JKCutler3

The whole story. Last Thursday I'm coming to a stop in my 08' w/ 135k and my transmission made a funny, stutter. Instead of downshifting it stayed in 2nd. I drove a 100 ft and my transmission was not engaging, seconds later my electronics go haywire, and my car dies. Tow truck driver puts a jump box on it, transmission still "acting funny" drove it on to the flatbed. Clearly its the alternator. I have it towed to the transmission shop because, hear me out, I wasnt sure if it was also toast. They quoted me on a new transmission because they felt the same thing, with a jump box. I pleaded with them to change the alternator because the transmission needs 12 volts. So they do, I drive it home. Feels ok, I've babied it but I feel like it might be shifting a little harder.

I start paying more attention and I realize the idle is changing every 10 seconds. It sounds like the fan might be kicking on and off. When I change gears from R to D it almost stalls out. I have not checked the battery to see if its still good. I assumed the shop would, but I'm going to double check. I've read that it could be a vacuum leak or fouled spark plug. I couldn't find much in this forum on vacuum leaks so here I am.

I've never had any issues with this car. I've had it 50k and its been great. I keep up the maintenance and just changed the transmission fluid 8k miles ago. I also, found my second clicker and realized that it has automatic start. It doesn't work well, sometimes the car would try to start over and over again, but when I got it it would start fine. I stopped using it but was wondering if this could have killed my alternator also. I get paranoid when other people work on my car so I'm extra cautious whats going on with the idle.

I appreciate your experience and knowledge fellas and ladies.