5-45RFE Transmission Problems

Torre · 02-25-2003, 08:20 AM

Hello all. This is my first post and I want to apologize in advance for being one of those people who post a “help” thread without much to offer in return. I’ll admit that I am not a Jeep person by any means. My wife drives a 2001 Grand Cherokee LTD and so I am only associated to Jeeps through my spouse.

That being said, I have a serious problem as stated in the thread title. Her Jeep is a 2001 model with 4.7 V8, 2 WD and I believe has the 5-45RFE Transmission. The car has 52,000 miles on it and most of those are interstate only. The transmission shifts gears fine, however, when put the car into gear (from PARK) or putting it back into PARK, it makes a loud “CLUNK”. There is also a horrendous buzzing sound, which I believe is a solenoid. I have had the transmission looked at by a dealer who gave me the run-around. I then took the car to a transmission specialist who said that the problem was too much pressure in the tranny. He tore it completely down and said that all the internal parts looked fine, but he had to replace the solenoids and something else?? It cost $950 and its still does the same thing. The mechanic says that he has no idea how to fix it. I now have the car at another Jeep dealer.

Sorry for the run-on at the mouth. It’s just that I am very frustrated. I drive Ford trucks and I am used to getting 180,000 miles out of a vehicle without any major problems. My question is, are these transmissions really that big of a piece of crap? I have owned over 20 vehicles and have always known that Chrysler did not know how to build a transmission that would last over 50,000 miles (except for the TorqueFlite 727 in my old Charger

). I assumed they had their problems fixed. They really should commission Ford or GM to building their trannys from now on.

Is it possible that the computer is malfunctioning and that there really is nothing wrong with the actual transmission?

HELP! I am semi-desperate!!

kbohip · 02-25-2003, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Torre
Hello all. This is my first post and I want to apologize in advance for being one of those people who post a “help” thread without much to offer in return. I’ll admit that I am not a Jeep person by any means. My wife drives a 2001 Grand Cherokee LTD and so I am only associated to Jeeps through my spouse.

That being said, I have a serious problem as stated in the thread title. Her Jeep is a 2001 model with 4.7 V8, 2 WD and I believe has the 5-45RFE Transmission. The car has 52,000 miles on it and most of those are interstate only. The transmission shifts gears fine, however, when put the car into gear (from PARK) or putting it back into PARK, it makes a loud “CLUNK”. There is also a horrendous buzzing sound, which I believe is a solenoid. I have had the transmission looked at by a dealer who gave me the run-around. I then took the car to a transmission specialist who said that the problem was too much pressure in the tranny. He tore it completely down and said that all the internal parts looked fine, but he had to replace the solenoids and something else?? It cost $950 and its still does the same thing. The mechanic says that he has no idea how to fix it. I now have the car at another Jeep dealer.

Sorry for the run-on at the mouth. It’s just that I am very frustrated. I drive Ford trucks and I am used to getting 180,000 miles out of a vehicle without any major problems. My question is, are these transmissions really that big of a piece of crap? I have owned over 20 vehicles and have always known that Chrysler did not know how to build a transmission that would last over 50,000 miles (except for the TorqueFlite 727 in my old Charger ). I assumed they had their problems fixed. They really should commission Ford or GM to building their trannys from now on.

Is it possible that the computer is malfunctioning and that there really is nothing wrong with the actual transmission?

HELP! I am semi-desperate!!

First off if you've had a Ford without major problems for 180,000 miles, go buy yourself a lottery ticket

. I actually think the "problem" you're having with the Jeep is normal. I have a 2003 with only 3,000 miles on it and it's done the exact same thing since new. The clunk you're talking about when you go into park is considered "normal" for this transmission. Hard to believe but true.

The "buzzing" sound you're talking about might be normal too. When I go into reverse with mine, it makes a kind of fast clicking sound. I asked the dealer about this one, and he assured me that is a normal sound as well. It sounds like crap to be sure, but for Chrysler...well

.

I'd be leary of the dealer telling me all of this is normal, if not for the fact that my friend also has a 99 GC with the V8 in it that makes all the same noises. Like they say. MOPAR. Moves On Prayers And Rubberbands!

I think Chrysler should just give up on tranny's too, but please don't contract out to Ford or GM for them. That's like getting off the Titanic and onto the Lusitania! Maybe they could kindly ask Nissan or Toyota to build them a good tranny

.

blackbelt · 02-25-2003, 01:37 PM

The solenoid packs buzz on most all DC 4 speed automatics. As to the clunk, i have heard that on a lot of SUV's , including Durango and Explorers.
I had to replace the engine and the TRANSMISSION in a Ford i had before it reached 100K, so don't talk to me about Fords..lol

Torre · 02-25-2003, 02:01 PM

Thank you so much for the replies.
You made me feel a lot better.
FWIW, I had the car at another deeler today and they could not find anything wrong with it either.

I won't go into it about my Fords since this is a Jeep forum.

As mentioned, I have owned many cars. The summary is as follows:

5 Ford (3 trucks and 2 cars)
5 GM (2 Corvettes, 2 '79 Trans Ams, 1 Buick Grand National)
4 Chrysler (1 Truck, '69 Charger, Intrepid, and current Jeep)
7 Import (5 "regular models and 2 high $$$ Jaguars)

Thanks again!!

ChrisinVA · 02-26-2003, 02:32 AM

This is what happens when people buy new Grands and think they are refined cars. These things have ujoints, solid axles, transfer cases...all which will make noises. It's a Jeep thing...sortof.

rollsman · 12-08-2010, 10:50 AM

The buzzing is the solenoid pack. It adjusts to your driving habits, Chrysler bundles all their solenoids in a module, they have cantilever "feet" that play like a picolo. They adjust to your mode of driving, the buzzing means your driving them crazy.
The thunk may be a more serious problem. A few years ago Chrysler was having problems with the park system guide or "Hockey Puck". The retaining snap ring was being left out during assembly, this would allow the guide to move and park to go away. As far as I know, there was no design change to eliminate this problem. If they took it apart and found the snap ring there then it just a noisy engagement due to the tolerance on the ramp or the arm that slides in, most of them have some noise.

gqmdl0617 · 12-08-2010, 11:47 AM

Woah, Holy old thread man.

rollsman · 12-08-2010, 12:03 PM

Better late than never

rollsman · 12-08-2010, 12:06 PM

Fords used to have more problems, storing junk in coolers after failure, noisy solenoids because they ran oil flow thru the solenoids and they collected metal. Hoping the new ones are better.

dlwilson42 · 12-08-2010, 01:38 PM

On my 5-45RFE I get the buzzing/clicking when I shift into drive, and it takes about half a second to engage. When I shift into reverse there is no sound and it engages instangly. I have never figured out why that is.

tsconver · 12-08-2010, 01:56 PM

wow replying to a 7 year old thread, are they even still here?

gdp · 12-08-2010, 01:56 PM

I noticed that if i pause in Neutral for split second when shifting from Reverse to Drive, it shifts perfectly, no clunking.

mrtosh · 12-15-2010, 10:58 PM

I'm getting something very similar in my '04. Sometimes it glides right into gear and sometimes it clunks in. Every once in a great while I hear the solenoids kind if chatter, it goes into gear, then almost feels like it goes in again. I have no codes on the scan tool or any soft codes on the dash. I'm 98% sure its a solenoid. Question is is should I change it or leave it be. I know they revamped something in the '04 545's just don't know what.

timsjeeptranys · 04-12-2011, 04:28 AM

as a transmission technicion i can tell you that reverse in most automatic transmissions is normaly a low level electronic funtion and the pressure in reverse is typicly much higher than foward gears that are more highly monitored by the ECM/ECU.this could be the reason of the quicker reverse engagement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlwilson42

On my 5-45RFE I get the buzzing/clicking when I shift into drive, and it takes about half a second to engage. When I shift into reverse there is no sound and it engages instangly. I have never figured out why that is.

timsjeeptranys · 04-12-2011, 04:38 AM

there are no seleniods in this unit.there is a seleniod pack it is a one peice preasure senor in short.it bolts on to the top of the vavle body.to evaluate this part you must perform a live data stream.this means you must drive the vehicle while a scanner is attached to your on board system while the transmission is in actual operation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrtosh

I'm getting something very similar in my '04. Sometimes it glides right into gear and sometimes it clunks in. Every once in a great while I hear the solenoids kind if chatter, it goes into gear, then almost feels like it goes in again. I have no codes on the scan tool or any soft codes on the dash. I'm 98% sure its a solenoid. Question is is should I change it or leave it be. I know they revamped something in the '04 545's just don't know what.