Took my Jeep out off-roading yesterday to Widowmaker at Sycamore Creek. It’s a huge sandy wash and some off-road obstacles. I did some hill climbs and was pretty hard on it, shifting to 4H & 4L a lot, which means I put the transmission in neutral to do so (automatic AW4).

I noticed it wasn’t accelerating real well but waved it off and continued. Then I started playing with the shifter, even if I manually downshifted it wouldn’t go to 1st and it still couldn’t even break the rear wheels loose in 2wd in the dirt (normally it could roast them).

So it was stuck in 3rd gear. I had reverse though. No 1st, 2nd, or OD. I checked the fluid and it was 1/2” over the Max line. Fluid looks good, doesn’t smell burnt. I drove home 50 miles or so on the highway with it in 3rd gear, even full throttle up to 75 and letting off it wouldn’t shift.

I got home and let it sit for 20-25 minutes and started it up and drove it a mile or two, it shifted perfectly. I’ve never had shifting problems before, it’s actually one of the smoothest and best transmissions in a car I’ve driven.

I did a drain and refill of the transmission 4 or so years ago, and then maybe 2 years ago I changed the transmission pan gasket, while that was dropped it got a new filter too. It doesn’t get a whole lot of miles.

I’m guessing a shift solenoid? Or the transmission overheated from hill climbs and being hard on it? It’s got a small tranny cooler. Also, I used my cheap little WiFi scan tool and no codes.

Valvoline MaxLife