Trans fluid change stumped question??

I have a 1999 cherokee sport with 90k miles on it. It has never been abused as in off road or through water. I bought the jeep a few years back with about 40k miles on it..

I want to get my Transmission fluid flushed and filter changed since I have NEVER had it changed before !! I bet your grinding your teeth on this one lol.
I don't have any problems besides having to push down on the gas more than usual to kick it down a gear and to help gas mileage...

I called FIRESTONE FULL AUTO CARE and what they told me was strange and something I never heard before. They told me since I never changed the fluid before and having 90k miles on it, NEW FLUID would HURT the trans and possibly make it slip.??.. Does this sound right to you guys? I figure a new fluid and filter change would be the best thing for it..

They told me they will not do the fluid change and to call another place that they referred to me.. I think they are just throwing business to a friend or something..

I have a 1999 cherokee sport with 90k miles on it. It has never been abused as in off road or through water. I bought the jeep a few years back with about 40k miles on it..

I want to get my Transmission fluid flushed and filter changed since I have NEVER had it changed before !! I bet your grinding your teeth on this one lol.
I don't have any problems besides having to push down on the gas more than usual to kick it down a gear and to help gas mileage...

I called FIRESTONE FULL AUTO CARE and what they told me was strange and something I never heard before. They told me since I never changed the fluid before and having 90k miles on it, NEW FLUID would HURT the trans and possibly make it slip.??.. Does this sound right to you guys? I figure a new fluid and filter change would be the best thing for it..

They told me they will not do the fluid change and to call another place that they referred to me.. I think they are just throwing business to a friend or something..

First things first.
Theres a cable that runs from the throttle body to the transmission (TV cable). This lets the transmission know what position the throttle is in so it knows when to down shift as you give it more throttle. Theres an adjustment at the throttle body. Its an easy thing to adjust but there were some changes in the adjustment mechanism over the years and Im not sure whats on a 00. Basically you open the throttle all the way and adjust the cable so it has no slack. This should fix your problem with it not wanting to downshift.
Now for the fluid and filter change. Its common opinion that a high mileage AW4 (XJ automatic) that has never had a flush and is operating fine should not have a flush because it can stir up dirt and debri that has been laying quietly and harmlessly. A flush is different than a fluid and filter "change". To change all the fluid you need to remove one of the tranny lines and hook up a pump (or use the tranny pump) to pump old fluid out while pumping in fresh fluid. this shouldnt desturb any of the sediment. You can change about half the fluid by simply draining it from the drain plug in the pan. This wont change ALL the fluid in the tranny because some of it will remain in the torque converter. You can change the filter by dropping the pan.
In your case, if you arent having problems (that the TV adjustment doesnt fix) and the fluid doesnt smell burnt or look dark and dirty, I would just drain and drop the pan so you can look at the magnet and see how much, if any, gunk is in the pan, clean things up in there and replace the filter and top off the fluid. If its good and clean, your good to go for a long while. If its a mess in there, give it a couple months and drain the fluid again then in a few months, drop the pan again to see if it stays clean.

With only 90K on it, your AW4 should be nearly spotless inside and will probably just require that you drop the pan to check it and replace the filter (just because you can) and top off the fluid.


EDIT: Heres what I found for the TV cable adjustment on later models. I dont know if this includes your or not.
"Late model JEEPS have a half round push button cable lock. Push the half round button located at the back of the bracket near the throttle body and push the cable into the sleeve. From the drivers seat, push the gas pedal all the way to the floor."

I have a 1999 cherokee sport with 90k miles on it. It has never been abused as in off road or through water. I bought the jeep a few years back with about 40k miles on it..

I want to get my Transmission fluid flushed and filter changed since I have NEVER had it changed before !! I bet your grinding your teeth on this one lol.
I don't have any problems besides having to push down on the gas more than usual to kick it down a gear and to help gas mileage...

I called FIRESTONE FULL AUTO CARE and what they told me was strange and something I never heard before. They told me since I never changed the fluid before and having 90k miles on it, NEW FLUID would HURT the trans and possibly make it slip.??.. Does this sound right to you guys? I figure a new fluid and filter change would be the best thing for it..

They told me they will not do the fluid change and to call another place that they referred to me.. I think they are just throwing business to a friend or something..


It's not the new fluid that will hurt the transmission. On the other hand worn out tranny fluid *will* hurt the transmission and *does* need to be replaced. Transmission fluid "wears out" when it has been overheated; up to its rated maximum operating tempurature the fluid suffers no stress but exceed that llimit and the fluid will break down quickly. No, what "hurts" the transmission is the cleaning phase of the fluid swap. These machines typically run a cleaning fluid through the tranny before they begin pumping new fluid into it and it is this process that can cause some problems; many shops don't want to get entangled in a potential problem/liability issue so they tell you not to do anything.... which is just flat stupid. Also, what this process will not do is change the transmission filter. You need to drain and drop the pan, replace the filter and top it off with new fluid. If you're mechanically inclined, you can accomplish this relatively easily. You won't replace all the fluid but a few quarts of new fluid is better than running all of the old stuff. Find a tranny shop that will change out the filter for you and top the tranny with DEXRON III. (*NOT* Chrysler or Ford fluid.... cause the tranny is a Japanese-built model specifying the DEX III fluid).

Good luck....hope this helps....

Mike
00XJ

AGree with not getting the flush. If you just drop & clean the pan and replace the filter every 40K or so you should be fine.

Recommend to search this forum for previous posts on this.

I changed my own. Pull the drain plug and drain. You can pull the pan and change or clean the filter (it is cleanable) if you want. I didn't... cause I was lazy and didn't think it needed it. That is just MO.

Then I pulled one of the cooler lines and pumped out the ATF about 3 quarts at a time by starting Jeep and running for 'bout 30-40 seconds. Add the 3 quarts between doing this. Used about 13 quarts or so to get it looking like new. Good time to add an external cooler if you don't have one...you can use one of these lines for draining.

Make sure you use DIII/Mercon.

Thanks guys for the info!!

I dropped the pan, changed the filter instead of cleaning it and refilled with M III. For 90k miles on her, the trans looked clean as ever..

I was always told these transmissions can almost run off sand. BUT I wouldnt advise it. lol

Thanks again guys. This forum is seriously the best one on the Net. Been a member for years now !!