So we were driving up I15 on Thanskgiving, headed for 3 nights in a cabin in the mountains near Mammoth Lakes. Traffic was pretty heavy through the inland empire with stop-and-go around the major interchanges. Around Fontana, the "Tranmission Temperatue" warning light came on, first time I've seen it.
Here's what the manual says:
We sat in a gas station parking lot for about a half an hour to let it cool down. When I started it up and drove a couple of hundred yards, the light came on again, so I got the ball rolling on roadside assistance (one hour wait) and arranged for a rental car. About 45 minutes after the call to roadside assistance (about an hour and a half after the light first came on), I gave it one more try and, much to our relief, the light did not come on and the torque and shifting seemed to be normal. So we called roadside assistance to cancel the tow and cancelled the rental car reservation, and got back underway.
Traffic was still not moving smoothly up the hill to Cajon pass, so I used the nav system to "avoid freeways", which got us onto the 215 at the last exit below the merge, where traffic was rolling freely. We made it over the pass no problem, but as soon as we got onto 395 and into the traffic light stop-and-go, the light came on again, along with the reduction of power. There was very little acceleration from a standing start. From one stop light, we'd just be getting up to 40-45mph when we had to stop for the next one. We stopped at a 7-11 for about 15 minutes, and when I started it up again, the check engine light came on and the CVT would not change ratios, it was like it was stuck in first gear.
By now it was about 6PM and there was no way we were going to make it to Mammoth that night, if at all. So we holed up in the Days Inn in Adelanto. The next morning I called Victorville Motors and got the ball rolling. I still had to call Chrysler Roadside Assistance to get the tow, but the dealership knew it was coming and we were able to arrange for a replacement car (no loaner, but a discount on a rental from the Enterprise agency on the dealership premises). Between our gear and dog, a sub-compact wasn't going to cut it, and the best they could do was an '08 F150 super cab 2WD.
We decided to salvage what we could of our long weekend and headed north. After a couple of hours, the service manager called to say that the CVT had an "internal failure" and needed to be replaced. The replacement had to be shipped from the plant, and was expected mid-week.
It was gorgeous in the Sierra, snow down to about 7000', t-shirts during the day, clear and cold at night. The F150 does not handle or ride very well, and is 2WD with open diff, so it does not do very well in the snow, either.
I spoke the service manager again on Thursday (12/4) and he said that delivery was expected via UPS ground on Friday and that the vehicle should be available for pickup on Monday or Tuesday.
As some of you may know, I have been a pretty big fan of the Patriot and the CVT, and that was true right up until about 2:45PM on Thanksgiving day. We only had 32,500 miles on the vehicle. We have definitely used it, but not abused it, and maintained it religiously. This is covered by warranty, and will be covered by the lifetime warranty if (when) it happens again (and assuming that Chrysler is still a going concern). But there's still a lot of expense and hassle involved. I think that's relatively minor, compared to the loss of confidence in the vehicle.
Here's what the manual says:
This didn't make much sense, because the outside temp was about 65F and we had been crawling along at 10-15MPH. We pulled onto the left shoulder for about 10 minutes to see if it would cool down. When I started it up again, the light was still on, and rather than "slowing slightly" there was almost no torque. We were able to get it rolling again and fortunately traffic was still not moving, so we were able to creep across four lanes and off the next exit.
We sat in a gas station parking lot for about a half an hour to let it cool down. When I started it up and drove a couple of hundred yards, the light came on again, so I got the ball rolling on roadside assistance (one hour wait) and arranged for a rental car. About 45 minutes after the call to roadside assistance (about an hour and a half after the light first came on), I gave it one more try and, much to our relief, the light did not come on and the torque and shifting seemed to be normal. So we called roadside assistance to cancel the tow and cancelled the rental car reservation, and got back underway.
Traffic was still not moving smoothly up the hill to Cajon pass, so I used the nav system to "avoid freeways", which got us onto the 215 at the last exit below the merge, where traffic was rolling freely. We made it over the pass no problem, but as soon as we got onto 395 and into the traffic light stop-and-go, the light came on again, along with the reduction of power. There was very little acceleration from a standing start. From one stop light, we'd just be getting up to 40-45mph when we had to stop for the next one. We stopped at a 7-11 for about 15 minutes, and when I started it up again, the check engine light came on and the CVT would not change ratios, it was like it was stuck in first gear.
By now it was about 6PM and there was no way we were going to make it to Mammoth that night, if at all. So we holed up in the Days Inn in Adelanto. The next morning I called Victorville Motors and got the ball rolling. I still had to call Chrysler Roadside Assistance to get the tow, but the dealership knew it was coming and we were able to arrange for a replacement car (no loaner, but a discount on a rental from the Enterprise agency on the dealership premises). Between our gear and dog, a sub-compact wasn't going to cut it, and the best they could do was an '08 F150 super cab 2WD.
We decided to salvage what we could of our long weekend and headed north. After a couple of hours, the service manager called to say that the CVT had an "internal failure" and needed to be replaced. The replacement had to be shipped from the plant, and was expected mid-week.
It was gorgeous in the Sierra, snow down to about 7000', t-shirts during the day, clear and cold at night. The F150 does not handle or ride very well, and is 2WD with open diff, so it does not do very well in the snow, either.
I spoke the service manager again on Thursday (12/4) and he said that delivery was expected via UPS ground on Friday and that the vehicle should be available for pickup on Monday or Tuesday.
As some of you may know, I have been a pretty big fan of the Patriot and the CVT, and that was true right up until about 2:45PM on Thanksgiving day. We only had 32,500 miles on the vehicle. We have definitely used it, but not abused it, and maintained it religiously. This is covered by warranty, and will be covered by the lifetime warranty if (when) it happens again (and assuming that Chrysler is still a going concern). But there's still a lot of expense and hassle involved. I think that's relatively minor, compared to the loss of confidence in the vehicle.
