Robles4242

Hello. My name is Brent. I have a new to me 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 140k miles on its 5.2L and I believe it has a 44RE? Automatic Transmission?

It all started since I got it. The transmission seemed to wind out gears when under normal stop and go with normal mild driving. It would feel like it started out in 2nd gear, because it wasn't very torquey and when RPMs got up around 3000+ it would slip... like RPMS kept rising but it wouldn't go faster or shift the next gear until I either let up on the accelerator even just one millimeter or I mash the accelerator down, then it would upshift and continue the same pattern.
I felt that by pressing the OD OFF button on the dash, it would preform to my liking (proper shifting) just a little better..
+Note+ If i were to romp on it hard, and I mean in a vehicle abusing manner. I was able to break all the tires loose from a dead stop at a red light and drift the left hand turn I was making. (The wife thought it was pretty bad *** and was impressed 😀 with that one). But it leads me to believe that mechanically talking, my transmission is ok... and I feel like it's a electronic/sensor type of problem?

Then one day all of a sudden Reverse is gone. Park was Park, Reverse and Neutral were both Neutral, and D,2,1 were forward and working. A few days after that (I assumed I had no reverse so I stopped trying to use it and carefully planned my parking spots)... I parked somewhere I thought I could use Neutral to use coast backwards far enough that I could still get my jeep out. Well Now all of a sudden Park was Park, but R,N,D,2 and 1 had all become FORWARD gears. There was No reverse and No Neutral, i tried going into Park and selecting gears over and over, shut off and restarted the Jeep trying to reset something maybe, but no go. Neutral now had resistance and I couldn't even push it down hill backwards, giving it gas would just make it drive, and now my Jeep was stuck with my front bumper up against a building because my front tires drove over the concrete parking spot curb/barrier/ tire stopper thing lol I forget what it took to finally get it pushed backwards and get out of there.

So I am just about to fully give up on the Jeep, and I get rear ended in my forward driving only jeep in the middle of traffic. It did no damage to my jeep physically, but the Toyota solara has an imprint of my hitch receiver in the middle of its buckled up hood now. I pulled over on the side of the road and I was in a situation where I had to drive through someone's yard to get out because I didn't have reverse as an option, well after explaining to the home owner and asking permission to cut through their yard to get back on the road, The Toyota had moved from behind me. I went to put my jeep in reverse to show the home owner how it would go forward in reverse and sure as **** when I pulled the shifter back from P to R there was the sound of a minor clunk and reverse engaged and ever since then the PRND21 has been working as it should.

I looked online and I saw that by removing a clip up on top my motor, and by pressing the pedal to the floor and letting it snap back up then installing the clip again would help reset my shifting points a little better.... so I didn't that and played with that a little, it seemed to make no difference.

Well now my transmission is really bad. It seems to start in 2nd gear. And it barely moves at all forward... put it in 1 and it seems to stay in the higher gear... I press OD OFF and it stays the same. Rev the truck up and down. Move the shifter positions from Park and back, and then suddenly it got its torque back and would move....

So I checked my fluid. It's to the full line when hot, but it does seem to be a little darker in color then I would like to see, so I plan to change my transmission fluid and filter.
I read about a governor pressure sensor and solenoid that is inside the pan I believe? And may be bad... do those sound like something I should try to change while I'm inside the pan or can they be tested? Do they even sound like they fit the symptoms or is there anything else I could try or do you guys think my transmission itself needs replaced? I only paid 500$ for the jeep, so if it's something that is gonna cost the price of the jeep I am gonna have to say good bye.

Robles4242

Right now it only has significant power in reverse....

97grand4.0

hmm. Question, do you have any experience working on cars?

Robles4242

Yes. I have on my own previously swapped out complete Auto Transmissions and a Manual Transmission Clutch. All on 4x4 trucks. (Specifically in Ford Diesels; the E40D and ZF6).

I currently have my valve body removed from my jeeps 44RE to inspect this situation. I was in the process of a fluid and filter change and decided to just.pull the VB for inspection. Imvcurrently in the middle of a full teardown and inspection. Plan to test the solenoids for ohms before replacing any..

I fear there is clutch pack / warn friction material surfaces in the upper half ... gonna do everything I can without pulling it out and cracking the top side open.... I hope for some type of good news... but if I still only have bad news then I (personally) may attempt my first ever Automatic Transmission complete rebuild/overhaul. I've done hours upon hours of research and watching videos of that procedure and I am fairly sure I could pull it off.

wingless

Welcome to the forum.

This topic shows my 46RH rebuild, similar to your 44RE.

It shows the required and optional tools and materials.

https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f140...build-3312729/