AX15 - AW4 Swap

Hi, so I've searched around, but I did not find what I was looking for. I have a spare AW4 sitting in my garage and I would like to swap it in because I find wheeling much easier with the auto. I know that I'm going to need the flex plate from an auto, shifter linkage, and a few other things. What I am wondering is can I put the AW4 in and not run the TCU? Instead just wire it in with the AW4 Manual Shift Mod? Or is the TCU still being used while in manual mode? The only reason I ask is because I have everything sitting in the garage but a TCU and harness and have not been able to find one yet....

Thanks
Matt

Without the TCU you would only have 1st in 1-2, 3rd in 3, and 4th in D, reverse, neutral and park.

However, you could wire up the individual solenoids with switches to provide 2nd and lockup.

lets just trade cherokess lol i want the 5 spd

Yeah, you can do this easily, especially on an XJ that was manual... you're going to have to rig the neutral safety switch to work off the signals from the neutral safety switch but who cares, that's not that difficult, just use the terminals for the park/neutral contacts. It's terminals B and C.

See http://www.greatlakesxj.com/tech/aw4shiftmod.html for the table of which solenoids to power for what gear, ignore the part at the top. Then you can just put it in drive and then use a set of switches or another shifter setup connected to switches to actually shift 1/2/3/OD, etc. I'm pretty sure it's a bad idea, but you could even use the clutch safety switch (may be the wrong term) off the clutch pedal to do torque converter lockup.

EDIT: you WILL want to connect the throttle valve cable to the throttle, of course. You could also put it on some sort of a lever or pedal in the cabin so you can control the stiffness/speed of each shift yourself.

kastein said:

Yeah, you can do this easily, especially on an XJ that was manual... you're going to have to rig the neutral safety switch to work off the signals from the neutral safety switch but who cares, that's not that difficult, just use the terminals for the park/neutral contacts. It's terminals B and C.

See http://www.greatlakesxj.com/tech/aw4shiftmod.html for the table of which solenoids to power for what gear, ignore the part at the top. Then you can just put it in drive and then use a set of switches or another shifter setup connected to switches to actually shift 1/2/3/OD, etc. I'm pretty sure it's a bad idea, but you could even use the clutch safety switch (may be the wrong term) off the clutch pedal to do torque converter lockup.

EDIT: you WILL want to connect the throttle valve cable to the throttle, of course. You could also put it on some sort of a lever or pedal in the cabin so you can control the stiffness/speed of each shift yourself.

Click to expand...

So for the NSS just jump pins B and C? Wiring up the switches seems straight forward, its just finding the wires. I think there is even the bracket for the TV cable.... This sounds like it should be nice and easy....

Matt

Well, I was more saying to connect pins B and C from the NSS on the AW-4 to where the clutch safety switch (on the clutch pedal iirc) normally connects to, assuming that switch is a normally-open version also. That way, P and N tell your manual-firmware ECU that you have the clutch pedal down and all is well. Forgot, you'll also want to connect pins A and E on the NSS to the wires for the reverse switch from your manual so that your reverse lights work.

Of course you can do the swap, it's done all the time. I used the "neutral" switch which also has a wire for each gear to make a LED display to show what gear the shift lever is in. There are only two solenoids that shift the trans. and another that locks the converter. So for on the cheap you can just use switches to turn on and off the appropriate solenoid. If you google you can find quite a bit of info on this type of setup and more.

The subject of this thread makes me :bawl:

hahaha, if I was any closer I'd ask if I could buy the AX15 out of it... I need to learn standard at some point especially now that I have two vehicles and can sacrifice one for a while.

So all i would have to do is take the Blue wire for the #1 solenoid, yellow for #2 solenoid, and white wire for the TC control right from the 8 wire plug on the transmission, run the wires up to 3 switches then? Was reading this, http://radesignsproducts.com/aboutus.aspx I would just put my switches in place of the "Rail Shifter" correct?

Thanks
Matt

[email protected] said:

So all i would have to do is take the Blue wire for the #1 solenoid, yellow for #2 solenoid, and white wire for the TC control right from the 8 wire plug on the transmission, run the wires up to 3 switches then? Was reading this, http://radesignsproducts.com/aboutus.aspx I would just put my switches in place of the "Rail Shifter" correct?

Thanks
Matt

Click to expand...

Yes. That's all you need. Just remember the sequence.

kastein said:

\I need to learn standard at some point

Click to expand...

:kyles mom: Wha Wha Whaaat??? /:kyles mom:

5/6 speed fo' life! (however switching between the two is a bit confusing)

ok, I think I understand how to wire this all up know. I have one final question for you. How can I know if my AW4 has the same spline count as my NP 231? My AW4 has a Spline count of 21. The truck is a 90 with A15 and NP231.

Matt

For a 90, I believe the ones made late in the year were 23 spline, not sure. The only way to be certain is to unbolt the transfer case and look, unfortunately - unless someone knows of a marking indicating which is which. I'll check the parts catalog and see if they're different part numbers, hopefully the sticker is in a visible location and has survived 20 years of Canadian winters...

EDIT: AHA! Found it in figure 21M-1900; 21 spline: XJ,MJ For Vehicles Built w/trans. up to serial no. 131163. So if your transmission serial number is 131164 or higher, it's 23 spline, if it's 131163 or lower, it's 21 spline. Hopefully the transmission serial number is stamped into the metal ID plate. I'm not sure if these serial numbers apply to the automatic or the manual transmissions, but this info was located in the section on manual transmissions. Also this only applies to the 231, references were made to the np207 but I didn't look into that very closely.

Well mine was built in 89 but marked as a 90 so I'm guessing its a 21 Spline. Guess Ill start pulling the transfer case if I don't see any ID tags on the Transmission.

Depending of if I remember to take pictures or not maybe I'll do a build thread if anyone wants one.

Thanks
Matt