How long did your 42RLE automatic transmission last before it blew up?

How long did your 42RLE automatic transmission last before it blew up?

  • 0-49,999 miles

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 50,000-99,999 miles

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • 100,000-149,999 miles

    Votes: 4 25.0%
  • 150,000-199,999 miles

    Votes: 6 37.5%
  • 200,000-249,999 miles

    Votes: 2 12.5%
  • 250,000-299,000 miles

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • 300,000 or more miles

    Votes: 2 12.5%

  • Total voters
    16

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lfhoward

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This poll is to find out how long a 42RLE automatic transmission typically lasts. This is the most common Liberty transmission, a 4 speed automatic, and is usually mated to the 3.7L V6.

Only vote in the poll if your 42RLE blew up and it needed to be rebuilt or replaced. Otherwise the results of the poll will be skewed. If you had this transmission fail in another vehicle (Charger, Ram, Nitro, etc.), that still counts and please do vote.

Anyone please feel free to comment below, even if your transmission hasn’t needed replacing yet.

My 42RLE transmission is still original at 190,000 miles but starting to have the shudders. Wondering how long it might go for until it is completely done. Thanks in advance!
 
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klc

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Carfax says “Internal transmission repaired” in October 2017 at 148,349 miles for mine. I did not vote because I didn’t own the car at that time.
 

lfhoward

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Carfax says “Internal transmission repaired” in October 2017 at 148,349 miles for mine. I did not vote because I didn’t own the car at that time.
Go ahead and vote— that’s good data
 
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lfhoward

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You’re good. :) What I meant was, if people like me— whose transmissions haven’t yet given up the ghost— vote in the poll, that would skew things.
 
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Runion

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My 42RLE transmission is still original at 190,000 miles but starting to have the shudders. Wondering how long it might go for until it is completely done. Thanks in advance!
---- If your transmission is giving you any warnings at all, you need to heed it's plight.
I had a (check engine) light and we kept checking the codes. Kept reading transmission. The light cleared and it did not slip. To me it was acting normally.
The light began to remain on and I was getting ready to take it in but I tried to get one last trip in it when the transmission just stopped moving the car. It just stopped with a little vibration then nothing.
I did'nt want a high mileage transmission from the men's mall because I tow so I had a shop do it.
Yes I know, SUPER Expensive. And if you don't know what I mean, then you are a lucky one. I will put it this way.
A couple years ago my 86 Chevy K10 4wd "sheared" the fly wheel. (the area where the motor bolted onto the flywheel cracked in a circle and it sheared off of the main flywheel disk. In the end, the motor could spin and the Trans had no motion from it).
Was called in to look at the mess then found that the ears had broken off of the transmission casing. It is not repairable, cannot be welded. And the flex from supporting the transmission on the flywheel most likely caused the cracking and initial failure of the disk.
Add to this it was a rare transmission case, only a few hundred of this transmission were built. Hmmmm.
Anyway what it cost to fix the K10 Transmission, the KJ WAS TIMES 2. The cost is the sign of the times, economy and parts supply. 21 was a bad year in a lot of ways.

They said the KJ clutches were gone, the plates pretty much destroyed. Seems like a lot of damage for a very intermittant engine light, but there you go.
It took forever to get it back, they were busy, may be a view of the modern day transmissions reliability and after a month I finally got the ole girl back.
What a difference!!
Ok so background, I bought the KJ used so the transmission may have already been beat up but knowing it was a 4wd vehicle, I just got used to how it ran when I purchased it, thinking all this was normal. BUT with the transmission REBUILT, it is as smooth as any car I have owned in the past.
One report I read was about how the KJ transmission sometimes bumps when changing gears in the low range, and mine did that. I took it for normal because of the report, but fully rebuilt, THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN.
The only thing different about my KJ now is the growl of the engine, and I was able to soften that with slickery engine break in additives.
I am in full agreement about the KJ.
Blue Book she has no value but shes really a fun and great car to drive.
It has one of the best 4wd I have ever had. Getting the Transmission back in like new shape is just icing on the cake.
I'm at about 138k miles now and the doors have the rust, I plan on trying something way off the norm to try to repair this rust on the doors this summer.
As long as this unibody creation can remain strong, sturdy and not come apart, I will be driving it.
 
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lfhoward

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This is all great data, people! Both the numbers in the survey and the wisdom that comes from the stories.

Keep it coming! :cool:
 

Johnny O

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This poll is to find out how long a 42RLE automatic transmission typically lasts. This is the most common Liberty transmission, a 4 speed automatic, and is usually mated to the 3.7L V6.

Only vote in the poll if your 42RLE blew up and it needed to be rebuilt or replaced. Otherwise the results of the poll will be skewed. If you had this transmission fail in another vehicle (Charger, Ram, Nitro, etc.), that still counts and please do vote.

Anyone please feel free to comment below, even if your transmission hasn’t needed replacing yet.

My 42RLE transmission is still original at 190,000 miles but starting to have the shudders. Wondering how long it might go for until it is completely done. Thanks in advance!
Science! I approve! I’m not helping with the statistics though. R and I don’t get along. ;)
 

tommudd

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I can't vote since all of mine are still going strong
04 233,000
03 178,000 or maybe more by now
05 over 135000
so I am no help at all
and none have HD cooling and have pulled trailers ( especially the 04 ) for 1000s of miles
 

Johnny O

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What kind of sample size do we need before we could see significant differences? :p
Well, as the lab manager ( generally the voice of reason) I’m forced to quote/paraphrase :

If you need to do statistics, you should have had a larger sample size.
AND
Good science doesn’t produce answers, just better questions.
AND
Cs get degrees- now get the $@“&( out of my office since you were to lazy to show up for lecture.

And now we know why I don’t teach….:p
 

lfhoward

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4 votes so far and 75% failed between 100-150K. Interesting, but definitely not p < 0.05 at this point. But I am feeling better about my 190K transmission already.
 

Johnny O

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4 votes so far and 75% failed between 100-150K. Interesting, but definitely not p < 0.05 at this point. But I am feeling better about my 190K transmission already.
Heck, my 176k is the only thing I’m not worried about.

Bigger sample size! Bigger sample size!

Perhaps I should help out by doing a deep dive for historical reports to help out. The docs tell me I got a knack for such things.
 
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lfhoward

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I wish there was a way to do a data dump like that into the poll. Looks like one vote per person is the way it is designed.

I’m sure many transmission failures caused their owners to sell rather than repair, so those folks would not be on here anymore. I like your idea.
 

Johnny O

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I wish there was a way to do a data dump like that into the poll. Looks like one vote per person is the way it is designed.

I’m sure many transmission failures caused their owners to sell rather than repair, so those folks would not be on here anymore. I like your idea.
Truth. I should have some time this weekend. I’ll web archive/wayback machine various forms of 42RLE+smoked/trashed/out/bad etc. etc. from around the web. Cross that with the same of for parts/transmission bad etc. on Craigslist and et viola! Expanded sample set…or at least a bunch of bee ess that looks like data…LOL

Hooray for fudging the numbers to get a result! Lol
 

davepowers

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I voted. Putting about 10k mi/yr and owned since new, around 190,000mi now. I haven't done anything to the transmission until last year when I removed the cover and changed the filter and fluid. The fluid was darker but not horrible and a little sludge on magnet. There might have been another transmission fluid flush earlier in its life, hard to remember but I don't believe so. It runs well but is having some rare problems and throwing a P0123 code where it claims a throttle/pedal position issue but it also will down shift at random times, now that I think about it, they don't seem related and are most likely transmission AND throttle issue.
 

lfhoward

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8 votes so far. 37.5% lasted 100,000-149,999 miles and 50% lasted 150,000-200,000 miles. None blew up at over 200k miles yet, but looks like we are just scratching the surface. I would love to get 20+ responses, so if you owned any vehicle with the 42RLE and it died, let us know! :) These things were not just in Liberties. They were in Cherokees, Grand Cherokees, Wranglers, Nitros, Chargers, Dakotas, Rams, Durangos. They were behind 4.0’s, 3.7’s, 3.8’s, and more.

Personally my transmission is at 191k and still alive! (So far). I have an 80k mile replacement waiting in the wings for when it goes belly up. I’ll add my vote when I get there. Maybe I’ll be the first 200k+ in the poll?

Thanks to the folks who have voted and chimed in with their knowledge!
 
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I can't vote since mine hasn't blown up. But it's at 279,000 miles so far - mostly highway but definitely some Forest Service road miles as well. So for what it's worth it has lasted at least that long!
I have had one code 700 so far, "transmission over temp". Took it to a transmission shop and they couldn't find a thing wrong and cleared the code. The code has not returned in 6 months of daily driving. Fingers crossed....
 

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