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AW4 not shifting after a swim

kristuphir

kristuphir

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lake Elizabeth, CA
So yesterday afternoon we went out for a couple hours of this:

IMG_7977.jpg


IMG_7979.jpg


Followed by a protracted period of this:

IMG_7986.jpg


IMG_7988.jpg


It was really fun. Afterward we went to the store, and the Jeep sat in the parking lot for half an hour or so. Now the AW4 won't shift itself out of first. TPS checks out good, is clean and dry and has been adjusted recently. Transmission shifts manually when TCM is unplugged.

What did I powerwash that I shouldn't have?

On the plus side, the rear wiper never used to work and it does now. Although the rear squirter button makes the front squirters go, which incidentally the front squirter button does not.
 
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I cant help much but that camra takes really good pics. and my rear squirter does the samething. I heard some thing about a duel pump washer res. that was removed and a single put in its place hooked up wrong
 
I'm still leaning towards tps, especially if it got wet, did you test for dead spots, and I believe it is the square connector that goes for the tranny. Maybe it could be the speed sensor behind the transmission that also has some water in the connection.
 
yup. You drenched your TPS and killed it. When you powerwash your engine bay...don't powerwash your engine bay. A regular hose and some elbow grease will do the trick.
 
"Powerwash" was a figurative term referring to the mud-bath that ensued from the above photos. I didn't powerwash the engine bay - it didn't really even get all that wet from the puddles. As I mentioned, the TPS readings check out fine. I also opened up both the connectors at the TPS, including the one that goes to the transmission, to ensure that they were dry and tight. And as mentioned, I did unplug the TCM to drive the Jeep manually, so I know where it is and that it's dry.

Any other sensors, etc. that might have gotten wet? Someone mentioned the speed sensor? That's one I hadn't thought of that will bear checking out.
 
While the weatherpak connections on the wiring harness are supposed to keep water out, they aren't waterproof, especially as they age. Hitting a mudhole at speed injects water into them at about the same speed as you are going. It is a powerwash.

It's like that mudding - old electric wiring, dried up seals, corroded connections that lost the dieletric grease from thousands of miles of rain filled pavement, and all that.

It may very well work just fine when it dries out in a few days. Or, you may need to check every connection on the harness - and the harness itself, to make sure it's getting signal to the computer and back.

Youth + muddy water + Jeep = repairs. Wish I had a nickel for every post . . .
 
Yes. I have been checking the appropriate connections. I will find more to check. I am fully aware that 22-year-old, 215K-mile beater electrical connectors can let water in when plowing through a mud puddle, and I will remain fully aware of that the NEXT time I go plowing through a mud puddle, which will undoubtedly be soon.

The "powerwash" comment was directed at the person who thought for some reason that I meant that I was cleaning the engine bay with a powerwasher as opposed to a regular hose and some elbow grease.

All I'm looking for here is, "Hey, my jeep did that once and it was water in the [blank]."

And...heh...I doubt very seriously that you, at 55, would have ANY less fun plowing through mud puddles than I do, at 31. This is what my Jeep is for! This is also what my AAA membership is for! :)
 
Have you checked your tranny fluid???

If your tranny fluid has water in it, you won't shift. I'd check that pronto. If that's the case, just put some new fluid in and you'll be good to go.
 
And...heh...I doubt very seriously that you, at 55, would have ANY less fun plowing through mud puddles than I do, at 31. This is what my Jeep is for! This is also what my AAA membership is for!

I don't have fun when I find my transportation broke down and unable to get me to work. So, I avoid proven ways to disable it, and mudding is one of them. I have towed my neighbor boy's Explorer and worked on it to get it running after a huge mudding expedition. The water literally forced a battery connection loose and it wouldn't move, much less mud on the air filter clogging up the intake, etc. I'm glad you didn't literally powerwash it, 1500 pounds of pressure stops cars dead in their tracks at car washes daily.

Explorers and Jeep Cherokees are not built stock to mud, period, the owner's manual and many posts on here are proof. A search on ways to improve water crossing ability will net many mods that others found necessary years ago. I defer to their expense and expertise.

If the TCM being disconnected helps it shift, but not when hooked up, you've narrrowed it down to a wet harness.

Have you been adding dielectric grease to the harness connections you checked?
 
I went through flood water and mine did the same thing...
1. turn the Jeep Off, then turn the key to the half position.
2. shift from Park to 1st repeatedly
3. drive away.
-this has worked for me more than once. I live right on the banks of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, I see plenty of water or "power washers" as you might call it.
 
TiRod said:
And...heh...I doubt very seriously that you, at 55, would have ANY less fun plowing through mud puddles than I do, at 31. This is what my Jeep is for! This is also what my AAA membership is for!

I don't have fun when I find my transportation broke down and unable to get me to work. So, I avoid proven ways to disable it, and mudding is one of them. I have towed my neighbor boy's Explorer and worked on it to get it running after a huge mudding expedition. The water literally forced a battery connection loose and it wouldn't move, much less mud on the air filter clogging up the intake, etc. I'm glad you didn't literally powerwash it, 1500 pounds of pressure stops cars dead in their tracks at car washes daily.

Explorers and Jeep Cherokees are not built stock to mud, period, the owner's manual and many posts on here are proof. A search on ways to improve water crossing ability will net many mods that others found necessary years ago. I defer to their expense and expertise.
Click to expand...

You have your fun and you pay the price! To each his own. My Cherokee does a great job of hauling my Honda 500CR to the trails so I can play in the mud. The CR is way easier to get unstuck and repair when I break it.:passgas:
 
Yup, par for the course I know. If I had to rely on the old thing to get me through my 150-mile daily commute, I wouldn't intentionally abuse it in the name of fun. But I have a new, comfy, zippy, and quite well-treated Mazda for daily duties, and if the Jeep breaks I find out what's wrong and fix it when I get around to it...which, evening and weekend time being as scarce as it is for me, often takes a while. So I use the time to gather pertinent information, which you folks have so kindly provided.
 
kristuphir said:
All I'm looking for here is, "Hey, my jeep did that once and it was water in the [blank]
Click to expand...

what you describe is an electrical issue if the trans shifts manually when the tcm is unplugged. my first guess would be tps also. what do you have the output voltage set to and did you move the throttle plate to test for a dead spot?
 
jeepman121 said:
I went through flood water and mine did the same thing...
1. turn the Jeep Off, then turn the key to the half position.
2. shift from Park to 1st repeatedly
3. drive away.
-this has worked for me more than once. I live right on the banks of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, I see plenty of water or "power washers" as you might call it.
Click to expand...
did you try this??....
 
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