Transmission Blues

[Zelliaind]

So I purchased my TJ about a month ago and I'm steadily working through the problems with the ol' guy (which I'm calling JJ--short for Japanese Jeep since it's a JDM right-hand drive Jeep). A big problem with it, and the reason I got it so cheap, is the transmission had some serious issues. It wouldn't down shift, tried to die at stop lights, wouldn't upshift without extensive throttle, etc. The primary problem with the transmission is that it had never been serviced in it's entire life according to the shop I took it to--I took it there because I hate working on transmissions.

The transmission flush and service fixed the majority of the issues but they said a lot of varnish was left behind so an additional flush in a few months will be needed. Despite a majority of the issues being resolved as far as the transmission was concerned, the Jeep refuses to upshift to 3rd gear when I'm heavy on the throttle or going uphill. Doing research both here and a variety of other places lead me to suspect the TV cable being the culprit. I fiddled with it a bit, adjusted as many places suggested, and tested. It was able to shift better to third at standard throttle but doesn't always shift to third properly and winds up me tacing to 3k or 4k RPM in second gear before it violently shifts to third. Even letting off the throttle completely doesn't cause it to shift and just makes me rapidly slow down as if I've downshifted on a stick shift.

An additional frustration is it does not like to downshift. I often times have to press the gas a considerable amount when going to slow for the gear in order to get it to actually to downshift and stopping at stop signs or red lights causes it to shutter so hard that I often times just pop it into neutral and then back into drive once I get fully stopped. I've read it might be a sticky governor valve that might get resolved with a few more flushes of the transmission or might need to be taken out to be manually cleaned but I'm not sure if that's what the issue is. My suspicion is the TV cable is still not correctly adjusted so I'm looking for any advice someone might have to properly adjust it so that I can check this problem off my list and move on to other gremlins--like the starter needing replaced.

Been enjoying looking around and several of the solutions for my troubles have been found here. Quite the wealth of knowledge present on these forums. Hopefully someone smarter than me can help me get this adjusted correctly. For reference, it's not the push button kind of TV cable, but the one with the clip that's super hard to pop off when adjusting just so whoever responds is aware. Thanks!

--Zell

 

[Tronner]

What size tires do you have, stock gearing? I am not an expert on auto's (only had Manual TJ's) but there is some consensus here that shift points are different depending on Tire size and gearing. 3-4k RPM is nothing to the 4.0L, I often shift at 3-4 in 3rd or 4th getting on the freeway with the 6MT. On my last TJ, I cruised at 3k rpm at 70mph for hours with no issues.

I think the general automatic transmission expert is @hear, He may have some expertise to add here.

 

[hear]

TV cable is always a good place to start. Although it sounds like a stuck governor or sticky valve. That it doesn't like to downshift when you're slowing down I think is telling. If it's shuddering hard at near stop, that could also be a TC that doesn't want to unlock, so you may have a TC problem as well. I think those two things are unrelated. At slow speeds (regardless of gear) the torque converter should just slip.

 

[Zelliaind]

Pretty much all of that is what I was thinking too based on my research. I think the up and downshifting aren't related to one another. Upshifting I'm fairly certain is related to the TV cable not being adjusted quite right--mostly because after adjustments it does get better a bit at a time.

Thanks for confirming my suspicions about the governor valve. I didn't think about the torque converter but it makes sense considering the symptoms. Based on what I've researched this far, this lines up with what I've read.

Thanks for the info, I think instead of diving in myself on the transmission, I'll just find a reputable transmission shop here on island and bring up my concerns.

As far as the tire size, I've got 30 to 31 inch tires on them but not overly wide along with a 2.5 to 3 inch lift and stock gearing. I don't know enough about Jeeps (yet) to know if this needs adjusting or if fine as is.

 

[hear]

your lift & tires aren't the problem here. The valve body is "easily" serviceable without too too much effort, but it it is a lot of little pieces, but all you can really do is clean it. A shop will be better suited to hone the bores & idenfity if a valve is sticky or something. The governor can be got at by removing the t-case & extension housing. You can get a replacement on ebay, or it could just need to be disassembled & cleaned. It's pretty simple too, just a few snap rings. The hard shift could also be the kickdown servo not moving smoothly, but that also can be checked out from underneath.

The torque converter is hard to troubleshoot and requires removing the transmission to get at. Be prepared, they're going to tell you that you need a rebuild. When you have a hammer, everything is a nail. Nothing about your symptoms tells me you need a rebuild, but a significant portion of the rebuild effort is in removing & re-installing the transmission, so its almost a "while you're at it" situation. And they'll likely want to overhaul it all because (a) it removes all the variables and (b) revenue.

That said, I would continue to tweak the TV cable before I brought it to a shop. Although I wish mine would get to 4k RPM before shifting into 3rd under throttle! A fluid flush & inspecting your pan isn't the worst idea either. If you have the pan off, you can "exercise" the servo and see if it sticks.

 

[Zelliaind]

I'll keep messing with the TV cable a bit and see how it responds after another flush or two. If it keeps up I'll have a transmission shop take a look at the Governor valve or check the Torque Converter. I'll try to put off having a rebuild but if it comes to it, I might just have it done to take care of any future problems.

Thanks for the help, hear. Much appreciated.

 

[Zelliaind]

Sorry to necro my own thread, but I'm at wits end and I just need a verification of my suspicions from someone with more knowledge than my own. Here is what I know and have seen over the past two months dealing with this:

A. The Jeep will not downshift from third to first when coming to a stop. Until the vehicle is under 5kph, it remains in third gear causing low RPMs. Feels like a manual when not downshifting.

B. The transmission feels like it 'slips into' the next gear instead of shifting up. I don't know if this makes sense or not.

C. It will downshift from third to second when applying throttle with no vibrations. It does not do so however when slowing down.

D. At or over 20kph, it will not downshift to first and will lumber upwards in RPM. Under 20kph, it will downshift. Under 10kph it will downshift to first and vibrate violently until I let off the throttle or until it finds first gear. A friend of mine who works at the local dealership as a technician said it's "Skipping on the drive gear and probably needs a full rebuild" but I don't know enough about the 32RH (or any transmission for that matter) to know if that's an accurate diagnosis.

E. After adding Seafoam, the shift to third was magically fixed. It still had SOME problems doing so but it was extremely rare. I flushed the transmission and changed the filter after doing so to ensure nothing was left floating around inside but the 2nd to 3rd issue returned with a vengeance.

F. Adjusting the TV cable doesn't much help. I've fiddled with that thing so much I think I wife is getting jealous. I've adjusted it both ways without any luck in resolving the issues I DO have.


With the governor valve being attached to the valve body (I think), I'm starting to suspect it more and more. A full rebuild isn't out of the question if someone on island is able to (those I've spoken with hesitate due to it's Japanese origins) but I'd like to rule out any other possibilities before dropping $2-3k on having it done.

 

[hear]

The shudder is alarming, makes me wonder if the L/R band is dragging on the drum, but that shouldn't be in the circuit unless you're in Manual-1. In D the L/R band is not applied. Not downshifting from 3rd screams sticky valve. The governor itself is on the output shaft, and is actually inside the extension housing. There is a governor valve on the valve body as well. But it already sounds like the VB needs a good cleaning.

Unless you put that seafoam down the transmission dipstick tube, it had no bearing on how the transmission will shift. Please don't put seafoam down the transmission dipstick tube. Reading your post again, did you put seafoam down the transmission dipstick tube?

If you completely disconnect the TV cable does the behavior change in any way?


I checked flights, and unfortunately it looks like it's about $4k to fly me to Guam, so you would not save any money by having me come out and rebuild it for you. But I'm game if you are.