Hello, I am new to this forum. I joined here in the hopes that i may get some help with an issue i have. I have a 1997 cherokee with a bad tranny and i was given a good used tranny from a friend that came out of a 1999. The only problem is that i am told that the 1999 tranny has different sensors than the 1997, so i guess my question is, would i be able to make this '99 transmission work in my 97 jeep? i was told by someone that it would work if i got a tcu from a 99 or newer and it would just be plug and play from there, but i don't know how true this is. Just want to get some solid advice if possible before i open a huge can of worms. thanks in advance.

 

Are you sure you have a bad transmission? What is wrong with your current one?

 

The fluid pump in transmission it has now gets noisy after getting up to running temp. It makes like a whooshing noise and starts to smell like the fluid is getting burnt after a short drive. It still drives and shifts perfectly fine, but i think its only a matter of time before it dies. From what i read, that noise is from the pump starving for fluid and causes the tranny to overheat and results in the fluid burning. The fluid literally looked like old motor oil, pitch black, worst looking auto tranny fluid i have ever seen. as a last ditch effort i tried changing the fluid and tranny filter and it still hasn't made the noise go away, although it did help slightly.

 

Check out this thread:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1053970

 

Ya got yerself a "pump whine" yea it happens don't know about the change but when that pump comes out you'll probably see some broken pump gears.

 

Snidely- Thanks for that link, That is exactly the the kind of write up i was looking for!

crystalion- When i did the tranny filter i was fully expecting there to be chunks of metal, but there was nothing. Even the little magnets in the bottom of the pan really didn't have much of anything stuck to them. I even cracked open the old filter and it was clean as a whistle. From that swap write up it sounds like 97 is the oddball year as far as the tranny goes and it would take a whole hell of a lot of work to make my 99 tranny work. Do you think i could just drop down the transmission and switch out the pump with a good one? Like i said, it still shifts great and doesn't slip, plus i haven't driven it since the noise came up so maybe i caught it in time before real damage occurred.

 

My stepson managed to run his 2000 XJ low on fluid and burn the fluid. We removed the filter, cleaned it with WD-40, a rag and a coat hanger (to reach those hard to get places), and it worked for a bit. It took three cleanings to catch all the "gunk" in the transmission before it would work for more than 15 minutes.

If your filter is gummed up even a little, it will restrict flow. When you drop the pan and replace the fluid, you only actually replace about 1/3 of what is in the transmission, torque converter, trans coolerr and lines.

How was your fluid when you removed it? When was the last change? Has it been done regulary? Try another fluid change and filter replacement/cleaning if the fluid or previous maintenance was sub-par.

 

yes it is possible to do this

 

Usually when a hard part inside breaks there is no metal in the pan -things just stop working or you'll get a real bad noise. If a shft snaps or a clutch piston breaks all you will notice is it not working. Many times even broken the pumps sun gears still turn because they are in such a place that there is nowhere for the parts to go..
I'm not sure if the pumps would be interchangeable BUT with so many years of basically the same design it would seem so. You have to make sure that EVERYTHING is the same. There are inlets and outlets on the pump that match the casing and go to specific places..the only people I know that would have this info would be a trans shop.

You could just drop by one and ask --while your there pick up a front pump -oring-gasket-seal and bushing if the pumps can be changed out. Most places will sell you what you need .

 

It looks like they are interchangeable. The parts catalogs list the pump assembly number as 8350 4283, and it is the same number for the years '88 - '01.

Here's a diagram with part numbers:





If you want to do this yourself, you may need one of these:
http://jeepgarage.free.fr/OWN/AW4_MANUAL.pdf

 

Thanks for all the info guys, great stuff!

Unfortunately i don't anything about the history of this Jeep, but the old fluid was definitely cooked. I bought it for 500 bucks without hearing it run because the gas tank straps had broken and the owner didn't want to fix it. It's in beautiful shape though and i figured it was well worth fixing whatever it needed for that kind of money. Anyway, when i replaced the fluid and filter the first time, the noise definitely decreased quite a bit. There doesn't seem to be any sign of internal mechanical damage because there is no noise until it gets up to running temp, and the noise doesn't sound metallic at all and it still drives perfect. Do you think it might be a good idea to hook it up to a machine and flush the tranny out?

Here are a couple pics of the jeep for any who are interested. Not bad for 500 bucks.

 

Thats a nice lookin jeep for $500 !! Unfortunately there is no way to tell what could be possibly wrong inside a unit without taking it out. In your case with some really bad looking fluid you can assume that there is more damage inside.

Th filter has to be really clogged up pretty bad to start problems and they will occur the longer you drive at 1 time. The junk will slowly drop off the filter at rest so when started it just gets more and more trapped by the filter.

I've seen some really nasty filters and screen mesh in my days and alot of those cars are still running. If your still having problems down the road with yur tranny post it as they appear.

At this point would a flush help you ? I can't see why it would hurt if the trans has been burnt already and you have tried your piece. I consider tranny flushes-or power flushes a coin flip in alot of cases. You also don't know any of the past of yur jeep either.

Even if you need a unit which shouldn't go past $1500.00 it was a steal at $500.