545 RFE Transmission - Full story of repair. Still ongoing. Support needed.
 

Good day friends.


On my 2009 JK, Ive got 545 RFE auto transmission. Yes, it is European JK, with 2.8 engine VM motori Turbo diesel. Great car, great engine, great transmission..until this happened. 166k miles on the clock.


I decided to change my JK to JKU. All offroad tuned stuff went from JK to JKU. Axles also. Well, originally JK had Rear DANA44 with 3.73 ratio. As I mentioned, I had custom axles, re-inforced. So decided to swap the axles. JKU had 3.21 ratio. So, axles swapped. No problem, until after 2 weeks of driving, my JK started to slip from 5th gear into 4th, at certain parts of uphill. It then was shifting back to 5th, and no problem. Seems like a bit more stress because of gear ration change. Fine. This was going on for about a week. Then it started to slip from 5th to 4th and then to 3rd. Then back to 4th and 5th. It played like this for few days. To mention, no check engine light or no other indications.


After all this showplay, it refused to shift from 1st to 2nd etc. Basically, started malfunctioning. Gears started to slip.


I removed gearbox, stripped it down. Found out that the friction plates are gone (I had a bit rough play with gearbox, when this crap was going on). So, ordered new plates. Re-built the gearbox (have all tools, and engineering background, just for info). When I put it back, it worked for about 50 miles. Then, same stuff. No shifting. Error code was P0733. Which is Gear Ratio error in 3rd. Friction plates were gone again. Had to replace.


Since, I changed the solenoid block. Ordered from E-bay. It was refurbished one. The guy put on add that 100% guarantee that it works. Question1: can it be faulty, as guy on ebay just screwed me up?


On the other hand, my original solenoid block inspected fine, all coils were ok, pressure regulator was clean and functioning.


Then I tested input and output speed sensors. Hooked up oscilloscope. They function just fine. There is a video on my Instagram account, UniCaPro.


Had to re-flash the Transmission Control unit (TCM). No issues there.


Checked the Transmission control relay, located at TIPM. It does supply +12v to solenoid block when car is on. So no issues here.


The line pressure sensor, seems working ok. It has ground, +5v reference voltage, and output is fluctuating between 2.4-2.6 volts, depending on RPM


Some said it is torque converter..So had to cut it. No obvius damage. Changed the friction strip. Re-welded. Changed also oil seals. Seems working ok.


When you drive it, it feels like there is not enough hydraulic pressure to keep the friction plates tight enough, and it slips.


Im basically out of options to shoot for. Are there transmission gurus over here to whom I can approach for technical help?





Appreciate deeply ahead.