32RH transmission making rattling noise at idle in all forward gears and reverse

Ken G Ford

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2021
Messages
81
Location
Gilbert, AZ
Well ran a couple of errands today without issue until last stop.

started the jeep up and put it into drive and suddenly the 32RH Transmission started making rattling noises at idle and in all forward gears and reverse.
Quickly checked to make sure the transfer case was in 2H and not halfway in 4H and or 4L and didn't make a difference.

Checked the ATF fluid and it was topped up.

Nursed it home and as RPM's kept up to 1500 or so the noise would dissapear only to come back at the next stop light.

Climbed underneath and listened to rattling while in drive with wheels ckocked and emergency brake on and it sounded like it was coming from the bell housing.

Popped the cover off and checked the bolts to make sure they were not lose and all checked out good. I am now think the noise is transmitting into the bell housing but coming from transmission itself.

Any ideas?

Almost seems like not enough pressure? I know nothing about Automatics but my understanding is tha there is front Pump inside that can go bad? is it an easy fix or does the whole tranny need to come apart?

Just spent $3K rebuilding the motor 3 months ago and now this..... wife is NOT happy.....

Looks like I will have to cancel my Moab Trip next week if a mirracle doesnt happen..... Ugh....
 
In Neutral at Idle. Looks full and nice and clean cause I just refilled it after fixing the seals at the end of the tranny and the input seal into Transfer Case.

Strange enough.....I drove it 3.5 miles to H&I Automotive in Gilbert AZ from my house to have them listen to it. The manager pulled me onto the lift and with me in it and at idle lifted it to to hear it better. Said it sounds like its coming from TQ and Bell Housing. Called there transmission specialist in Tempe Market Place to let him know I was heading directly down there.
I went to back it off the lift and then it starting misfiring and threw a P0306 code. Limped it home. Changed cylinder 6 plug, Dis Cap/Rotor, swapped ignitition lead 3 and 6 and still throwing code and misfiring..... as a last ditch effort I put old injector on 6 and then ran Noid Tester. No issue with injector 6 and injector 6 signal from main harness.

Then.... ran a compression check and now cylinder 6 is at 100psi....all other cylinders at 145psi to 148psi...... so.... now i am thinking it has bad TQ and a blown head gasket? really? just had the engine rebuilt at The Engine Builders in Glendale for 3K with 2 year warranty.....
Its like two steps forward and three steps back.....

So the jeep is going back to The Engine Builders in Glendale AZ next week and will see what they say about low compression....... then I may have them pull the tranny and send it to someone they know who can diagnose the issue and fix it. After all the money being spent in last 2 months.....not sure I can afford to have the tranny rebuilt as well.

Gotta tell you, Reg Cab Toyota Tacoma with the 4cylinder is looking better and better each day......
 
Quick update...... in NM for two weeks for work.

Kody Bard from Snatch Towing (Super Nice Guy) managed to get out to my house Monday night to take the TJ to The Engine Builders in Glendale.

Waiting for phone call from them this week to hear what they find out about the low compression Misfire on Cylinder 6.......

As far as the Transmission grinding/rattling noise.....was hoping to find a cracked Flex Plate when I got a chance to look at it through the bottom (access cover removed) I rotated the flex plate and checked the bolts and could not visually identify any visible cracks.....although the noise sounds like what you would expect a cracked flex plate to sound like.
 
Did you double check the bell housing to motor bolts? Friend's XJ had a death rattle that was at least in part caused by some flex between the motor & trans because some of the bolts were missing. Knowing that your engine was recently out, this at least a possibility. We ended up replacing the torque converter & pump seal which solved a lot of it. It's an XJ, you never solve *all* of the noises.
 
Did you double check the bell housing to motor bolts? Friend's XJ had a death rattle that was at least in part caused by some flex between the motor & trans because some of the bolts were missing. Knowing that your engine was recently out, this at least a possibility. We ended up replacing the torque converter & pump seal which solved a lot of it. It's an XJ, you never solve *all* of the noises.

I checked the bolts holding engine to transmission. I read somewhere that if dowel alignment pins were not installed, small miss alighnment could eventually cause cracking of flex plates. While the engine was out the 1st time, the builder pointed out that the pump seal was leaking so he replaced it for free. Hmmmm......
 
I checked the bolts holding engine to transmission. I read somewhere that if dowel alignment pins were not installed, small miss alighnment could eventually cause cracking of flex plates. While the engine was out the 1st time, the builder pointed out that the pump seal was leaking so he replaced it for free. Hmmmm......

Interesting. The XJ in question is missing one of the dowel pins. Any sort of misalignment would put a lateral force on the TC internals, input shaft, pump bushing, flex plate.... I never considered any of that before.

The seal is EASY to replace if the trans is separated from the motor, but it was nice that he did that for you.
 
It now back from the shop.Shop owners wife had some serious health issues and shortly after tha the head mechanic sadly passed away. Owner trying to get back on his feet and so I waited pateiently.....like 4 months.... They put a new head and gasket on it and the engine is running smooth and strong again. BUT..... the noise I thought was cracked Flex Plate is now gone...... and the jeep will no go into reverse. Like nothing..... reverse is just like Neutral...... checked fluid level, cable adjustment, pulled console to look at top side of shifter..... nothing. Drives great going forward with no slipping and or strange noises..... Just no reverse now.
 
I don’t have access to my notes, but I’m pretty sure reverse is controlled by the low/reverse band, and my recollection is that it doesn’t control much else. You can find a replacement on Oregon Performance transmission, but to actually replace it requires removing 99% of the transmission internals.

If I am correct in my diagnosis, the bad news is that for most people this means a trans rebuild for ~$2500. Or a used trans for ~$1500ish. You may only need a new band, but it’s probably worth replacing all the clutches and the kickdown band at the same time


The good news is that it is a very easy job (I have some videos that detail much of the process), and if you have the space to do it, it can be done with no prior experience. This is where most people are like “no way I’m tearing into an automatic transmission.” That’s probably not bad advice, but YOLO.

Now that you’ve seen how bad it can be, you might be able to do a band adjustment to get reverse back. You can only adjust that band by removing the trans pan, but the process is pretty easy, just involves turning a bolt and a nut, and is detailed in the FSM. I would definitely do that first.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NskLJ
I watched ALL of your videos andI have to say, they gave me some confidence. I have built some engines in my past and I do 90% of all my wrench turning. None the less Automatics seem scary even for some one who turns wrenches. Thank fully the 32RH seems as simple as its gonna get.

No issues what so ever with forward gears..... just NOTHING for reverse. One thing that is weird is that when its in 1st gear and I accelerate hard, then let off the gas, it does slow down by itself. Meaning the low/reverse band is grabbing? i.e. its does not coast afterwards.
I would have thought Low/Reverse Band would affect 1st and reverse?

Anyway, no choice. Its going to the shop for a free diagnostic on Monday and "possibly" a low/reverse band adjustment...if I am lucky.

If not, its gonna come home and I will drop the transmission to replace both bands myself. Not goona spend $2k to $3k for a rebuild.
when I just spent $3K for a total engine rebuild on a 1997 TJ that only has 81129 miles on the odometer.

No, not excited about the prospect of doing it myself but like you said....YOLO.

Just want to thank you for doing the videos. Very helpfull and alleviates the fear of all the planetary gears, etc. I am still looking for the video showing the clutch plates themselves althought I am 95% sure there is nothing wrong with them as they do not slip in forward gears....
 
I don’t know that I have a video of my clutches, but they showed zero damage, and I still have them if you want to see what they looked like.

Glad you liked my videos on the overhaul, the whole point was to demystify the process and hopefully save people the better part of 2 grand. I know I don’t have some stuff captured, like the tear down of the sections that hold the clutch packs. That was definitely a miss given that I had the camera out already.

The low reverse band is also applied during engine braking—I don’t know much about this process, but I do know that no new valves are applied for it, which means that (to my understanding) the band performs that function passively. Maybe(?!) we can infer that it’s not the band that’s the issue, but rather the application of the band that is the problem. There is a piston with a seal that applies that band. It’s probably more likely that the seal has blown out than the band being shot. If the band is thrashed I would expect to see debris in the fluid when you drain it & inspect the pan. It could also be a cracked piston or broken spring retainer. Some of those things could be determined by just dripping the pan and lookng.

There is an air test you can do to verify the piston holds pressure, it’s in the FSM, but it may require removing the valve body. Doing maintenance on that piston is easy, but you have to remove the extension housing (and therefore the transfer case) to get to the bolt that holds the low/reverse piston apply lever so you can get the piston out. I don’t know if it’s actually possible, but I would sure TRY to remove that extension housing while the transmission is in the jeep. Could save you a ton of effort.

I don’t claim to have the answers, but I’m happy to take wild guesses and help you troubleshoot.
 
Last edited: