iflyfish

Pro's? Con's?

2000 Cherokee Sport in good mechanical condition. Checking over everything before I drive it 1500+ miles towing a small uhaul trailer. Never had any tranny issues but IMO it could shift smoother at times. I'm at 138K on the clock and was thinking about doing a drain and fill. The guy at the parts house suggested adding a bottle of Lucas to it when I do that. The fluid isn't exactly red but it's not burnt or exactly brown.

I considered dropping the pan and changing the filter but don't know if I want to chance wrestling with the dipstick tube. Various threads I've found say some are were easy, some were trouble, so at this point that option is out because I'm 75 miles from the nearest parts house if I would need something and I really don't have the time to address a prolonged repair issue. Thoughts?

salad

Junk. Used in a manual with bad results, met a few people with autos that used it and reported no changes or worse performance. The main problem with it is that it's just too thick. In cold weather this means lack of lubrication and quite the drag on the engine. Also there are not the same additives as found in legitimate fluids which will impair performance and lifetime of parts. The Lucas stuff is special in a gear application as it encourages foaming, which also results in air pockets instead of oil touching gears. Honestly most fixes-in-a-bottle are only useful if you're trying to get a few more miles out of something before it explodes and you rebuild it.

Definitely do the drain and fill. You will need to do this a few times as only half of the fluid comes out when you drain it (tranny holds 4 quarts, torque converter, cooler and lines hold another 4). The AW4 takes about 8 quarts of Dexron/Mercin III fluid.

At the same time try this: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/free-quick-fix-41821/ You could also look into testing your TPS with a multimeter or scanner if you have access to one, but the fluid and TV cable are a lot more likely and easy to do.

If you really want to treat your Jeep right for a 1500 mile tow, install a dedicated transmission cooler and keep it out of overdrive unless on flat terrain with almost no wind.