Transmission works great, until...

I have a 98 cherokee, aw4. The wife and I just took it around the block tonight. It shifted fine until we got into the drive way and then it seems to just come out of gear. Its weird because it shifted fine and I even floored it and everything worked flawless. When it does this, you can't move in any forward gears or reverse. It doesn't matter how much your rev the engine, it will not move at all. If you turn the engine off, wait a few seconds, and start it back up, all is well again, until it does it the next time. I assume this is electrical, so what should I be looking for and has anyone else had this prob? I checked the fluid and it was at proper level and looked clean before I took it for a spin. Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks

Brad

How long can you drive it before it acts up? Does it make any noise when it acts up?

I drove it about 5 minutes and it did it tonight. I just got it so i don't know how long. It makes absolutely no sound when it does it. It feels and acts exactly like it does when its in neutral.

Thanks

Brad

I've been having the exact same problem, but I can drive about 30 minutes before it happens. I was told that once the fluid gets warm and thinner, it's no longer grabbing on the clutches like it should and they just won't engage. I don't know much about Auto Transmissions, but it sounded like it made sense. Unfortunately, I was also told that the fix is a rebuild of the trans.

The thing that boggles me is that I have a trans temp gauge installed, and it happens without the transmission actually overheating. It's just like it's in neutral...but if I turn it off and wait a bit, it works again.

Any ideas people? I'd really like to know what the deal may be...

update. Its sitting at the tranny shop. The mechanical says that the tranny is losing its prime (not getting fluid) which causes it to not function at all. The fluid is not burned or discolored. He sat in it and shifted it back and forth from R to D for about 10 minutes and it finally acted up. There was a regulator making some noise when it happened.

He said its definitely not an electrical issue. He's going to drop the pan and take a look inside Monday so we'll see what he finds.