At wits end with this 'jeep' - CVT Overheating

ColoradoMan · Jun 15, 2017

I am going off roading up mt princeton this weekend. Leaving tomorrow in the heat of the day to drive over a few passes and then off road in the heat as well. I am sure it won't whine at all.

Sandstone · Jun 15, 2017

ColoradoMan said:
I am going off roading up mt princeton this weekend. Leaving tomorrow in the heat of the day to drive over a few passes and then off road in the heat as well. I am sure it won't whine at all.

Princeton should be fun with the shelf roads and altitude. : )

Post back and let us know how it went.

And now that you have an FDII I think it's time for Medano Pass 2.0. >

ColoradoMan · Jun 15, 2017

Sandstone said:
Princeton should be fun with the shelf roads and altitude. : )

Post back and let us know how it went.

And now that you have an FDII I think it's time for Medano Pass 2.0. >

I'd love to do it again in the right conditions. If those beaver ponds are lower, it really wouldn't be so bad. I plan on off roading up Antero and the less used trail head of Mt Massive also. Heard that road is quite rough on antero.

I still would like to do webster pass again, maybe we can set up a date this summer to do it with the patriots.

Sandstone · Jun 15, 2017

ColoradoMan said:
I'd love to do it again in the right conditions. If those beaver ponds are lower, it really wouldn't be so bad. I plan on off roading up Antero and the less used trail head of Mt Massive also. Heard that road is quite rough on antero.

I still would like to do webster pass again, maybe we can set up a date this summer to do it with the patriots.

I'd like to try to do something, we could do Saints John again, or maybe Argentine Pass. There's Cascade creek too.

Maybe see if we can get the Rubicon guy to go with.

Charles Kline · Jun 19, 2017

Tried to take it through Nebraska to pick up my son's from spending a few weeks at Grandpa's.

I made it 43 miles out of Denver on i76 before the trans temp light came on. Stopped and let it cool then went another 20 miles then came on. Barely made it to Ft Morgan to get a rental car from Hurtz before they closed. The Dealer flashing the ECM/TCM did squat.

Last straw. I'm dumping this POS.

Glad I hadn't installed the lift kit I got my wife for Christmas yet. Though I'm sure I'll loose out on the cost of that too.

Sandstone · Jun 19, 2017

That stinks, sorry to hear it. : (

I did a complete drain/fill and changed both filters this weekend.

The fluid was well used, but no burnt smell. I looked around in the sludge that accumulated on the magnets and found 3-4 small metal flakes. The strainer filter in the pan was fairly clean, but the small paper filter inside the exchanger was very dark grey dirty.

I haven't run it out on the highway yet, but the soft whine I could hear sometimes driving around town now seems to be gone.

Edit: Just got back from a trip into the mountains up US 6 and I-70. No more CVT whine.

Phase3030 · Jun 21, 2017

2012 Jeep Patriot CVT Overheating

Yup, put me on this list too. My 2012 Jeep Patriot has overheated 4 times on the highway in the last 2 years. I don't even have 70,000 miles on it yet.
This last time was very scary, as my 3 year old son was in the car with me, and my car is slowed down to 45 MPH on a highway where the speed limit is 75 MPH. I was half in the shoulder and had my hazard lights on, and people were still coming up fast and switching lanes last minute on me. I had about 2 miles to drive before there was an exit I could take.
The remaining hour and a half drive to our destination was done with windows down, and the heater blasting. Just trying to get safely to our destination safely, in 90 degree weather.
The same weekend mine overheated... One of my family members who owns a 2012 Jeep Liberty had her car overheat as well.
We both have a whining noise from our transmissions, on both the Liberty and the Patriot.
There are tons of Videos on YouTube, and comments just like this all over the internet of Jeep's overheating and killing power to the engine.
The temperature gauge stayed right in the middle, showing that it was neither cool or hot, but operating in a safe temperature.
I have had my Jeep looked at, and reached out to Jeep on their Facebook page... looking for any recall information.
Anyone who is having this same issue, please reach out to Jeep's Facebook page and let them know, If they get enough notice, hopefully we can get a recall issued on it.
www .facebook .com /jeep/
Lets help each other out here!!!

bob15 · Jul 22, 2017

My 2 cents... This issue is what made me ultimately decide to upgrade to the Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. I miss my Patriot but this issue was a safety hazard and I'm saddened that Jeep never recognized and solved the issue. Story is the same. Driving down the highway and you start to hear a whine, followed by light in dash, followed by loss of power, followed by trying to cross over 4 lanes of highway with a limping car (horrible situation). Under manufacturer's warranty, dealer checked it out and said the fluid was overfilled but the issue continued to happen. Traded my car in at 20k miles and it's gonna be some other poor soul's problem now (I hate to say).

Sandstone · Jul 22, 2017

Phase3030 said:
Yup, put me on this list too. My 2012 Jeep Patriot has overheated 4 times on the highway in the last 2 years. I don't even have 70,000 miles on it yet.
This last time was very scary, as my 3 year old son was in the car with me, and my car is slowed down to 45 MPH on a highway where the speed limit is 75 MPH. I was half in the shoulder and had my hazard lights on, and people were still coming up fast and switching lanes last minute on me. I had about 2 miles to drive before there was an exit I could take.
The remaining hour and a half drive to our destination was done with windows down, and the heater blasting. Just trying to get safely to our destination safely, in 90 degree weather.
The same weekend mine overheated... One of my family members who owns a 2012 Jeep Liberty had her car overheat as well.
We both have a whining noise from our transmissions, on both the Liberty and the Patriot.
There are tons of Videos on YouTube, and comments just like this all over the internet of Jeep's overheating and killing power to the engine.
The temperature gauge stayed right in the middle, showing that it was neither cool or hot, but operating in a safe temperature.
I have had my Jeep looked at, and reached out to Jeep on their Facebook page... looking for any recall information.
Anyone who is having this same issue, please reach out to Jeep's Facebook page and let them know, If they get enough notice, hopefully we can get a recall issued on it.
www .facebook .com /jeep/
Lets help each other out here!!!

Phase3030, could you add the model (FDI, FDII, FWD) and whether or not the trans fluid and filters have been changed?

Itsmaggiemay · Jul 28, 2017

My 2013 CVT Is doing the same thing, started happening around 70k and now I'm a little over 100k. Already took it to the dealership under warrenty and their fix was to "replace a valve" which temporarily made a difference but the problem has returned. Hot days on trips an hour or more on the highway is when it happens. Transmission starts whining super loud, power starts to decrease, then tranny overheat light turns on. Then my heart races like crazy and I have to pull over and turn the car off for 10 minutes and pray the light is off when I restart. Seems sketchy to me. Jeep needs to do something that's actually a solution to the problem for all the people with CVT drama.

Sandstone · Jul 28, 2017

Itsmaggiemay said:
My 2013 CVT Is doing the same thing, started happening around 70k and now I'm a little over 100k. Already took it to the dealership under warrenty and their fix was to "replace a valve" which temporarily made a difference but the problem has returned. Hot days on trips an hour or more on the highway is when it happens. Transmission starts whining super loud, power starts to decrease, then tranny overheat light turns on. Then my heart races like crazy and I have to pull over and turn the car off for 10 minutes and pray the light is off when I restart. Seems sketchy to me. Jeep needs to do something that's actually a solution to the problem for all the people with CVT drama.

Hi maggie, sorry to hear this, thanks for letting us know.

Do you know if the CVT fluid and both filters have been changed yet?

Itsmaggiemay · Jul 28, 2017

Dealer says fluids and filters are fine. What I'm gathering here is that it's a design flaw and that's why jeep stopped putting the cvts in patriots all together.

Sandstone · Jul 28, 2017

Itsmaggiemay said:
Dealer says fluids and filters are fine. What I'm gathering here is that it's a design flaw and that's why jeep stopped putting the cvts in patriots all together.

Ok, the reason I was asking about the fluid is due to the mileage you have. If the fluid and filters haven't been changed after 100k miles, they've certainly seen better days and I'd get them changed no matter what the dealer says, especially if it's been overheating.

You say you first noticed the whine then overheating around 70k miles.

At 70k+ miles on original fluid/filters, mine did whine, but never overheated or went into limp mode. Changing the fluid and filters fixed the whine, at least for now.

I think there's somewhat of a consensus on here that CVT fluid changes should probably be done every 20-30k, or sooner in hot climates/ heavy use despite what the service manual says.

The fluid level is important too. If it's too high, the fluid will foam which is what causes the whine. These Jatco CVT's are apparently more sensitive to this than other transmissions. Over on one of the Nissan boards a Nissan tech recommends the fluid be no more than 1/2 to 3/4 full to help prevent foaming.

CVT Transmission Issues. (Fail safe, Whining, Temps, & FIX!) - Nissan Forum | Nissan Forums

As far as design flaws, there may be one. Thing is though, some people have had problems, but others haven't; or at least not to the same extent. The question is why, which I guess isn't easy to answer. Not 100% sure on this either, but I think the decision to replace the CVT with the 6 speed auto in the FDI may have had to do with getting a better deal on price. The CVT is still used in the FDII and the 2.0l.

Ignatz · Jul 29, 2017

IMHO, the suggested CVT fluid & filter change is too optimistic. 50,000 is a better plan, especially if you're in a hot climate, do a lot of hills or travel at speed for extended periods. Similarly, the transmission cooler is a good idea, not just for towing, but for anyone driving under the aforementioned conditions.

RossoRacer · Jul 29, 2017

Yeah, 20k-30k is a really safe bet with changing CVT fluid/filters, but even if you beat on it you should still be able to get away with 50k, maybe 60k miles between changes. To fix a whining issue, I've heard AMSoil CVT fluid fixes that, and another guy fixed it by installing an aux trans cooler. Both are always a good choice...Chrysler was never good with even suspensions, and still tried using a transmission that required research to use. They did alright with it, but could definitely have done better. At least they know how to build a great engine, even if it's mostly just in the Challenger/Charger.

DJMurphy · Jul 29, 2017

I'm wondering if this guy completely bypassed the OEM cooler when he added the auxilliary, because that aux one would be way too undersized for the amount of vehicle loading and subsequent heat generation it would be subjected to.

Anyways, IF I was experiencing that overheating issue, the first thing I would do is get a 4-channel digital thermometer like this:https://www.amazon.ca/Thermometer-Thermocouple-Preciva-4-Channel-Thermoelement/dp/B073P5MZ3J/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501360504&sr=8-3&keywords=4+channel+temperature+gaugeand monitor my cvt oil and coolant temps to try and get some basic info to start coming up with a solution.

ralphfr · Jul 30, 2017

Luckily I've never had the issue of the CVT(FDII) overheating to the point of failure. As it had been whining during warmer days during highway driving since around 35K I did have the dealer look into it several times. Last summer they even had my vehicle for two months and said they found nothing. I had even asked then to do a CVT service back then and all they did was replace some of the fluid and nothing changed. Fortunately for me after reading all these threads about this issue, when I reached just under 55K I demanded a 60K/48MO service from my dealer and they finally did the full CVT service. This has resolved the issue for now.

IMHO I believe the Patriot has a poorly designed cooling system. I have had 2 instances where the anti-freeze has been depleted by as much as 2 quarts and the reservoir has always remained full. Only after removing the rad cap was I aware of the issue. The engine never overheated and the temp gauge ran maybe half a needle higher so I did not pick it up right away. I had asked the dealer to check it out and they said everything was working normally. Interestingly it has not happened again in about the last 20K miles. As someone else mentioned possibly there is some compromises made in the firmware that Chrysler has implemented that may be responsible also. Who knows? They seem very hush-hush about these issues.

As I see it the only real solution, assuming you already have the rad mounted trans cooler, is to replace the pan with one that has a drain plug and have the fluid changed more frequently than 60K.

Charles Kline · Jul 31, 2017

Just picked this up to replace the wife's dying POS Patriot.

From what I found out, thats a Mopar bull bar and taillight guards and are pretty rare. I posted photos on a FB group and had a few people ask if I would sell them! :lol:

The Commander got a bad rap for being a boat, we think it drives great. I was surprised how similar the dimensions are to the Wagoneer, even the windshield angle and size is about the same.

Here's to this one lasting (knock on wood)

aroundincircles · Jul 31, 2017

Charles Kline said:
Just picked this up to replace the wife's dying POS Patriot.

From what I found out, thats a Mopar bull bar and taillight guards and are pretty rare. I posted photos on a FB group and had a few people ask if I would sell them! :lol:

The Commander got a bad rap for being a boat, we think it drives great. I was surprised how similar the dimensions are to the Wagoneer, even the windshield angle and size is about the same.

Here's to this one lasting (knock on wood)

I want your wagoneer. I've been looking for one for a while, but they are either rust buckets, or people want $40k for them.

Charles Kline · Jul 31, 2017

Thanks, I love that thing. Gets a lot of attention.

At wits end with this 'jeep' - CVT Overheating

ColoradoMan

Sandstone

ColoradoMan

Sandstone

Charles Kline

Sandstone

Phase3030

bob15

Sandstone

Itsmaggiemay

Sandstone

Itsmaggiemay

Sandstone

Ignatz

RossoRacer

DJMurphy

ralphfr

Charles Kline

aroundincircles

Charles Kline

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