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DON'T BUY THE CVT FOR OFF ROAD!!!

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Dawson

· Off Road Enthusiast
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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
I've just about had it with this thing! If you've read any of my other posts about the CVT you know that I'm not fond of it. Not only is it sluggish in getting up to speed as we've all discussed, but today I had a very embarrassing problem on the trail; I couldn't get it up, the hill that is! :eek:

Now, I'm not speaking to all the flat-landers out there who take their Patriot off-road in the nearby woods with small hills, I'm speaking of back country Colorado trail riding. The Patriot CVT SUCKS! We (me and my new Liberty buddy Darryl) came to a decent grade with several rock outcroppings requiring a slow speed to negotiate and ascend. About halfway up the 1/4 mile hill with about a 35 degree degree angle (not sure of percentage), the CVT simply WOULD NOT GO! I tried in vain not to have to back down or be pulled up. I tried every combination of Drive you can imagine, with and without ESP, 4 lock, and even the 'crawl ratio'; nothing worked. I had to allow Darryl around me, hook up the tow strap and have him pull me up the hill!!!!! Thank GOD the Mile High Jeep Club with about 50 members had already passed and was not resting at the top of the hill, after all, every one of them made it just fine, including the stock Liberty, Wrangler, and Grand Cherokee.

If I could take this thing back I would. I would get a 5 speed and make it trail rated on my own. I mean, seriously, how the hell can you sell a 'trail rated' version with no manual transmission, that won't make it up a trail that everyone else can; including the competition?!?!?! :confused:

My advice; DO NOT BUY the CVT if you plan on using it's 'trail rated' capability. And for those of you who do take it off-road, keep up your momentum!


Check this out!!! http://www.jeeppatriot.com/forum/showpost.php?p=19215&postcount=69 Problem Fixed!!!
 
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#2 ·
Yikes! Sorry to hear about your experience...I test drove the cvt (and said no way)...and ordered a 5speed....Loving it
 
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#3 ·
Ouch! Sorry to hear this, Dawson. I am going to be in Colorado on some back roads in October. I will have a 5 speed FD1 with off road tires. Sounds like I will have to pick and choose my trails. Can you tell me what trail you were on so I can do some cross-checking with my sources?

Thanks in advance.
 
#5 ·
If I were you I would maybe go get it checked out! I went on some private trails few weeks ago and I went up this one hill I didn't even think we would make it up, it was very steep!! Well we did, and I even stopped in the middle of it and had my brother in-law get out to take a pic (that didn't turn out) and he got back in and we finished the hill with no problems! So I am wondering if there might be something wrong with yours!!
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
BCSilver said:
Ouch! Sorry to hear this, Dawson. I am going to be in Colorado on some back roads in October. I will have a 5 speed FD1 with off road tires. Sounds like I will have to pick and choose my trails. Can you tell me what trail you were on so I can do some cross-checking with my sources?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Where are you going to be? Maybe we can hook up. It would be nice to see another Patriot out there. I was the ONLY Patriot on the trails that I've seen in the past three weeks.

Hasty: I'm beginning to wonder how much altitude is playing in this, but still, the computer should be smart enough to adjust (after all, it is the 3rd millennium). I emailed Jeep very mad, maybe they'll do something; not holding my breath. Really the only way to show them what I'm talking about is to take them out on the trail, the dealer sure as hell won't go.

Offroader: A novel idea, but that would probably be more expensive than buying the 5spd and installing the skid plates, etc. I'm tempted to tell them to take it back unless they can get it working as it should. From the Jeep website: "TRACTION
SOME MIGHT CALL THESE TESTS CRUEL. WE CALL THEM INITIATION.
Even straight from the dealership Jeep® Trail Rated® 4x4s have enough traction to climb the type of hills most people would only attempt with a rope and a spotter. Jeep vehicles offer a variety of 4x4 systems to suit all kinds of terrain and driving conditions." Since this isn't the case, would this be false advertising?

All I know is, they better do something about it!
 
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#7 ·
I didn't think the Jeep Patriot was intended for the kind of off-roading you are talking about. Neither is the Jeep Compass. I know you can get that Trail Rated badge but a Jeep Patriot is not in the same class as previous Jeep models. Suggest you buy a Jeep Liberty next time. At least now you know your limits!
 
#8 ·
Dawson, unfortunately I won't be in charge of the timing or the itinerary in Colorado so I will have to take a pass. Thanks for the thought, though.

The other contributions on getting a Liberty or other Jeep to take on the challenges are right on if the issue is taking on difficult roads with power/traction to spare. At the same time, I think there are a fair number of us who are willing to adapt and compromise a little to get better fuel efficiency, but we need to know just how much compromise is required. We are trying to "find" those limits, and that takes some trial and error.

I guess in a year people reading this forum will be able to benefit from our reports to know just what they will be able to do. In the meantime, we are pioneers!
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
jaymista said:
I didn't think the Jeep Patriot was intended for the kind of off-roading you are talking about. Neither is the Jeep Compass. I know you can get that Trail Rated badge but a Jeep Patriot is not in the same class as previous Jeep models. Suggest you buy a Jeep Liberty next time. At least now you know your limits!
Click to expand...
I think you missed the point... This was NOT a difficult trail. In fact, the point at which my Patriot would not GO it was sitting on a section of the hill with no rocks; it was smooth packed dirt. The limitations of the Patriot as I see them should be in ground clearance, not general trail riding. I shouldn't have to pay another 5k and get horrible fuel mileage to be able to get up a hill; that's absurd. :doh: Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the hill, otherwise you'd understand this should not have happened!!! Like I said in a previous post, if I wanted to stay on the road, I would have bought a KIA. Impressively I still have yet to find the true limit of the Patriot, although my skid plates did get used on this outing. I understand the Patriot will not go where a Rubicon will without serious modification, but when a competing crossover with half the 'capability' can make it, I should have no problem!

I think before jumping to your conclusions you should READ and UNDERSTAND the problem! What 'kind' of off-roading would you suggest? Maybe a graded dirt road? Ridiculous.
 
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#11 ·
Dawson said:
About halfway up the 1/4 mile hill with about a 35 degree degree angle (not sure of percentage), the CVT simply WOULD NOT GO! I tried in vain not to have to back down or be pulled up. I tried every combination of Drive you can imagine, with and without ESP, 4 lock, and even the 'crawl ratio'; nothing worked.
Click to expand...
30 degrees feels like you are going straight up vertically, are you sure of the angle?

Were you bottomed out at this point?

Was the engine reving with the converter not engaging?

Did you stop and then try to continue?

Did the transmission over-temp. warning come on?

Seems strange mine has climbed like a rocky mountain goat.
 
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Discussion starter · #12 ·
Hmmm, using 0 as flat and 90 as vertical, I was at 35ish.

Bottomed out?

I put the pedal to the floor and it didn't do anything but groan like it didn't want to do anything.

I tried EVERYTHING (yes, including easing on the gas)

No temp warnings
 
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#13 ·
I think you need to get the thing checked out. My FDII climbs like a goat. Check out the trail tests that expeditions west did, too.

There is a technical service bulletin pout that may apply (for Patriots builts before May).
 
#14 ·
Think about it.

Jeep spends millions of dollars developing th Patriot for a trail rating, and they put the skid plates on the FDII...and you are saying it can't even climb a fairly steep hill. Do you think they forgot to test it???

Or maybe you got the lemon. It happens.

Here's that technical trail report which shows what yours SHOULD be capable of:

http://www.expeditionswest.com/equipment/reviews/patriot/index.htm
 
#15 ·
Dawson, Sorry to hear about the problems you had but it sounds like something was going on with your Pat. jucharlie was able to go up similar slopes at similar altitudes without a problem.
 
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Discussion starter · #16 ·
Sorry if I seem a little pissed... This is the first new vehicle I've bought and got it for the combination of fuel economy and ability to explore off-road. I am at 3k miles and tomorrow will be scheduling an oil change for this week sometime. In the mean time, I will have my Shop Foreman buddy (at a Jeep dealer) pull up all the bulletins etc. so that when the guys here play dumb, as they surely will, I can be like, look here biotch! I'm also awaiting a reply from Jeep, of course that will probably be a bunch of BS too. After just watching Sicko, health care isn't the only thing f-ed up in this country!
 
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#17 ·
After watching Ratatouille I have concluded rats can cook too. I try to avoid politics in fun websites but I doubt Michael Moore will be going to Cuba for medical care.
 
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