Hard shifting auto when cold

97 4.0 auto mostly stock.

I've had this for a little while now and can't figure it out.

In the mornings after sitting over night the first few shifts into 2nd are really jarring, my drive through the neighborhood has me stopping a few times and each time going from 1st to 2nd is harsh. It seems after a few of those and things warm up it shifts nice and smooth by the time I'm out onto a main road. When it sits for a few hours it doesn't have this problem, only when sitting over night.

The fluid is fresh and I am leaning towards the transmission mount being bad. I had a bad transmission leak a while back and I think maybe the fluid was hitting the mount and ate away the rubber. I'm worried its an internal issue though also, maybe worn bands or anything else I could do to narrow it down.

How fresh is fresh and what did the fluid look like when you changed it?

Keep in mind that a fluid change only changes 50-60% of the fluid.

Once or twice in the past 10 years that I've had my 01 XJ and noticed a SLIGHT shift issue in the morning after sitting outside overnight, a fluid change cured the problem. This is on a transmission that gets the pan fluid changed every 15-20,000 miles. Maybe once or twice I changed it at 40,000. No reason to use exotic or expensive ATF in this transmission. Whatever Dex III you can find. Valvoline at Wal Mart ($18/gal) or MAG1 at the local farm store ($12/gal) work fine.

If the mount is bad, just change it. Any evidence of settling or any suggestion that it is cracked means that it is bad. Plus rubber deteriorates with time so if its original it probably needs to be changed.

You might also have a problem with a solenoid or just build up on a part of the transmission.

The easiest thing to do it drain the pan and refill and see what happens, then report back.