Lil'D

Headed back from wheeling Sunday afternoon it slipped two-three times then died, I had noticed a hour or so previous to this that it had let a little fluid out of the vent/breather which is extended up the dipstick so I checked the fluid level and everything seemed fine I just assumed it got a little hot pulling samurais out, I recently did a fluid/filter change and blew out the aftermarket cooler so I don't really understand why it would gotten hot enough to melt the front seal like I believe happened, anyway has anyone ever had this experience??? Should I open up and inspect tranny and put a seal in, fill it up with fluid, check the cooler again or get a new cooler and try it??? or should I just get a whole tranny I imagine the converter is probably toasted but I've never lost all gears before in a automatic.
Any opinions or advice from similar situations will be greatly appreciated.

black2000xj

im no expert but start with the basics

check the trans fluid level with vehicle running and in neutral

look at the color and smell it, if it smells burnt you should change it

if it looks good, my second thing would be drain the pan and remove it

check to make sure the filter isnt moved and blocking something

check for gritty sand like material in the pan

i know aw4s can take a beating and still go...my guess is you might have some blockage or possible air bubble in the lines?

again im not expert...but start with the basics first and go from there

treebunker

I'm not ase certified but I've been told by numerous mechanics that are, if you replace a tranny filter expect problems. For some reason the fluid doesn't recirculate the way it should when you put a new filter in, no matter what the vehicle is. So, sorry to say this but you've probably ruined your transmission by trying to do a little preventive maintenance. From now on I will never change a tranny filter, just add fluid if it needs. Or convert to manual, much simpler.

Lil'D

I half way new better when I did it to be honest, I had it get hot and blow a good bit out of the vent so I opened it up and couldn't believe how clean everything was in it and checked the filter and decided to just get the kit with filter and gasket from napa and blew the cooler out then filled her up with dex 3, but to the filter theory it's gotten me before on a full size lifted Chevy had 135k I changed it noticed some shavings nothing extreme filled back up made it another 500-600 miles then lost 3rd and reverse

disguay

Lil'd, I lost all gears in my AW4 about two months ago. My fluid was dark and burned and I'm sure I burnt out my torque converter and probably the rest of the transmission because I let it get too hot. I just found a tranny at my junkyard for $200 and put it in in my driveway. What I learned on the AW4 is that it is bulletproof until it gets too hot. As soon as it gets too hot, or there isn't enough fluid to circulate which makes it overheat, the tranny is toast. Also, I've learned that just doing a whole replacement will be cheaper than trying all the little things. I wasted about $100 just trying to get my old transmission back up and running. I can't get that $100 back because I was an idiot and didn't just accept that my tranny had blown.

Lil'D

I've found one for $350 through a salvage yard but they didn't know mileage

car5car

My local junk yard has all engines and transmission with 80K miles.
They want to keep customers happy.
I went there to see a donor car and it had 154K.
I went to another yard and found a car with 111K and made sure inventory # was the same for engine and the car. Engine was on shelf.

Lil'D

Called around and found a used tranny with 72k delivered to my door for $380 bucks with a 90 day warranty or I can upgrade to a 1 year part & labor warranty for a extra $100 these prices are with a $100 core charge for my old one this is where I really need opinions, I'm almost positive my torque converter is toast, I know the front seal is blown, I know I need to pull the pan and check and look at the converter but my question is if it's just the converter gone would it be worth paying the extra $100 or pay the $380 if it happens again?

Lil'D

car5car I agree most places are like that, this is a well reputed salvage business and they have two that they are admitting they have over 150k on them and one with 111k but it's like anything used your chancing it anyway and you can always decline purchase upon visual inspection

Bbasso

rebuild yourself???
it's not all that complicated, You need to have patience and memory.

Northwoods Snowman

Even with the OEM auxiliary cooler it's possible to get those trannys HOT! I was towing a trailer with 7 canoes on it around at city speeds (35 mph) and it was enough to get the fluid coming out of the torque converter up to 280 degrees and I had (have since upgraded) the tow package cooler.

If you lost all the gears and you can verify the fluid level is good, then you've got some serious problems. However, since you have no movement what so ever and you didn't just loose a couple gears, that would tell me the issue is with something common to all gears, i.e. the torque converter. Since you would have to pull the trans out anyway to replace it, before you buy another, pull it and check the torque converter. Maybe you just fried that and can replace it without replacing the trans. Either way, you're probably going to want to put a new torque converter in so it wouldn't be money lost if the trans is shot.

I don't get why people complain about having problems after changing the trans filter. I've changed them on every car I've owned as regular maintenance and never had any issues. My thoughts would be that people do one of two things. They either incorrectly install the new filter (they just slip into place more or less) or they don't clean everything before reassembling. I've seen "certified" techs that will throw something back together while it's still covered in dirt. My dad taught me growing up to take the time to clean everything before it goes back together and it GREATLY reduced the risk of getting dirt inside upon reassembly. A lot of metal shavings/power builds up in a trans oil pan and on components that don't see a lot of fluid movement and you disturb it when you change the filter. If you don't clean it up it will float around in the oil and a lot of it is fine enough that it can go right through the wire mesh filters. I find it ludicrous to say you shouldn't change the filter. The filter becomes contaminated or clogged and then what, you fry the trans because you starved it of fluid, or the filter collapses allowing oil to bypass it entirely?

Lil'D

Well not necessarily rebuild myself, the rebuild kit is more than a salvage tranny I've been trying to think of ways to test it to see if it's damaged without tearing into it but if it was just the convertor and front pump seal I believe I would come out ahead by keeping it, I personally don't know anyone who's had real good luck with rebuilt transmissions

racebum

i actually have been certified and i can give you a little detail on where that rumor came from. when you have a neglected auto that has burnt rough fluid, usually shifts hard and then you decided to clean it all out and add some nice slick new fluid. well...it can be the kiss of death to a transmission that was already on its way out. on a healthy transmission changing the filter and cleaning any tarnish off is a good thing, it's the old, worn, neglected boxes that many folks just drive 'till they die and don't want to risk a change.

imo it's a risk either way. some neglected transmissions come back to life with a fluid flush, new filter and cleaning. some die extremely quick after the change.

moral of the story, don't neglect your transmission

Lil'D

You are right about the filter clogging flow but at the same time you have to think of a unmaintained transmission getting the flow renewed and releasing shavings and etc. plus the extra flow could cause seals on the brink to go ahead and go out, I also agree with you about people installing them wrong and blocking flow but I'm a millwright/pipe fitter and a transmission filter isn't nearly as complicated has half of the stuff I'm trusted to install, I also go a little OCD on the cleaning I soak and scrub the pan and make sure no dirt or grime is anywhere around the gasket area or internals. I'm defiantly thinking torque converter though just waiting for a chance to pull it out

93XJLI

Meh, I don't believe in the whole "don't change your tranny filter or flush it" jazz. Maybe with older autos yea, but not an aw4. Get a cooler and a temp gauge, keep an eye on it. Just did a filter change and flush on my 100k tranny and it feels so much better.