mattyrayb, I'll be taking mine for service in a week or two.

 

Check your shifter boots, the inner boot has been identified as a problem many times over regarding this issue.

I never have had any shifting problems with my Rubi, so you should no either.

 

I had my Rubi serviced today. When I picked it up the S.A. said "The notchy feel is characteristic of the wrangler transmission". He said they road tested it and another brand new one off the lot for comparison and they were both the same. I'm not worried, I still have lots of warranty time left if it becomes a problematic.

 

Mine has pretty much always done this,but only when it was cold,and mostly it would pop out of 2nd gear sometimes 1st, it never did it after it has warmed up.

 

I'm assuming everybody in here has a standard trans. I believe what you're talking about is the friction point. There is a point at any speed for the most part when you can pull the stick into manual without using the clutch. It's harder at a faster speed. I do it when approaching red lights all the time. Try just applying a little pressure on the stick as your slowing down (2nd to 1st will be easiest) and it will for the most part pop out every time.

 

I have had it pop out of first a few times once it actually bashed into my finger...wasnt a good time...but im just chalking it up to i didnt have it all the way in gear. But the inner boot could very well be the issue as stated before.

 

I had the popping out of first gear issue with my '04 Chrysler Crossfire. It would pop out of 1st when accelerating from a stop. The early on fix AFTER you convienced the dealer there was a problem was a transmission swap. Since then there has been some kind of adjustment to the syncros or something. Anyway, DCX finally put out a TSB on it after a bunch of owner's of the early build (Jul-Dec '03) Crossfires started complaining. Worked as advertised after the transmission was swapped out.

 

Mine pops out also usually when I first get into the JK. It's been getting around 20 degrees each night and it shifts poorly until I drive it for about 15 minutes. I usually don't let the jeep warm up though and leave it in the cold at night so it's the price you pay not letting it warm up much.

 

I had a problem with the 1,3,5, points coincidentally after the dealer " fixed " the clutch squeek.......

The Mechanic never put the lower boot ON at all !!! Come to find out he broke the starter and never put all the bolts back in to connect the engine and trans

He did lose his job over this ....... if it is any consolation !!!!

 

Interesting...my problems were never first, third or fifth, but second, fourth and sixth...never happened in the summer, but now its happening again since its getting colder...inner boot makes sense...when it gets colder, it gets stiffer and pushes more against the shifter...I thought at first it might be when I wore light gloves, I lost the feel of when it was fully engaged...it seems like everyone is having the problem on one side of the shift pattern or the other...I'm gonna check the inner boot and see if it has more pressure on the back side than the front side...thanks for the observations and ideas...