Mopar, not E-body, fluid escapes - Terry ??

[UKcuda]

We were running a 1994 Jeep 4.0 litre for few years until a few months back the engine totally failed. 

I liked the old bus so seeing a virtually identical 1995 for sale locally for a good price I decided to buy it and keep the '94 for spares.

Now, the "new" one runs exactly the same as the "old" one except for one thing, when towing the horse trailer up steep hills it throws transmission fluid out from somewhere, which then burns off on the exhuast with a lot of stinky white smoke.

I've been topping it up and it keeps running OK, the trans. doesn't seem worn or burned, it just throws fluid out from somewhere under heavy load.  And though I've crawled underneath with a good light I can't actually even see where it's been coming from, all I can see is where it has got thrown around, including on the exhaust.  I've no doubt it is transmission fluid coming out from somewhere.

Any ideas why or where the fluid is coming out under load?

[Road_Runner]

Its my understanding that many trucks will do this under heavy loads due to higher pressures inside the transmission.  Almost all of my trucks have come with auto transmission dip sticks that lock down & seal at the top of the tube for this very reason.  If the transmission otherwise operates fine while towing, get a similar locking auto dipstick and I'll bet you'll be fine.

Later, Jim

[UKcuda]

Thanks, I'll take a closer look at the filler tube to see if it's coming from there.

Also I'll have a look at the dip-stick on the '94.  But shouldn't there be a breather or something to prevent the pressure pushing the fluid up the tube?

I'm going to have a tough time telling the wife that this is "normal" LOL

[Aussie Challenger]

The breather would be my first checking point although I have seen oil come out dip stick tubes before but usually under hard braking. You may have to remove the breather and fit a tube and bring it up along side of the dip stick and then fit the breather on the open end.   

[tactransman]

Is this a Cherokee or a Grand Cherokee? Does it have 4 spots on the shifter for forward gears or 3 with an OD button?

[acudanut]

 Sounds like you need a heavier duty TRUCK.  I use a Ford Power Stroke to pull my horse trailer.

[UKcuda]

Is this a Cherokee or a Grand Cherokee? Does it have 4 spots on the shifter for forward gears or 3 with an OD button?

Hi Terry,

It's just the regular Cherokee.  The box is 4-speed.  On the shifter it has three forward positions: "D"  "3"  and  "1-2" but there's no O/D button.  The other one was the same but it had a switch on the dash for "comfort" or "power", I always had it on "power" which made it shift up a little later.

We don't hardly go over 50 mph towing.  I told her to shift to the "3" or "1-2" to keep the revs up when towing up hills, that has helped but it still happens.

I'm not actually sure where a breather would be found 

Thanks,  Steve

[UKcuda]

Sounds like you need a heavier duty TRUCK.  I use a Ford Power Stroke to pull my horse trailer.

You'll probably laugh but most folks over here tow horse boxes with 2.5 litre diesel Land Rovers, they have manual transmissions though.

A 4x4 bigger than 4 litre would be regarded as serious overkill in the UK !  I'm not saying that's right, it's just the way they think here.

[tactransman]

Ok ,you have the AW4 Asian Warner trans. 30-40LE (A340F)



Not really familiar with that trans. Not sure where the vent is but it sounds like it is getting hot and puking out the vent. You can try putting a good size cooler on it and see if it helps. Also don't pull the trailer in OD unless you are on flat ground.

[UKcuda]

Ok ,you have the AW4 Asian Warner trans. 30-40LE (A340F)



Not really familiar with that trans. Not sure where the vent is but it sounds like it is getting hot and puking out the vent. You can try putting a good size cooler on it and see if it helps. Also don't pull the trailer in OD unless you are on flat ground.

That makes sense, it does seem to happen on the way home when everything has got warmed up and in fact I can't remember it ever happening on the way out from cold.  Maybe the cooling on this one just isn't as good as the old one. 

I've got a nice Mocal oil cooler I rescued from a Mazda rotary MX5 so maybe I'll add that into it, or since the A/C doesn't work I suppose I could just route it through the A/C cooler.

I guess it would be as well to change the fluid while I'm at it.

Thanks again.

[tactransman]

Just an FYI,if you drop the pan,you can see in the pic above that the lower half of the filler tube is made as part of the pan. The top half slides out of the bottom half,but it will be stuck! You will have to soak it with some penetrating lube to get them to separate. It should have a drain plug in the pan from the factory so that helps.

[UKcuda]

Just an FYI,if you drop the pan,you can see in the pic above that the lower half of the filler tube is made as part of the pan. The top half slides out of the bottom half,but it will be stuck! You will have to soak it with some penetrating lube to get them to separate. It should have a drain plug in the pan from the factory so that helps.

Thanks,  I hope I don't need to drop the pan, and if all else fails I know there is a good trans. on the other Jeep.