Everything you ever wanted to know about the AW4

[XJI6191]

So will this work the other way round? I ask because I was all set to put the trans. from my '96 parts car into my '99 when I happened on this thread, which, as far as I was concerned, meant it wasn't possible.

 

[Unclewolverine]

So will this work the other way round? I ask because I was all set to put the trans. from my '96 parts car into my '99 when I happened on this thread, which, as far as I was concerned, meant it wasn't possible.

Absolutely not. The 96 transmission is missing the input sensor that the 99 needs. There is no provision to add one either, sorry.

 

[lawsoncl]

Absolutely not. The 96 transmission is missing the input sensor that the 99 needs. There is no provision to add one either, sorry.

Well there was a guy who drilled and tapped the hole, and added the sensor.

Rumor has it that a 1997 trans computer will work, since it's before 1998 when the speed sensors changed, and can talk to the 1998+ obd2 engine computer. Never seen or confirmed it myself.

 

[Unclewolverine]

He's in England where their inspection is ridiculous, it will fail for a non functional power seat control. I believe all the computers have to match to pass, right?

 

[XJI6191]

Absolutely not. The 96 transmission is missing the input sensor that the 99 needs. There is no provision to add one either, sorry.

That's what I was afraid of but I'm grateful for a straight answer. Still puzzled though, as it all appears to be down to a sensor I've not even found: both vehicles are in a similar state of disassembly (so far as removing the trans is concerned) & I can't recall any differences in what had to be disconnected.

Anyway, things have changed since the '99 failed & it's probably now worth having the trans. repaired/rebuilt, whereas 4 years ago, it was easier to buy another XJ for not a lot more money.

As for inspection, yes it has got further and further away form the original basic safety checks but compared with, say, CA, it's still fairly straightforward; I mean my '98's passed every year with no cat which I put down to (a) the tester not realising it should have one, (b) emissions are really low, (c) doesn't trigger CEL. Don't know about seats, as only check is integrity/security the only reason the tester would have to move the driver's would be if he was such a different size to me he couldn't drive it otherwise. Not sure what you meant about computers but any warning light is an automatic fail - even if there is no fault with the system it monitors.

 

[kastein]

Well there was a guy who drilled and tapped the hole, and added the sensor.

Rumor has it that a 1997 trans computer will work, since it's before 1998 when the speed sensors changed, and can talk to the 1998+ obd2 engine computer. Never seen or confirmed it myself.

Every single person I have heard reports back from on this indicates that either it might work or it kind of works, or it sometimes works but sometimes won't work. I don't recommend it at this point unless you're a masochist and like creating problems just so you can figure out and fix them.

If I ever late model swap my Comanche, I am going to probably use a 98-01 engine/trans/ECU donor (since there are 4x as many of those on the road as there are 97s, it's just statistically likely I'll end up with that) and try it with a 97 TCU I have on the shelf and your converter circuit to make the 98+ trans look like a 97 for testing purposes. Worst case if I can't figure it out or verify it works nicely, I'll just take the converter out and put the donors 98-01 TCU in, no harm, no foul. I don't mind swapping wiring around for science, I just don't want to swap transmissions for no reason, and prefer to do them at the same time as the engine.

 

[notownxj]

Ok well any and all help would be greatly appreciated and whoever can help me figure it out I’ll give y’all a killer deal on a welder if needed.

So this is where I’m at I have a 98 ZJ 4.0 that I previously swapped in an AW4 about 3-4 years ago and up until recently everything worked great. I did the switch mods for 1-2 lockup as well as the tc lockup with the swap when I did it. Well last week at about 60mph my teralow 231 did it’s teralow thing and locked up on me. It was not a fun feeling to day the least and I’m the process it snapped the transmission output shaft completely off

Fast forward to yesterday after getting another AW4 and a 231 from a buddy and everything installed in my ZJ I realized that the new AW4 was from a 98-01 XJ I was running on from a 94 prior to the teralow mishap and I refuse to pull another transmission if I don’t have to. Jeep run and transmission shifts fine but it acts like the cps is bad or something cause it randomly wants to die and idle is all over the place.

What are my options for the simplest and cheapest fix to make it work and I am totally ok with never using tcm and running in full manual mode

 

[lawsoncl]

So you've discovered the output speed sensor runs 4x as fast as the pre-98, and it upshifts way too fast? You might have to do a little wiring work if the connectors are different. As I recall the solenoid wire colors were almost the same, and you need to swap the NSS to the older one. Ignore the front speed sensor as the pre-98 PCM doesn't use it. Earlier in this thread, there is info on swapping parts from the donor trans to get the 1 pulse per rev output on the speed sensor.

Did the CPS or wiring get damaged during the trans swap, by perhaps not removing it and it got whacked? Is the bellhousing fully bolted up, and nothing pinched? Original flexplate, as the aftermarket ones seem to have poor geometry and cause similar problems.

 

[notownxj]

So you've discovered the output speed sensor runs 4x as fast as the pre-98, and it upshifts way too fast? You might have to do a little wiring work if the connectors are different. As I recall the solenoid wire colors were almost the same, and you need to swap the NSS to the older one. Ignore the front speed sensor as the pre-98 PCM doesn't use it. Earlier in this thread, there is info on swapping parts from the donor trans to get the 1 pulse per rev output on the speed sensor.

Did the CPS or wiring get damaged during the trans swap, by perhaps not removing it and it got whacked? Is the bellhousing fully bolted up, and nothing pinched? Original flexplate, as the aftermarket ones seem to have poor geometry and cause similar problems.

CPS is new and I did swap the nss from the bad transmission I pulled out n I did have to swap out the connector on the speed sensor harness side but every wire color matched and figured everything would be cool but nope not my luck. The flexplate is an oem flexplate and worked fine up till the teralow went and did teralow things

 

[RCP Phx]

Sorry to hear about your Teralow, I'm just over 20yrs on mine!

 

[notownxj]

Sorry to hear about your Teralow, I'm just over 20yrs on mine!

Ya lm more bummed about losing my 4:1 and the 2 low than I am that my ZJ don’t run at the moment definitely gonna take some getting used to not havin it

 

[Runningbear4x4]

can I use the 98-99 transmission with using the 1997 tail housing and transfer case off my original transmission and put it on the 98-99 transmission without any issues and will it work properly and also work with existing stock 97 tcu ??
(Aside a harness rewire) thank you. Sincerely, RunningBear

 

[Runningbear4x4]

My jeep cherokee sport is a 1997. Oops

 

[Unclewolverine]

If you change out the sensor wheel on the output shaft, yes.

 

[lawsoncl]

If you change out the sensor wheel on the output shaft, yes.

And use the 97 sensor.

 

[2andahalftruck]

Hello everyone! What a great topic!
I'm having a very specific question and hoping someone could chime in.

I have 1998 XJ that's 2wd and 2000 XJ that I am planning to use to do conversion.

From what I read so far, everything should be straight up and bolt on but I can't find any information about a dash light indicator when 4x4 is engaged.

Besides one topic where someone is saying it's not working and basically giving up on it, that's about it.

Someone mentioned that the indicator is part of the engine harness and the only way go get that light is to swap whole harness. Problem in my case is that my 98 has a distributor and 2000 coil pack and I really don't want to mess with that and prefer to keep distributor.

I would be very grateful if there is someone who could shed some light on this and potentially know how to get that part time dash light working when 4x4 is engaged.

Thank you!

 

[XJ-Mayhem]

Can someone confirm the set depth for the torque converter? This manual I found states 0.650” and I’m 1/4” off from that… but I’ve tried for probably an hour and can’t get it seated any further.

 

[lawsoncl]

Picture shows you're deeper than the 0.65", which is fine. I think mine was just over 0.75". The reason for the measurement is to verify the t/c is fully seated onto both sets of spline, otherwise you can damage the pump when you bolt up the bell housing. You'll typically need to pull the t/c forward again about 1/8-1/4" to bolt it up to the flex plate.

 

[XJ-Mayhem]

Jeez, I was so focused on how frustrating it was trying to get one more clunk that I didn't stop to realize I was figuring the measurement wrong. I think there's a word for that...

Right, the damage is what I was worried about. I was concerned I wasn't getting it seated fully because it has some wobble to the converter still and I'm only able to notice two distinct clunks. I guess it's fine then as long as there's the gap like you mentioned, I'll be pulling it back out a little bit anyways

Now that I’m reading the numbers correctly, it seems possible I’ll need shims to maintain the maximum air gap between flex plate and not exceed it. I haven’t measured yet, still need to pull the existing trans out of the Jeep before I can swing this one in.

We’re shims standard from factory?

 

[lawsoncl]

Now that I’m reading the numbers correctly, it seems possible I’ll need shims to maintain the maximum air gap between flex plate and not exceed it. I haven’t measured yet, still need to pull the existing trans out of the Jeep before I can swing this one in.

We’re shims standard from factory?

No you're fine, just bolt it back up. You don't need shims or anything.