auto Trans problem

[Dudzy]

Hey guys/gals,

Once again the XJ ain't goin no where.
It seemed to be kicking into gear alot harder or reving more before it went in the other week, then on last friday we went for a play in the mud. That was all fine but then maybe about and hour after that she started playing up.
The bloody thing just revs now and slowly goes into gear, there is no 3rd or 4th gear either.

Well upon jumping underneath and looking under the bonnet I couldnt see anything. But just yesterday when I popped the bonnet again I noticed a crap load of oil resting ontop of my battery, and dripping on the ground below. It was coming from one of the tranny cooler lines, im pretty sure the rubber hose part just before it connects to the oil cooler.

What would cause the oil to leak out? did it boil? and why didnt I notice oil when it first started happening?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
This is the final straw though, if it is buggered I don't have the time or money to buy a new trans and have it put in...


Cheers
Dudzy

[bruggz351]

The quick connect joint is probably leaking, or there is a split in the hose, maybe?

cheers

[Billnick]

I presume you've checked the oil level?? It's got to be mid way to full for the tranny to operate properly. Chock your wheels, handbrake on and pop it in drive and see if you can see exactly where the oil is coming from. Could be just a split hose and $20 will fix it. Get the hose from Pirtek or Enzed.

[Dudzy]

Cheers for reply guys.
Tomorrow I'm hopefully gonna tackle it again, its a bit slow at the moment 'cause I broke my wrist last week so climbing around under the car is a bit painful at the moment haha.

Also, how exactly do you drain the tranny oil? and how much oil does it take?

[Mitch]

Check your aux fan isn,t rubbing on the trans line as it passes.Flexing offroad can cause these to touch and create a pinhole whic forces fluid out under pressure,hence fluid on battery.This happened to me after wheelin.Pull aux fan out,clean it all up and check hoses,also steel trans lines above front diff may be crimped due to flexing.Both easy fixes,use high pressure hose tho/

[Dudzy]

Cheers mate, and yeah I noticed the hose was rubbing on the aux fan when I got back, bit odd.

[Dudzy]

Can I get a quick list of hose sizes and anything else I'll need? I'm replacing the oil pan filter in the tranny aswell.

Also, whats a good oil cooler for the XJ?

Cheers
Dudzy

[Mitch]

Best to check hose size on ur XJ,printed on the hose itself,mine was done on the side of the road near Krambach,a mate had some hose that got me home.I don,t run an oil cooler so can,t advise.You will need some steel pipe to use as joiners and sml hose clamps.All the stuff i now carry on long trips.

[XJeepers]

3/8" tranny hose. I installed a Davies Craig 678 Hydra Cool, but there are plenty other suitable stacked plate coolers.

When I did mine, I ran the hose past the engine mount and cut the hard lines near the back of the sump using a mini tube cutter, then used two hose clamps on each line to ensure no leaks. I bypassed the radiator heat exchanger altogether, but depending on how this goes, I may decide to but it back in loop (ran all day today without problems though).

Oh yeah, if putting a stacked plate cooler on it's side like I did, make sure the top hose is connected to the return line (the rear most line on the transmission).

PS
4 litres is the service quantity, but mine only took 3

[Dudzy]

Cheers for the info guys, should get me by until I run into trouble :P

[Oli-dogg]

I did the same thing as XJeepers after crushing my steel line with the upper control arm like Mitch said. I recently installed a B&M 70264 oil cooler (http://shop.rocketindustries.com.au/products/BM70264) ($136 delivered).

[Easy Rollins 1]

Does anyone with a trans pyro know how much work it takes the auto to get superhot?

For a few hours in the bush is the trans coping ok?

[Billnick]

After 4 hours in the hot bush yesterday my tranny didn't get above 85*, however trying to reverse a camper trailer uphill into a narrow spot beside the shed it shot up to 105*. Pre-fitting of the gauge I burnt the oil going up Bribie Island in the soft sand with a trailing wind.

[Dudzy]

Quick question, whats the deal with the oil coolers on the XJ? are there two different kinds that come factory with them? this is my setup here:
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/7488/oil1d.jpg

and also, what is this?
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/4286/oil2.jpg

Edit: One more thing, can someone explain to me how the cooler line going into the radiator tank works? why does it go in there? and if I do get a new oil cooler am I better off bypassing it all together?

Cheers

[Steve F]

Dudzy, that's a factory setup you have there. The cooler lines go into the radiator (in a section seperated from the water obviously) to cool/heat the tranny (I guess it would heat more than cool but it's supposed to give a stable temperature either way). The add on cooler was from the tow packand I think all XJ's in Australia got it. It's a tiny thing but better than nothing.

That other thing is the vacumm reservoir. It holds residual vacumm to opperate the heater controls when the engine doesn't have enough vacumm.

Cheers
Steve

[Dudzy]

Cheers for reply steve.
Good news, I may not have to go replacing oil coolers just yet. Upon further inspection I found a nice cut/hole in the rubber trans hose, turns out it was the AUX fan cuttin into it, atleast I know the AUX fan works now! haha.
So now I just gotta get the new hoses and try and keep them away from that fan, also on the list is the trans pan filter.

Edit: forgot to ask, has anyone bypassed the cooler lines and gone straight to the oil coolers instead of going into the radiator?

[Billnick]

Cheers for reply steve.
Good news, I may not have to go replacing oil coolers just yet. Upon further inspection I found a nice cut/hole in the rubber trans hose, turns out it was the AUX fan cuttin into it, atleast I know the AUX fan works now! haha.
So now I just gotta get the new hoses and try and keep them away from that fan, also on the list is the trans pan filter.

Edit: forgot to ask, has anyone bypassed the cooler lines and gone straight to the oil coolers instead of going into the radiator?

If you read the STICKY on oil coolers you'll see a lot of folks bypass the rad cool/heat. Its not really needed in Qld. Mine heats up quite nicely without it. Buy a couple of metres of 3/8" tranny oil hose from Pirtek or Enzed.

You might put a new tyre on your list too.:hammer: :lol:

[Dudzy]

Haha yeah tyres hopefully in the next few weeks, hate not being able to drive my baby :(

[Mitch]

Good to see you got it sorted mate.Make a habit of carrying hoses n fliuds all the time.

[rastus2571]

When fitting an auxillary auto coooler what we are after is reducing heat. So running the auto cooler in conjunction with the radiator is introducing latent heat. (More Heat we do not want).

My XJ has an auto cooler at the front of the grille. (As I said I am new to the jeep brand but am learning real quick from you guys on here).

I think mine is factory. Yep just checked it and it is.

The last thing we want to do is introduce latent heat in any system.

I have installed coolers over my years for engines,transmissions,diffs etc.

When you run a hose do not think the most direct practical route from or to.

Keep it well way from rubbing spots, heat, and look and think if I run this hose can anything rub on it or can it get caught on anything.

The length of the hose can actually be used as a heat exchanger believe it or not.

But of course don't go running it back down over the rear diff and being silly so to speak.

When you have figured out the final resting place of your hose and routing, cover it in convoluted tube. 3/8 =10mm. Use oil cooler hose not fuel hose as I have seen guys do. Fuel hose is not oil compatible.

You use that and you might have a very smoky or fire issue when it pops and burns.

Then when it is covered get those cable ties out and tie it on every join that changes angle and right up pipes to where you want it to go every 4 inches.

Make sure it is nowhere near any other heat or rubbing on anything.

That's the hard part and you have to use that good old aussie ingenuity.

Also when you install an auto cooler it is going to increase your oil supply so check as pre manual and top up as neccessary. You have added more to the tranny so you have to top up oil to suit.

I can only recommend the bigger the better within reason to fit your vehicle.

You can never run an auto too cool. Heat is the biggest enemy to an auto. The bigger the better.:p

Burnt tranny oil is brown and when you pull the dipstick out of the Auto it has a smell like burnt toast.

If it aint pink and sweet. You can delete( Flush the fluid).
Drain and replace.

Better of flushing as you get the gunky oil out of the converter. And change the filter in the box too.

[Dudzy]

Cheers for the info mate, yeah I'm thinking of going the biggest cooler that will fit, maybe even one with an aux fan too.
Hopefully tomorrow I will have the hoses and fluids then by friday the new oil pan filter :)

[Dudzy]

Anyone know ho to remove these things? or can I just cut it off and hope the clamps stay on tight? its the top hose that i am replacing, cheers
http://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=51207&stc=1&d=1321415552

[bruggz351]

I cut mine here...
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m596/bruggz351/oil3.jpg
and used 2 hose clamps to hold it on... No worries so far man..

cheers

[Dudzy]

Ahh cool, I was hoping someone else had done it before me :P I was worried that it didn't have a lip for the rubber hose to grip on. And yeah I got 8 clamps locked and loaded to whack on there but I think just the two at each end will do fine :)
Cheers

[Billnick]

I found I couldn't get the clamps done up tight enough just using a screwdriver. Use a socket instead.

[Dudzy]

No worries mate cheers for the tip, I'll be makin the cuts today.

[bruggz351]

I found I couldn't get the clamps done up tight enough just using a screwdriver. Use a socket instead.


I'll second that motion...:p

[AussieCJ7]

you can also use these as a better option than 2 clamps but I am guilty of using 2 clamps

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/RUS-639200/ you can get other line sizes this is just an example

[Dudzy]

Already done the double clamps and its all back together.... but I forgot to put the washer back on the drain screw! damnnnn ittttttt! few drops of oil here and there so now I'm gonna wait for it to cool down then have an oil shower.... :(