piddlin

I'm a new XJ owner, but always been a fan of the 4.0. I decided to get my daughter a plain jane XJ as her first car. Her BD is a year away, so I figured I had time to look. I found a 94 2wd, bare bones that fit exactly what I was looking for. Especially for the asking price of $1500.

Took a look at the truck and saw a drip from the trans rear seal, a few slight oil leaks. Trans fluid on dip stick was a light brown.The body is in great shape, with no dents or rust at all. Paint is wonderful and no signs of fading. The "owner" was a pretty young guy who had just bought a new Wrangler. His dad had owned the XJ as the second owner for 11 years. He pretty much gave it to his son a year or so ago and told him he could sell it after he bought the Wrangler.

So, needless to say, I jumped on it. Biggest concern being the trans, as the guy told me in the winter time it takes a second to shift from R to D till it gets warmed up.

First thing I did was find this site and read a lot. I replaced the belt yesterday, due to it squealing with AC on. Today, I bought a couple gallons off Valvoline Dex/Mec fluid (after reading several threads on the subject) and started the drain - run - fill procedure. I used a clear pan and put in the same amount of what I got out.

First question - Most of what I read on here says you should get 3.5 - 4 quarts when draining. I did the procedure 3 times and each time only getting out 2 qts, but with a good stream. Is this ok, or something else to look for?

When I started the dipstick was a light brown (no varnish on the stick) and the fluid in the pan was a dark brown. After 3 drains, with 15-20 mile runs in between, it still looks about the same. I have used 6-7 qts. Should I keep going, or run it awhile then try it again?

Is there a good possibility I have other problems, or could the fluid condition be the cause of his described winter time issues? He did say (after I asked) that he had used Lucas treatment before.

Pic below from his CL add. The paint looks even better after being cleaned. Sorry about the long first post. Thanks for the site.

Radi

I'm not surprised it took a while to shift from R to D with Lucas in it. It's basically a viscosity modifier...it makes relatively thin ATF turn very thick. That plus cold weather = sluggish shifts.
It also gunks up the shift solenoids.
You're doing the right thing to clean everything up, it just may take some time and miles. Drive it for a while-make sure some trips are long enough to get the trans up to operating temp- then change it again.

If you aren't getting much out during a drain, perhaps it wasn't completely filled. How's the level on the dipstick? Engine running, Park, Warm..

Nice looking XJ. I bet you're in a state that doesn't use road salt!

piddlin

Thanks. I forgot to mention that it only has 152000 miles.

It was a little low, but not even a qt. I may change the fluid one more time today and see how much more I get after topping it off last night.

cruiser54

Welcome

Drive longer between changes.

madmanmarty

Yep.