Transmission noise?

Hi Forum - Just picked up a nice 96 XJ after a few years of being Jeepless, it's good to get back into. It's a 4.0 auto with the 242 TC, modest lift, Pro Comp 31's and front discos.

My previous MJ and XJ both had the AX-15 so I am not too familiar with the quirks of the Jeep auto transmissions.

My question: The transmission makes a fairly loud whirring/whining noise when in any gear other than P or N. It increases in pitch & volume with acceleration. The sound is tied to engine RPM.

It also has a bit of a lurch when shifting to Drive or Reverse - slip yoke needing lubrication?

The guy I bought it from was a very attentive owner with full maintenence records. He said it made this noise when he bought it four years ago and had not caused any problems.

Any Ideas? Torque converter? It's pretty loud. (If The road noise from the Pro Comp M/Ts didn't drown it out over about 20 MPH It might bother me more)

my 89 does the same thing and has for years, and i still havnt figured out why. the trans has been working great, just has the whine in all forward and reverse gear. i normally throw it in neutral at the stop lights so others dont look over. other than the noise, ive had no problem. no leaking, bad shifts, slipping, nothing. the only problem i can maybe contribute to the trans is a slight over heating when running 70-75 on the fwy, but that can be a fan issue as i didnt hear the electric fan come on (it was a hot day). ive asked this same question on here before with no results or possible fixes. my thinking is its either the torque converter internals, or the front pump. i have another aw4/242 i am swapping in real soon, so i can try and find out the problem after the swap. take into count that the trans in it now has over 250k miles on it, but the fluid looks and smells good, level has stayed good, and it has functioned properly all this time. wether you want to chance running your trans for a while longer is up to you. heck i may not even figure out what the problem actually is. but i can almost guarantee that if i brought it into a trans shop here in so cal, they would just tell me it needs a rebuild. sorry i couldnt help (yet), but i will bookmark this thread so i can come back to it if i figure anything out, or if you do. good luck.

Appreciate it - let me know if you ever find out.