I need some help troubleshooting my trans problem. I have a '94 Jeep Renegade with the auto trans (unfortunately, otherwise I wouldn't be having this problem). Since it has started to get really cold (coincidental, I think) I have noticed a whine/whirring noise when I first start it. It went away after it warmed up a few minutes, so I assumed it was the power steering pump.
Last week, I started the Jeep and it still made the whine/whirring noise, but much worse this time. I put it in gear and as I took off, the noise got much worse and it was more apparent it was coming from the tranny. It wasn't unusally cold, but I thought "Hmmm" and just ignored it.
I drove about 2 miles when it started slipping. Not like bad clutches, but like it was in neutral. The engine just revved. As it slowed down, it engaged again and I accelerated. It would only get to about 20mph and it would slip again. I played with all of the gears and it didn't make a difference. I pulled over and evenetually it kicked back in gear. So, I drove off and it did the same thing. I limped it half-way home like this, pulling off and going, and then I couldn't get it to do much of anything. The first thing I thought of was fluid level. That's basically what it acted like, low fluid. Because, it would go in gear, then slip out. Fluid level was fine. It has to be something common like the pump or torque converter.
I pulled the trans out and as far as I can tell, everything looks fine. I have rebuilt auto trannys before, so working on it isn't a problem. But, I am no expert at troubleshooting them. I opened the pump and it "looks" fine. The side clearance (between the ring gear and a tooth of the inner gear) is about 5-6mils. I'm not sure what it's suppose to be. The TC appears to be fine. That's a difficult one without putting it on a machine, but it doesn't rattle like the bearings are fried. The fluid looked fine, not burned or discolored. There was quite a bit of sludge in the pan, but nothing unusual, especially for 92K miles.
I should also mention, I had it towed home. This weekend, I needed to get it in my shop to work on it. To get in my shop, I had to drive through about a foot of snow and up a slight incline. I started the Jeep and let it run a minute or two. I put in gear and it made the same noise, but it went. I drove it through the snow and in my shop with no problem. So, it has something to do with warming up. I didn't want to chance driving it just to see, but I'm pretty sure it would have done the same thing after a few miles.
I know there are probably a have dozen other symptoms that could cause this same problem. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks.