I have a 2000 TJ wagon, and have owned it for ~5 years.

In the last couple of weeks, occasionally when cornering, the auto gearbox feels like it drops into neutral, then drops back into gear when some throttle is applied.

The car only appears to do this on the first couple of corners when I'm driving it home in the afternoon - it has never done it in the morning, when driving to work.

The sequence of events is:
-drive down straight bit of road
-approach corner, back off throttle, brake
-navigate corner, apply small amount of throttle
-engine revs
-gearbox suddenly decides to drop back into gear
-sudden lurch and possible chirp as gearbox engages

It's very annoying!

Any ideas what might be happening?

Cheers,
Martin.

Is it only when cornering?
Besides the cornering symptoms it sounds like transmission fluid needs a changeover.

... the auto gearbox feels like it drops into neutral, then drops back into gear when some throttle is applied.
Done over 100,000km?

Mine started doing the same thing too recently, after going for a
quick mountain fang and using a lot of engine braking thru the corners.

Top engine mount busted (leaked oil), bottom rear sagged and nearly all gone too.
Replaced both last weekend and its all back to normal now.

yeah the autobox was also getting a bit 'confused' with the shifting engine klunks
but its now re-learning & getting better since doing about 3-400km since fixed.

Yeah i would start with a fluid flush an see what happens then...:)

oil level
pedal switch needs adjusting
TPS
check engine mounts or usually a broken gearbox mount
and or gear shift cable needs adjusting or there is a bush worn
I can't quite understand how a broken mount could cause these symptoms...
The top engine mount is broken, and I'm planning to fix it in the next couple of weeks.
I don't believe any of the other mounts are broken, but I'll crawl underneath and take a look.


Is it only when cornering?
Yup - only when cornering, and only very occasionally.


Besides the cornering symptoms it sounds like transmission fluid needs a changeover.
I had the ATF flushed and replaced just last week.

Cheers,
Martin.

Sounds like it is flaring between gear changes usually up gears. Check tranny oil.

The way to do that is make sure car is on a flat surface, run car up to normal temp, run it from P down to D and then back to N slowely. Pull out tranny dip stick, wipe it clean and then quickly dip it back in and pull it out straight away. Dont leave it in there because oil will splash up the dip stick.
Was how i was told to check it by a transmission specialist. Manual doesnt explain how to do it to well.

Check it and see how it is.

If all looks ok, try the good old battery disconnect. Flaring is usually because tranny computer isnt quite sure what to do. Reset it and give that a go as well.

Mine was doing a pretty much identical thing on corners ( 99 Wagon ). I had just flushed the trans and was down 400ml or so in fluid. Topped her up and has not done it again is the past few weeks ( touch wood )

Cheers
Jyp

Take it to a good auto trans specialist and get a decent service.

The ATF level was definitely low.

I took it back to the mechanic this morning (why should I have to go buy some ATF, when I paid them to flush it last week...), and they had to put another 1.5L of ATF in before the level was correct on the dipstick.

Cheers,
Martin.