the 03 rhd tj is still down

superj

Well-known member
and who knows for how long. after our fun with transmission valve bodies and the worsening of the transmission because of that, i have gotten to the point of replace or send for overhaul the 42rle.

well, it turns out that replacing and overhauling cost very similarly, between 2000-5000 dollars.

we also are considering doing the aw4 swap some people have done that have run into the same trouble with their 42rle. googling about the transmission and troubles other jeep people have had was a surprise. we didn't really have trouble with this transmission till the jeep rolled so i assumed all the trouble came from that but man, there are some threads on other forums that make it seem like this transmission is just a piece of junk. threads called stuff like "how long did your 42rle last till it blew up" and "how many miles did your 42rle last till it broke" are all over google with pages of answers from people who had to overhaul or replace theirs too.

luckily, the couple of threads i found about replacing it with a cherokee automatic trans and t-case document all the parts and what all needs to be done and also there are posts where the people have come back and updated over time that their tj is still rolling along with no more transmission troubles

so, since the junkyards are full of cherokees and aw4 transmission abound, we will probably do that swap. if we get lucky and find an ax15 though, the jeep will become a rhd 5 speed.
 

Are you getting codes, or just hard shifts?

I've been reading up on my 42rle, and have heard that it can sometimes be fixed by a shift solenoid like this:

or a valve body like this:

It sounds like you've already done the valve body though. I've also read that this is supposed to be a poor transmission, so I've been reading up and trying to prepare myself.
 
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