uncontrolled full throttle, weird tranny shifting

CRD Mimi · **Joined:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:32 pm **Posts:** 4

We have a 2006 Liberty CRD LTD. Love it so far ... except when recently returning from a trip. On the HWY, about 65-70 mph, all of a sudden the car takes on a life of its own - goes full throttle, won't respond to braking ... my husband was driving (thankfully) and he put it into neutral (it revved way up), got over into the right lane, shut the engine down and safely pulled us off the road. He started it up again, it gave the light for brakes being applied while accelrated is also depressed (duh). Turned it off again, sat there for a few minutes, turned it back on and it was fine. Drove the rest of the way home (~350 miles) with no repeat. Took it into the dealer on Monday morning , they still have it and can't figure anything out. I saw on this site where a couple of others reported this same problem and it was the throttle control motor - reported this to the tech, but he says that all checks out OK.

It also does this weird downshift whenever I am going 55-60mph and on even a slight incline - it will downshift, then quickly shift back up.

One more thing - it only has 6000K miles and has already used 1 1/2 qts. of oil.

Any ideas out there? Thanks ... this is not our first Jeep, but it is our first diesel.

I<3myCRD · **Joined:** Sat Feb 25, 2006 8:16 pm **Posts:** 20

This doesn't sound like your exact issue, but I'll throw it out there anyway:

Do you have the rubber slush mats?

I've had the rubber slush mat actually hold the throttle pedal down after accelerating. It happened to me a couple times before I figured it out... it was not fun.

- Jay

CRD Mimi · **Joined:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:32 pm **Posts:** 4

Actually, yes, we do have the rubber slush mats! Maybe that is the problem ... that would be nice - not nearly as scary. Ours are the ones from Jeep, made for the Liberty, but I guess it might not matter. Hmmm ... any ideas on the other issues?

I<3myCRD · **Joined:** Sat Feb 25, 2006 8:16 pm **Posts:** 20

Yea, I have the factory jeep ones too. It happens when the mat slides forward a little bit. Just make sure the mat is always hooked on to the little black hook on the floor.

- Jay

CRD Mimi · **Joined:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:32 pm **Posts:** 4

Will do. Thanks!

Drewd · **Joined:** Mon Feb 06, 2006 12:24 pm **Posts:** 902

This has happened to us 3 times with the OEM rubber slush mats. It is scary when it happens.

spoonplugger1 · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 4:45 pm

Mine was both problems above, they finally changed the throttle control when it started buzzing all at different times, but especially during shutdowns.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:07 pm

Buy the HUSKY molded floor mats...they will not do that and they REALLY protect your carpet

Endurance · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:31 pm

I<3myCRD wrote:

This doesn't sound like your exact issue, but I'll throw it out there anyway:

Do you have the rubber slush mats?

I've had the rubber slush mat actually hold the throttle pedal down after accelerating. It happened to me a couple times before I figured it out... it was not fun.

- Jay

Yeah same thing happened to me. I was racing on a drag strip and had a hard time stopping, almost ran off the track.

Goglio704 · **Posted:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:13 pm

The CRD is supposed to reduce power output if the brake is applied for more than a few seconds. Regardless if the runaway was caused by floor mats, application of the brake should have caused it to throttle back. I've never had a runaway, but I can tell you that with mine if you apply brake and throttle at the same time - brake wins. I would try some two footed driving if I were having this problem to see what happens. If the brake pedal is not dominant, it could be very dangerous.

Pablo · **Joined:** Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:06 pm **Posts:** 1201

CRD Mimi wrote:

We have a 2006 Liberty CRD LTD. Love it so far ... except when recently returning from a trip. On the HWY, about 65-70 mph, all of a sudden the car takes on a life of its own - goes full throttle, won't respond to braking ... my husband was driving (thankfully) and he put it into neutral (it revved way up), got over into the right lane, shut the engine down and safely pulled us off the road. He started it up again, it gave the light for brakes being applied while accelrated is also depressed (duh). Turned it off again, sat there for a few minutes, turned it back on and it was fine. Drove the rest of the way home (~350 miles) with no repeat. Took it into the dealer on Monday morning , they still have it and can't figure anything out. I saw on this site where a couple of others reported this same problem and it was the throttle control motor - reported this to the tech, but he says that all checks out OK.

It also does this weird downshift whenever I am going 55-60mph and on even a slight incline - it will downshift, then quickly shift back up.

One more thing - it only has 6000K miles and has already used 1 1/2 qts. of oil.

Any ideas out there? Thanks ... this is not our first Jeep, but it is our first diesel.

1. Stuck throttle: No clue, the mat sounds like a good explanation. Others exist, but are not very likely.

2. Downshift--- see transmission problems threads on this site. This vehicle tends to do this. The programming is designed to engage the Torque Converter Lockout at 55-60, sometimes it gets confused. If you are lucky-- it is only a minor thing and only happens once in a while, with a shift down and then back up. If that is the case, it is just an annoyance. If it starts hunting for gears and wont stay put-- then you are one of the unlucky ones with tranny problems. Mine is unlucky. It will shift up and down constantly and sometimes violently under the following conditions: You apply throttle to accelerate to highway speeds and then lessen the throttle abruptly to maintain speed, with the RPM ending up around 1500-1800 when throttle is reduced. This is probably a combination of bad software and a poorly designed tranny pump. Could also be low tranny fluid level (not in my case, I checked it and made the dealer check it as well

).

3. Oil Usage-- This is normal during break in on a diesel. Keep an eye on it. Consider doing the EHM or the Provent to prevent this oil from ending up in your turbo air intake. Some diesels use more oil than others. Mine is currently using 3/4 quart every 6000 miles. Check your oil first thing in the morning after it has set and is cold. This engine takes forever for the oil to get back to the sump and if you are checking the oil at the fill-up station you may be thinking it has less oil than it actually has. After you change the oil, making sure to put 6.3-6.4 quarts in it, let it sit for a while and then check to see where it is at on the dip stick. Mine is right in the middle of the full and min mark. Some CRD's are apparently different-- with some folks notching out new min and max lines on their dip sticks. If you have someone else change the oil-- make sure they put 6.4 quarts in-- not 7-- or worse 12+. It is not a cummins and some dealers have overfilled this thing.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Fri Sep 22, 2006 12:50 am

I have a 24K dealer oil change plan and thy always wash it and vacuum before I pick it up. The wash guy takes the mat out and then forgets to hook it back up. Had to teach them after my slush mat runaway. Mine happened in city arterial in traffic.

spoonplugger1 · **Posted:** Fri Sep 22, 2006 12:59 am

My experience with the throttle override is that if you just barely touch the throttle again it goes right back to the uncontrolled throttle mode, and you have to go through it all over again, best to just shut it off and start from scratch.

CRD Mimi · **Joined:** Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:32 pm **Posts:** 4

Many thanks to all who have posted. I've gotten some GREAT information and I am going to pass it along to my service guy today.

dog_party · **Posted:** Fri Sep 22, 2006 3:45 pm

Wow! That's a good heads-up on the Mopar slush mats! Mine have never come off the little hook, but I'll be even more careful to watch that!

Ranger1 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:40 pm **Posts:** 1137

Quote:

If it starts hunting for gears and wont stay put-- then you are one of the unlucky ones with tranny problems. Mine is unlucky. It will shift up and down constantly and sometimes violently under the following conditions: You apply throttle to accelerate to highway speeds and then lessen the throttle abruptly to maintain speed, with the RPM ending up around 1500-1800 when throttle is reduced. This is probably a combination of bad software and a poorly designed tranny pump.

Bingo! you just described my transmission behavior from a week old until now. Full throttle to accelerate to highway speeds, then less throttle to maintain cruising speed. This results in rapid locking/unlocking of the TC clutch and jerking most of the time. Other times, it begins shifting up and down, then starts the locking/unlocking and the resultant backlash from the rear differential is sometimes violent. At speeds of 55-65 mph, the entire vehicle jerks so violently that driver and passengers can feel the rear diff gears slamming quite easily in the seat of the pants. 5 Horned dealer by the great lake norman says they can't duplicate.

Several PCM/TCM flashes have not cured this condition, nor has a new TC. Tranny fluid level from the factory was as close to perfect as I've ever seen. New tranny filters and fluid after TC replacement did not fix it either.

richardkf · **Joined:** Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:15 pm **Posts:** 167

Ranger1 wrote:

Quote:

If it starts hunting for gears and wont stay put-- then you are one of the unlucky ones with tranny problems. Mine is unlucky. It will shift up and down constantly and sometimes violently under the following conditions: You apply throttle to accelerate to highway speeds and then lessen the throttle abruptly to maintain speed, with the RPM ending up around 1500-1800 when throttle is reduced. This is probably a combination of bad software and a poorly designed tranny pump.

Bingo! you just described my transmission behavior from a week old until now. Full throttle to accelerate to highway speeds, then less throttle to maintain cruising speed. This results in rapid locking/unlocking of the TC clutch and jerking most of the time. Other times, it begins shifting up and down, then starts the locking/unlocking and the resultant backlash from the rear differential is sometimes violent. At speeds of 55-65 mph, the entire vehicle jerks so violently that driver and passengers can feel the rear diff gears slamming quite easily in the seat of the pants. 5 Horned dealer by the great lake norman says they can't duplicate.

Several PCM/TCM flashes have not cured this condition, nor has a new TC. Tranny fluid level from the factory was as close to perfect as I've ever seen. New tranny filters and fluid after TC replacement did not fix it either.

Ranger, I'm just curious, what was your mileage on the odometer when you had your New Tranny Filters TSB done?>

Ranger1 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:40 pm **Posts:** 1137

18K, when the TC went. It had blown metal debris all through the system and clogged the tranny cooler. They cleaned the cooler, flushed new fluid through it, added new fluid, changed both filters and sent it out the door. The tranny date was not in the filter recall date range. No problems ever with backing up, cold or hot, or loss of power from a stop. Just the infamous shudder/jerking.

richardkf · **Joined:** Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:15 pm **Posts:** 167

Ranger1 wrote:

18K, when the TC went. It had blown metal debris all through the system and clogged the tranny cooler. They cleaned the cooler, flushed new fluid through it, added new fluid, changed both filters and sent it out the door. The tranny date was not in the filter recall date range. No problems ever with backing up, cold or hot, or loss of power from a stop. Just the infamous shudder/jerking.

Just makes me wonder (even more) if what Old Navy says about doing the Tranny Filter and Software TSB's very early on and also making sure the fluid is at the right level as soon as you get the CRD has more to do with the tranny failures than bad Torque Converters or Transmissions. 18K is a long time to drive with the wrong filters and who knows how much fluid in there.

Ranger1 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:40 pm **Posts:** 1137

And which of those 2 caveats would apply in my case? The fluid level was nearly perfect from the factory. The filters were not changed due to the tsb, as it did not meet the criteria, nor display any of the delayed engagement symptoms, but due to contamination from destroyed TC debris.

If you recall, the filter tsb symptoms were delayed tranny engagement due to a faulty filter anti-drainback valve letting the TC drain when the pump was not running. My tranny never had any of those issues, nor did the tranny build date fall into the specified range for the filter TSB.

uncontrolled full throttle, weird tranny shifting

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