Service 4wd

[Earl 392]

Just had it happen to me today backing out of a space at Costco. Obviously nothing other standard pavement driving. Seemed sluggish when I was backing out, with a short "sluggish" seize up and then it worked after a few second pause. Got on the road and noticed the Service 4WD light was on but it was driving perfectly. Drove about 20-miles home, with one traffic stop on the way, so I turned the ignition off and restarted with the light staying on. Got home and parked. 1/2 mile drive about 30-mins later and the light was off. Drove perfectly. ????? WTF. Jeeps, gotta love 'em and hate 'em, at the same time. Any ideas?

Yea it’s a gremlin for sure really not exactly what we expected.. I’m not impressed how many don’t even know there’s a problem. Why doesn’t Jeep address the situation. I would be happy with the TC Jeep is putting in the new 24 v6 rubicon 4 high auto (like we have) 4 high,2 WD(new ) N 4 low and 4:1 gear ratio yea it has clutches not a fan of that. If Jeep offered that as a fox I’d take it or atlas I’d take that (preferably). In the meantime pull back into the parking spot shut it down and restart ( I bet that’s what Jeep will tell us to do) but that’s no a fix. It’s a bummer

 

[EBYCREEK]

I added the FAD motor to my front axle hooked to a toggle switch. When the Service 4WD light comes on I can at least unlock the front axle to get rid of the binding. I also force 2WD using the Tazer. I have an Atlas Transfer Case on order as I've given up on the factory transfer case. Last time out the clutches got hot and the front wheels quit pulling. Had to get winched for several miles on the trail. After it cooled down over night it was back to working again. Have also had the binding problem several times with the Service 4WD light.

 

[Earl 392]

I added the FAD motor to my front axle hooked to a toggle switch. When the Service 4WD light comes on I can at least unlock the front axle to get rid of the binding. I also force 2WD using the Tazer. I have an Atlas Transfer Case on order as I've given up on the factory transfer case. Last time out the clutches got hot and the front wheels quit pulling. Had to get winched for several miles on the trail. After it cooled down over night it was back to working again. Have also had the binding problem several times with the Service 4WD light.

Just a question when clutches got hot and front wheels stopped pulling were you in 4 low ?thanks just asking I usually put it in 4 low as soon as possible but clutches be clutches. So it just might not matter what we do Atlas..

 

[EBYCREEK]

4 Low is all I use. This happened on day 3 at hole in the rock. Drove a little over 100 miles of 4 low in 3 days.

 

[Guzzi]

Wow I have very much the same issues!!! It does NOT store any codes have checked after issue on at least 4 different occasions no code. Of course won’t do it at dealership

Well about 2 weeks ago service 4wd light came on again and again reset several times drive 3-25 miles came back on have the usual issues when it happens tight steering and locking up tires when turning. parked jeep overnight no light drove about 150 miles before light came back on. next day light turns on just after start up drove about a mile stopped at traffic light went to go and wheels where locked up. I was pissed so I thought there's one way to find problem so I throttled up it didn't sound very good so headed to dealer 3 days later new transfer case installed and doing great.
4460.00 covered under warranty 18,780 miles on it.

 

[Earl 392]

Well about 2 weeks ago service 4wd light came on again and again reset several times drive 3-25 miles came back on have the usual issues when it happens tight steering and locking up tires when turning. parked jeep overnight no light drove about 150 miles before light came back on. next day light turns on just after start up drove about a mile stopped at traffic light went to go and wheels where locked up. I was pissed so I thought there's one way to find problem so I throttled up it didn't sound very good so headed to dealer 3 days later new transfer case installed and doing great.
4460.00 covered under warranty 18,780 miles on it.

So how long till there’s a recall

 

[Bart C]

Well about 2 weeks ago service 4wd light came on again and again reset several times drive 3-25 miles came back on have the usual issues when it happens tight steering and locking up tires when turning. parked jeep overnight no light drove about 150 miles before light came back on. next day light turns on just after start up drove about a mile stopped at traffic light went to go and wheels where locked up. I was pissed so I thought there's one way to find problem so I throttled up it didn't sound very good so headed to dealer 3 days later new transfer case installed and doing great.
4460.00 covered under warranty 18,780 miles on it.

So was it still acting up when you got to the dealer or what made them do the replacement?

 

[onfire392]

I added the FAD motor to my front axle hooked to a toggle switch. When the Service 4WD light comes on I can at least unlock the front axle to get rid of the binding. I also force 2WD using the Tazer. I have an Atlas Transfer Case on order as I've given up on the factory transfer case. Last time out the clutches got hot and the front wheels quit pulling. Had to get winched for several miles on the trail. After it cooled down over night it was back to working again. Have also had the binding problem several times with the Service 4WD light.

Overheating in 4L is very odd. Supposed to be locked up. I wonder if the actuator was not working.

 

[EBYCREEK]

Even in 4L the front shaft still has clutches. Once they get hot from hours of rock crawling they will slip. This is nothing new, if you air down to about 10 psi on hot days with 37 inch tires for several hours the clutches will get hot. There is no way to bypass the clutches. And that is why I have an Atlas on order. I think people that rock crawl will eventually move to a different transfer case. They will warranty the factory case but all they do is put the same type case back in. The factory case won’t hold up to heavy use.

 

[onfire392]

When the clutch pack overheated, what position was the transfer case in ?

Even in 4L the front shaft still has clutches. Once they get hot from hours of rock crawling they will slip. This is nothing new, if you air down to about 10 psi on hot days with 37 inch tires for several hours the clutches will get hot. There is no way to bypass the clutches. And that is why I have an Atlas on order. I think people that rock crawl will eventually move to a different transfer case. They will warranty the factory case but all they do is put the same type case back in. The factory case won’t hold up to heavy use.

That is what is confusing. The clutches in the factory transfer case are supposed to be locked according to MP. If that were true, it would be impossible for them to heat up since there is zero slip. I wonder if you have an actuator issue or MP does not really lock up the clutched in 4 Low. You would think they would heat up and fail going over the Rubicon if 4 LO kept slipping the TC. Strange deal. Arlas for the win.

 

[EBYCREEK]

MP3022 transfer case inside pictures ??

Any pictures or videos of our transfer case internals ??

www.jeep392.com

I believe #22 is the front output shaft clutch. The Bronco would have the same thing.

 

[onfire392]

That shows the clutch pack. Definitely slips in 4A and a bit less in 4H. MP claims they are clamped and locked in 4L and can not slip. IF , big IF, that is true…….something kept your clutches from locking up in 4L. Weakened electro motor, actuator , bad clutch material, etc. But Atlas will fix all above.

 

[Guzzi]

So was it still acting up when you got to the dealer or what made them do the replacement?

This was regular street driving no 4 low did it when it was cold and in 4 high auto. After powering through the slipping I went to dealer drove fine on way there they plugged in and it pointed them to transfer case they pulled skids off drained it and it was full of clutch material. Transfer case was at a different local dealer in stock (must happen often) they transferred over and got installed. They made no comments of the 37's and Clayton offroad full suspension lift but did make comment of extra charge for removal of skids but they didn't want anything when I picked it up.

 

[EBYCREEK]

There is no way to bypass the clutch pack, which is the weak link in this transfer case.

 

[stumblinhorse]

Correct, clutch is a clutch. Not like rock-trac or other Jeep transfer case that use a chain to lock 4Lo. The computer is simply telling the clutch to stay engaged. That is the definition of “locked” in this case.

 

[onfire392]

Correct, clutch is a clutch. Not like rock-trac or other Jeep transfer case that use a chain to lock 4Lo. The computer is simply telling the clutch to stay engaged. That is the definition of “locked” in this case.

Exactly ! And if it was programmed properly by Jeep , there would be zero slippage. MP has a crazy high 100% clamp rate IF IF IF it is applied by the computer. Tazer needs to come up with a 100% Clamp option. The clutches are strong enough, if clamped 100%, to never slip in a stock 392. MP has a range of NM applied to the clutch pack that is assigned by the computer.

 

[onfire392]

2100nm max. I’ve seen 1500 on a scan by another user. I’m going to try and scan 4L and see if it varies.

 

[stumblinhorse]

Exactly ! And if it was programmed properly by Jeep , there would be zero slippage. MP has a crazy high 100% clamp rate IF IF IF it is applied by the computer. Tazer needs to come up with a 100% Clamp option. The clutches are strong enough, if clamped 100%, to never slip in a stock 392. MP has a range of NM applied to the clutch pack that is assigned by the computer.

I think it slips it so it doesn’t break stuff. My JGC MP3022/3 will slip 4Lo when you turn the wheel at a stop.

 

[Riad]

Well about 2 weeks ago service 4wd light came on again and again reset several times drive 3-25 miles came back on have the usual issues when it happens tight steering and locking up tires when turning. parked jeep overnight no light drove about 150 miles before light came back on. next day light turns on just after start up drove about a mile stopped at traffic light went to go and wheels where locked up. I was pissed so I thought there's one way to find problem so I throttled up it didn't sound very good so headed to dealer 3 days later new transfer case installed and doing great.
4460.00 covered under warranty 18,780 miles on it.

Had the same issues and took it to my dealer. At first they said they needed to change a motor. Took it in yesterday to have it changed and was supposed to get it back today. Just got a call saying they found metal particles in the oil and will have to replace the transfer case. Covered by warranty but a PITA nonetheless... luckily they've got the parts here and don't have to wait for it to be shipped from the US

The Jeep only has 13k miles on it. Let's see how long the new TC lasts...

 

[onfire392]

The factory transfer case is soooo hit and miss. Folks running 38’s and beating them to death with zero issues. Folks street driving on factory tires with failures. The overall good thing is there are 1000’s out there and a small percentage of failures. But still…..it should be almost bulletproof and it’s not. I still think it’s a QC issue and not a design issue or the failures would be massive.