SargeW
Site Team
I made the following write up to the benefit of any JK owners that have, or may get stuck with their Jeep where the transfer case shift lever seems to come disconnected from the transfer case, and either leaves you stuck in, out, or between gears and no way to move your Jeep. It's a little long, but it's worth knowing.
There is an inherent weakness in the transfer case shift cable used by Jeep. The shift cable that runs from the 4 wheel drive selector in the console to the transfer shift case has a plastic bushing that secures the cable to the shift point. This plastic bushing can and will fail without warning, and usually at the most inopportune times. The cable itself is fine, heavy steel cable with an attached machined steel fitting on each end.
Inside the fitting a plastic bushing serves as the spacer to allow the steel fitting to rotate freely on the shaft on the shifter in the console, or the shaft on the transfer case lever, and as a pinch nut to secure the cable onto the shaft as well. When the bushing fails the cable will pop off of the shaft preventing you from shifting into, or out of 2WD, 4WD, or neutral. This can be a real problem if you are towing the Jeep 4 down, are about to tow the Jeep 4 down, or just want to shift into or out of one of the Jeeps low ranges.
The bushing has failed on me three times now since it was new in 2008. The first time it failed I had about 10K miles on the Jeep and was in Alabama. We were not able to shift the transfer case into Neutral to tow it so we drove it to a nearby Jeep dealer who replaced the bushing in the console. That took about 6 hours of sitting around waiting. We were not really informed as to the problem at the time, and were just happy to get back on the road. BTW, the bushing costs about .38 cents to buy.
This time it let go we were leaving El Capitan State Beach in Ca on a Friday morning. I hooked up the Jeep to tow behind the motor home and got in and tried to move the shifter into neutral. No luck, just a sloppy shift handle. I knew right away what it was. This time there was no dealer close, and we were do at the next campground about 200 miles north that afternoon. And there was no way I would get an appointment at a Jeep dealer the same day on a Friday on a holiday weekend.
I looked around on a few Jeep web sites and came up with a plan. I was better prepared this time to handle the short term repair. First I slid under the Jeep with a large pair of channel lock pliers and moved the transfer shift lever into neutral. We were able to tow to the next place as planned. Moving it back at the next campground was a little more challenging but doable.
Now the fix. The only place close was a Home Depot. I knew I was going to have to take the console apart and get to the shifter linkage. That in itself was a little daunting since I didn't do it before. But it wasn't as bad as I had imagined.
After getting the console off, I discovered that it was a two part problem. First the linkage had popped off of the "cable keeper" about six inches in front of the bushing. Second the shifter bushing was cracked and falling apart as well. Both would have to be taken care of to put the Jeep back in service. The biggest issue was going to be the shifter bushing. Replacing the plastic bushing with another one was not an option. It is obviously a poorly engineered part. (My research into this problem revealed chronic failure of this bushing, some after as little as 100 miles.)
After much searching at Home Depot, I finally came up with a brass bushing that was actually part of a Watts water line fitting. The diameter was close and I just needed to shorten the length of the bushing. I used a small pipe tubing cutter to cut it down to size. I did squeeze the end of the brass bushing a bit with the tubing cutter. I had to flare it back out a touch by pressing a pair of needle nose pliers in the end and turning the bushing as I pressed. To hold it on the shifter hitch lever, I went with a stainless hitch pin.
With a new bushing and a hitch pin to hold it in place the shifter now worked as designed. To keep the shift keeper on the cable in the correct location, a few zip ties will keep it from moving around. In my research I learned that the failure rate of the bushing was really common, and which end of the cable would fail is a toss up. Unfortunately you usually don't know that the bushing has failed until you attempt to move the shift lever. Often the shifter will select the appropriate gear range, and it's not until you try to move it back that you find out that you are stuck in what ever range you had previously selected.
Some folks had to get towed to a dealer for repair, and some were able to drive it there. As of this date, Chrysler has no plans to produce a modified bushing. There is an after market company that makes and sells a replacement shift cable with different ends, but it sells for about $200.
I was able to source a different bushing at a Lowes store today that looks like it will fit the bill without having to cut it down. The hitch pin is still the recommended method of holding cable onto the shift pin. It is the last pic.
A while after this fix, the transfer case failed on me and I had to repair that one in a similar fashion. Then in Moab this year while attending the RV Forum rally, the cable keeper I referred to at the begging of this post, failed as well. That required another removal of the console and another made up fix for this poorly designed part. I have attached some pics of the process I went through.
I am happy to answer any questions about it, and hopefully you will never have the issue on your Jeep. But in reviewing a few Jeep forums I frequent, this issue comes up A LOT. Just a heads up.............
Happy Wheelin'.....
There is an inherent weakness in the transfer case shift cable used by Jeep. The shift cable that runs from the 4 wheel drive selector in the console to the transfer shift case has a plastic bushing that secures the cable to the shift point. This plastic bushing can and will fail without warning, and usually at the most inopportune times. The cable itself is fine, heavy steel cable with an attached machined steel fitting on each end.
Inside the fitting a plastic bushing serves as the spacer to allow the steel fitting to rotate freely on the shaft on the shifter in the console, or the shaft on the transfer case lever, and as a pinch nut to secure the cable onto the shaft as well. When the bushing fails the cable will pop off of the shaft preventing you from shifting into, or out of 2WD, 4WD, or neutral. This can be a real problem if you are towing the Jeep 4 down, are about to tow the Jeep 4 down, or just want to shift into or out of one of the Jeeps low ranges.
The bushing has failed on me three times now since it was new in 2008. The first time it failed I had about 10K miles on the Jeep and was in Alabama. We were not able to shift the transfer case into Neutral to tow it so we drove it to a nearby Jeep dealer who replaced the bushing in the console. That took about 6 hours of sitting around waiting. We were not really informed as to the problem at the time, and were just happy to get back on the road. BTW, the bushing costs about .38 cents to buy.
This time it let go we were leaving El Capitan State Beach in Ca on a Friday morning. I hooked up the Jeep to tow behind the motor home and got in and tried to move the shifter into neutral. No luck, just a sloppy shift handle. I knew right away what it was. This time there was no dealer close, and we were do at the next campground about 200 miles north that afternoon. And there was no way I would get an appointment at a Jeep dealer the same day on a Friday on a holiday weekend.
I looked around on a few Jeep web sites and came up with a plan. I was better prepared this time to handle the short term repair. First I slid under the Jeep with a large pair of channel lock pliers and moved the transfer shift lever into neutral. We were able to tow to the next place as planned. Moving it back at the next campground was a little more challenging but doable.
Now the fix. The only place close was a Home Depot. I knew I was going to have to take the console apart and get to the shifter linkage. That in itself was a little daunting since I didn't do it before. But it wasn't as bad as I had imagined.
After getting the console off, I discovered that it was a two part problem. First the linkage had popped off of the "cable keeper" about six inches in front of the bushing. Second the shifter bushing was cracked and falling apart as well. Both would have to be taken care of to put the Jeep back in service. The biggest issue was going to be the shifter bushing. Replacing the plastic bushing with another one was not an option. It is obviously a poorly engineered part. (My research into this problem revealed chronic failure of this bushing, some after as little as 100 miles.)
After much searching at Home Depot, I finally came up with a brass bushing that was actually part of a Watts water line fitting. The diameter was close and I just needed to shorten the length of the bushing. I used a small pipe tubing cutter to cut it down to size. I did squeeze the end of the brass bushing a bit with the tubing cutter. I had to flare it back out a touch by pressing a pair of needle nose pliers in the end and turning the bushing as I pressed. To hold it on the shifter hitch lever, I went with a stainless hitch pin.
With a new bushing and a hitch pin to hold it in place the shifter now worked as designed. To keep the shift keeper on the cable in the correct location, a few zip ties will keep it from moving around. In my research I learned that the failure rate of the bushing was really common, and which end of the cable would fail is a toss up. Unfortunately you usually don't know that the bushing has failed until you attempt to move the shift lever. Often the shifter will select the appropriate gear range, and it's not until you try to move it back that you find out that you are stuck in what ever range you had previously selected.
Some folks had to get towed to a dealer for repair, and some were able to drive it there. As of this date, Chrysler has no plans to produce a modified bushing. There is an after market company that makes and sells a replacement shift cable with different ends, but it sells for about $200.
I was able to source a different bushing at a Lowes store today that looks like it will fit the bill without having to cut it down. The hitch pin is still the recommended method of holding cable onto the shift pin. It is the last pic.
A while after this fix, the transfer case failed on me and I had to repair that one in a similar fashion. Then in Moab this year while attending the RV Forum rally, the cable keeper I referred to at the begging of this post, failed as well. That required another removal of the console and another made up fix for this poorly designed part. I have attached some pics of the process I went through.
I am happy to answer any questions about it, and hopefully you will never have the issue on your Jeep. But in reviewing a few Jeep forums I frequent, this issue comes up A LOT. Just a heads up.............
Happy Wheelin'.....
