I just bought a new 07 Libberty 4X4 and I think the automatic tranny is acting up and need some advice. The tranny does 4 things which seem to point to some kind of pressure problem .....

1. If I stop on an incline and let my foot off the break with it in drie it rolls backward just like a manual tranny.
2. Travelling at any speed in overdrive if I need a burst of speed and depress the accelrator it takes problaby close to two seconds before it responds
3. Starting out of a morning and shifting into reverse from park it sometimes takes a second before it catches with a thunk sound
4. Leaving a parking lot after it has set awhile and going from reverse to drive it sometimes hesitates then catches with a thunk sound

Have any of you guys experienced this type of behavior ? I am having a hard time thinking it is characteristic of a Liberty.

BTW there is no way to check my tranny fluid .... no dispstick. You have to take it to a dealer ????

Thanks guys!

This is normal


I dunno about this or the others...

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02 Liberty Limited
Silver Outside & Taupe Inside
Heated Seats, Sunroof & Infinity speakers
USA Spec I-Pod adaptor, Mopar Sub, Garmin GPS
Tow Package, Select-Trac
Rock Rails, Tow Hooks

mine does all of the above every now and then. Just when you notice it happening go easy accelerating. I know this doean't solve the problem but.......

Also there is no tranny dipstick on the newer ones. Another gimmick to get you into the dealer ship. But i believe you can find a dipstick for it. You just take the cap off and place a dipstick in.

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LIBERTY or DEATH

2005 Sport with "STUFF"

For 1 and 2, you need a shift kit, an upgraded torque converter, an upgraded throttle body, and a PCM flash. That will take care of the issues with the characteristics of the automatic transmission and the less than expected power and response. As for 3 and 4, if the Liberty has sat for a while, especially if it's cold, you can have some rather strange engagements of gears until it warms up. Letting it warm up for a couple minutes should stop the thunks. I find that it's best to let my Liberty defrost itself in the winter instead of me scraping the frost off because of the additional warm up time. With the amount of line pressure mine has, it jumps and chirps the tires if it thunks when engaging.

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June 2001 Liberty Limited 4X4
Frankenlift II Premium, Al's Upper Arms, 245/75R16 C Silent Armors on Moabs, RL Skink Super Sliders, Rear DTT, Riddler Diff Cover, Fastman Throttle Body, Profinish-Proglass Hood, Borla Dual Outlet Exhaust, TransGo Reprogramming Kit, APS Stall Converter, 4.10 Gears, B&G Chrysler PCM, Lots of Line-X, etc...

return it. none of the issues you listed are anywhere near acceptable for a new vehicle. Chrysler is not doing well with trannies...too bad they don't use the AW-4 anymore!

maybe they put crappy tranny fluid in from the factory?

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Civilisation exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice. -Durant

Hey. do me a favor. I just posted about my trans fix on my 07. Look a few posts down and you'll see it. Have your dealer do what my dealer did to mine and you'll know whether you have further problems or not. Made a great improvement in mine!

EDIT:

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/vie ... hp?t=18169

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2007 Jeep Liberty Latitude
Midnight Blue

If you JUST bought it, give it a couple hundred miles to "learn" your driving style. Although my '07 did not clunk when going in reverse, it was sluggish on shifts, and just acted what I consider "weird" until the ECU was trained and the tranny was broken in. I have 3k on it now (in 2 months) and it drives much much better now than it did when I rolled off the dealer lot.

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Scoobybri
2007 Sport 4x4 Offroad/Towing/C Packages
Homelink EVIC
245/70-R16 Grabber ATs
Rusty's 2.5" Coil Lift with Rancho RSX rears
Roof Basket w/home-made cross rails and 4x55watt lighting
Super Skink Sliders
Spidertrax 1.25" Aluminum Spacers
Front Receiver hitch with Warn D-Shackle
Cobra CB Radio with spare mounted antennae

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate your input. I suspect I will drive it a bit more then its back to the dealer if probs persist. Again thanks.

If it's not inconvenient for you, I'd personally recommend having it checked ASAP. The day after I got mine, I noticed the shifter a lot looser between gears than my girlfriend's 06 and our old 03 we used to have. I took it in and my shift cable was never properly connected and thus, the vehicle wasn't engaging each gear correctly.

Then I had the torque converter issues they reflashed the computer and reset the trans data. It made a WORLD of difference. I had other work done too, but I'm sure the flash and data reset wouldn't be more than an hour or two if you got it in during a slow time.

Something else you may try is to disconnect the battery and reset the computer. I believe the procedure to clear all memory is to remove the negative cable first, then remove the positive. Ground the positive somewhere in the engine bay for a few seconds (it wont spark not being connected to anything). Then reconnect. The vehicle may run rough from what I understand as it relogs data. It won't clear your trans pressure data, but it will clear everything else and relearn your driving style. For maybe 30 mins of work, it may or may not be worth it.

I'd personally have the dealer at least look and do a quicklearn though. It's a respected procedure for the 42RLE VLP trans if you notice issues/oddities.

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2007 Jeep Liberty Latitude
Midnight Blue

Oh I should note, mine wouldn't roll at all forward at a light before the work (wouldn't roll backwards though on a hill if I let off the brake, but would rather hold itself like a roll control on both inclines and level surfaces). Now it tends to creep forward like most other cars do (haven't stopped on a hill yet to see if it rolls or not). But as this is a Variable Line Pressure transmission, I think it has something to do (directly/indirectly) with the vehicle either rolling or sitting planted at a stoplight if you stop and then remove your foot from the brake.

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2007 Jeep Liberty Latitude
Midnight Blue

Thanks 07latitude. I have to go out of town but I think I will make an appointment when I get back and take it in.

Its so new it never hurts to check on these things. Plus, as it is so new, if they need it for any length of time, you have a lot more leverage for a complimentary loaner having, say, 300 miles on your jeep, rather than 3000.

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2007 Jeep Liberty Latitude
Midnight Blue

1 and 2 are normal. Just operating manners of the transmission.

# 1 will always be the same. Not sure if it is the tranny, torque converter, programing, engine or what. Probably a combination of all. My grand cherokee with the same transmission will almost overpower the brakes at idle and climb some pretty steep grades. However, the liberty is just as you describe. It will crawl on flat ground. Won't do anything at small incline, and a moderate incline it will actually roll back. My guess alot has to do with torque converter. I been told that the low speed coupling of the tc was reduced to improve gas mileage, because you engine has less of a load at idle. Also the 3.7 dosen't have alot of low-end torque, however I don't think that is as big of a factor. Even the Hemi and 4.7 w/ lots more power than the 3.7 and different transmissions, act very similar. Something tells me it is was designed that way.

# 2 will get better. Not sure if the transmission figures you out (don't know how adaptive the TCM is) or you figure it out. Mine use to be even worst than yours. Wouldn't down shift at all under even heavy throttle. I had to floor the accelerator, however then it would jump into 2nd and scream down the road. Now, I know just where to put my foot and how quickly too move it, to make it jump into 3rd right away. It almost seems as if the TCM also uses how quickly you push the peddle down as a parameter to downshift, along with it's other parameters.

# 3 - 4 Are what I would say are normal. Its never going to be as smooth and quiet as a car, it's a always going to have a Truck feel because the Jeep is built and a heavier duty platform. There will always be a light thud, and that takes about second. It is normal. Mine always has done it and pretty much every jeep/truck I've seen does the same. Its hard to say how much is too much and how much is normal without being there. It really depends on how bad the thud and delay are. Go test drive another Liberty and see if it behaves similar.

Not to start anything Eddo, but I have to disagree with you saying his morning gear engagement "thunk" is normal. When my shift cable was misaligned on my 07, it had a significant delay engaging as the cable wasn't actually actuating Reverse, Drive, or whatever gear I was trying to put the Jeep into (it was selecting an area between two gears). However after having the cable aligned and the trans flashes and resets done, my cold start gear engagement is smooth and quick. Same with Reverse to Drive. It's quick and firm (not sloppy, but doesn't "thunk" either).

My $0.02

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2007 Jeep Liberty Latitude
Midnight Blue

You had reflashes on your 2007? What did they do, turn it into a 2006? Naw, they probably just put it back the way it was supposed to be in the first place.

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2006 Sport CRD

Could the Aztecs have known, that in 2012 after a 4 year experiment, our country would cease to exist?

They cleared the clutch volume indexes and line pressures via a "quick learn." They also reflashed the PCM due to a TSB/Recall about early 07 shift habits. I never said they turned mine into an 06. If they tried that, I'd have no throttle response as the 07 has electronic throttle vs. a mechanical cable-driven throttlebody.

If you're interested, it was the F43 flash. It's listed under TSBs on some mopar sites, and Recalls on others.

Regardless, everything helped my transmission shift the way it should. One shouldn't have to learn habits of something that isn't working properly, but rather get the problems fixed in the first place.

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2007 Jeep Liberty Latitude
Midnight Blue

Yea, I was joking. I figured they had to redo something that a glitch caused.

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2006 Sport CRD

Could the Aztecs have known, that in 2012 after a 4 year experiment, our country would cease to exist?

It's a POS trans, as noted in numerous other threads. Compared w/ other vehicles I've driven with auto trans, the Lib has the loosest, crappiest torque converter (that's what lets it roll back down even a tiny grade at a stoplight; most AT's have tighter converters that will hold on quite a bit of grade). Mine, from day one and with no improvement over 20,000 miles, shifts from P to R or D, and from R to D or vice versa, with between a 1 and 2 second delay that would make it impossible to, for example, "rock" it out of a mud or snow if I ever needed to; it takes too long going between reverse and drive. And, yes, often it clunks when doing so (never noticed a real pattern to this).

My favorite part, aside from the "trans fluid temp" light that frequently comes on if you drive it up a mountain pass for 15 minutes at low speeds in high range, is that the warranty protection circuit de-throttles the engine if it detects high engine rpms in drive without the wheels turning (if, for example, you were pulling footings or stumps so the truck was straining against a stationary object for a few seconds). I don't know what they think they're trying to protect; with that junk torque converter, it's not like there's ever any risk of transmitting enough torque from the engine to actual hurt the trans or a diff gear.

Welcome to the weakest link (including the ball joints!) in the Liberty. You get used to it. I'm wondering about this kit people are talking about, though. Sounds well worth it.

Cheers --
Doug

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Dr. Doug
2005 Liberty Limited

All depends on what you think is normal or not. I've since people think there Jeep is going to fall of a slight bit of brake moan when wet, and other will drive with grinding of metal on metal from completely worn down brakes and think everything is fine.

Some people expect it to be as smooth and quiet as a Lexus, which is never going to happen. Just go look on some other car forums. Most of the complaints about the Liberty or any Jeep are noisy engine, rides too rough, too much wind noise, etc. Alot of them actually think there is a problem with there Jeep and demand there Jeep is a lemon, when 80% of the stuff is normal. Its a truck platform and not a car. Not saying his is a problem or not, you would have to be there to tell. But I've seen alot of people insist that seemingly normal vehicle characteristics are major flaws.

I'll agree with you there, "normal" IS open to interpretation....depending on the circumstances.

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2007 Jeep Liberty Latitude
Midnight Blue