jeep transmission

[camaroman1181]

ok guys.. question with regards to my beater.. its got me stumped...

95 jeep cherokee, 4wd, 4.0L

bought it used. previous owner was a h.s. girl who moved away to college and let it sit for almost a year.

now, when i go to drive it, i always let it sit for a minute or two before putting it in gear. sometimes, the transmission gets stuck in 1st and wont shift out of it. very annoying. I can get it to shift properly by stopping, putting the transmission in reverse for like 30 seconds, driving backwards ~ 25 feet, then putting it back into drive. itll then usually work fine.

also, it occasionally get stuck in 3rd gear. I can manually shift it into 2nd at a stop light (only have the 1-2 gear selector spot), and it will upshift on its own to 3rd, but it then stays in 3rd. This problem can be cured by stopping the vehicle, turning off the engine for ~ 5 seconds (as long as it takes my pioneer head unit to make the 3 beeps) and then its fine.

i've changed the fluid, flushed the tranny, and replaced teh filter.. filled it back up with a quart of lucas too..

this problem only happens every once and a while, but i want it fixed. I'm thinking the valve body is sticking or there are o-rings somewhere that have dried out due to sitting..

any ideas?

[Niko97RS]

Re: jeep transmission

ur tranny is going

try some lucas tranny fluid. its this red goop thats supposed to help slippinh

[camaroman1181]

Re: jeep transmission

any suggestions as to what specific part of the transmission is going out?

remember this thing sat for a year or so. seems the more i drive it, the better the problem gets, but the problem still exists. I'd like to fix it, but i'm just looking for suggestions on what to fix, rather than just throw money at it. maybe some seal or o-ring dried out or there's a valve hanging up in the valve body..

and i've tried lucas.. ptu it in when i changed the filter and flushed the tranny..

[TealV6]

Re: jeep transmission

Your trans valve body is damaged, or the torque converter is burnt up. I'm going with the first. Best way to fix it, buy a low mileage used one from the salvage yard.

Any Jeep AW4 trans will bolt up. You can find a 2000 model year one and just swap it out. Watch out for the two top torx bolts on the trans bell housing. You'll either swear up and down getting them out and/or bust up the hands and/or bust the sockets.

Yes... I am a Jeep guy.. so I get it :D

www.xjjeep.com <---- mine

[camaroman1181]

Re: jeep transmission

Your trans valve body is damaged, or the torque converter is burnt up. I'm going with the first. Best way to fix it, buy a low mileage used one from the salvage yard.

Any Jeep AW4 trans will bolt up. You can find a 2000 model year one and just swap it out. Watch out for the two top torx bolts on the trans bell housing. You'll either swear up and down getting them out and/or bust up the hands and/or bust the sockets.

Yes... I am a Jeep guy.. so I get it :D

www.xjjeep.com <---- mine

Thank you! this is exactly the info i was looking for... can i still nominate for most helpful member? :)

you mentioned torque converter.. there is an interesting problem im seeing as well.. the torque converter is making a whine.. nothing major, but its there.. sound increases and decreased with the engine, in gear, neutral, park.. all the time.. it wsa noticable when i bought the thing, but its getting quieter and quieter the more i drive it. (im thinking more residual from letting it sit) i still want to replace the valve body and all, but do you think the converter is on its way out too? I've never experienced any transmission slippage though, so ive been shying away from calling it the converter..

think maybe something is sticking in the converter, causing it to hang up in certain gears and that the valve body might be fine?

ok one last wierd coincidence i keep noticing...

for lunch at work i go to this one place most days of the week. i have to park half on the curb to get off the main road. its a pretty high curb, and when i come out, i have to start up the truck while leaned over to the driver side. now, most of the time that i see it sticking into 1st gear, is coming out of this place after i've eaten. the truck sat for year before i bought it in basically the exact same position, with almost the same degree of list even. now i konw this could just be a wierd coincidence, but do you think that has anything to do with it?! fluid levels are great by then way, i was worried the oil might not be gettin inot the pick up or somehting on the lean.. its only at a 5 degree angle sitting there... just throwing that out there cause it just seems to be too much of a coincidence..

any additional thoughts? im probably gonna get to a junk yard as soon as it starts warming up around here and the snow melts, so that valve body is gettin replaced anyways.. but if you can think up anything else, id greatly appreciate it..

thanks for the info!

oh, and sweet jeep too.. i have a 2door too, but mine's the dark green with the factory 10 hole alloys. did you ever finish that pumpkin project? did you cut off the rear of a comanchee cab to make that thing??

[TealV6]

Re: jeep transmission

The converter is just a big oil pump, if it's getting better, it could be sludge built up. You said you had to "flushed"... what kind of flush was it? I have a mechanic friend of mine do mine from time to time when I know I've been in water (duh.. it's a jeep... it loves mud) but anyways, it's a system that lets the trans do all the work. Forget what it's called... But once the machine is hooked up, the machine is filled with good fluid and the truck is started. The pump in the trans is cycling the old fluid out and pulling the new in. If i can remember the name of the process, I'll post it, but just a thought. I know its less stressful on the trans.

OH.. also what kind of fluid are you using?? AW4 is VERY fussy for fluid. I know the dealership says you can use any atf4 or better... check this out, just one of MANY debates http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12575

Also, NAXJA is your friend!!! Read, read, read!! If you don't find the answer, then ask.... but remember these are guys that literally tear a jeep down to nothing and put it back together.. so don't go in cocky. you might even be able to find some one locally that can look at it and tell you quickly from that board. Jeepers are good people.

Smell the trans fluid after its been running. Does it smell burned? does it have a different color other than a nice bright red? Those are signs of bands being burned up, slipping, etc.

I would just to the trans swap, don't worry about the valve body itself. Keep the old as spare/learning tool. I think you should be able to find a good used one (NOT REBUILT) for about 150.

Pumpkin is still in progress. I've moved a few times, had back surgery, changed jobs, changed women, etc... so I'm hoping to find some time this summer to put hours on it and see if I can't get it closer to completion. And yes, back wall of an MJ (commanche) Went to a buddy's and cut it off and put it on the roof of my jeep and drove home... that had to be a sight going down the xway :D

Let me know if I can give you any more help or tips.

Steve