AW4 no forward when cold problem

My AW4 does not like cold weather (and neither do I, so we have something in common, LOL).

When it gets down below 50 F overnight it will go into reverse right after start up, no problem, but it needs to warm up for 3 to 5 minutes (The colder it is the longer it takes) before it will shift or engage into first gear, forward.

It has been like this for 2 winters now, over 15 months.

Other than that it works fine. The fluid looks new, clean, no burned smell. So I am thinking it is just something sticking when it gets too cold, maybe a solenoid?

Any thoguhts, comments, is this common?

Should I be concerned?

Mine does the same thing. I got another off of a local rig being junked out, but havent gotten around to swapping it out.

In the morning, if its slipping, i throw it in reverse and power it up while holding the brake tight, for 15-30 seconds.. usually engages in any forward gear after that.

My problem started after driving 500 miles home from a trip with water in my transmission.

So far I find that if I just let the engine idle for 5 to 7 minutes, when it is cold on the first start up in the morning, like <50 F, I don't have any problem at all. If it is warmer thatn 50 F it works all the time with out any warm up.

Yeah, mines the exact same way - but thats 5-7 minutes I could be sleeping in the morning.


I tried doing a chemtool flush on mine and it made no difference at all. Have flushed it 2-3 times since.. am just gonna pull it out for another one.

The AW 4 on my 94 XJ has to deal with some pretty fridgid weather, and other than wanting to stay out of OD until the engine warms up, I don't have any trouble.

What sort of fluid is in your tranny?

XJPhoenix said:

The AW 4 on my 94 XJ has to deal with some pretty fridgid weather, and other than wanting to stay out of OD until the engine warms up, I don't have any trouble.

What sort of fluid is in your tranny?

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noticed that the past 2 days, as well... either that, or the torque convertor isn't unlocking or locking (not sure of the terms). my daily drive isn't very far, so the engine temp is just getting up to 210 (as per dash gauge) shortly before I get to my destination, I guess the tranny is much colder.

We had similar on wifes 96 Oldsmobile, got worse over time, finally reached a point where we had a reman jasper put in. It did it for over 3 years but towards the end it started doing it in warm weather too..
We did the whole bit, having unlimited acces to a tranny machine, drained and refilled with new fluid, nada, added seafoam and ran for a week, that got alot of stuff loose, flushed again on machine with filter inline, refilled, worked for a while but stuff was still coming out. Finally just for reliability we had the reman put in with a 5/70 warranty.
I don't think there is alot you can do with an auto once it starts getting flakey except pull it and either rebuild it or replace it.

Perhaps you could try drawing off a litre or so, and then add a bottle of Lucas Tranny Treatment?

It worked miracles for me on my old Pontiac Transport and my 1991 XJ.

XJPhoenix said:

The AW 4 on my 94 XJ has to deal with some pretty fridgid weather, and other than wanting to stay out of OD until the engine warms up, I don't have any trouble.

What sort of fluid is in your tranny?

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What ever the prior owner used before I bought it 2.5 years, 20,000 miles ago.

XJPhoenix said:

Perhaps you could try drawing off a litre or so, and then add a bottle of Lucas Tranny Treatment?

It worked miracles for me on my old Pontiac Transport and my 1991 XJ.

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I used Trans-X on a very problematic 76 Dodge and a 78 Dodge till I finally got rid of them. Worked wonders. Never used the Lucas Trans additive before.

What kind of miracles did the Lucas perform for you?

There is a technical service bulletin (TSB) for the AW4. I read it years ago, so unfortunately, I do not have a link or anything.

It states that one of the external pressure lines has a tight bend that can clog over time and cause delayed forward engagement until warmed up. The repair is a replacement line (external of the tranny, should be easy). Try searching for TSBs for your vehicle.

neighbour had that problem on his ZJ, he was going to buy a new tranny, but did the NHTSA TSB/recall check first. I put in new tranny lines for him, he had the tranny flushed, and its worked fine since, even in -40 weather up here on the Northshore of Lake Superior.

Hey XJPhoenix, long time no see. Should be heading down that way for a course soon. I'll let you know if I go, we'll hit eddie shacks and then if you have the time go to morriston for wings.

Ecomike: My Transport's tranny slipped so badly when I filled it back up with new fluid that I couldn't get it past 40 kph. It just revved and then would bang in and out of gear. I threw a bottle of tranny treatment in and it got somewhat better. It took three bottles total, but I got it running like it did before the fluid & filter change.

On my 1991 XJ, the transmission would shift erratically up and down when it was cold and I had to step on it (there's a major highway that's literally 3 mins from my house that leads all through my town.) Of course, I'd try to warm it up for 5 minutes sometimes, but it didn't seem to matter. I took it to the dealership for a second opinion (one shop told me it needed a rebuild) and mechanic that took it out told me that the that things seemed to be sticking up inside a little. (It was warm then, so he must've noticed something I hadn't!)

The advice I got from the mechanic was to draw off a litre or so, and then add a bottle of transmission treatment. When I mentioned Lucas, he agreed that would be good. I asked if I should get the tranny flushed, he said no; his opinion was that the previous owner hadn't changed the fluid at all until shortly before I'd purchased it, and that this action would most likely have caused the current trouble. Adding more new fluid would only make the problem worse.

I followed his advice, and while the problem never really went away 100%, (would hunt for the right gear once or twice, then settle down and behave) it did make things very liveable.

RickyN29: Coolness. I hope a new tranny line is the answer, rather than clogged internals!

Mackamitsu: Please no offense, but did we meet on another forum? My memory is terrible and I don't remember you. (I'd forget my head if it wasn't bolted on though...) There is another XJPhoenix here, he's in lowercase though.

Same with a friend of mine. He had an old Ford 150 that did the same thing. Bought it from another friend of mine knowing that it had this problem. He added the Lucas and no more problem ....and he plowed with this truck as well. He had a little left over and it quieted the power steering pump in an old Volvo also.

XJPhoenix said:

Perhaps you could try drawing off a litre or so, and then add a bottle of Lucas Tranny Treatment?

It worked miracles for me on my old Pontiac Transport and my 1991 XJ.

Click to expand...

my aw4 will slip sometimes under load,( up a hill or with wieght in it). it only does this from a dead standstill no matter how warm it is. also in 4th gear it will slip as well aorund 2,000 rpms(im not really sure if it slips or if it just ticcs allot when in 4th) is this the torqe converter, it sounds like two times the torqe converter is really important, it shifts fine up and down, and fluid is still pretty red, smells ok, and level is perfect.

anyone with imput please help

Update: I checked the transmission fluid level today and discovered that the fluid is apx. one inch above the full mark when hot idling in park (the dip stick says to check hot idling in park).

Is this a problem for an 87, AW4???????

What problems might it cause?????

It does not leak, and has not leaked, and has had the same amount of fluid in it for over 15,000 miles, since shortly after I bought it.