The 2-4 and 3-4 up shifts are no longer as fast or smooth as they used to be during hard acceleration so I suspect the solenoid pack and valve body internals are bleeding off pressure.
How difficult is it to remove and work on the valve body? It looks like just getting it out of the case is a major task.
I’m way up there in miles (244,000) but the transmission has been well-maintained, no issues unless I put the pedal to the floor.
I can replace the solenoid block and refresh the valve body with a Transgo kit for around $200. To replace or rebuilt the transmission is around $3000.
I’m considering just replacing the transmission, but if working on the valve body is not as bad as it looks, I may try that first.
Thanks.
it's not that bad of a job, I did that to mine yet I had never worked on an automatic transmission before.
First, I used the Stage 1 version of the Transgo kit, not any of the stiffer shifting versions. It shifts nicely with that kit and it works well. It includes many of the piston seals and there's a slight modification or two like slightly enlarging a hole in the valve body plate with the provided drill bit. Its instructions are very good and self-explanatory.
Note the tub of ATF-dissolvable "Assembly Goo" on the left. You'll need that to hold the pistons up inside the cylinders since they're inserted up into it and they would fall out before you could install the valve body if you didn't use the assembly grease. Make sure to get the kind that ATF will dissolve.
Where the "worm trails" valve cylinders, etc. are concerned, cleanliness is next to godliness here. I went through 3-4 cans of brake cleaner flushing everything thoroughly before reassembing it.
That's the hole you'll enlarge with the drill bit included in the Transgo kit.
The bluish-greenish thing on the right is the new solenoid pack. I'd make sure to only use Mopar.
The Mopar Factory Service Guide will be a big help, and you can Google for how various Jeepers replaced their solenoid pack. There's lots of help available out there.
You'll need to buy 1/4" and 3/8" clicker-style torque wrenches. The ft-lbs. settings are low enough that anything bigger won't be accurate. I bought mine at Harbor Freight Tools and they're $20 or less, often $10 when they're on sale. Don't let that low price fool you, they're actually very good quality with good repeatability.
Oh, there are 6-8 little nylon/plastic check valve balls that are in those worm trails. Make sure you note where yours were when you split the valve body. I bought a set of new check valve balls for a few bucks but figured out the factory ones were still fine. Probably a good idea to get them anyway, especially if you lose one.