I have a 1994 xj Cherokee. 4.0 automatic, roughly 177,000 miles on it. I'm not the orIgnal owner. I've had the car for almost a year now and lifted it in the summer. Have had not one problem this truck has been a tank

Except today..

This morning it's rainy and roughly 60 degrees out side. I hope in the jeep. I start it. I don't really let it warm up (maybe ten seconds) and then I pull away from my house no problem.

After I get to 7-11 and I go to pull out of my spot I notice the jeeps being werid.

Usually when I put it in drive you hear a noticeable gear engage. But now I don't hear that. Do get the jeep rolling I need to put my foot roughly halfway down to the floor for the wheels to even begin rolling. Then it slowly starts rolling and then gains speed and everything's fine. It almost feels as if I'm starting in second for some reason.
BUT, if I put it in gear "1-2" at the bottom of the shifter it starts off in first no problem like everything's fine. But then I go back into "D" and we are back to the same problem. Once it's rolling it's fine. No werid gear changes. It's just the entail start like from a dead stop at a red light. Any ideas??

 

How is the fluid level? Does it smell burnt at all? Is it the bright red like it should be? It could also be the shift solenoids. I really can't help you much with the solenoids since I don't like to work on auto transmissions.

 

I will check and smell the transmission fluid. The fluid should be red correct? Also what are shift solenoids, I'm worried I'm gonna be spending a million dollars to fix this now. But I'm hoping not.

What if the transmission fluid is low or smells burnt ?

 

It should be bright red. Start with checking the fluid level and how it looks and smells then worry about the solenoids. BTW, the solenoids are inside of the trans. If the fluid is low fill it to the correct level. When you check it make sure that it is running and at normal operating temp and in neutral. If the fluid is burnt or isn't bright red it's time for a fluid change.
Let us know what you find and we can go from there.

 

Shouldn't be the solenoids as he stated he did D and 1-2 and only in drive it was "slipping" check your TCU or your alternator(seems odd but that voltage affects it, I know lol)

 

Very possible but I figured he should start with the simplest thing and work from there plus, Like I told him in my first post I don't like working on the auto trans and didn't want to give bad advice on the solenoids.

 

Understandable, ya the fluid checking should be first, could be and hopefully just that lol I know it was a pain trying to figure mine out till I realized my alternator was being funky and not giving the right voltage to regulate it, swapped it out and it ran great since

 

After you get the fluid sorted, there's a fuse for the transmission computer (TCU) that can go out, causing this. I'm not familiar with automatics '91-'96 so hopefully someone will chime in with where it is if you cannot find it in an owner's manual.

 

I'm glad that I'm not the only one here that can admit that they aren't that familure with the auto trans. I do know that there can be many reasons for trans problems. and a electrical problem can cause hell with our Jeeps.

 

Yep. Then you get Chrysler involved with the wiring and all bets are off. LOL

 

Very true!

 

He stated that manually shifting into 1st it works normal on take off... I would think the solinoid would have to function for that to be the case... It appears that the instruction (control) for said solinoid is the issue... As stated earlier, do check the trans fluid for color and smell... If it's been some 40k or more miles since you last changed it, then it's due for one anyways... Not sure if your year has a filter or screen under the pan, but a cleaning or replacement (if a filter) is in order while doing the oil change... If your transmission pan does not have a drain plug, then a hand pump via the dip stick tube works great... I did change out the suction hose with clear nylon tubing for better performance on mine...
http://www.harborfreight.com/multi-u...ump-66418.html

Lets you get most of the oil out before dropping the pan... Just pump the old oil into a old 5 quart oil jug...

In anycase it does sound like you have a shift control issue with your first gear... If it were slipping issue I would think the engine RPMs would have gone rather high (near redline) when you pushed the gas pedal half way down to get rolling...

 

UPDATE: Wow thanks for the fast responses everyone. So as I stated this morning I drove it to work in the rain etc. After work 6 hours and getting back In my jeep (it hasn't moved my entire shift) I hop back in the jeep and gave it a drive, not one weird problem for my entire 15 minute drive home(this includes stop and go traffic) and the jeep is responding completely normal again. Like nothing ever even happened... So now I'm wondering is it a chance that I got something wet this morning that would cause it to do that?

I also realized that now when I take my foot
Off the brake the jeep idled and starts rolling. This morning when I took my foot of the brake it wouldn't even idle and move it just sat still till I hit the gas and it NEVER redlined. I mean "high rpms" meaning like 3k 3,500k to get the tires to start turning. As for the fluid here are some photos, seems fine to me ?






Hmmmm funny you mention my alternator. It wasn't charging for me a month ago(due to age) gave it a good whack with a small hammer and she came back to life and haven't had problems since.. Voltage gauge stays at where it should be.


Is this fuse out in the open? Any chance it could get wet? Also does anyone know where this is on a xj 1994?

 

I'm not familiar with the '94 transmission control unit, but it sounds like your transmission is in what I've heard called "limp mode." It's only using 3rd and 1st gear. On my '99, if you unplug the TCU it goes into limp mode. You might check the plugs for your TCU after you check that fuse. If this started when it was raining/high humidity I'd be interested to hear if it goes away when your XJ has had a day or two in the sun to dry out a bit...

 

throttle position sensor.