The only Mercedes part in my Jeep just broke

[grahamfitter]

I can no longer engage reverse gear in my 2005 Jeep Wrangler which has traveled about 70K miles. The jury (my mechanic) hasn't returned a verdict yet but chances are the shifter fork in the Mercedes six speed manual gearbox is borked in a rather expensive Mercedes way.

The symptom is the shifter feels like reverse is engaged but when I let out the clutch there is grinding of teeth and the shifter then pops into neutral. This would happen infrequently when I first bought the Jeep a few years ago and I assumed pilot error. Recently its started happening regularly and now the vehicle only goes forwards. Under its own power, anyway.

Assume for a moment that my mechanic's hunch is right, its rather ironic that the first thing in the vehicle to fail is the only (as far as I know) MB part!

 

[Jeff Dodgen]

No 7 year 70K warranty?

 

[jeffjeeptj]

Reports have indicated the steering box in the 05/06 TJ/LJ is of Daimler origin too.
Look at some of the Jeep related forums for more info (jf or ROF). I had a 2002 TJ 5 speed that had very few problems up to 80K when I sold it to buy an 05 Rubi LJ 6 speed that I lusted after. Did I make a mistake?


Good luck with yours.

 

[bldeagle10]

sounds like what happened on my friends old bmw with 3rd gear. bmw diagnosed it as a syncro going out or throw bearing...cant remember...

 

[catfish]

If its made like the typical tranny,
there is plastic shims on the shiftforks, maybe all it needs is the shims replaced.
It still won't be cheap as your paying the shop to pull the tranny. But may not be a need for a rebuild.

 

[Jp90Talon]

If you own an 05-06 wrangler I would be more concerned about the OPDA issues.

 

[Zeep]

The other forums note issues w/late model 6 spds. I changed out the fluid w/Royal Purple sycromesh at 10k, and have not had any issues.

 

[jdemonto]

The good news is you can find them all day long $800-$1500

www.car-part.com

Jason

 

[Canadian Moose]

I can no longer engage reverse gear in my 2005 Jeep Wrangler which has traveled about 70K miles. The jury (my mechanic) hasn't returned a verdict yet but chances are the shifter fork in the Mercedes six speed manual gearbox is borked in a rather expensive Mercedes way.

The symptom is the shifter feels like reverse is engaged but when I let out the clutch there is grinding of teeth and the shifter then pops into neutral. This would happen infrequently when I first bought the Jeep a few years ago and I assumed pilot error. Recently its started happening regularly and now the vehicle only goes forwards. Under its own power, anyway.

Assume for a moment that my mechanic's hunch is right, its rather ironic that the first thing in the vehicle to fail is the only (as far as I know) MB part!

I had the same problem with my 05 LJ. I had to hold reverse in, even then it kinda grinded.

I brought it in to the dealer and they were going to rebuild it under the 7/70 warranty. They ended up cracking the housing and replacing the entire thing. Non the less, I have heard you can have these rebuilt for around $1000 tops.

 

[Jim K in PA]

Reports have indicated the steering box in the 05/06 TJ/LJ is of Daimler origin too.
Look at some of the Jeep related forums for more info (jf or ROF). I had a 2002 TJ 5 speed that had very few problems up to 80K when I sold it to buy an 05 Rubi LJ 6 speed that I lusted after. Did I make a mistake?


Good luck with yours.

The steering box is a Daimler component. There are quite a few other parts unique to the '05/'06 models. The CPS unit is one infamous example.

I have over 100k on my 6 speed ('05). Never had a problem with it, but it is a noisy trans.

 

[grahamfitter]

So the problem goes something like this: if you're driving forward and accidentally move the gear shifter partially along the neutral channel right of 5th/6th it makes a grinding sound. I know I did it once thinking there was another gear after 6th and I'm guessing the previous owner must have done it too. Apparently it damages part of the reverse shift mechanism that will fail after a while and can be accessed only by removing most of the contents of the gearbox. For most mortals it means replacing the gearbox.

According to Chrysler my vehicle had a 36K mile warranty which expired long ago so no help there. A salvage one is obviously cheaper but it could well have the same problem. A new Chrysler (MB) unit is more expensive but has a 100K mile warranty.

After some soul searching over how long I'm going to keep the vehicle I chose the new gearbox and lightened my wallet by $3K installed.

So a warning for those with this transmission: be careful!