onlyinajeep726 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Alright guys, this is about an XJ but you guys are far more helpful than some of the other Jeep forums I'm on, so I'll ask here. It's my buddy's 1996 XJ, 4.0L, AW4 with about 277k miles on the old girl. Him and I did a coolant flush a few weeks ago (as it was very needed). We filled her back up with fresh coolant and water mix and after a few days he noticed a coolant leak coming from the front, driver's side. Come to find out that it was leaking coolant around where the transmission line goes in (the top line, closest to the filler neck). Anyway, we went on to install his new headlight housings and Putco harness, so we had the battery disconnected while doing this of course. After we got it all back together, we took it out driving to run errands. The Jeep started shifting funny intermittently about 10 minutes into the drive but since we had the battery disconnected for so long, I figured the PCM was just re-learning the best shift points and I disregarded it.... Well, long story short, the shifting got exceptionally worse, so much so, that we got stuck at a light because it wouldn't pull. I shifted from 1-2, 3, D all manually and it got moving somewhat, but with noticeable hesitation. After that, it just started slipping so bad that we pulled over. I checked the fluid and it was very over the full mark. Fluid color was dark and clearish, but not ruby red. No noticeable burnt smell and no frothy/foamy mess. Just very, very over full and the viscosity seemed thinner than standard Dex/Merc. My suspicion is that antifreeze got into the transmission via that aforementioned leak. Does this seem like a viable theory, and if so, what would be the best method of recourse to get my buddy rolling again? Oh, just an added bit of info... we dog legged it back to his parent's house from the point where we pulled over, which was around 6-7 miles. I hope we didn't further damage anything, but we really didn't have much of a choice at the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlyinajeep726 Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 Anyone? :help: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Well it makes sense that the right leak could cause a cross-over contamination. That would also cause the over-full condition and fluid viscosity change. You have to fix the radiator anyway so I would do that. You need to flush the tranny anyway so do that after you get a good radiator in there. If it was me I would flush the tranny and cross my fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlyinajeep726 Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 That's what I was thinking also. But, should just drain and refill, or actually try to flush it? Also, would draining the torque converter be necessary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJam86 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 What's the coolant look like? When running your transmission pressure is higher than any pressure from your coolant system, so the leak should be more fluid into coolant than coolant into fluid. I recommend change radiator and flush tranny. If it still acts weird pull your ecm fuse and see how it drives like that. It could be your solenoids weren't getting proper lubrication or are bad. If you pull the fuse you have to manually shift. You can't really manually shift with fuse still in, there is still electricity being applied shifting like that, is the best way I can put it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 If it is that contaminated I would try for a power flush. Otherwise I would buy cheap ATF and keep draining and refilling if the first draining helped at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 That's what I was thinking also. But, should just drain and refill, or actually try to flush it? Also, would draining the torque converter be necessary? Drain and refill. Repeat a few more times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
optimus2 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 when it cools down does the atf return to normal levels? does it seem to do ok when cold, and get worse once yup to running temperature? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlyinajeep726 Posted March 5, 2015 Author Share Posted March 5, 2015 when it cools down does the atf return to normal levels? does it seem to do ok when cold, and get worse once yup to running temperature? No, it's still way over full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 The AW4 is a beat of an auto trans, but once there is coolant/water in the trans it needs rebuild or replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 The AW4 is a beat of an auto trans, but once there is coolant/water in the trans it needs rebuild or replacement. Not necessarily. They've been known to come back. A local here got his full of water in a river, got it out of the river and drove it slipping and steaming to the trailhead, drained the pan, added motor oil to it as that was all he had, drove it home, and did a few drain and fills with ATF. Still driving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I understand what you are saying. Sometimes they come back, but it's basically on borrowed time. Not everything is created equal. And with almost 300k on the clock, it is probably due for a rebuild anyways. I would find a JY/CL repalcement trans to swap in. Then if one chooses to rebuild or have it rebuilt then will have have fresh trans. The AW4 is a beat of an auto trans, but once there is coolant/water in the trans it needs rebuild or replacement. Not necessarily. They've been known to come back. A local here got his full of water in a river, got it out of the river and drove it slipping and steaming to the trailhead, drained the pan, added motor oil to it as that was all he had, drove it home, and did a few drain and fills with ATF. Still driving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Let's wait and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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