44RE Band Adjustment

[Lapithes]

Has anyone here done a front and/or read band adjustment on a 44RE? I have a '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I'm going to drop the pan on, and after 150k, I think it would be a good time to adjust the band(s). The information I've gathered says to loosen the lock nut, then tighten the adjustment screw to 72 in. lbs., followed by backing the screw off by a certain amount of turns. The amount of turns to back the screw off is what I am curious about, as different values exist according to different sources.

People have said the front band adjustment screw on this transmission is difficult to get to. What's the trick to get to it?

 

[1 FMF]

i did the adjustment on a 42re in a 2003 jeep with the inline 6. the rear band is easy to access and you need to drop the pan and filter. the front is external and up on the side of the trans so to get your hand up there with a socket and wrench can be a pain. there's a jam nut that gets tightened down to prevent the adjuster from spinning. i don't think the value of turns to back off the adjuster is critical, it's a fine pitch thread and as long as your within a turn of what it should be you ought to be fine, so if the # of turns from reliable sources is different i would just use the average. and if you can when you first go to adjust it, count the # of turns it takes for the adjuster to turn inward and that'll give you an idea of how much out of whack it was.

 

[VNTS]

I would leave it alone.

I had a discussion with a trans builder, Tacttransman on one of the Dakota sites
he explained that there is perhaps 30 thousands friction material on the band, you can adjust all you want, but it is pretty much set from the factory. If it is shifting fine, leave it alone.

On the other hand he has scene more people screw them up trying to adjust them, basically he told me that once they are set at the factory there is no adjustment, once you wear off the the friction material it is toast.

 

[Lapithes]

That's the dilemma; I've read both sides. One person on a forum broke a socket trying to turn the adjustment screw. Here's the text -- it gave me a good laugh:

"went to adjust my rear band (one inside the pan) and realized something was wrong when it got really tight! i thought it was odd but my torque wrench wwasnt clicking at all so i kept going. finally i snapped a 1/4" socket and then i knew something was wrong. i freaked out and unscrewed it really fast because iv heard if you over tighten the bands it can mess with the transmission real bad."

Another adjusted the rear band, then wrote in: "What does the band adjustment do? It's shifting so hard now." Others have had more success with the band adjustment. I guess the only way to find out is to go ahead and see what happens.

Originally Posted By: 1 FMF
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Thanks for the info. I'll post the results if I decide to adjust it.

 

[VNTS]

Here is a good old thread on this

http://www.allpar.com/forums/topic/101882-transmission-maintenance-question-re-adjusting-bands/