Hi,
I've decided this is the place to be for getting answers.......

Question 1. When towing my caravan which weighs 1.75 tonnes. Any gradient gearbox starts hunting between o/d and 3rd. I tend to take o/d off and hold 3rd. Is this normal practice for this autobox ??

Question 2. On turning engine off get quite noticeable rattle, like the exhaust going to fall off. No it's not the exhaust already checked that...

Look forward to your answers.

Pete

The towing issue is probably your torque converter or TCM tune, which can be modified if it's solely the tune in lockup.

The rattling is most likely a blown motor mount, they're known to go bad and can be changed out pretty simply.

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Silver 2006 KJ 2.8L CRD Limited:
GDE ECO Tune / Fumoto Valve / E-Tecno GX3123 7v Glow Plugs / 2nd Gen Fuel Head / Mishimoto RED Hoses / Rockers/Lifters @ 114k / Hayden FC + 11 Blade Nylon / Sears P1 Battery / Transgo 45RFE-HD2 Reprogramming Kit / Timken Front Bearings

Also, if the rattle is coming from the muffler / exhaust tubes area, .... then most likely it's due to small pebbles that have gotten stuck in between the heat shields and the body. They can't be seen but only removed with a small twig or a stick.... or thin wire clothes hanger. just run it along the inside and push the pebbles out.

Ask me how I know. it drove me nuts.

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2006 Liberty Limited CRD, Deep Beryl Green, Yeti tune, Arp studs, new cams, rockers, lifters, TB. "Green Monster"
2005 Liberty Sport CRD, Deep Beryl Green, GDE Hot Tune, ARP studs. "Rocket"
1982 Fiat 124 Spider Convertible. "Fiona"

It is fairly normal for the engine to jump around among 3rd gear, 4th gear, and 5th gear when towing at certain speeds and you hit an incline. This is because the turbo takes a couple seconds to spool up and the computer evidently does not allow for that. So you hit an incline, need to depress the go-pedal to maintain speed, power does not come on right away, computer yanks the overdrive gear dropping you into 3rd, power comes on, computer sends you to 4th, then maybe 5th, but now the torque isn't quite strong enough so back down to 3rd, then quickly up to 4th, etc.

The owner's manual says if you find it doing this, you should hit the OD off button and hold it in 3rd.

As for the rattle, there is a fairly simple test for bad motor mounts. With the Jeep stopped, engine idling, and your foot on the brake, put the transmission in neutral, then shift to reverse, neutral, drive. If you motor mounts are good, the engine speed will change at bit going into gear or out of gear, but that's all. You won't FEEL a thing. If the mount(s) are bad, there will be a pronounced change in the vehicle vibration between in gear and neutral as well. You can actually tell which of the two rear mounts are bad based upon reverse or drive vibrating.

However, I wouldn't expect a bad motor mount to cause a rattle when you switch off. That is more likely pebbles as mentioned above, unless the bad motor mount is so bad that the exhaust system is hanging too close to something.