I have a 96 cherokee 2wd and i was driving and the transmission was shifting fine, then all of a sudden it wouldnt shift so i shut it off turned it back on and it ran fine again. Any suggestions as to what could be wrong?

Thanks

 

Have you check the fluid level. Also is the fluid a bright red and not brown. Smell it to see if it smells burnt. That would be the first thing you will want to check. Then you can move on to the other possibilities.

 

the fluid is good and red, it does not smell burnt, i do have a leak in the rear main seal but i check it regularly, anything else?

 

Rear main seal leaks oil not transmission fluid just FYI.

 

where the drive shaft goes into the transmission?

 

That's not the rms. The rms is on the back of the engine.

 

I'm not all that fluent in "post 90!"....On mine I could check the TPS, (throttle position sensor) on the TB, (throttle body), to see if it's sending the correct info to the computers that control shifting. I think yours still has a separate TCU, (trans control unit), as well as your PCM. (power-train control module). Maybe someone will chime in on that.

You might search that and see if you can check your TPS with a DVM. (digital volt meter)

 

learn something new everyday lol

 

That most always indicates a bad sensor somewhere. DFlintstone's suggestion is a good starting point- TPS.
'96 still has the separate TCU.

 

Evening Chuck! ...OSU...I did find this FOR 97. There might well be a change there.

The $4 DVM at Harbor Freight actually works...at least for a while. I made, "back-probe pins", by straightening and then de-burring paper clips, smooth the end. You gotta get something in there along side of the wire while it's connected. (one also should have less than an ohm of resistance to the battery negative, ignition 0ff. )

 

Thanks for everyones help, i am going to look into all of the stuff yuo guys suggested tomorrow.