possible tranny problems. Help me figure this one out.

Jeep we are dealing with: 85 waggy, 2.5carb engine, three speed 904 tranny, and 229 tranfer case.
Well, went wheeling this past weekend and developed a rather serious problem.
Wheeling went fine, everything was going good. Get on the road and it feels like there is something giving the drivetrain major drag. Normal engine power but something felt like it was making the drivetrain feel like it had some serious power being robbed from somewhere.
Engine temp went way up but everything was functioning properly. Then while driving the temp went down within a minute or so and it felt like the power was back. But only for a mile or so then the power went away again but the temp stayed low. Something to keep in mind is that the tranny is cooled by the radiator.
I come to an intersection and try and go through the gears. Started out in putting the shifter in 1 and took off. Go to 2 and shifts ok. Go to D and still ok. I come to another stop sign and try neutral, jeep wants to go!! Not like normal get up and go but wanted to pull away. So I try reverse and it honestly felt like it wanted to go forward and reverse at the same time. Try park and it feels like it is in park and forward gear at the same time also. WTF!!
I barely make it home and when I pull into the driveway something is making some noise that was never there before. I park it with something making some bad noises and something feeling like it wanted to bind up and bring me to a halt.
Today I check the tranny fluid and the level is good. I took off the front driveshaft and checked the linkage and everything moved the way it is supposed to. I have all my gears but I try to start it in neutral and it wants to take off. Same thing with park but can't go anywhere do to being in park. :dunno:

So I am at a loss as to WTF the problem is. Any ideas? Sorry for the long post but I was trying to describe what I went through Sunday. If I left out anything that could help with figuring this out let me know. Thanks.

Kim.

I had a similar problem, what happened is that your tranny over heated and the clutch discs overheated and fused together so the tranny always wants to stay in gear.

If this is your problem, you will need to rebuild or replace the tranny.

jeepdude10000 said:

I had a similar problem, what happened is that your tranny over heated and the clutch discs overheated and fused together so the tranny always wants to stay in gear.

If this is your problem, you will need to rebuild or replace the tranny.

Click to expand...

If this is my problem, boy does this suck. So my clutch discs are keeping it in a forward gear but I can still shift into reverse and and park? Don't know much about the internals of a tranny. There goes my Memorial Weekend of wheeling.

Kim.

Ok to start with clutch discs there are many inside an automatic, Just follow this link and it shows a tranny inners and explains how it works.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/automatic-transmission1.htm

I like howstuffworks.com , if you want to know about something they probably have it.

Thanks for the help jeepdude. I just wish this problem with my tranny was not what you are describing. Seems like something other than the disks making this problem but, like I said I don't know much about the internals of a tranny so I will take your word for it.

Anybody else agree with this being the problem? Just want to be sure before I rip my tranny to pieces.

Kim.

Start simple.

Check linkage?
Any dents in the tranny pan?
Drop the pan and look for chunks or a broken filter.

At this point you have nothing to lose.

Rev

Rev Den said:

Start simple.

Check linkage?
Any dents in the tranny pan?
Drop the pan and look for chunks or a broken filter.

At this point you have nothing to lose.

Rev

Click to expand...

Outside of the tranny the linkage is just fine and everything shifts the way it is supposed to, except for the current problem.

No dents in the tranny pan and I just changed the filter and fluid less than a week ago. I will drop the pan and see if there is anything out of the normal. If that doesn't do anything then the tranny comes out and my old one is going back in.
This is going to be a long next two days if the tranny swap has to happen.
Thanks Rev.

Kim.

Well I am going to clean out the valve body and see if something is just stuck somewhere. If the problem continues than I will just say *uck it and trailer the heep and run it till the tranny finally goes. This is not going to ruin my vacation weekend.

Kim.

Sounds like a swap is in order. If you don't roach it up too bad it can be rebuilt for around $120 parts and your labor.
Get the rebuild kit from Mopar Performace (Any Dealer). Some dealers offer significant discounts on MP stuff. Kohler Dodge in Chicago is one of those places.

Zuki-Ron said:

Sounds like a swap is in order. If you don't roach it up too bad it can be rebuilt for around $120 parts and your labor.
Get the rebuild kit from Mopar Performace (Any Dealer). Some dealers offer significant discounts on MP stuff. Kohler Dodge in Chicago is one of those places.

Click to expand...

Yes, a swap will be done after this weekend. I went to get my old tranny from the small junkyard a friend owns and he scrapped it out a month ago. I think I know where I can get an ok one for a decent price.
I will do a rebuild on this one if it holds up for the weekend. What bugs me is this happened to me with this tranny two other times but only for a few minutes each. This time it was still there all the way home. So I don't know if it is the plates sticking together, something clogged, or something stuck. I guess we will find out.

Kim.

That's the problem with JY trannys, you never know how they were abused before you got them. Pick the best of the two, rebuild it and check that off as one of the things you don't need to play with in the future

My old tranny that I tried to go and get was the original, the current tranny is off of a rebuild 5000 miles ago, and the one I could possibly get my hands on I know what the vehicle has been through. Just recently had the engine die. Yes, junkyard drivetrain parts are not the greatest but sometimes that is all you can afford.

Kim.

Hell yeah!! Got the tranny working good again!!:yelclap::clap: For now.

I put in a new filter and fresh ATF and started it up and still had the same problem. So I worked through the gears for a couple of minutes. All of a sudden it worked free and I have normal shifting now.
I have to take it for a ride yet to see if anything else is wrong but I think it will be ok for now. I am going to dolly it to the Pipeline for wheeling this weekend so I don't have to worry about it doing the same thing and worry about it the whole way home.

Kim.