Grand Cherokee Transmission???

[Mohling1]

The transmission on my ZJ has not been shifting into 3rd gear when it should, it will stay in 2nd until it revs very high or I can slide it into neutral and let the RPM's drop and then put it back into drive and it will shift. The problem goes away after I have been driving for awhile. Does anyone know what cause's this? Is it the electronic transmission, do I need a new transmission, low fluid? i have had it looked at and nobody can put their finger on it. Your help would be appreciated.

[Jimmyb]

hmmm sounds like it might be electronic related?

[OzJeeper]

I agree with DXJ. Mine has an annoying habit of not connecting at all when shifting from park to dfer.
It's mainly the electronics that are forgetting what's what in my case. I would get both checked by a specialist for your problem. Might be the kickdown is out of whack...

my 2c

[dxj]

Hi,

How is this for a theory:-

Are you sure the shift lever is adjusted correctly?
The shift to neutral then back to D sounds like the D position is nearly 2nd at the transmission.

When it will not shift to 3rd just nudge the lever slightly towards N but not all the way and see if that fixes it. If so, adjust lever. Probably worth checking in any case.

Not sure about ZJ, but many newer Autos shift up gear at very high revs, even when lever is in lower gear, to protect the engine. So sounds to me like lever is out of adjust compared to shift indicator and transmission. Moving the lever back from N to D doesn't quite push it all the way into 2 due to adjustment so it works okay.

Good luck.

[Mohling1]

Thanks Guys. I would have to say I am leaning towards the electronic aspect of it. I know that it isn't the shift lever. Reason be that it doesn't always shift correctly after the neutral shift. Thanks again!

[TJPete]

Originally posted by NebraskaJeep:
The transmission on my ZJ has not been shifting into 3rd gear when it should, it will stay in 2nd until it revs very high or I can slide it into neutral and let the RPM's drop and then put it back into drive and it will shift. The problem goes away after I have been driving for awhile. Does anyone know what cause's this? Is it the electronic transmission, do I need a new transmission, low fluid? i have had it looked at and nobody can put their finger on it. Your help would be appreciated.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have seen this problem before. The sheetmetal on the ZJ transmission tunnel "flexes" after a while and causes this problem. I have rectified this by reinforcing the area where the TBar housing is fastened to the tunnel.

Remove the TBar/console cover and work the shift, see if you can see any flex.

I doubt you have an ECU issue, have you checked the error codes?

I think you will find the Factory did a recall on these because it is a known problem anyway. They insert a reinforcement to reslove it anyway. Call your dealer bloke.

[manfredman]

Hi Guys

I have a WJ and have had a similar problem that got worse over a period of time. While not exactly the same my transmission (auto) would shift up but when I stopped it would not return to first gear on takeoff again. I ended up having the Jeep service department in Townsville look at it and they ended up replacing a solinoid in the transmission (under warranty).

Cheers