97 XJ Country, automatic, 160K miles, trying to get to the bottom of a problem. The other day I drove away from my house in the morning, and I noticed immediately something felt weird.

On acceleration it didn't really want to shift, felt kinda like it was stuck in 2nd or something. It wasn't actually locked in gear but the RPM thresholds were off and it felt sluggish. Deceleration felt similar -- like when I got up to speed and then laid off the gas to coast, it didn't want to slow down. After 5 min on the highway I got smoke from under the hood and the engine died when I pulled over to stop. I discovered a big leak from the lower radiator hose next to the water pump, and what was left of the coolant in the reservoir was smoking. The temp gauge never showed overheating, there was no smoke out the tailpipe, and the dipstick had clear oil (to me this should rule out head gasket).

I replaced the radiator hose, filled the coolant back up, let it idle a while, and drove around the block a few times. The idle was totally smooth and the engine temp climbed to 210 at a steady pace (it used to run next to the notch below 210). BUT the accel/decel 'stiffness' remains. Anybody got any ideas?

 

How does your transmission fluid level and condition look?

 

I'm taking it in for a transmission service on Friday. I do think it needs at least a fluid change. What should I tell the tech to look for?

 

Was there coolant sprayed around the engine compartment?
Wonder if you could have soaked the throttle position sensor.

 

The leak was on the bottom of the lower rad hose so it basically all spewed directly downward. I just double checked and there's no fluid of any kind on or around the TPS.

 

If you cooked your trans fluid.

 

Well, I got the trans fluid drained and refilled but the shift points are still off. It's a bit better, perhaps. I am going to drive my normal commute with it tomorrow and see what happens

 

Readjusted the TV cable yet?

 

Yep.

 

Welp the verdict is in: head gasket (or head). Gonna try and do the job myself with a hand from youtube.