jjhutton1

Hey guys, I am new here, but have a problem with an old Grand Cherokee. It is a 93, 5.2L, AWD, auto, Grand Cherokee. The vehicle has been working fine until the other day where you would but it into gear, feeling the trany detents, but you press the gas and no movement. Tried all gears, R D 1 2 and nothing. During this time a high pitch tapping or scrapping noise started coming from the trany or torque converter area. After a few minutes of messing with the shifter, just switching gears, it finally dropped into gear and I drove it home, only a mile or so away, and parked it. Tried it the next day and it did the same thing. Any thoughts? I have no idea when the fluid was last changed. The level is good, but the fluid looked thin and colorless to me, but not burnt.
Yesterday I had it towed to AAMCO and they said the fluid needs to be changed, which I figured, but they said $600 to pull the trany to see what might be going on. I was pissed! They didn't do anything.
So, is there a Trany control unit that I can read codes from? If so, how, without a scanner. Any other thoughts? Thanks!

CRAWL THIS

Try changing the fluid and adjust the bands and see what happens.

jjhutton1

How do you adjust the bands on this trany?

Bustedback

I think it's time for a reseal. The seals harden up with age and years of heat and then they don't seal when they're cold. Once they warm up and become more plyable they will seal and then you will get some action. You can try a fluid change, but I doubt it will do any good, the damage has been done already. There are some additives that claim to soften hard seals, you can give those a try, nothing to lose.

jjhutton1

Bump

ct67_72

gonna need more than that. if in fact the seals were bad enough to slip, than the clutches are burnt. the band does not come on in low gear. if the band is out of adjusment enough to not move than the band is burnt.
most likely the direct/forward clutches are gone. does it have any codes. governor pressure sensor/solenoid maybe?

jnicewan

Yep, bands are not your problem and have nothing to do with initial engagement, this sounds like a seal or bushing wear problem. Since you mentioned a noise it kind of assures that assumption.

ct67_72

not to be off topic but nice avatar pic! good ol' 24v. (or 12v with one piece cover?) I run a business from home building high performance transmissions and specialize in the 47/48re diesels. Although the jeep/chrysler 42/44/46re is the same esentially.

jnicewan

Thanks, its a 12ver with the factory trim cover on top of the 6 valve covers. I dont even want to talk about trans problems on the Cummins. I have a BD billet single disk T/C that slips, trans shifts hard but timing is all messed up (quick up-shifts). I will probably buy someone elses rebuild kit and maybe a few billet pieces and another T/C when I get some money saved up. I would like to use all the power that I have tweaked out of the engine.

ct67_72

Thats all valve body.make sur theTV is adjusted correctly also, if it shifts quick and has low WOT upshifts the T.V. needs to come out some.

jjhutton1

I checked the codes, 55 from the check engine light and never got the OD light to blink. I did make sure the light worked first. Then I changed the tranny fluid and the filter. The was almost no metal on the magnet, but there was a layer of soft material, probably clutch lining material, at the bottom of the pan. The fluid was nasty, thin, smelly and was tinted brown, same color as that material on the bottom of the pan. I did not adjust the bands since I didn't have the right tool. After the fluid and filter change it ran great. Each gear shift was very crisp, no slipping.

So, I figure the tranny is on borrowed time at this point, but if I can get it to go for another year or so of fairly light driving, then I can get a new vehicle. Also, I figure since the fluid was so bad, I am going to change it again in about a month or so.

ct67_72

That backs what I said. It won't last long, probably no more than a month or so. Don't waste the money changing the fluid again. Run it till its dead.

huntingman2706217

Whelp... u killed it now... going 200k without changing tranny fluid and then all of a sudden doing it will kill it real quick... now that the gunk has piled up on the internal seals and essentially became your seals and you flush all that out with clean fluids... you basically washed away the seals... matter of time... I recommend when it goes a rebuild by a local shop... they know tranny's and replace OEM parts that commonly fail with aftermarket to better the life of the tranny over these mass tranny rebuilding companies... I wouldn't buy used because Jeep trannys are never a long lasting tranny and if its in the JY then most likely the tranny is why... throw some Lucas in there for kicks and drive it till it dies... don't waste your time on another tranny fluid change...

Lisa Hughson

Hi jjhutton1,
I'm looking to help my son diagnose his 01 Grand Cherokee Laredo tranny issues that are very similar to the ones you had. Did you figure out what was causing the issues and how did you fix them?

wingless

Welcome to the forum.

FYI, it is not great forum practice to revive a dead topic for an alternative inquiry.

The 46RH transmission in the OP's 93 ZJ is different than the transmission in your '01 WK.

Why not create a topic, identifying the issues, to permit forum members to help?