CruserBruiser

Hello fellow Jeepers! I've got a story for you all and it will most likely leave you scratching your heads and have no idea what the problems really is. Firstly some background on my Jeep. I bought it brand new completely stock back in spring of '09. I wasted little time with installing 4" suspension lift, 35" Pro Comp tires now BFG KM2, winch bumper, rear bumper/tire carrier, KC hood lights, K&N intake, and Superchips Flashpaq. Auto transmission, never regeared cause I didn't feel I needed too. The Jeep has performed well for many years with no problems until I get it paid for... Imagine that.. Any way over the last several months the manifold on the drivers side has been leaking and even glowing bright red at times. Had it tightened several times and even had it replaced and same problem still kept happening. Finally about a month or so ago I get the hot oil light, which I have never had. I was doing 70 on the intersate and the vehicle was not being stressed. It then goes into limp mode and I figure its time to go to the shop. Do some research and I read the fix is the auxillary tranny cooler. Order one and have my local shop install it. They get that on no problem but they tell me something is wrong with transmission because they are getting some problem codes back on the scanner. They advise me to take it to a transmission specialist because its out of there league. Okay take it to tranny guy he replaces torque converter solenoid and transmission governor transducer and does transmission flush. No metal in tranny fluid oil looked to be in good condition. Transmission guys tell me it will be good to go but they tell me my catalytic converters are completely clogged and need to be replaced. They also tell me this is the source of my transmission over heating because of how hot they get and the position of them is right above transmission. I say okay, and they replace the catalytic converters and the jeep is running great. I can really tell a difference, it feels like new again. The very next day I'm on the interstate again, cruise set at 70 on flat ground and hot oil light comes back on, its at night so when I get back home and pull under garage I notice a glow under the drivers side fender. Pop the hood and drivers side manifold is bright red hot again. Take it back to transmission guys and they determine drivers side is over fueling for some reason and they replace O2 sensor but that doesnt fix it. They refer me to guy who has a shop behind is house who does special work. Take it to him and he determines a bad wire in the drivers side O2 sensor wiring harness. He gets that replaced and it supposedly fixes the over fueling issue. However he is stell getting a torque converter error code on the scanner. He doesnt seem to think its anything that needs to be addressed and add a tranny lube additive to the tranny fluid. A week later and a week problem free I'm on the interstate once again and get the hot oil light. It seems to only come on in cruise control or when transmission is in overdrive... Is the torque converter the source of my transmission over heating issues? Are the big tires and heavy steel bumpers causing more wear on stock driveline? It's only got 86K on the odometer. Should I re-gear soon? Any suggestions, comments, or if it was me's are welcome? I know the grammar is awful so judge all you want. I just wanna pick your Jeep brains!

karls10jk

What brand manifolds did you go with? O2 sensors?? Cats??? The jeep brand doesn't seem to like Bosch sensors. Manifolds could absolutely get glowing red from a plugged cat.

CruserBruiser

No idea on brands the repair shops used.. The manifold is not really a problem anymore since the cats have been replaced and new O2 sensor/wiring harness replaced on drivers side. The problem is the hot oil light coming on under normal driving conditions.

shabbernigdo

trans may be slipping due to the extra load and improper gearing. That will cause over heating issues. the trans bands finally wore down to the point to where they are slipping excessivly.

BlackRockBurner

3.8 with ?3.73? gears, auto, big tires and overdrive on. Are you constantly going between 3rd and 4th? Reving from 2,000 to 5,000 rpm. That's a sure way to overheat the trans oil. Try turning OD off and rpm around 3,000.

CruserBruiser

Yes 3.8 3:73 gears... I had been running it with the OD off to see if the hot oil light would come on and it finally did after some aggressive driving. Prolly not a smart move but I wanted to see if the OD played any role in causing it to overheat.

(none)

Are you aware of how to tell if your torque converter is actually locking?

The torque converter is that will make the most heat inside your transmission, and that heat is produced when the torque converter is unlocked. Locked tq at a steady speed, the transmission will not produce very much heat. If yours is not locking at all, you will still have the same issue in 3rd gear.

CruserBruiser

No idea.. I really don't know anything about a torque converter.

SoK66

Is this a 3.8L Rubicon? If so you have 4.10 gears, not 3.73. Still a bit high for the 3.8L and 35s but liveable.

You need to nip the "Hot Oil" issue in the bud before the rig catches fire. An aeroforce gauge, etc will tell you what your actual running trans temp is. An auxiliary trans cooler should cure your issue if it has enough capacity, is mounted with little air flow restriction as possible, etc. but first you need to know what your normal driving trans temp is. See if you can source something like a tuner, etc that has a trans temp readout.