Thegreatself

I got some water in my transmission and it started getting what I think is torque converter shudder at about 40mph. I took it to the dealership and had the transmission flushed, they said they got out "most" of the water.

This however did not help the shudder, and the dealership quoted over $1200 to change out the torque converter. They didn't say it needed to be done, but I don't think they really even looked at it. They just gave a quote at my request.

I found a brand new TC online for under $200.
What is the difficulty level to change out the converter in a JK?
Will I have to completely remove the transmission?
Is it worth saving $1000 or is it just too much headache?
Basically if I can't do it myself, I won't be able to get it fixed at all.
Any good write ups or other sources of knowledge?

Pape

To the best of my knowledge you will have to remove the transmission to get the torque converter out of the transmission housing or lift the engine. I'm not a expert on automatic transmission at all but for my personal curiosity can you describe torque converter shudder ?

Thegreatself

While trying to maintain a contant speed, usually around 40 mph, the Jeep shakes like the wheels are going to fall off. When I let off the gas, or shift in to N, it stops. At first I thought it was in the steering or suspension, but it only happens while trying to maintain speed. Feels like rumble strips, there was a TSB on the 07s (which I have).
In can't think of what else it would be.

GOOVERIT

Where did the water come from? How many miles?
Did the flush help any? I have never done the converter
but have done clutch and pressure plate.
This is a major job. Not hard to do just time , tools , headache.
You will need to get in a good shop where you can work.
I hope you find it is something more external.

pirate

Yes you can do it yourself. You will have to pull the eng or the t-case and trans. The most amount of work and the hardest one will be one of the two above, but once done the torque converter just pulls off. Taking on the job yourself depends on how mechanical you are. Go and buy yourself a shop manuel it will tell you how to do it and show pictures of the job. Then you can see if it is within your scope of comfort and abilitys. You can also see what a tranny shop will charge to swap out the torque converter for you but it might be around the same as the dealer. When you had the tranny flushed did they drain the converter? If not you can try and do that. (not sure if they have a drain plug on them) Also do you have any more water in the fluid now that you have been driving it?
As well when you have it out driving around get it shuddering try and turn off the overdrive, it almost sounds like its trying to lock up but there is not enough power/ torque to go on through it or its early. You might just have a bad switch for the lock up.
Go and get a shop manuel for the jeep some off them have a trouble shooting guide in it as well, step by step to diagnose what the problem is or how to dertimine what is the problem and how to fix it. Hopfully you figgure it out soon.

Pape

what is surprising me in this is water in the fluid but only the torque converter go bad and not the transmission. Torque converter and transmission share the same oil system right ?

Thegreatself

It's not necessarily the water that caused the problem. there was a TSB on the 07s doing this.

jeepguy553

I have done this job on a CJ7 with a TF727 transmission and a Dana 300 transfer case. Let me tell you that it is most certainly NOT easy. If you don't have access to a transmission jack (or the transmission adapter for a floor jack) it is a bad idea to even attempt this.
With that said, the torque converter and transmission do share the same oiling system. Without going into too much detail, the torque converter drives the main input shaft and the front oil pump in the transmission. If you DO decide to attempt this, I think it might be a good idea to look at changing the seals and guts out of the front pump too.
And no...most torque converters do not have a drain hole. The plug would throw them off balance...unless there was a counterbalance on the other side of the converter.

Spytec128

This happened to me also. My transmission was fine until I took too deep of a water hole. I extended my breathers but not the transmission. I had the shudder problem too. I was lucky enough to still be under warranty and the dealership replaced it. It runs fine now.
I did have a guy at the local transmission shop tell me that I will have problems later down the road with my transmission. He said the clutches inside are held together by water soluble glue. He said eventually they will let go and I will need a new transmission.

EdwardN97

I had same issue , in a trans was water , I did flash out , used 12 gal of trans fluid , trans was shifting good , but at the speed 45 mph, most 5th gear , was vibration and some sound , finally I decided to replace trans , found 1300$ 30K mil trans 1 year warranty and 500$ labor , you have to remove trans to replace conv , in a garage for me it is too much ..