hard downshift in trans.

curt7088 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:22 am

Ok, so i just had my tranny fluid changed... i have an 03 renegade, and now for some reason when i downshifts out of overdrive it shifts hard... makes the whole jeep lurch. asked the place that did the work, they claim they used atf-4 fluid in it. any ideas???

haulin5 · **Joined:** Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:53 pm **Posts:** 116

No ideas here, but noticing similar problem in our '03 Rennie after a 360-mile round trip this past weekend at an average speed of 85. Ours has approx 60K miles on it, and never lurched like this until now.

pointmasteriam · **Posted:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 11:28 am

Actually it has been lurching for some time. What I have noticed is the speed at whichever gear we are in. For instance, if we are going 25 or 30 in 2nd gear, the engine is revving a little higher so when you let off the gas pedal it "lurches" as to bring the rpm's back down. Now if you are doing 25 or 30 in 3rd gear, the rpm's are lower and it doesn't do that...it simply coasts.

pointmasteriam · **Posted:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:54 pm

Just something I noticed when driving it this morning....she is right, it does lurch but I think I have discovered the issue, maybe I am doing something wrong though. And I do agree that it has been acting strange for the last couple of months.

pointmasteriam · **Posted:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:56 pm

And we have not had the transmission fluid checked, only oil changed to my knowledge

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 3:39 pm

could be incorrect fluid level, could be bad selenoid, but if you've been driving it around like that for some time you must want to buy an entire transmission ?

haulin5 · **Joined:** Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:53 pm **Posts:** 116

Us? No, we don't drive like that normally, if ever. Flying like idiots up I-55 to make it to the Illinois M&G on time last Sunday.... :oops:

To clarify, my husband didn't drive it as much as I did yesterday. He's right, it's still fine in 1st & 2nd, but in 3rd, 4th, and 5th, it started bucking when I came off the accelerator. It's not bad, it just never has happened until yesterday. Worries me because it's our favorite and we baby it other than the run from Hades on Sunday.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 4:36 pm

my fault, i misunderstood and took it as if it had been doing it awhile (i had just woken up..

)

a bad selenoid on the 45RFE will cause lurching and very harsh downshifts from OD

but as with anything, it could be a variety of things

curt7088 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:27 pm

i checked the tranny fluid, it s right on target... correct volume, spoke to the mechanic today and he says he remembers putting atf-4 fluid in it and i didnt mention what type of fluid to the shop or him... so maybe the solenoid?? I may take it to the stealership, but they want 85 bucks just to look at it, imm bring it back by the shop tomorrow and see if they'll look at it and possibly tell me what is wrong... oh and i noticed a similar problem on another thread titled tranny acting picky, he got his shift points changed by the stealership... wondering if this is my problem as well... but wouldn't it have done the same thing when i had the old fluid in there??? i dunno... i may just go find a 5 sp. outta the junk yard around here and do the swap... possibly even the six if i can find it...

Powerman04 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:19 pm

Quote:

i checked the tranny fluid, it s right on target... correct volume, spoke to the mechanic today and he says he remembers putting atf-4 fluid in it and i didnt mention what type of fluid to the shop or him... so maybe the solenoid?? I may take it to the stealership, but they want 85 bucks just to look at it, imm bring it back by the shop tomorrow and see if they'll look at it and possibly tell me what is wrong... oh and i noticed a similar problem on another thread titled tranny acting picky, he got his shift points changed by the stealership... wondering if this is my problem as well... but wouldn't it have done the same thing when i had the old fluid in there??? i dunno... i may just go find a 5 sp. outta the junk yard around here and do the swap... possibly even the six if i can find it...

Nice my threads are actually helping others for once! :seuss:

I haven't gotten it done yet since I just started putting together my lift, and the response saying to do the reset also said he did it after he lifted. So in order to save time and money, I'm waiting till my lift's on before I go resetting them. Since this was JUST after a trans flush, I want to say it's a different issue, but the symptoms sound right. Was this happening at all before the trans service?

curt7088 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:56 pm

no not at all, if it was it was sooo unnoticeable... but anyways yeah... i'mm check into getting the trans shift points changed... but hopefully i don't have to do all that... i'll swing by the shop that did the flush and talk to them and see what they say.. funny thing is it's only out of overdrive...

cdeheer97 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 15, 2010 9:59 pm

This topic describes exactly my recent problem.
05 Renegade sitting at 140,000.
Had the fluid changed at dealer @130,000 and have recently noticed a harsh downshift.
I thought it was between 3rd and 2nd but may be mistaken as this tranny always wants to be in OD.
Should any type of re-flash been done with the flush?
No code thrown yet.
Any additional info on the solenoid mentioned will be much appreciated.
Part# ?, change out procedure?, dealer only?

Slitch · **Posted:** Thu Dec 16, 2010 9:38 am

i guess i have the same problem as well 04 limited with about 85000Km on it
i asked the dealer about it though they said it was just that the liberty wants to remain on the current gear and gain momentum when u suddenly remove ur foot off the pedal it does that sort of a kick as its forced to downgear (like some sort of engine brake) i wasn’t convinced though he seemed like he doesn’t have an idea about what was really wrong

ive been driving like that for a while though and i really hope i won’t have to change the whole thing
how do i check if the solenoid is bad??

hard downshift in trans.

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