Ok so our 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (automatic, 2wd, v6) has been hesitating to trasition into third gear. My husbands mechanic friend at work told him to adjust the band tension bolt at the rear of the transmission to adjust the one for 2nd to 3rd gear.

Anyway his genius self decided to not research beforehand. He took the bolt all the way out to clean it. Put it back in and no third gear will not grab at all. He believes that maybe he hasnt tensioned it enough yet but I really just need to know if he just f%#!d my car completely. Thanks.

 

Wow!

Welcome to the forum.

The good news is you now have a clean bolt.

The rest is not really bad news...

This image shows the two bands in my 46RH transmission, very similar to your 42RE transmission. (FWIW, your '98 has an inline 6, not a V6, a 4.0L)





If the front band screw (top in image) is removed (or overly loose) then the band anchor and / or band lever are no longer retained in-position and could fall into the pan. Don't drive the vehicle if the band anchor or band lever are flopping loose in the pan. They could end up in the nearby moving parts, causing real problems.

Follow the FSM (Factory Service Manual) to properly adjust the bands. A torque wrench is required.

At this point the first step is to now drop the pan. Normally that comes later in the diagnosis process.

Examine the fluid, including the sediment at the bottom and around the magnet. Much of that sediment is the friction material removed from the bands and from the clutch discs. An excessive amount of sediment is indicative of a rebuild required.

If the fluid looks okay, then adjust the rear band per the FSM, exposed when the pan is removed. Reassemble the front band linkage and adjust the front band, per the FSM.

Replace the pan. Use a new filter and a new gasket.

Properly fill the fluid. Use the correct fluid. I use Mopar ATF+4 fluid, but other brands are fine.


It is possible / probable that this won't fix the initial problem. If that is the case then follow the normal steps, described in the FSM, to diagnose and identify the problems w/ the transmission.


BTW, here is my 46RH transmission rebuild.

Good luck!

 

If the front band linkage has fallen apart, then it might not be possible to reassemble w/o first removing the valve body, shown in this image.

 

Welcome to CF!

You can download an FSM from pacificcoastmanuals.com for $7.99+tax. It's 93mb of pdf files and covers EVERYTHING about your jeep.

Also, a reusable rubber and steel sandwich gasket is available at your dealer.

 

Thank you both! With the initial problem we just decided to get a rebuild done. My husband hasnt worked with transmissions before so we just took it to a friend.

 

Does your distributor shaft have play in it?

 

Im assuming he means transmission shaft or driveshaft?

I dont know what a distributor shaft would have to do with this issue.

 

It doesn't. I have no idea where he was going with that.

 

Recently I replaced my distributor, the shaft had a ton of play. Ran better, of course, but an unanticipated side benefit was that the transmission immediately started shifting at the right point, where before it would float for a moment at the shift point. Ida never thunk it, but, it's unmistakable and for those hunting shift problems, as I was, oh I did everything short of a rebuild, ..it's worth a look.

 

Okay, I sit corrected. Good point! Whod a thunk it?

Knowing the system the way I do, the PCM/TCM use vehicle speed and engine rpm as inputs to control shift points. It's possible it uses the cam sensor as an rpm indicator. Throttle position and manifold vacuum are also used.

 

So I bought one today, and the content in these manuals is INCREDIBLE!! 2100 pages with amazing detail.


Make sure you Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat X, or you will surely have a lot of trouble.


THE BAD:
I clicked the "Buy Now" next to my Model Year(98) but somehow it gave me the Model Year 99. This is no good for me.
I have an email to the Site Master, and am awaiting his response




Anyways..... anyone who doesn't already have one of these, and think you are a DIY-er, needs to get one. It will make everything soo much easier. Everything from exploded diagrams, to bolt sizes and locations, torque specs, and wiring diagrams.

 

" Anyway his genius self decided to not research beforehand. He took the bolt all the way out to clean it. Put it back in and no third gear will not grab at all."
Pretty easy to see what happened there! When he took the band tightening bolt out the band was loose and popped out of the anchor on the other side, or wont line up with the bolt. See Wingless's beautiful pic in his first post. Pan has to come down and set it up again. Looks like the VB might be able to stay, pretty straight forward.