CCKen

I recommend you get that crap out of your transmission as soon as possible.

You really don't have to drive 100 miles between drain & refills. Just drive about 15 miles to bring the trans oil up to operating temp then drain & refill again. During the drive make sure you get on a road that will allow the trans to go into overdrive.

Use only Dexron-III/Mercon ATF.

Valvoline DEX/MERC is good, but other brands are good as well as long as the label says it conforms to Dexron-III and Mercon requirements. Do not use "Max Life" ATF.

~~~~~~

While you're at it, (unless already accomplished) drain & refill your Transfer Case - assuming you have a 4WD Jeep.

Use DEX/MERC in the TC as well. If you've never changed the fluid in your TC you may want to get some guidance on how to do it. Check back here if required.

Kingfisher

^^^
What he said!

Roler

"Don't change your ATF. Your transmission will fail soon after that. It's true. Because someone on the internet told someone else. Your transmission is used to the shavings and all the crud by now, and might suffer shock from fresh ATF. It might cost you your trans..!!!."

LOL

Sorry, I had to.

OK, if the advice wasn't clear yet; yes, that ATF (or what is once was) needs replacing. And mine looked like that too, and that was after 2x drain refill within 1000 km.
So, I looked into, did and then became a supporter of the "forward flush method". Clean, quick, and refreshing all ATF in a few minutes, rather than repeating the drain/refill procedure (which is perfectly fine, but draining only part of the fluid at a time and needs repeating several times). Using the trans's own pump, nothing aggressive or reversed shop-like flushed.

Let me know if you want info in that, more than happy to write up the steps.

CCKen

Go ahead and write up the procedure.

Don't forget the part about not running the transmission completely out of fluid with the engine running or the transmission will be destroyed.

awork

Mine is a 97 cherokee sport. It just randomly started doing this one day. I drove it 250 miles home and drove for another month after that before it started acting up. Started morr in the last couple weeks.

BlueRidgeMark

^^^^^

What he said.


Mine started slipping very badly after a long drive. I could barely get it moving, but I didn't have the option of stopping. I knew I was risking totally trashing the trans, but I just didn't have a choice right then. Got to my destination and it sat for a couple of hours, and was fine. (I got out of a 4th level down undground parking garage with zero problem.) Drove home, and by the time I got there (two hours later, much of that at 70 mph), it was again slipping so badly I barely made it the last few miles.

I did the forward flush, and have not had a problem since. That's.... maybe 10-15k miles ago. I've driven long distances and towed heavy loads over hilly country. No problems. None.

Do the flush!

awork

Roler if you could post something with the steps on how to do that I would appreciate it!

IJM

I wonder of your brake pedal switch is out of adjustment, which would tell the trans to unlock the TC from time to time randomly. Just a thought.

Roler

No worries, I'll get that going this weekend when I find some time. Too bad I didn't take pics when I did mine, haha. But even without those, you 'll be fine.

also, I will see if I can find the link to the info I used to set up mine for the forward flush.

Roler

...

CCKen

That guy is an **** orifice. Never did like him.

Here's to him....

Roler

awork, here you go with some ideas about the Forward Flush the AW4 in Jeep Cherokee; the one man technique.

Changing your AW4 ATF can be done by means of repeated drain/refill procedures over time until the fluid being drained turns red-ish. Although this method is perfectly fine and safe to do, it is somewhat time consuming since you only change part of the ATF at a time and typically need several drain/refills.
So, a method to almost completely refresh your ATF in a few minutes, is the so-called Forward Flush method. This method uses the transmission’s own pump to exchange the fluid, does not involve any harsh shop-like flushes and can be done by yourself, or with a helper (which will be easier).
Below is the one man’s technique and is what I did. Feel free to modify. This is not pretending to be a write-up, it’s intended to give you an idea about the procedure. I don’t say this is the only way of doing things.

- Park your Jeep on level ground for this procedure, apply handbrake.

- Open hood, remove transmission dipstick and insert large enough funnel into the dipstick tube that will allow you to pour in a good continuous stream of ATF during the procedure

- Now, where to drain your ATF from?
In the pic below (courtesy CCKen), you can see the routing of the transmission cooler lines for a LHD. You could see this as a closed loop, so anywhere within the loop, you could theoretically drain your fluid.

-

The transmission line outlet at the top of the radiator (the return going back to the trans) in the above set-up would be a good place. The above pic does not show the set-up with an aux transmission cooler installed, so you’ll have to check your own set-up. The outlet and return lines in relation to the transmission will be the same however.

Connect a clear hose to the radiator trans line outlet on the radiator side and use tie-rap or something to secure in place. You do not want this to come loose.
Snake the hose downwards into a large bucket and clamp it securely to the rim of the bucket. Make sure this won’t come loose or fall over either, you can imagine why.
And that basically is the whole set-up. You’re ready to start the forward flush.

You will use the AW4’s pump to expel the old ATF, while simultaneously pouring in fresh ATF through the dipstick tube funnel. The trick is to refill the same amount as what’s being pumped out at the same time. Don’t get too **** about this, just keep the funnel filled with ATF so not to let the pump fall dry. That would be bad. Bad-bad.

Since you are changing out virtually ALL ATF,so including that in the torque converter, make sure you have enough ATF at hand. I ended up using at least about 15 liters IIRC, which is about 4 gallons and some to top up. Just have enough, you don’t want to fall short.
Use Dex III/Merc.

Now, depending on your year, the following has some differences between the XJ years, as I found out.
An 1995 XJ (so any pre-update model??) apparently pumps only with the gearshifter in Neutral, not in Park > so as soon as you shift from Park into Neutral (engine running), the ATF will start coming out into the bucket. This is great, because it will let you manage the flow and you can “ stop pumping” by shifting back to Park.
In my 1997 however, the trans pumps in both Park and Neutral, yes I found that out quite soon As soon as I started the engine, I was on the way and had to get pouring the ATF in. Which works fine, as long as you are prepared.

Keep the funnel filled while keeping an eye on the ATF that’s going in the bucket. Once it starts turning nicely red/dark pink you’re there. Stop filling the funnel, let it empty and shut off the engine.
Reconnect the transmission line, insert dipstick and check level (idling in Neutral your dipstick will say) and top up if needed. It takes only 500 ml between low and high level on dipstick, to give you an idea about dimensions.

The benefit of doing this with two people is: one just keeps pouring and the other is inside the Jeep. Once the ATF starts coming out red-ish, have the person inside shift through all the gears slowly (make sure handbrake is on, foot on the brakes, and wheels chocked to be safe) nearing the end of the flush, ending in Park. This way you really get all the old ATF out, if you feel the need.

This is just a “quick” recall of what I did, I will maybe add some pics once my phone decides to work again and modify some here and there if needed. But the above should give you an idea for this weekend to get going.

I gotta run too, but post any questions you have. I'll try to catch up the coming days. Good luck.

Roler

The above mentioned image didn't copy well I see, here it is.

Roler

LOL.
Despite you not liking him, he facilitates a nice collection of GIF's, especially with the ones you post in reply (of a guy I don't know, I must admit)

DFlintstone

Everyone is a jerk sometimes, some more often than others. . Since we are in OEM Cherokee Teck, it's easy enough to just focus on Jeep issues and ignore non Jeep related comments, like the one above. Ken has supper stuff to contribute, just ignore post's like that and we all win.

Hitting the AW4 all at once with fresh (high detergent fluid), opens the possibility of freeing up crud that might cause a problem. Going at it jently and letting the newer fluid eat away at the deposits makes more sense to me. Fast might work fine with some risk, slowly will work with less risk.