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AW4 & compression braking

xtremexj94

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Edmonton, AB
OK, what's the deal - I just swapped an AW4 into my 94 XJ that I had already swapped a TJ TF999 3-speed auto into and the new tranny doesn't seem to have any compression braking in 1 or 2. Just the tranny design or is something up. By the way, I am using Brett M shifter and have tried locking the converter before a descent but that still doesn't make a difference. Any suggestions would be welcome. The year of AW4 is 95.
 
I had very little compression braking with my aw4 in 1st. Low t-case gears made a huge difference. Now I can go down very steep hills and not even touch the brakes.
 
OD (4th) will have none, zip, zero. I have a small amount in 1-2 and 3. It won't snap your neck but it is enough that by staying out of OD except on the freeway it makes a considerable difference with brake life. this is on an '01 btw.
 
In 1-2 & 4lo I've got pretty good compression braking, but if it's in 4hi it feels like I'm in a soap box derby car going downhill.

Robert
 
I've got Unimog axles so I have no shortage of gearing but even going down the highway I can feel reduction going from 4th to 3rd but nothing in 2nd or 1st. Low range offroad makes no difference either, even with the converter manually locked.
 
I might have just solved my own problem. Now that I think about it, I never did try and pull the shifter back into the 1-2 position instead of just leaving it in drive and turning the shift knob into 1st or 2nd. Do you guys think this would have made a difference?
 
the compression braking is different for different gears depending on where the floor shifter is.

it seems you get the most compression in 3rd gear by having the floor shifter in D, the most in 2nd gear by having the floor shifter in 3, and the most in 1st gear by having the floor shifter in 1-2.
 
Brett - I was hoping you were going to chime in at some point. I never even thought to shift the lever back to 1-2 and just left it in D. Suddenly I feel a little stupid for not thinking of it earlier. Thanks for all the responses.
 
As far as pics go, I need to get some more to Billy so he can post some more on XJDB.com and on Pirate. Go to his site and search for portals and you'll see the pics from about 4 months ago.
 
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