Sluggish transmission when cold

AUBREYZ

MEMBER
1999 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE
4.7L
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
215,800 MILES

I got this vehicle from my daughter and it has always been slowish in the mornings. I simply let it warm up for two to three minutes before I drive. Now no matter how long I allow it to warm up, the engine will rev fairly high and the vehicle will barely move. It shifts hard from first to second, then takes forever to shift to third, which you can barely feel. Once I get on the road and gain some speed, things warm up and after about fifteen minutes of driving it feels normal again.

I want to do a flush with gasket and screen change but I am afraid it might make things worse. Should I just change the fluid, filter and gasket and forget the flush?

I am supposed to start work next week delivering packages and I need my Jeep.

3 Replies

JONNYB1963

MECHANIC
252 POSTS

Good afternoon,

That would actually be the second thing I would recommend. First would be to check the fluid level, look at the color of the fluid and give it a smell. If the fluid is low, this behavior could happen, If the fluid is dark and smells "burnt" this would indicate you would need to change the fluid and filter. This most often with make things better.

Jon

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Friday, November 16th, 2018 AT 9:38 AM

AUBREYZ

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Hi Jon, thanks for the response. The fluid is a nice clear pink, smells like transmission fluid and cold, is above the full mark on the dipstick for cold. I have to take my landlord to the airport tonight. Hopefully all goes well, but I will check the fluid level for hot when I get back. I am curious to know if it really is overfull.

If it is, suggestions?

Also, does doing the maintenance run the risk of making things worse? I really cannot afford to do it, but if that is what it needs I cannot afford not to. Hard to know what to do without knowing exactly what is wrong. Life, right?

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Friday, November 16th, 2018 AT 6:06 PM

JONNYB1963

MECHANIC
252 POSTS

Hi Aubrey,

I know what you are getting at but in this case doing the fluid change and filter would not make anything worse. If the fluid has never been changed, then for sure its time to do that service. If it has been serviced recently then perhaps they overfilled it?

How did the fluid level check go with the car all warmed up? Having too much fluid in the transmission can cause some erratic things to happen.

I totally understand the cost thing but in the grand scheme of things it is inexpensive compared to rebuilding the transmission. Also if you do the work yourself the parts are a mere fraction of the overall cost. less than half actually!

If you are interested, here is a quick link to show you what is involved:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-service-an-automatic-transmission
Jon

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Monday, November 19th, 2018 AT 8:38 AM