SirFishouse
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- South Texas
Greetings all,
This is my first post on

I am a very proud owner of a '98 Cherokee Classic 2WD with over 200,000 miles. I've been a reader of your forums for some time now, but it has always been for all my pipe dreams like 4 wheel disc break conversions or that monster lift guide. Today though, I'm posting to see if the community can shed some light on my transmission sensor problem.
Well, I've had assorted transmission problems for some time now. I can trace the root of my problems to when i sank my XJ to its cup holders back in 2004. Since then, I've replaced sensors and solenoids on the trany and I've had fairly reliable performance out of the vehicle in between shop visits. I have a new issue that has been a pain in the neck to fix.
***MY ISSUE***:skull2:
-It started out as a minor annoyance where, when i would step on the gas, the vehicle would have some hesitation. It was almost as if it wasn't registering me stepping on the gas at all. The fix was easy enough though, I would pump the gas lightly when it would goof, and all would be well. This inconvenience has, in the past 5 months, become a safety issue. It is a daily occurrence now and can get quite severe in city driving situations.
It is almost like the engine and the transmission are having difficulty working together. It feels like the engine wants to rev, but the transmission wont let it.
***THE TRANSMISSION GUY***
-So i have a transmission guy that I've been going to for a couple of years. He replaced the solenoids on the transmission before and did the work at a fair price, and HE SPEAKS ENGLISH! :roll:
He ran a diagnostic on my transmission and pulled up that it needs an input sensor on the transmission replaced. He says his parts dealer sells them for $300 bucks!!! I go to auto zone and they sell them for like $115. He installs the part and guess what..? I still have the same issue. My transmission still has the same error code. He tells me that I bought the output sensor instead of the input. I go back and try again.
I go to auto zone again and they say that there is no such thing as an input sensor... They direct me to a local transmission shop for more assistance. I go the the local guy and he says the same thing. "no such thing as an input sensor," he even shows me a Chrysler transmission with only one sensor on it.
(Back story -My transmission guy had to leave for the weekend so his dad 'the old man' is running the shop)
I call up my transmission guy and tell the old man that no one has ever heard of an input sensor for that transmission. I guess he gets offended that I'm asking questions at another transmission shop and he tells me that if I want, I can pick up my jeep and take it there. I cool the old man down and say I'm not interested in that option. I ask when his son will be back. He says 3 weeks :bawl:
***THE SEARCH***
One of the last things the old man told me was to go to the dealership and they will have the part. In my mind, if this part is really $300, I'll just buy a couple used ones out of the junk yard and put them in myself if i can.
I go to the dealership, same thing; they tell me that they have nothing in their computer that says input sensor, but they have plenty of solenoids :-\ He gives me a print out... I begin my online research.
Online I find that my transmission is a AW-4 and that later versions of the AW-4 do in fact have an input speed sensor
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showpost.php?p=244762372&postcount=2
My searches for the part number have come up empty handed though.
I ran into this post where someone describes an issues that is very similar to mine. http://autorepair.about.com/library/a/1g/bl070g.htm
They were told that the issue was a TPS or throttle positioning sensor.
***THE QUESTION***
The locations for the TPS is suppose to be on the bell housing and the location of the input speed sensor is described as being on the left front portion of the transmission. Are these in fact the same sensor?!?! Have I been on this wild goose chase for 3 weeks now because I was told the sensor was by a different name?
Please, if anyone can help me figure out what I need to be looking for, I'd appreciate it. :dunno:
Thanks for reading!
-Fishouse
This is my first post on


I am a very proud owner of a '98 Cherokee Classic 2WD with over 200,000 miles. I've been a reader of your forums for some time now, but it has always been for all my pipe dreams like 4 wheel disc break conversions or that monster lift guide. Today though, I'm posting to see if the community can shed some light on my transmission sensor problem.
Well, I've had assorted transmission problems for some time now. I can trace the root of my problems to when i sank my XJ to its cup holders back in 2004. Since then, I've replaced sensors and solenoids on the trany and I've had fairly reliable performance out of the vehicle in between shop visits. I have a new issue that has been a pain in the neck to fix.
***MY ISSUE***:skull2:
-It started out as a minor annoyance where, when i would step on the gas, the vehicle would have some hesitation. It was almost as if it wasn't registering me stepping on the gas at all. The fix was easy enough though, I would pump the gas lightly when it would goof, and all would be well. This inconvenience has, in the past 5 months, become a safety issue. It is a daily occurrence now and can get quite severe in city driving situations.
It is almost like the engine and the transmission are having difficulty working together. It feels like the engine wants to rev, but the transmission wont let it.
***THE TRANSMISSION GUY***
-So i have a transmission guy that I've been going to for a couple of years. He replaced the solenoids on the transmission before and did the work at a fair price, and HE SPEAKS ENGLISH! :roll:
He ran a diagnostic on my transmission and pulled up that it needs an input sensor on the transmission replaced. He says his parts dealer sells them for $300 bucks!!! I go to auto zone and they sell them for like $115. He installs the part and guess what..? I still have the same issue. My transmission still has the same error code. He tells me that I bought the output sensor instead of the input. I go back and try again.
I go to auto zone again and they say that there is no such thing as an input sensor... They direct me to a local transmission shop for more assistance. I go the the local guy and he says the same thing. "no such thing as an input sensor," he even shows me a Chrysler transmission with only one sensor on it.
(Back story -My transmission guy had to leave for the weekend so his dad 'the old man' is running the shop)
I call up my transmission guy and tell the old man that no one has ever heard of an input sensor for that transmission. I guess he gets offended that I'm asking questions at another transmission shop and he tells me that if I want, I can pick up my jeep and take it there. I cool the old man down and say I'm not interested in that option. I ask when his son will be back. He says 3 weeks :bawl:
***THE SEARCH***
One of the last things the old man told me was to go to the dealership and they will have the part. In my mind, if this part is really $300, I'll just buy a couple used ones out of the junk yard and put them in myself if i can.
I go to the dealership, same thing; they tell me that they have nothing in their computer that says input sensor, but they have plenty of solenoids :-\ He gives me a print out... I begin my online research.
Online I find that my transmission is a AW-4 and that later versions of the AW-4 do in fact have an input speed sensor
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showpost.php?p=244762372&postcount=2
My searches for the part number have come up empty handed though.
I ran into this post where someone describes an issues that is very similar to mine. http://autorepair.about.com/library/a/1g/bl070g.htm
They were told that the issue was a TPS or throttle positioning sensor.
***THE QUESTION***
The locations for the TPS is suppose to be on the bell housing and the location of the input speed sensor is described as being on the left front portion of the transmission. Are these in fact the same sensor?!?! Have I been on this wild goose chase for 3 weeks now because I was told the sensor was by a different name?
Please, if anyone can help me figure out what I need to be looking for, I'd appreciate it. :dunno:
Thanks for reading!
-Fishouse