What the hell did i do??? Back in 4/6/13 with the original 69,543 miles i changed the trans oil & filter (magnet in pan had the normal sludge) while in there i figured i replace the governor solenoid, transducer, odd/tcc solenoid (because of the p1740 cel that came up once in a while), deleted the check valve and added a remote filter to my PERFECTLY operating tranny. The next day i noticed it had a slight slip in reverse. So i thought i will have to drop the pan again and adjust the bands.
So this past sunday 6/16/13 i finally got the chance to do the band adjustment. It still had the normal slight sludge on magnet. I reused the atf-4 after using a paint filter on it. 3 days later i have no reverse at all.
So here is the kicker... i thought i read somewhere that after deleting the check valve you can now check the trans fluid level in park ??? I've been driving for 2 months while checking my trans fluid in park!!!
Today i dropped the pan again to readjust the bands, to see if it will help and i see this...

 

Check the fluid level in neutral only. Doesn't matter if you deleted the check valve.

 

Yea i figured that out a little to late. Pics wont upload but pan magnet has lots of shavings on it and fluid is looks dark. Just needed some info or advice. Wondering if tranny was running low or high in fluid when fluid checked in park for two mos. Can there have been severe damage to it ? Anyways im gonna readjust bands and add new atf-4 to see if there is any improvements.

 

checking the fluid in park will give a false "high" reading...the transmission pump does not run in park (unless you've modified the valve body for it to do so) so the fluid will read further up on the dipstick than it would in neutral. It's likely that you've been driving around with low fluid and yes, this can result in damage if not addressed immediately. driving like that for two months is probably enough time to really fry something in the trans, unfortunately

 

If the fluid is dark after 3 days, quite frankly, you're screwed.

And NEVER re-use ATF4. BADD BADD idea. Yeah, it's expensive, but it's cheaper than the 2-3 grand for a rebuild.

 

Well i re-used my atf+4 but i had dropped my pan to change the fluid because when i had a engine fire i used a water hose and i got water in the tranny so instead of starting the Jeep.. I dropped my pan sure enough water inside so i cleaned it up and put a new filter on and checked my accumulator spring and then refilled it back with around 8 quarts of fresh atf4

The damn pan was leaking all over tho its all bent up i guess.. So i had to drop it again but i wasnt about to toss that fresh oil out.. I used a painters filter and re-used it. No harm done honestly..

His problem tho might have been checking it in park... if you delete the check ball all that does it prevent it from getting stuck closed.. but also fluid drains of the torque converter and you should put into neutral before you drive off to get the fluid back in the torque convertor otherwise the vehicle will be hard to move for a few seconds..

But when the vehicle is in park the transmission pump isnt running so you will get a high reading... so if you filled it up based on that high reading then you were probly below the refill line.. In which case it might habr messed the tranny up.. you also have to check it piping hot.. because when its hot it will be lower then when its cold (i think or was it higher i forgot).. but i doubt being 1 quart low would do that.. I dunno.. also if you mess up a band adjustment that will screw it up too.. thats why with 140k miles on mine and it running fine i didnt mess with my bands.. Same with my other Jeep with the 4.0 engine and 42re. it has 202k miles original tranny needs solenoids but im not gonna do any band adjustment with that many miles..

 

Well i went against my motto "if it ain't broke don't fix it"!!!! I am paying the price now. I added the solenoids & etc, thinking i will extend the life of the trans but i screwed it up!
I just checked the rear band and there is so much play = there's no way to adjust. Front band is good. So if i put in new oil & filter will i save my forward drive gears till i get to a shop? Or reuse same oil & filter. It might take a week or so till i do some research to find a reputable trans shop here in S.I. NY.

 

New fluid and filter might get you by until a rebuild. But you're also looking at the possibility of the torque converter grenading now that there is likely ton of shavings in the trans that you can't get rid of.

 

Join the crowd...

Lot's of "drop pan and adjust bands / replace tranny" posts on here, I read em all figuring the people making those posts just screwed up...So I dropped the pan on my RAM and adjusted the bands..

And just like all the posts I read...With in two weeks I had a new tranny

FML...But it made a HUGE diff in the way the truck tows.

 

FWIW I had my trans serviced at the trans shop on 10/12/11 and it's been fine.