it that much while driving. You hear it if you think of it let's say.

2) I did put the car on handbrake and tried moving forward on first gear and moving backwards in reverse while handbrake is engaged to see if it is something from the transfer case or the differentials. There was no noise coming out while performing this test rather than normal.

3) I did drive the car again and I could hear the noise which I am complaining about again it comes at the same time while intake takes air but it is a noise of metal to metal clicking or tacking if you will.

4) I found a dealer who had JLU Sport with 6 gear manual. As @DanW mentioned clutch, gearbox and ratios are the same and since I already tested differentials and transfer case I decided to see how that one goes. Well, I was surprised to see that on a brand new JLU Sport S, same manual transmission you can hear the same thing happening. It had only 6 miles on it.

So far that's pretty much what I discovered. I don't know what exactly it is, but it sounds either like the gearbox itself or a clutch to me.

I will be checking exhaust next and see if there might be a place where it touches the chassis and also rests for the engine (sorry I am unsure how these are called in English, anyone? I am talking about the rubber things that the engine rests on?) Both of these options though are unlikely the cause of the noise as it sounds more like solid metal to metal and is pointing towards the gearbox.

One important thing while diagnosing the issue is that when you press gas while the clutch is also slightly pressed the motor becomes more dynamic in the way that it produces more power. That creates more torque to the chassis. I think somehow this torque is related to the sound I hear during sudden acceleration.

Lastly, I don't know if this is by design or not, but honestly speaking if the gearbox makes such a noise, for me that's not perfectly designed gearbox.

Just my fifty cents and my update on dealing with that issue.

I am a first-time Wrangler owner after all and I would appreciate any of your comments on this issue.

I will test drive the second manual tomorrow just to confirm the result.

All the best and cheers, and thank you all of you who are taking part in this discussion!

~Cheers~

 

[TJ01]

You can hear the clicking noise at the following time on the recording: 10,15,18,22,27,32,38,41,44,48,55,1:04,1:07

I went further and investigated doing the following:

1) When parked in neutral gear I forced the engine with the gas pedal and I can hear a noise that was like a sound from the air intake. The noise isn't the same noise that I am complaining about and is quieter and you can not hear it that much while driving. You hear it if you think of it let's say.

2) I did put the car on handbrake and tried moving forward on first gear and moving backwards in reverse while handbrake is engaged to see if it is something from the transfer case or the differentials. There was no noise coming out while performing this test rather than normal.

3) I did drive the car again and I could hear the noise which I am complaining about again it comes at the same time while intake takes air but it is a noise of metal to metal clicking or tacking if you will.

4) I found a dealer who had JLU Sport with 6 gear manual. As @DanW mentioned clutch, gearbox and ratios are the same and since I already tested differentials and transfer case I decided to see how that one goes. Well, I was surprised to see that on a brand new JLU Sport S, same manual transmission you can hear the same thing happening. It had only 6 miles on it.

So far that's pretty much what I discovered. I don't know what exactly it is, but it sounds either like the gearbox itself or a clutch to me.

I will be checking exhaust next and see if there might be a place where it touches the chassis and also rests for the engine (sorry I am unsure how these are called in English, anyone? I am talking about the rubber things that the engine rests on?) Both of these options though are unlikely the cause of the noise as it sounds more like solid metal to metal and is pointing towards the gearbox.

One important thing while diagnosing the issue is that when you press gas while the clutch is also slightly pressed the motor becomes more dynamic in the way that it produces more power. That creates more torque to the chassis. I think somehow this torque is related to the sound I hear during sudden acceleration.

Lastly, I don't know if this is by design or not, but honestly speaking if the gearbox makes such a noise, for me that's not perfectly designed gearbox.

Just my fifty cents and my update on dealing with that issue.

I am a first-time Wrangler owner after all and I would appreciate any of your comments on this issue.

I will test drive the second manual tomorrow just to confirm the result.

All the best and cheers, and thank you all of you who are taking part in this discussion!

~Cheers~

Still doesn’t seem right or sound right.

 

[TJ01]

I keep getting a weird grind when shifting to 3rd when trying to get on the highway from on ramp. accelerating pretty good to get up with traffic every blue moon. Like maybe a synchronizer. Keep thinking to my self am i doing something? Have had standards for years but sport cars and diesel dually. Any input from yall would be great.

 

[jeronimo]

Update April 24th 2018:

I did purchase Bluetooth Chassis Ear by SteelmanPRO. I did couple of rides, with remote sensors mounted at different locations:

1) Rear Differential
2) Front Differential
3) Transfer Case - R side
4) Transfer Case - L side
5) Gearbox - R side
6) Gearbox - L side
7) Clutch - R side
8) Clutch - L side
9) Engine to clutch - R side
10) Engine to clutch - L side
11) Engine - R side
12) Engine - L side
13) Engine Exhaust Link - R side
14) Engine Exhaust Link - L side
15) Engine rest - R side
16) Engine rest - L side

After some analysis of the audio recordings I can say I can hear the noise in the area of Clutch/Gearbox/T-case. I did listen to the recordings for couple of times each and to my ear it sounds like the noise is more pronounced in the T-case.

You can browse the chassis ear recordings here if you are curious to listen by yourself: https://1drv.ms/f/s!ApTrB9gODPZ-gTIE3b63p78Z7yaV

Please share any thoughts.

 

[DanW]

What a great device! How much did that set you back, if you don't mind me asking? I've got a couple rattles I've been chasing on my JK for several years!

 

[jeronimo]

What a great device! How much did that set you back, if you don't mind me asking? I've got a couple rattles I've been chasing on my JK for several years!

I paid $360 before tax for the STEELMAN PRO 78684 Bluetooth ChassisEAR Kit. This is a set of 4 Bluetooth sensors which you can use on 4 clams or you can also use a sound probe with one of the sensors to pinpoint locations when on a static run of the engine.

To answer your question would be very difficult.

It took me nearly 4 hours to make that work:

1) The device comes with a BT transceiver for which you need to install drivers that come from the SteelmanPRO website.
2) After you install the software it asks for updates and after it updates it becomes unlicensed and a trial is notifying about a 2M limit for the transceiver
3) It took me nearly 3 hours fighting the software just to make it communicate with the sensors properly.
4) Still, after powering it on sometimes, it loses connection to one of the sensors. When they all connect at the same time it works fine afterwards.
5) I used the Windows 10 software since there is no iOS version of the software. The software gives some nice options for isolating the sound at different frequencies.
6) You can not simultaneously record all channels into different files. You can only select an active channel and only that channel would be recorded.

The plus of this one is that you end up with a .wav recording of whatever you decide to record and you have little better control in order to isolate noise.

If you don't need these perks you can always go with STEELMAN 97202 Wireless ChassisEAR Kit which will run you down $200-220 before tax. On this one, you have 4 radio transceivers and a remote dock through which you switch between the channels and listen to them. No option to record, but much easier to work with to troubleshoot faster without the need of a computer.

 

[From0toJ]

I'm bringing this back from the dead... lol. Sorry.

Just wanted to chime in, that I too hear this on my 18 Sahara. It's a rattling metal on metal sound in 3rd when the rpm's are below 2k. I attributed this to being "normal". I think it's just the vehicle itself, with varying shift points compared to my other manual vehicles.

OP or others - are you still hearing the sound, 1 year later?

 

[AdHerp]

I'm bringing this back from the dead... lol. Sorry.

Just wanted to chime in, that I too hear this on my 18 Sahara. It's a rattling metal on metal sound in 3rd when the rpm's are below 2k. I attributed this to being "normal". I think it's just the vehicle itself, with varying shift points compared to my other manual vehicles.

OP or others - are you still hearing the sound, 1 year later?

Yes

 

[From0toJ]

Yes

Y’all just letting it be? “Normal”?

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