Joshua_A Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 OK so I haven't seen many topics discussing aw4 problems or at least not the problems I am having. Essentially what happened was the transmission ran low on fluid and on the run to O'reillys I tried to accelerate on the highway and the transmission started slipping badly. It essentially felt like I was barely in gear and maxed at 45 mph. I managed to limp it to the store and top it off but it continued to slip and would only move if i put it in 1st gear on the tree,essentially 3 and D don't do anything/feels like it is in neutral. I have tried stop slip but it didn't seem to do anything. I have tried finding a solution myself but it seems like a million different reasons why it could be acting up. Since i'm a mildly broke highschooler i'd prefer not pulling the tranny only to find out that it was fine. Any help would be greatly appreciated and I will try to answer as many questions as I can. The transmission is a (as far as I can tell) factory aw4 from 1987. The truck has 135,000 miles on her. It is 4wd with the factory transfer case from 1987. I have NO service record so i don't know the history of it very well. I will try to get some pictures uploaded tomorrow when I have better light. As I said any help would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 drop the pan replace filter and fluid. check for blocked passages as well. may just be bad torque converter. other wise swap it for a ax15 and have more control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua_A Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 2 minutes ago, MiNi Beast said: drop the pan replace filter and fluid. check for blocked passages as well. may just be bad torque converter. other wise swap it for a ax15 and have more control. While i would love to put an ax15 in her i'm just a little too broke for that. One day though. I will have to give that a try though, not looking forward to a torque converter swap if it doesn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 I too would start with dropping the pan and inspecting what's in the fluid and filter. continuing to drive when the tranny or engine is clearly having issues can be a harsh lesson to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua_A Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 1 minute ago, Pete M said: I too would start with dropping the pan and inspecting what's in the fluid and filter. continuing to drive when the tranny or engine is clearly having issues can be a harsh lesson to learn. Yeah she's parked up in the garage right now, I felt especially stupid seeing as the trip was meant to top it up buuut I guess I was just a hint too late with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 the good news is that even if you burnt up the entire transmission, most any year AW4 can be used with a little work. the link in my signature has a link to all the swappability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Don't tear anything apart yet. First and foremost, unplug the transmission computer (TCM) and go for a drive. look up and right from your gas pedal and you will see a box labeled Aisin, this is the TCM. You will have to shift it manually but it will drive just fine otherwise. This won't hurt anything. This will tell you if it's a mechanical issue or if it's an electrical issue. If it still slips with the computer unplugged, this rules out all electrical and sensors. Find out what it does here and go from there. Post up your results from this test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 good point! but isn't it above the passenger's feet connected to the knee panel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdog Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Yeah its above the passenger side. How low was it and what does it look like now. Picture of the stick with the fluid next to a white towel would be helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 9 hours ago, Dzimm said: Don't tear anything apart yet. First and foremost, unplug the transmission computer (TCM) and go for a drive. look up and right from your gas pedal and you will see a box labeled Aisin, this is the TCM. You will have to shift it manually but it will drive just fine otherwise. This won't hurt anything. This will tell you if it's a mechanical issue or if it's an electrical issue. If it still slips with the computer unplugged, this rules out all electrical and sensors. Find out what it does here and go from there. Post up your results from this test. THIS^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 10 hours ago, Pete M said: good point! but isn't it above the passenger's feet connected to the knee panel? Could be there pre-HO. I haven't gone that far back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 I notice the OP mentioned "topping it off." If that's all you did, you have a bunch of burned tranny juice still in there. I would pull the plug and drain the pan, then refill it. Drive it a bit to circulate the fluid out of the torque converter, then repeat the drain and refill. A couple of people have suggested dropping the pan. I suggest that you NOT do this. The lower half of the dip stick tube is an integral part of the pan, It's almost impossible to get the pan off without separating the lower half from the upper half, and it's virtually impossible to do that without destroying something. And I don't think the upper tube is still available, so don't even think about dropping the pan unless there's no other option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetdjc320 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 23 hours ago, Dzimm said: Could be there pre-HO. I haven't gone that far back. On my 91 that's where it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 1 minute ago, ghetdjc320 said: On my 91 that's where it is Hmm now I'm confused, I could have swore my 90 had the bracket for it by the gas pedal. Maybe I installed the bracket when I did the 97+ swap, I can't remember anymore lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeatCJ Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 3 hours ago, Dzimm said: the bracket for it by the gas pedal. Isn't that the ECM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 14 minutes ago, BeatCJ said: Isn't that the ECM? The ECM is located under the hood next to the airbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Renix ECM is under the dash above the gas pedal. Renix TCU is located as described in my other post with pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 3 hours ago, cruiser54 said: Renix ECM is under the dash above the gas pedal. Renix TCU is located as described in my other post with pics. Renix is freakin weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua_A Posted February 28, 2021 Author Share Posted February 28, 2021 Well hell everyone so alot has happened since I was last here. First and foremost I'd like to apologize for abandoning this topic. I'd also like to apologize to the random teen who's gonna stumble onto this in 10 years hoping for a solution. Anyways what essentially happened while I was gone was a jeep Cherokee local to me went up for sale with a manual for 500. I talked him down to 4 since it had bad compression and pull the transmissions out of both. The Cherokee is a 95 with what seems to he the drive train of a 94 according to the transfer case build plaque. I have an 87 however it should be fine. My only problem is the 4x4 box on the 87 (that I wanted to use) is a 21 spline and the ax-15 is a 23. My question is could I exchange the front input from the 94 box into the 87? Or am I stuck with using the 94's box for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua_A Posted February 28, 2021 Author Share Posted February 28, 2021 Both the transfer cases are Np231s btw. Below are the two plaques. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omega_rugal Posted February 28, 2021 Share Posted February 28, 2021 it works fine in 1-2 but slips in D and OD? sounds like a bad torque converter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted February 28, 2021 Share Posted February 28, 2021 model year vehicles are generally made starting halfway into the previous year. for MJ/XJs I think it was July? so in July 1994 they started selling 1995 XJs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdog Posted February 28, 2021 Share Posted February 28, 2021 you could, but why don't you want to use the 94's? seems like it would save a lot of work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua_A Posted February 28, 2021 Author Share Posted February 28, 2021 the 94 uses an electronic speedo and honestly I tried to trace the harness back and it was nearly impossible so I decided to stick with the older style speedo cabled 87. That and less miles on the old one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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