Poppy out of 1st gear

Pilgrim55

Member
I have a 2012 jerk jk Rubicon with a 6 speed manual transmission. When I shift it into first gear it pops out of gear frequently, when I shift it feel like there our two notches going into first. I have watch videos about replacing the shifter with
B & M 45195 shifter would fix it not sure if that would fix or just wasting money . Mot sure if that would fix it could be the synchros. Any help would be appreciated
 
I had a 2012 that would pop out of gear all the time too. I remember there was a fix or more of a band aid at the time the dealer offered. Can’t remember what it was and I never took the time to get it addressed.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
My 07 did that all the time too and yes, there is a TSB that was issued for it although, like HighwayTrout said, it was more of a bandaid than anything.
 

tnjeepguy

New member
My 2017 does it sometime. Have to get it fully in gear, if not it will pop out. At the worst time it seems, like at a light and getting into turn lane !! Not good.
 

GP NOIR

Hooked
Your Jeep is popping outta gear because of the shitty factory shift lever. Remove and toss it as soon as possible. Replace it with the B&M shift lever.

The problem is the factory shifter lever isolator has a lot of slop and the lever hits the opening in the tunnel just enough to keep the tranny from going all the way into gear. The B&M shift lever has a stiffer isolator with less slop which should keep it from hitting and give more positive shifting. The lever is about $200, but it’s worth every penny.

B&M also makes a shift tower. It’s about $700. The shift gates are closer together and more precise. It makes hitting the shift gates easier, especially when you have to hit them fast.

If you can afford only one, or plan to get them one at a time, get the lever first. Don’t try to run the B&M tower with the factory lever. The factory lever is so bad, it will make the B&M shift tower feel like shit.

I have the B&M tower and lever in my 2012 Rubicon and have roughly 15,000 miles on them. No more popping out of gear. They’ve paid for themselves many times, on the trail. The only problem I had was a sheared bolt holding the lever in the isolator. New bolts, a couple of spacers and a bit of JB Weld fixed it better than new.
 
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frenchjk

Caught the Bug
The B&M could fix the issue but:
  1. if the issue is with the shifting fork (plastic pads wear out) then it is useless
  2. if the issue is with the syncro gear(s) it is useless

more often than not these two issues are the culprits and take a complete disassembly and change of the parts. The gearbox is actually Mercedes Benz designed (and sourced) and very poorly too... rebuild will cost quite alot by MOPAR but there are some good specialized shops out there that do it for a decent price.
 

desertrunner

Active Member
my dads 08 did that for a while in 1st and reverse. Dealership ended up replacing internals in the trans and hasnt had any issues since
 

GP NOIR

Hooked
The B&M could fix the issue but:
  1. if the issue is with the shifting fork (plastic pads wear out) then it is useless
  2. if the issue is with the syncro gear(s) it is useless

more often than not these two issues are the culprits and take a complete disassembly and change of the parts. The gearbox is actually Mercedes Benz designed (and sourced) and very poorly too... rebuild will cost quite alot by MOPAR but there are some good specialized shops out there that do it for a decent price.
That is so. I have looked up what common wear items are for this transmission and how to rebuild it.

My Jeep had a little over 122,000 miles on it when the B&M shifter assembly was installed. The difference is so much better, it’s night and day.

I did some research because my transmission kept popping out of gear. Lots of other people were having the same problem which had been narrowed down to the factory shift lever. It’s so mushy, it hits the opening in the floor and doesn’t completely push the gears into place when shifting. Installing the B&M shift lever and tower in my Jeep eliminated that problem.

I know some hate this trans. I hated how vague and sloppy shifting was. Now, I like it! I like it lots!
 
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