Five problems related to manual transmission have been reported for the 1997 Jeep Wrangler. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
My vehicle has run rough, idling rough, "bucking", losing coolant and dripping from the tailpipe about a week after the extended warranty expired. I have had major valve train problems and had to have the camshaft replaced along with the gasket, cylinder head, core return, radiator and now the latest is oil pressure gauge sending unit. Oil pressure still showing zero even after replacing sending unit!.
5-speed trans hard to shift cold. Front sway ber links breaking.
Transmission sticks trying to shift into 2nd gear, has been serviced, still is sticking while shifting especcially into 2nd gear, which sometimes grinds. Dealer has changed the transmission fluid twice, 2nd time used synthetic fluid. 2nd gear feels like the syncronizer is not working properly, or very slowly. I must hold the clutch in for an extened period to allow 2nd gear to syncronize before shifting into it up and down shifting.
Instrument panel: all instrument panel gauges are driven by a microprocessor, such that it tells the panel what the gauges should read. When the instrument panel cpu fails, all gauges; fuel/temp/oil/volt and tachometer, speedometer an d odometer) fail simultaneously. This is disconcerting at best, highly dangerous (say if one were on a freeway) at worst. Also, transmission: the 5-speed transmission used with the 4. 0l has major problems shifting into second when cold. Jeep's answer for years has been "they all do that" yet they have continued to use the same transmission and have no fixed for the problem to this date.
2nd gear - difficult to engage, and often pops out of gear while driving or parked; 4wd low also difficult to engage, and often pops out to neutral while driving.