[zcurry05]

Hi everyone,

I am wondering if anyone here has installed the Transgo shift improvement kit and/or the Sonnax line pressure booster in their newer Grand Cherokee? I have a 2011 overland hemi that has the 545rfe, the same trans that was in my 09 4.7 Grand Cherokee. I installed both the Transgo shift kit and the Sonnax line pressure booster in the 09 and was very pleased with the performance gains they had to offer, I later got the superchips tuner with the trans app and it was even better.

I am wondering if anyone has done the same mods to the WK2 platform and if so, how it turned out?

Zach

 

[spidertri]

How hard was the transgo kit to install? I need to do a trans flush and filter change, might be a good time to try the kit as well.

Ultimately, I want to get a tuner that remaps the transmission too, I've read only good things about that.

 

[zcurry05]

How hard was the transgo kit to install? I need to do a trans flush and filter change, might be a good time to try the kit as well.

Ultimately, I want to get a tuner that remaps the transmission too, I've read only good things about that.

In my 2009, it was pretty simple. There are a couple of good YouTube videos that show how to do it. Also, I would recommend replacing the oil pan with one that had a drain plug in it. You can get one from Rock Auto for less than $50.

But I have not attempted it on the WK2 yet and am hoping someone has and would share their experience.

 

[spidertri]

I installed the transgo kit over the weekend. I think it made a nice difference in shifting, the shifts are certainly faster and I think it's worth it if you pull the pan to change the fluid. I read that the sonnax part shouldn't be used on newer 545rfe/65rfe transmissions. At some point in the future I'm going to get the hemifever tuner and it's associated trans programming.

Some things to watch out for:

1. The oil pan does not come straight off. It will need to be maneuvered around the forward and rear cross members. The corner of my oil pan actually hit the passenger forward tab that holds the transmission shield on. I ended up filing down the tab just enough to easily get the pan on and off. That way when I put RTV on the pan to reinstall I didn't get it everywhere.

2. I let it drain overnight and got close to 10qts out of the system.

3. Dorman 265-817 pan with drain plug did not fit. The pan is the correct shape but the manufacturing tolerances were not as tight as the OE pan. This caused an issue where the radii of the dorman pan were too large and actually hit the spin-on filter. There was no way to tighten the pan without impacting that filter.

I think this is because the 4799662AC mopar filters are a bit taller than the AB revision. The revised part has an anti-drain back valve installed so it is definitely worth using the newest style filter.

4. The solenoid connector is packaged tight up next to the driveshaft. It was tough to get that unlatched as there is only space for one hand. It's good to use a mirror to see how the latch works but basically there is a gray lever that needs to be pulled down and in doing so will push the connector off of the tangs on the plug. The gray connector is held in place by a black retainer. The black retainer must be lifted up slightly and pushed back to unhook it from the gray lever. I was able to use a quarter and position it in a way to lift up the black retained and push down on the gray handle at the same time.

 

[zcurry05]

Lots of good information here, thank you! I will be installing the kit this spring when it warms up a bit.

 

[Tyler-98-W68]

HP Tuners allows TCM tuning and can increase the line pressures as well, yes slightly more expensive but many more options for tuning and code reading as well