i recently bought a 1997 jeep cherokee country with 188,888 miles on it with 3 inch lift on 31s. stock aw4 tranny. As i was driving home over stevens pass (4,064ft) the jeep started pillowing out white smoke out the back end. we pulled over and had a fire on the exhaust where tranny fluid was leaking onto. we think the problem here is that the stock tranny cooler it has can't keep it cool enough and it is boiling out of the top of the dip stick which drips onto the exhaust. this only occurs when driving up a steep grade (steep pass)at 60mph. driving around town as my daily driver its fine with no probs. engine temp right at 210 the whole way over the pass and every day driving. Need an opinion from here. Have talked to local shops and they said to flush tranny and add external cooler. What size coolers are you guys running and what brand? This is my jeep for college and my daily driver and requires driving over blewett pass(4,100ft)(steep grade) every weekend. Thanks.

 

Add 1 or 2 plate and fin coolers and a transmission temperature gauge on the hot fluid line. Also drain and fill the fluid a couple times.

 

What kind of condition was the trans fluid in before all this happened?

Have you checked the fluid levels and condition in the trans, transfer case, and both diffs since you got it?

I live at 5000 foot elevation in the mountains with an 88 XJ with 31s on it. No issues here. But, I maintain my fluids.....

 

Yeah, there is a fluid or mechanical problem and it ain't the lack of an auxiliary transmission cooler. I've driven my Jeep all over this country sometimes towing heavy and the never had a problem whether there was a -40 below wind chill, it was 110F on the desert pass between El Centro and San Diego, or eastbound Vail Pass which is 7% grade for miles and 10,000 feet at the top with 65 MPH speed limit. I do change my tranny fluid every 20,000 miles so it stays nice and red - still has the metal screen factory filter.

 

Agreed.

 

I recently purchased B&M 70268 - B&M SuperCooler Trans Cooler Kits from jegs and plan installing that and taking it to a local shop and having them flush the tranny and lines and hook up the cooler. i also ordered a transmission temp gauge to monitor it. will update after install and test.

 

I wouldn't have it power flushed.

 

Me either. Drain and fill like 3 times. Dex merc 3

 

trans line to radiator is actualy to heat up trans......not a cooler...research it

 

^^^^^

Here is a pic of the OE heat exchanger/what ppl call cooler,in the radiator.

 

If you want to fix the underlying problem, you probably need to re-gear.

 

I will hook up the cooler and drain and fill it a couple of times before getting the flush to see if that solves the problem. The tranny fluid was not in the best of shape when i got it. As for the fluid in the diffs and transfer case i have not checked that. Cooler is going to arrive today.