Jeep Wrangler Forum banner

'16 JKU manual 6 speed broken shifter!

58K views 239 replies 102 participants last post by  JeepCares 
#1 ·
Tonight driving through a store parking lot the shifter started making a loud rattling/vibrating noise in 2nd gear that it has never made before. As I shifted to 3rd, the shifter made 2 "clack, clack" and the entire stick rotated in my hand to where the numbers on the shift knob were turned 90 degrees.

It got worse trying to get it home. Shifting into 1st the shift knob hits the dash, won't go into 2nd and there's the "clack,clack" going into 3rd as if the entire stick is going to come off in my hand. Trying to get into reverse the entire stick is almost parallel to the passenger seat cushion, and won't go into reverse.

I've never seen a stick do this. Any ideas? I'm going to get it to a dealer first thing in the morning, just don't want them trying to say somehow we did this. Thanks!
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#2 ·
Btw - Jeep has 7k miles on it and was purchased brand new with 6 miles on it in October.
 
#6 ·
Apparently there is a bushing that holds the shifter in place is the transmission, and that bushing broke and moved out of place. They've ordered a new bushing and put me in a rental until the bushing comes in and can be replaced.
 
#7 ·
Update: got the Jeep back from the dealer today. They replaced the shifter lever, part #52060064AG. It feels like I'm driving an entirely different vehicle. The gears are tight, the shifts are precise, no issues getting it into 6th or reverse that I had from the moment I drove it off the lot.

I purchased the Jeep brand new with 6 miles on it and from the initial drive home the shifter felt mushy/sloppy, but that's how I remember my '98 Wrangler's manual trans, so I thought it was normal. Obviously it was not, and the service manager and tech said the bushing that broke was most likely not installed correctly at the factory because they couldn't think of anyway we could have damaged it.

If anyone with a '15-'16 6 speed manual has a mushy or vague feeling shifter, I would definitely get it looked at. Thankfully ours broke in a parking lot and not during my wife's daily freeway commute.
 
#9 ·
That I don't know. I received a call at 1 pm today from the service manager stating they were still waiting for the part to arrive, but then received a call just an hour later telling me the Jeep was ready.
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
I just got my 2016 Jeep Wrangler back from the dealership with the exact same part replaced (52060064-AG). The Jeep only had 13,700 miles when it had to go back to the dealership for repairs. I bought it brand new from the dealership with only about 2 miles. I never noticed the shifter being loose due to thinking that this is the way it came stock. I drove it around all day on, but by the afternoon trying to shift it into second gear would make the shifter almost hit the center console. I GENTLY drove it up to the dealership only using the top gears (1st, 3rd, and 5th). They replaced the Lever Gear PT# - 52060064-AG, and the Knob. In the repair notes it said that the shifter lever bushing came apart at the shifter tower TK119. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up on this.
 
#11 ·
Seems like this may turn out to be a regular issue. That's unfortunate.
 
#12 ·
I just had the same problem, 6 months old and 10k plus miles. Shift lever could be twisted around and range of motion was all over the place.

Had to tow it in. The service tech accused me of kicking or stepping on the shifter. Which never happened, but I did appreciate the accusation as it has refined the number of dealers I'll shop from in the future.

The same part as the others (52060064AG) was replaced. I guess I'll need to keep a few of these parts on hand once the warranty runs out if I still have it then.
 
#14 ·
That pretty much solidifies that my wife's replacement Jeep (this one was just deemed a total loss on Monday) will be an automatic.

I'm also going to notify Jeep regarding the obvious faulty bushing and keep track of this because I'm sure it's a more wide spread issue.

I'm just now getting urgent recall notices for my old '06 Chryler 300 SRT 8 for issues I repeatedly brought the car in for but was told there was nothing wrong or they couldn't find the problem. That car's long since gone, but I was having issues in '09 with it & now they're sending out urgent recalls?!
 
#30 ·
I'd be curious to know when all these Jeeps were made. You do occasionally see recalls where they have like a day, or a week or some other short period where they discover something wasn't right and recall a small amount of vehicles.
 
#17 ·
Our Back Country we picked up 2 weeks ago is an automatic. I love the manual Jeep, but having that happen once was enough. With my wife driving it every day on the freeway, wasn't taking any chances this time. Good luck with the repairs.
 
  • Angry
Reactions: KJabs
#20 ·
I'd make sure you reference this post and the part # that is replaced. Dealerships always say "this is the first I've heard/seen this"
 
#22 ·
Thanks for the post - I'll keep on eye on that. The new Back Country is just under 1k miles and I haven't experienced any issues with the auto shifting.
 
#34 ·
You'll get used to the shift pattern, it took me a little while trying to find that 6th gear after accidentally pushing it into the "R" detent! I don't understand why "R" is between 5th and 6th and not 1st and 2nd like different 6 speed we once owned.

As an update for you guys that are subscribed, ended up at a different dealer but, same part replaced as the rest of you guys(shifter lever). They also put in a new clutch kit and release bearing. the bearing was making some nice squeaky-like noise in idle that went away when I pushed the clutch in a little. The notes said the diaphragm fingers were bent. :| Shifts much tighter than before and the noise is gone.
Mine was ordered in october 2015 and D1 status 10/20/15. so, built shortly after that.

I'm at 10500 miles, btw.
I am at 16K on my '15 and I have noticed noise when I am at idle out of gear. Sounds like lightweight rocks bouncing around, and it too goes away when some clutch pressure is applied. But I am not hearing it all the time, it only seems to be worse when it is raining.
 
#26 ·
cgs1967 - that's how our's started, issues getting into 6th or reverse. After the bushing and shifter were replaced every gear was direct and solid. Felt like a completely different vehicle than when new.

Regarding the total loss - that was from hitting a concrete pillar at 10 mph. Completely crumpled the entire frame and the front section of the roll cage.
 
#29 ·
I have heard of the transfer case shifter's plastic bushing breaking but this is the first for the gear shifter. '08 manual & no problems for what it's worth.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top