My 42RLE overheated: I screwed up big time

[billiebob]

I haven’t gotten the transmission rebuilt. A reman one was put in a while ago by the previous owner. I used to have a manual but I got this LJ for a steal so I sold my 97. The automatic component is the only downfall. I’m not an automatic person and I know nothing about them. I just ordered the derale tranny cooler and have started putting it together. It should be finished tomorrow!

Good news. 35s thru the RLE auto and 3.73s, the OD will be almost useless. I'd use the OD OFF switch always. I had 33s on my YJ and 3.07s, I loved it in 4LO but never used 5th on the highway. 4LO on a forestry road it ran like a Mustang. 60mph in 4LO was a blast. I'm betting 3.73s, 35s with the 4speed automatic will be the same. A blast on a fast forestry road in 4LO.

 

[AndyG]

Well, this I another good example of how XJs hurt the Jeep family.

Slapped on 35s and towed an XJ.

This is going to be mentioned at the next Forum staff meeting , don't be surprised if you get a letter.

 

[Chasitek]

Well, this I another good example of how XJs hurt the Jeep family.

Slapped on 35s and towed an XJ.

This is going to be mentioned at the next Forum staff meeting , don't be surprised if you get a letter.

Good news. 35s thru the RLE auto and 3.73s, the OD will be almost useless. I'd use the OD OFF switch always. I had 33s on my YJ and 3.07s, I loved it in 4LO but never used 5th on the highway. 4LO on a forestry road it ran like a Mustang. 60mph in 4LO was a blast. I'm betting 3.73s, 35s with the 4speed automatic will be the same. A blast on a fast forestry road in 4LO.

Well, I thought i fixed my problems. I drove it last night 25 minutes down the highway and then 25 minutes back this morning plus some around town driving and it was all find and good until I left work tonight and it started slipping. Lots of catching then slipping then catching then slipping kind of creating a bucking. i checked the level, it seemed to be good. It was within the 2 hot dots but definitely close to the max hot dot. Do you guys think I need a new tranny?

 

[chad]

My guess is your going to need to have your transmission rebuilt , or a remanufactured one preferably. And a re-gear before you drive it. It would have to be weak as a cat with that setup anyway. Or take the lift back off and go back to 30 inch tires. You will find That this forum can save you a lot of Time and money if you do a little research before making any changes to your Jeep in the future.

 

[AndyG]

Well, I thought i fixed my problems. I drove it last night 25 minutes down the highway and then 25 minutes back this morning plus some around town driving and it was all find and good until I left work tonight and it started slipping. Lots of catching then slipping then catching then slipping kind of creating a bucking. i checked the level, it seemed to be good. It was within the 2 hot dots but definitely close to the max hot dot. Do you guys think I need a new tranny?

Well my real guess is you don't need another XJ.

And yes it's burnt slap up.

Which goes to prove the old saying...nothing is really free that xj just cost you about $2,800.

 

[Chasitek]

My guess is your going to need to have your transmission rebuilt , or a remanufactured one preferably. And a re-gear before you drive it. It would have to be weak as a cat with that setup anyway. Or take the lift back off and go back to 30 inch tires. You will find That this forum can save you a lot of Time and money if you do a little research before making any changes to your Jeep in the future.

Tons of people drive with 3.73 gears and 33" tires. Some people even drive with 35" tires. While I do plan on regearing, I know it's not necessary. Before the 3.5" lift, I was on a 2" lift with 31s, never had stock height or tire size. My problem was trying to tow something with the gear ratio, it's only fine for daily driving. That's I will look into rebuilding it since I'm going to assume that will be the more cost-effective route for me. Thanks

 

[Chris]

You should be able to get a fully remanufactured 42RLE for around $1500 or less I believe.

 

[Chasitek]

You should be able to get a fully remanufactured 42RLE for around $1500 or less I believe.

$1500 is a lot of money to me. I know people who can do the rebuild labor for free so i'd only have to buy the parts. I'm not really sure if the transmission is bad or if it's fluid related or possibly filter related? After the transmission overheated and the fluid boiled out, I topped the fluid off and it was driving fine. I checked the dipstick and noticed either water, coolant, or engine oil had gotten in it so i pulled the pan, changed the filter and added a drain plug. I refilled the tranny with 4 quarts of valvoline atf+4 and when I checked the dipstick cold, it was dead center inbetween the 2 cold dots. Last night i drove roughly 25-30 minutes down the highway and had no shifting problems. I drove another 25-30 minutes this morning and the roughly 5 minutes, stopped at sheetz and then drove 20 minutes to go to work. When I left work everything was fine until i got close to home and it started slipping. It's a jerking upon acceleration type of slippage and I can watch the tach go up and down. I can release my foot off the gas and press the gas again and sometimes it'll go away and sometimes it will just slip again. I don't think it's the transmission going out because it's inconsistent. It seems to be worse when going uphill and definitely worse at lower speeds. I've noticed it seems to only be when the jeep is at operating temperature. i checked the fluid level when hot and it did seem low so I topped it off and shifted through the gears to get any air out, drove it around a little and the problem still persists. I checked the level, it's at full mark when hot. Any other ideas? Should I get the fluid completely flushed? When I dropped the pan, it didn't look completely contaminated, it seemed to just be the corner of the pan where the dipstick is. the rest of the fluid looked pretty good. My problem is I don't know what or how the transmission fluid got contaminated in the first place so I really don't want to pay to have it flushed just to have it get contaminated again.

 

[Chris]

$1500 is a lot of money to me. I know people who can do the rebuild labor for free so i'd only have to buy the parts. I'm not really sure if the transmission is bad or if it's fluid related or possibly filter related? After the transmission overheated and the fluid boiled out, I topped the fluid off and it was driving fine. I checked the dipstick and noticed either water, coolant, or engine oil had gotten in it so i pulled the pan, changed the filter and added a drain plug. I refilled the tranny with 4 quarts of valvoline atf+4 and when I checked the dipstick cold, it was dead center inbetween the 2 cold dots. Last night i drove roughly 25-30 minutes down the highway and had no shifting problems. I drove another 25-30 minutes this morning and the roughly 5 minutes, stopped at sheetz and then drove 20 minutes to go to work. When I left work everything was fine until i got close to home and it started slipping. It's a jerking upon acceleration type of slippage and I can watch the tach go up and down. I can release my foot off the gas and press the gas again and sometimes it'll go away and sometimes it will just slip again. I don't think it's the transmission going out because it's inconsistent. It seems to be worse when going uphill and definitely worse at lower speeds. I've noticed it seems to only be when the jeep is at operating temperature. i checked the fluid level when hot and it did seem low so I topped it off and shifted through the gears to get any air out, drove it around a little and the problem still persists. I checked the level, it's at full mark when hot. Any other ideas? Should I get the fluid completely flushed? When I dropped the pan, it didn't look completely contaminated, it seemed to just be the corner of the pan where the dipstick is. the rest of the fluid looked pretty good. My problem is I don't know what or how the transmission fluid got contaminated in the first place so I really don't want to pay to have it flushed just to have it get contaminated again.

My best possible advice for you would be to have it towed to a transmission shop. Any reputable transmission shop will diagnose it and give you a free estimate, which usually won't cost you anything.

I'm not a transmission expert by any means. Rather than guessing, I'd leave it to a pro. Even if you don't have them do the work, at least you would know exactly what the issue is, which beats guessing. I'll rebuild an engine and do almost all my own work, but transmissions and re-gearing are the two things I will never touch and always leave to the experts

 

[Danny Fuelling]

Same happened to my 03 Rubicon, ended up being a broken cooler inside transmission,had to take cooler line off after replacing filter, radiator and fluids,ran about 12 qts through cooler line, until milkshake tranny fluid went away,topped off at running temperature, good luck so far

 

[PatMc]

$1500 is a lot of money to me. I know people who can do the rebuild labor for free so i'd only have to buy the parts. I'm not really sure if the transmission is bad or if it's fluid related or possibly filter related? After the transmission overheated and the fluid boiled out, I topped the fluid off and it was driving fine. I checked the dipstick and noticed either water, coolant, or engine oil had gotten in it so i pulled the pan, changed the filter and added a drain plug. I refilled the tranny with 4 quarts of valvoline atf+4 and when I checked the dipstick cold, it was dead center inbetween the 2 cold dots. Last night i drove roughly 25-30 minutes down the highway and had no shifting problems. I drove another 25-30 minutes this morning and the roughly 5 minutes, stopped at sheetz and then drove 20 minutes to go to work. When I left work everything was fine until i got close to home and it started slipping. It's a jerking upon acceleration type of slippage and I can watch the tach go up and down. I can release my foot off the gas and press the gas again and sometimes it'll go away and sometimes it will just slip again. I don't think it's the transmission going out because it's inconsistent. It seems to be worse when going uphill and definitely worse at lower speeds. I've noticed it seems to only be when the jeep is at operating temperature. i checked the fluid level when hot and it did seem low so I topped it off and shifted through the gears to get any air out, drove it around a little and the problem still persists. I checked the level, it's at full mark when hot. Any other ideas? Should I get the fluid completely flushed? When I dropped the pan, it didn't look completely contaminated, it seemed to just be the corner of the pan where the dipstick is. the rest of the fluid looked pretty good. My problem is I don't know what or how the transmission fluid got contaminated in the first place so I really don't want to pay to have it flushed just to have it get contaminated again.

Sorry, I've been away. Need to figure out how the water got in there. What probably happened is that the trans got hot enough to boil the water, which caused the fluid to expand way go crazy out of the vent. If the fluid looked good, I'd probably clean things out as best you can, (couple cans worth of brake cleaner to hose whatever you can off the of the visible parts with the pan off), put the pan back on and dump the fluid back in...maybe add a bit to bring the level correct and see how it works. Has that thing been driven through deep water? Maybe some came in through the trans vent...or through whatever way it came back out. The clutches don't like water contamination, but that doesn't look like a whole lot of it....I'd go see how it drives and waste a bit of money on fluid before you commit to replacing or rebuilding it.