White smoke

[eric.frederich]

I took my 2018 JLU Rubicon in my backyard today to park a trailer. After detaching the trailer I had to turn the Jeep around to get it out. My back yard is mostly a natural area. I went to do a 3 point turn and had to pull into an area with a bunch of leaves. Tires got stuck while reversing out of there and I was creating a rut. So pull a little forward and try again. Same thing. So then I put it from 2H to 4H and I'm able to back out. Had to jockey it back and forth a bit, so it was more like a 10 point turn.

At some point white smoke started coming out from under the hood. It seemed to be coming out of the passenger side of the vehicle. It smelled pretty bad. I got it out of my backyard because I didn't want a dead vehicle in my own back yard. I parked it, finished up securing the trailer in the back yard and drove the wrangler around the neighborhood. I never saw any messages come up and my temperature was right between H and C. The wrangler still smells right now and I parked it outside instead of in the garage tonight.

Any ideas what it could be? Could it have been me burning my clutch? It was coming out the passenger side, was white, and had an odor to it.

Is there anything I should do now or check on?

Thanks

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[eric.frederich]

After doing some reading I found this thread: http://www.wranglerforum.com/f202/clutch-stinks-when-im-in-4wd-and-i-get-stuck-465946.html

This stood out to me and described my situation in the back yard...

I was in 4Hi at the time and it started to bog out so yes, I pushed clutch in and then revved it up so it wouldnt stall, to keep it moving. - - so I guess thats not good to do when in 4Hi and to use 4Lo if it starts to die out right?

I was in 4Hi because you can switch to it while you're not moving. You have to be rolling between 2 to 3MPH (how very specific) to switch into 4L which seems impossible if you're stuck or don't want to go deeper into the leaves.

 

[That One Guy]

Sounds like clutch to me. 4lo when and if you can for slow stuff like that. Hell, back in the day I used to use 4lo to reverse up my steep driveway. kept wear off the clutch. The clutch is arguably the weakest part of your drivetrain.

 

[ResponsibleAdult]

Perhaps your JL was announcing a new pope?

(I have nothing helpful, sorry)

 

[Jeepsterfreak]

Not sure about the smoke but a burning clutch is easy to detect by smell. Just ask the salesman who tried to get a JK out of a tight spot on the lot for me to test drive. He had no business trying to drive stick.

 

[That One Guy]

Not sure about the smoke but a burning clutch is easy to detect by smell. Just ask the salesman who tried to get a JK out of a tight spot on the lot for me to test drive. He had no business trying to drive stick.

Virtually every salesman I've seen is a clutch roaster. Every time I want to test drive a manual on the lot, I smell clutch by the time it gets to me. Hopefully nobody drives my custom ordered manual transmission, I guess.

 

[Jeepsterfreak]

Virtually every salesman I've seen is a clutch roaster. Every time I want to test drive a manual on the lot, I smell clutch by the time it gets to me. Hopefully nobody drives my custom ordered manual transmission, I guess.

I imagine the vehicles are driven onto and off the delivery trucks. Not sure because I’ve never watched them unload new vehicles.

There’s no reason to let anyone drive your custom order once it’s delivered to the dealer, except for the dealer techs to do delivery inspection otherwise hands off my Jeep!

 

[eric.frederich]

Sounds like clutch to me. 4lo when and if you can for slow stuff like that. Hell, back in the day I used to use 4lo to reverse up my steep driveway. kept wear off the clutch. The clutch is arguably the weakest part of your drivetrain.

I wish it was easier to get into 4lo. You're told you aren't supposed to use it on paved streets and you are supposed to use it when going slow off-road. So where does the switch take place?
Once you're stuck it's too late

 

[johnnymiz]

you're not supposed to DRIVE it on pavement. but you can put it in 4H or 4L for a short bit as long as you're not turning. it's the turning that binds it up..... as long as your tires are the same size, going straight is ok.
put it in 4 BEFORE you get stuck

 

[homerun]

I am not an expert, but I believe you can put it in 4L while at a dead stop. Depending on the where the gears in the tcase stoped it may not line up perfectly and that will cause shift lever to be harder to pull. A nice slow roll just ensures the shift is smoother and is ideal, but I don’t believe you will cause any major issue going to 4L from a dead stop.

 

[eric.frederich]

How long is my Wrangler going to smell like burning clutch? I only have a 1.5 mile drive to work but ran some errands today totalling maybe 10 miles. Pulled the top back and parked with windows down blasting fan whole time. Still stinks.

 

[Doomgaze]

you're not supposed to DRIVE it on pavement. but you can put it in 4H or 4L for a short bit as long as you're not turning. it's the turning that binds it up..... as long as your tires are the same size, going straight is ok.
put it in 4 BEFORE you get stuck

Turning would only be an issue if the differentials were locked, correct? If unlocked, there should be no issue turning in 4wd

 

[BillyHW]

Turning would only be an issue if the differentials were locked, correct? If unlocked, there should be no issue turning in 4wd

I think there is still an issue with 4wd because the transfer case is locked up (unless you have Selec-Trac and are on Auto mode).

 

[gentryTX]

I am not an expert, but I believe you can put it in 4L while at a dead stop. Depending on the where the gears in the tcase stoped it may not line up perfectly and that will cause shift lever to be harder to pull. A nice slow roll just ensures the shit is smoother and is ideal, but I don’t believe you will cause any major issue going to 4L from a dead stop.

I took my JLUR (8 sp auto) on some easy to medium skilled trails a while back. 1st time Jeep owner/4 wheel drive owner here, so was somewhat cautious of moving between 4H/4L. 4L is possible from a dead stop, proven by a good friend that was on the trail with me. You won't like the sound of it . You need a little momentum and the transmission in neutral...somewhat idiot proof as the vehicle won't let you engage 4L past 5 mph.

 

[johnnymiz]

billy is correct, as usual. in a traditional 4wd truck, the transfer case locks both front and rear axles together with no viscous coupling in the middle. in a turn, the back wheels will travel a shorter distance around than the front, so you will get binding in the tcase on a sharp enough turn. a little turning is ok because there will be some tire scrub and differential action within each axle. But as a rule, you try to only go straight while in 4wd on dry pavement.

my nephew didn't realize his mom's suburban was in 4wd and turned sharply into a parking spot at school.... tcase grenaded right there. but he was able to drive all the way to school because there were no sharp turns.

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