Trans question

Specs: 93 4.0 auto, 203K miles, 3" lift and 31" BFG AT's, Exploder Trans cooler, 3.55 gears and stock speedo gear.

When driving ~50mph I'm at around 1500 RPMs and on occasion it seems like it will shift out of gear and back into gear real quick. It jerks the jeep when it does this and tonight on my way home it even dimmed my headlights from it. I have checked the fluid and it's at the right level and red. Does anyone know what could be going on? I don't really have an idea of what to even search for. Will a transmission flush help me out? Is there anything I can check to make sure it's set up right?

Also can anyone point me to some good info one the AW4? I bought a tranny off of a kid on PAJeeps that came out of a 94. I wanted to know if you can crack them open to see if it's any good. Like what are the things you should look for and is there anything an average joe could do to fix them up. Even a write up of doing a trans swap would be great. I have yet to dapple with any kind of transmission and want to learn more about them.

TIA
Damien

AW4:
http://www.transonline.com/transdigest/magazines/1997-10/Shift%20Pointers/index.html


http://www.scribd.com/doc/2922823/AW4-manual1



Well, sounds like the torque converter is locking/unlocking. As it is electronically controlled, as is the rest of the AW4, your dimming lights are telling you the problem is electrical in origin, IMHO.


You need to do the basics first.


Pull the cables from the battery. Put a charger on the battery overnight (Ok) or for 24 hours (Best).


While the battery charges, might as well remove the cables completely, clean both ends, and then test them with an ohm meter--resistance should be near ZERO.


While you are waiting for the battery to finish charging, remove the braided ground strap from the back of the head to the firewall. It is the one and only ground to the unibody, and it must be GOOD. Clean the head and firewall where the strap was, down to bright metal (Dremel is good for this), then install a 4 ga cable instead of the crummy strap. Use some corrosion inhibitor where you cleaned up to keep the contact from corroding--make the connections tight.


Ok, now that the battery is fully charged you might as well get it load tested.


Fully charged battery, passed a load test, new or really clean and tested battery cables you can hook things back up.


Now start the engine and measure the voltage between the battery terminals--should be about 13.6~14.5 volts, if not the alternator needs checked out.


Ok, the electrical system is up to snuff, so now you need to find out what is going on with the trans if the problem still exists.

Double-post.