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Tranny on it's way out?

MoparManiac

MoparManiac

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Amherst, NH
'92/4.0/AW4/8.25

Just picked up this Jeep so I don't know anything about it's history other than an old guy owned it and took care of it and it has 160k on it. I think it might have been used to tow a small fishing boat as it's wired for a hitch and it's from Cape Cod.

So when I accelerate moderately hard or floor it from a dead stop, I get this weird grinding noise coming from right underneath me. Also, it doesn't seem to shift as firmly under moderate to hard acceleration as my other AW4 did in my '91. It seems to slip in the middle of a shift.

I've replaced the TPS, adjusted the TV cable, and checked the motor mounts (brakestand in 2wd then 4LO - they were fine). And the fluid is bright red and full.

I've read that it might be the tranny mount causing the noise, but what about the shifts? Normal driving it shifts pretty good, but with a little more gas the shifts feel a little slippery.

Any ideas?
 
I had a bad tranny mount on my '95 Taurus SHO and it did exactly what you are describing. I thought my tranny was going out, but when I had it looked at they just replaced the mount, and it shifted great after that. I have no experience with XJ tranny mounts, though.
 
Alright well I have a brand new tranny mount (like a couple months old) on my '91 parts Jeep so I'm gonna swap em and see what happens.

If anything changes I'll post back up.

Thanks for your help Daedalus.
 
MoparManiac said:
Alright well I have a brand new tranny mount (like a couple months old) on my '91 parts Jeep so I'm gonna swap em and see what happens.

If anything changes I'll post back up.

Thanks for your help Daedalus.
Click to expand...
I too would suggest the trans mount before you jump to conclusions. It can cause a strange rattling/grinding of either the exhaust or T-Case linkage that might sound like trans failure.
 
Yeah I have a tendency to jump to conclusions...lol

The reason I did on this one is cause I think the tranny has been serviced/replaced cause the crossmember studs have been replaced with bolts as well as the TV cable seems to be routed differently than stock.
 
Alright so I just dropped the crossmember and took out the tranny mount. It looks fine? I don't see any cracks in it and it seems pretty stiff not too sloppy.

Could this be a torque converter problem or something?

Should I button it back up and do a manual shift test? (take out the TCU fuse?)
 
drop the tranny pan and change the fluid and filter, looking for any metal or burnt fluid. The mount may also still be bad and not showing it until there is pressure on it. If you have a new one, replace it. I would also check the u-joints in the rear drive shaft.
 
Changed the tranny mount and the grinding noise is gone...

gonna drop the pan and change the filter tomorrow/next weekend.

ill letcha know how it goes

thanks.
 
Might also consider a "poor mans flush" and a Ford Explorer tranny cooler while you have everything opened up. I did both at the same time and it helped my shifting immensely.
 
What's a poor mans flush? Is that just draining/filling the pan, driving it for a while, then doing it again a couple times?

Ford explorer tranny cooler? I'll have to look into that. Any specific model? v8?
 
I did my poor mans flush by disconnecting the transmission fluid pressure line from the radiator, sticking it in a bucket, having an assistant start the engine and idle in Park until the dirty fluid coming out the hose started to sputter, shut off engine, add fluid to tranny filler tube, repeat until clean fluid comes out. I ended up going through 9 quarts before I got clean fluid to come out.

I don't know specific model years for the Explorer cooler, but last time I was at the junkyard, every Explorer I looked at had the cooler. It's a stacked plate design and seems to work very well, although there seems to be two schools of thought regarding whether to install it to precool the fluid before the radiator or after the radiator so that you get the coolest fluid possible in the tranny. I put it before, it keeps my engine temps down (since it takes some heat load off the radiator) and it warms the tranny up faster so I am happy.
 
Thanks Daedalus I'll check into that cooler and probably do the flush.

However, I did the manual shifting test and the thing shifts awesome. Very crisp shifting with no delay.

Strange?
 
Ok so just a little update for you guys.

When I floor it from a stand still, I think the noise is gone. It's hard to tell but it's not as sharp as it was before.

As far as the shifts, when I floor it the 1-2 shift is very crisp unlike moderate acceleration.

Is it possible the TV cable could be too stretched to adjust? Or maybe have a dead spot in it?
 
I doubt that the TV cable is stretched as mine seemed unstretchable when I replaced it a couple years ago. As long as you have the adjustment set right you should be alright.
 
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