2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimted Sport 4dr_Power Transfer Issue
I have a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport with over 145,000 miles, but it has a new engine from 2019. In the last 6 months, I have been experiencing a jerk or kick under and in the center of the Jeep. It is very random and when it happens there is no RPM change. After almost a week my mechanic was able to reproduce the jerk/kick and we installed a new transfer case. The problem went away for about 3 weeks and then it happened again. As a test, I put it into 4WD and the steering went crazy and I almost couldn't get the jeep back into 2WD, took me about 8 tries.
Took it back and they installed another transfer case thinking the one they installed may have been faulty. The problem went away for about 2 weeks, then came back. The guys check everything and they say the jeep is tight, nothing is loose.
I did some research on different forums and went back and asked them to change out the Throttle Position Sensor. They ended up changing out the accelerator pedal position sensor (accelerator pedal assembly) telling me that was the same thing (not sure that's true).
Last week I drove the jeep from Sacramento to Vancouver Washington for a 10-day trip and kept the following log of every time the jerk happened. Can anyone give me any ideas of what might be going on? I have to drive from Sacramento to Dallas Texas soon and would like to see if I can get this fixed before that.
Side Note: It seems to be doing it more during longer drives but has done it on shorter ones.
THURSDAY - Sac to Van
6:51 … truck passed in front of us, took foot off accelerator, didn’t hit the brakes. 64mph. Dry pavement. Transfer? Not on cruise control.
7:46 … on cruise control, hit brake, no issues
8:46 … going up hill, rpm’s didn’t change, didn’t step on gas … stepped on gas and then it did do it again: two “light” incidents
SUNDAY - driving around Vancouver WA
11:05 … going 55, hit gas … “kicked” … dry conditions
11:40 … slammed on brakes for cat
11:41 … just going uphill a bit, jerked again
SATURDAY - driving around Vancouver WA
11:04 … rain, going 40 mph, did not accelerate or change speed, heavy jerk
SUNDAY - Van back to Sac
11:24 … dry conditions, accelerating, getting around a truck
11:53 … downhill 6% grade, pushed cruise control to go up to 65mph
12:04 … pressing accelerator, going up hill trying to pass trucks.
2:10 … 53-54mph, accelerator kicked back, felt like it downshifted on its own, lost power for a second (steered a tad right to pass slowing vehicle)
3:04 … uphill, changing lanes, pressed down accelerator, took foot off a bit to let another vehicle change lanes too
Any thoughts? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Took it back and they installed another transfer case thinking the one they installed may have been faulty. The problem went away for about 2 weeks, then came back. The guys check everything and they say the jeep is tight, nothing is loose.
I did some research on different forums and went back and asked them to change out the Throttle Position Sensor. They ended up changing out the accelerator pedal position sensor (accelerator pedal assembly) telling me that was the same thing (not sure that's true).
Last week I drove the jeep from Sacramento to Vancouver Washington for a 10-day trip and kept the following log of every time the jerk happened. Can anyone give me any ideas of what might be going on? I have to drive from Sacramento to Dallas Texas soon and would like to see if I can get this fixed before that.
Side Note: It seems to be doing it more during longer drives but has done it on shorter ones.
THURSDAY - Sac to Van
6:51 … truck passed in front of us, took foot off accelerator, didn’t hit the brakes. 64mph. Dry pavement. Transfer? Not on cruise control.
7:46 … on cruise control, hit brake, no issues
8:46 … going up hill, rpm’s didn’t change, didn’t step on gas … stepped on gas and then it did do it again: two “light” incidents
SUNDAY - driving around Vancouver WA
11:05 … going 55, hit gas … “kicked” … dry conditions
11:40 … slammed on brakes for cat
11:41 … just going uphill a bit, jerked again
SATURDAY - driving around Vancouver WA
11:04 … rain, going 40 mph, did not accelerate or change speed, heavy jerk
SUNDAY - Van back to Sac
11:24 … dry conditions, accelerating, getting around a truck
11:53 … downhill 6% grade, pushed cruise control to go up to 65mph
12:04 … pressing accelerator, going up hill trying to pass trucks.
2:10 … 53-54mph, accelerator kicked back, felt like it downshifted on its own, lost power for a second (steered a tad right to pass slowing vehicle)
3:04 … uphill, changing lanes, pressed down accelerator, took foot off a bit to let another vehicle change lanes too
Any thoughts? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


